The Providential Gardener

Do You Know Where the Gardens 'Used to Be'?

Find out where some of the farms and gardens used to be (and may still be!) in Providence, RI, at the new development website: www.wherethegardens.providentialgardener.com! The idea for this project came out of a planning meeting for Providence's 375th birthday celebration in 2011. However, there is a LOT of material and there's a LOT of research to do, so I think I've found how to keep myself occupied indefinitely! But this is also meant to be a collaborative project and I am looking for others who want to become contributors.

I will be adding more gardens soon and welcome stories and photos of these and other gardens. I'm going to be adding features and content types -- I also welcome suggestions of what kinds of information to include. Send email, or add comments to the pages.

Next month when 2012 arrives, this project that documents our local agricultural heritage will expand to all of Rhode Island. It already has been fun to find out about gardens on the Biltmore Hotel in the 1920s and peach orchards in Little Compton before the 1938 hurricane. Whenever I tell someone about Where the Gardens 'Used to Be' they return the favor by telling me what they know about a long-gone farm or garden. The latest was that TF Green airport was once farmland -- not surprising, really, when you think about it, but who among us remembers it back in that day?

We are so much more familiar with our state's machinery/industrial past than our sustenance/farming past. I hope Where the Gardens will contribute another dimension to Rhode Island's rich history and show us how more food can be grown again in the Ocean State.

Vanilla Beans, Learning Landscape, and the Garden Guys

I couldn't resist calling in to the Garden Guys show this morning (January 27, 2008) on WHJJ 920AM because I knew the answer to the last question for listeners: From what plant do we get vanilla? Not only did I know vanilla comes from an orchid, but also I had actually SEEN the Vanilla Orchid plant four days ago right in Providence! It's native to Mexico, actually, but Madagascar is said to be the largest producer. So how can I have seen it here in the city? It's snowing out as I write this.

Well, the short answer is, I was at Roger Williams Park Botanical Center on Wednesday for training I describe below, and there was the vanilla orchid, a vine growing on trees in the orchid display. The Botanical Center opened about a year ago, a tropical oasis in New England, open Tuesday through Sunday, 11-4, for a very nominal fee. You don't need a passport or an airline ticket to get to the tropics this afternoon. Just get in the car and go to the Park. The Botanical Center is across the road from the Mounted Command.

Last year, I finally had the time to take the URI Master Gardener course, which is about 12-14 weeks long and involves a serious volunteer commitment of 50 hours to earn the title, Master Gardener (MG). It's a continuing commitment: each year to maintain "certified active Extension Master Gardener" status, MGs must attend at least 15 hours of continuing education workshops and volunteer at least 20 hours. Many MGs have hundreds and even thousands of volunteer hours. I've heard that the URI MG Association is the largest volunteer organization in the state.

The URI Master Gardeners are part of the Cooperative Extension, with a mission to provide reliable information about all things growing in Rhode Island to the public. One program I volunteered on is the Learning Landscape: a morning of hands-on exploration and discovery classes in grades K-5 at URI (outside, during the spring and early fall) and

now also in February & March at the RWP Botanical Center!

Special rates are available for Providence School Groups!

School groups from Northern RI and greater Providence can more easily participate in the Learning Landscape ~ no long bus trip to South County. Three schools have signed up so far, but if other schools want to take advantage of this program, contact the Learning Landscape Program Coordinator, Cathi Cote. It's such fun for us who lead the groups of children around the various stations, and the children love it.

Marion Gold, who oversees all of URI College of Environment & Life Sciences Outreach Programs, described the new RWPBC Learning Landscape Program recently on Channel 10, WJAR. Volunteering for programs such as this gives many opportunities to learn; and of course, explaining and sharing knowledge with others helps the memory and further deepens one's understanding of the natural world. The photo is from the Learning Landscape training this week ~ Cathi explaining how to show the specimens of animals native to Rhode Island (all of which had died naturally, by the way, and were found in time to preserve them).

The Botanical Center has a culinary area where you can see bananas growing right now, as well as cacao (chocolate), lemon, guava, avocado, Mandarin orange, and fig trees. You'll also find a carnivorous plant bog maintained by the New England Carnivorous Plant Society, which meets at RWPBC every second Saturday at 12:30. AND...

they just posted the schedule for the SPRING GARDENING SCHOOL at RWPBC, which will be Monday afternoons, 2:00   pm to 4:00 pm, April 2nd  through May 21st at the RWP Botanical   Center Mediterranean Room.

You wouldn't believe all that's Growing On in Rhode Island! This is just a little sample of what there is to do and see in Little Rhody.

Which reminds me ~ If you have school-aged children in Rhode Island and love gardening, be sure to get your school involved ASAP in The Children's Garden Network! They aim to help establish gardens at every school in the state. Their website just went live, and there are advantages to registering your child's school garden as soon as you can. See their website for details, and also this post from What Grows On in Rhode Island.

The Providential Gardener is working on a comprehensive online Union Calendar of RI environment-related events called WHAT GROWS ON IN RHODE ISLAND. Any and every organization planning relevant meetings is welcome to add their events to the Calendar. As the Calendar itself grows, it will be easier for folks to find out about opportunities to learn about and tend our wonderful shared Garden aka Rhode Island.

The Greenhouse ~ A Groden Network Vocational Services Program

When you pass through the gates of North Burial Ground at North Main Street and Branch Avenue in Providence, you might think you are only entering a cemetery, but you would be wrong! Just to the right, past the gatehouse, you will see The Greenhouse, a riot of colorful life these days with hundreds of chrysanthemums for sale.

