Horticulture Highlight: Honeylocust
Horticulture Highlight: Honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos
…transposing
such forms as can extend the flawed earth
and embody us, intact, unaltering, among
the soft surprising trees of childhood,
mimosa, honey locust, willow…
-Ellen Bryant Voigt
During a week-end long Arbor Day celebration, tours throughout our landscape visited our Massachusetts “Champion Trees”. There exist lists designating what are the biggest individuals by tree species, in the nation, state, county/city or perhaps even neighborhood. With a standardized point system, three measurements of tree height, trunk circumference and tree canopy help to determine what is a biggest individual. Near our entrance is the Massachusetts champion Honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos, planted in 1939 and measured at a height of 74.5-feet and 105-inches in trunk circumference.
Honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos is a large, tough, fast-growing, deciduous tree, with a wide spreading canopy. The Latin name honors Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714-1786), German physician, botanist and director of the Berlin Botanic Garden. This small genus of a dozen different species is within the FABACEAE, the pea family, the third largest terrestrial family (after ORCHIDACEAE and ASTERACEAE) comprising 670 genera and 20,000 species. We reviewed botanical cousins within this family including redbud, yellowwood, wisteria and silktree. This family also includes soybean, common bean, lima bean, chick pea, peanut and carob to mention some of agricultural importance.
In forest virginity, this is a midwestern tree ranging from Pennsylvania to southern Minnesota and South Dakota south to Nebraska, Texas and Alabama. Extensively planted it has become widely naturalized outside of its original range. Its alternate leaves are 6 to 15” long, pinnate or bipinnately compound, with its many fine textured leaflets casting a dappled shade.
…If you were a painter, you’d paint the wind
green. It would shake the boughs of the honey locust trees.
It would chase the leaves across the continent…
-David Lehman
In late spring they produce inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, mostly unisexual male and female flowers on different trees, although some trees may also contain flowers of the opposite gender (polygamo-dioecious). If successfully fertilized, the fruit maturing in early autumn, is a 7 to 18” -long pod, containing numerous oval, hard, shiny dark brown seeds. These pods contain a sugar-rich pulp that has been eaten, even used as a sugar substitute, hence the common name honeylocust. Often these pods become irregularly twisted.
…what else but to linger in the slight shade of those sapling branches
yearning for that vernal beau. for don’t birds covet the seeds of the
honey locust…
-D. A. Powell
The species name triacanthos, alludes to bunches of thorns growing on the trunk and larger branches of wild populations. These remarkable triple-branched thorns arise from the tree’s wood and cannot be easily removed. Fortunately, thornless forms have been found. Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis (unarmed) are the source of most of our and commercially available honeylocust trees.
On a future visit to Mount Auburn look for some of our score of Honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos at our main entrance, Gerardia Path, Spruce Avenue, Cedar Avenue, Spelman Road, Field Road, Willow Pond Path, Begonia Path, Dogwood Path, Sorrel Path and Petunia Path among other locations.
…a factory of blue jays
in honey locust leaves…
-Yusef Komunyakaa
History Highlight: The Sphinx
FROM THE ARCHIVES: MONUMENTS ON THE MOVE Part II: From Quarry to Carver: The Sphinx
By Kathleen M. Fox, Volunteer Researcher, Mount Auburn Historical Collections
Another grand monument hewn from a single block of granite is that of the Sphinx in front of Bigelow Chapel. This granite, from which Martin Milmore carved the Sphinx in 1872, was quarried in Hallowell, Maine. Its great journey began with twelve yoke of oxen[i] hauling the heavy block of stone from the quarry to a railroad depot in the town of Hallowell. The quarry then had to build a special railroad car to accommodate it (and sculptor Martin Milmore’s model) for the trip to Boston. Next came a transfer to a branch railroad that deposited it on a siding at Alexander McDonald’s stoneyard across the street from the Cemetery Entrance Gate at 580 Mount Auburn Street. Excerpts from the letter below from Cemetery Superintendent Charles W. Folsom to Cemetery President John T. Bradlee (September 2, 1871) describe the logistics for this massive 50- ton block of granite:
(more…)Summer SOLSTICE 2023
The Summer SOLSTICE approaches on June 21st. Spend the longest day of the year at Mount Auburn, where we’ll be hosting a number of different activities, tours, and concerts for all to attend.
SCHEDULE
10:00am-11:15am | Forest Bathing ($15; walking tour)
Join guest guide Stefanie Haug (LICSW) as we explore Mount Auburn Cemetery by slowing down, being attentive to nature with all our senses, and deepening our appreciation for this special slice of our Cambridge neighborhood. Our Forest Bathing experience will include simple warm-up movements, a natural history of the area, guided breathing and centering awareness, mindful walking with sensory activities, and finding our nature meditation/sit spot.
What to bring: layered clothing, comfortable shoes, small mat or towel to sit on, water.
12:30pm-1:30pm | Midday Sound Meditation ($15; Hazel Dell)
An outdoor Guided Meditation, Relaxation and Sound Experience. Sound Healing practitioner Marlene Boyette welcomes all to be held by the earth, to find refuge, to rest, and to be led through a guided meditation intended to bring the mind and the body into unison, while also engaging the senses. Weaving together the sounds, vibrations, and energy of our natural surroundings with a variety of instruments (including deeply resonant crystal and metal singing bowls and chimes), participants will be bathed in layers sonic acoustics.
The experience will close with an opportunity for all to reflect and set intentions for the new season through dialogue and / or journaling.
