BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN…MAY 2016

I love to stroll the Public Garden in the Spring; it’s lovely, and it makes me think of the coming summer beach days…which are just about gone now! Ugh!

Boston Public Garden is in the heart of the city, adjacent to Boston Common, with the Beacon Hill neighborhood to the north, and Back Bay to the west.  So after soaking up nature, there’s plenty of great architecture to take in!

Established as a communal livestock pasture, Boston Common is the far older of the two green spaces, by a couple hundred years.  Its paths are straight and direct, for getting from point “a” to point “b,” in contrast to the meandering pathways of the Garden, built in the Victorian style in 1837.  The Victorian-style garden celebrated the art of gardening and the burgeoning science of plant propagation.  It features beds of greenhouse-grown specimens, and is designed to be enjoyed on a leisurely stroll.  Let’s put it this way, the Victorians were all about showing off!  In fact, many staid Bostonians of the era were put off by the boldness of the new garden, and considered it to be done in poor taste.

I highly recommend taking a step back in time with a sweet feature of the Garden, the Swan Boats.  This fleet of pedal boats takes visitors for a relaxing trip around the lagoon.  Fun fact: the Swan Boats have been operated by the same family, the Pagets, since their inception over 100 years ago!

Boston Public Garden is just one of the many places in this city where I can feel past alive in the present. Let’s take a stroll…