The Groden Network took over the long-abandoned burial ground greenhouse in 1995 and now has a flourishing full-service greenhouse, houseplant, and floral arrangement business year round. It is staffed by Groden Network clients, who receive horticultural training and learn to work independently. This year, The Greenhouse has five clients on staff, a proud achievement.

If you are in the market for chrysanthemums now, here's a great place to buy them. The Greenhouse is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 3:30pm, and Saturday, 10:00am to 2:00pm.

And take some time to see a video of The Groden Center's work with children and adults who have autism. They are "cultivating the whole person" and achieving much success.

Rhode Island Wanderments

If you are out in your automobile this weekend with no particular place to go, or you just like to invent your own events, here are some ideas for exploring Rhode Island (and if you are in your car or near a radio between 8 and 10am on Sunday, listen to the Garden Guys on 920 WHJJ):

• Take a picnic to one of Rhode Island's state parks.
• Stop by one of the farmstands that feature fuit or fruit and vegetables
• Check out an historic home with gardens, or a greenhouse:
  
  • Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum (Bristol)
  • Coggeshall Farm (Bristol)
  • Linden Place (Bristol)
  • Prescott Farm (Middletown)
  • Smith's Castle (North Kingstown)

For more ideas of places to see, go to Visit Rhode Island's list of sites.

Of course, you could ditch the car and grab your bike for a ride on one of Rhode Island's bikepaths. Also see the Greenways Alliance bikeways page.

Or ditch the car at a parking lot and take a ferry on the Bay. RIPTA has ferries running between Providence and Newport, and between Point Judith and Block Island. There's also one trip between Newport and Block Island each day.

Then there's the Bay Queen, and Blackstone River tours. (Did you jump when you clicked on this link? I always do, but I like the music.) This link is for the Explorer on the Blackstone, but it does not have music. Many more cruises and ferries are listed on the Visit Rhode Island Sightseeing Boat page.

Then there are city parks to wander, like our wonderful Roger Williams Park and Zoo in Providence, with its new Botanical Center. A walk around the lakes is two or three miles. Very lovely. And don't forget Westerly's Wilcox Park. If you didn't get to the Master Gardener Tour last weekend, you can still see the botanical garden at URI.

If you don't have the "Walks & Rambles in Rhode Island" books by Ken Weber, you might want to pick them up soon and start taking the walks. His latest book gives weekend walk ideas in Rhode Island.

• Walks and Rambles in Rhode Island: A Guide to the Natural and Historic Wonders of the Ocean State
• More Walks & Rambles in Rhode Island

 

So enjoy Rhode Island on your own homemade excursion this weekend or any day this summer!

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center News

The new Botanical Center at Roger Williams Park, in partnership with the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences Extension and Outreach Center, offers Spring Gardening School to be held Monday afternoons, 2pm to 4pm, April 2 through May 21 at RWP Botanical Center. It's a sort of abbreviated Master Gardener course,

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center Ribbon Cutting March 2

The public is invited when the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, the largest indoor public garden in New England, opens its doors in a ribbon-cutting ceremony this Friday, March 2, 2007, at 11 am. The first 100 visitors will receive a special welcoming gift.

The state-of-the-art facility, houses a colorful array of flowers, rare plants, waterfalls and unique exhibits, including towering palm trees and carnivorous plants. The Botanical Center also features classroom and lecture space as well as facilities for indoor and outdoor events.

The Botanical Center has been referred to as "a model for collaboration" with 12 partner organizations including the RI Rose Society, RI Orchid Society, New England Carnivorous Plant Society, and URI Master Gardeners.

The $7.7 million facility was financed with Federal, State, and City dollars as well as major support from the Champlin Foundations.

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center Opening March 2

The Roger Williams Park Botanical Center will be open to the public on March 2, 2007. Here are some of its features, from a recent press release. Also see the ProJo article published on Feburary 1, 2007, and some great photos by the ProJo's Andrew Dickerman.

• Conservatory: Encompassing nearly 6,000 square feet of plant displays and reaching 40 feet in height, it contains a wide diversity of palms, some towering over 25 feet as well as other beautiful and fragrant tropic plants.
• Display greenhouses: Another 6,000 square feet of garden space, this intimate setting houses an orchid display, water garden, carnivorous plants, cacti, citrus, fountains and a linear pool.
• Education center: Flexible space within two greenhouses and the center provide opportunity for both clean and “dirty” classroom experiences. Our partnerships with state wide horticultural groups and the opportunity for a satellite campus for the University of Rhode Island College of the Environment and Life Sciences Cooperative Extension means that quality horticultural programming will be a cornerstone of the facility, making the education center a resource for experienced gardeners and novices, including school age children.
• Event space: The Conservatory, greenhouses and event tent area will provide a unique setting for events of every kind.
• Outdoor Gardens: Starting in 2007, construction on outdoor gardens begins.

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center Nearing Completion

The Conservatory of the new Roger Williams Park Botanical Center is nearing completion and will have a grand opening soon. Parks Department employees and many others are hard at work on the final details. The Display Greenhouses and classroom space are still under construction.

The Botanical Center will be a great place to hold events, both in the Conservatory and outside. A foundation for a tent setup near the lake and a caterers'  work space are already in place. The grounds await installation of gardens in the spring. There should be a press release any day now, so I will wait for that before giving more details.

By the way, Roger Williams Park is a beautiful place to go for a walk. It's going to get cold again this week, but the views are lovely. Take along a  identification book and enjoy the architecture of the trees in winter.