What to bring: a yoga mat, blanket or towel, a journal and writing utensil. A limited amount of chairs will be provided.
12:45pm-1:45pm | Cyanotype Workshop (Free; Halcyon Lake)
Cyanotypes are one of the oldest photographic printing processes in the history of photography. The distinctive feature of the print is its shade of cyan blue, which results from its exposure to ultraviolet light.
Cyanotypes were first introduced by the astronomer, scientist, and botanist John Herschel in 1841. The cyanotype process was later used by botanist Anna Atkins Atkins to make the first ever photographic book in 1843.
Join Former MAC Artist-in-Residence Madge Evers for a workshop on how to make your own cyanotype compositions. Evers will teach participants an experimental form of the cyanotype process by which she will create a series of images on paper that use and depict the flora of Mount Auburn Cemetery.
1:00pm-2:00pm | Violinist at Asa Gray Garden (Free)
Join musician Lilly Innella at Asa Gray Garden for an hour of free music. Innella is a wedding and event violinist based out of New England and is a member of the Ashley Jordan Band and the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra. Innella is classically trained and plays a variety of different genres including pop, rock, country, and musical theatre. Drop by! No registration required.
2:00pm-3:00pm | Long Blooms (Free; walking tour)
Join Mount Auburn’s Director of Ornamental Horticulture, Steph Almasi, for a walking tour of the grounds as you explore some of the longest blooming flowers on the longest day of the year.
2:15pm-3:15pm | Vibraphonist at Willow Pond (Free)
Join musician Denver Nuckolls at Willow Pond for an hour of free music. Nuckolls will be playing a vibraphone, a percussion instrument that encourages reflection and relaxation within washes of sound. Nuckolls is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator based in the Boston area. When performing, Denver assumes the role of communicator, aiming to inspire honest human connection through the bridging of differing artistic settings and musical styles. Drop by! No registration required.
3:00pm-3:45pm | Yoga for the Mind, Body, and Soul ($15; Hazel Dell)
Led by Artemis Yoga teacher Tracy Affonso.
Tracy’s classes are a fun physical practice infused with a sense of calming energy. She mindfully instructs her students through sequences, while offering them the space to listen to their bodies and move with intention.
What to bring: water, a yoga mat, flexible/comfortable clothing.
3:30pm-4:30pm | Violinist at Asa Gray Garden (Free)
Join musician Lilly Innella at Asa Gray Garden for an hour of free music. Innella is a wedding and event violinist based out of New England and is a member of the Ashley Jordan Band and the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra. Innella is classically trained and plays a variety of different genres including pop, rock, country, and musical theatre. Drop by! No registration required.
4:00pm-5:15pm | Forest Bathing($15; walking tour)
Join guest guide Stefanie Haug (LICSW) as we explore Mount Auburn Cemetery by slowing down, being attentive to nature with all our senses, and deepening our appreciation for this special slice of our Cambridge neighborhood. Our Forest Bathing experience will include simple warm-up movements, a natural history of the area, guided breathing and centering awareness, mindful walking with sensory activities, and finding our nature meditation/sit spot.
What to bring: layered clothing, comfortable shoes, small mat or towel to sit on, water.
4:15-5:15pm | Mount Auburn’s Medicinal and Edible Landscape | (Free; walking tour)
Come join local herbalist and former Mount Auburn arborist Alex Klein for a saunter through the cemetery where we’ll get to know the medicinal and culinary aspects of some of the cemetery’s planted and wild collections.
We’ll talk some of the historical and cultural uses of our favorite trees, how to use the weeds as food and medicine, as well as some natural history and ecology of this garden landscape. It will be a leisurely stroll, that will venture off the roads at times, including a likely foray into the Dell.
4:15pm-5:15pm | Vibraphonist at Willow Pond (Free)
Join musician Denver Nuckolls at Willow Pond for an hour of free music. Nuckolls will be playing a vibraphone, a percussion instrument that encourages reflection and relaxation within washes of sound. Nuckolls is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator based in the Boston area. When performing, Denver assumes the role of communicator, aiming to inspire honest human connection through the bridging of differing artistic settings and musical styles. Drop by! No registration required.
5:30pm-6:45pm | Bluegrass & Folk Concert ($20; Hazel Dell)
Opener: STONEFACE MOUNTAIN. A young bluegrass band from the Boston area who share a common love of music. Their hard-driving Bluegrass sound is influenced by legends such as Flatt & Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs, and Bill Monroe. Stoneface Mountain has been astounding crowds at many popular New England venues for the past five years, such as the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival, Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Ossipee Valley Bluegrass Festival, Club Passim, and others. They are the emerging future of Bluegrass music.
Headliner: IRA KLEIN(MAC 2022-2023 Artist-in-Residence), KEVIN BARRY, and HAZEL ROYER. You may remember this trio of musician friends from a concert on Bigelow Lawn in September 2022. We liked them so much, we just had to bring them back!
Ira Klein is an award-winning interdisciplinary guitarist, composer, producer, and educator from Jerusalem, Israel. Performing and recording extensively in New England and beyond, Ira aspires to create deeply rooted, fresh, and idiosyncratic contemporary music.
Kevin Barry is a professional guitarist who has toured and recorded with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Ray Lamontagne, among others. He has performed with Jackson Browne, Rob Thomas, Sara Mclachlan, Bonnie Rait, and many other national acts.
Hazel Royer is a Boston-based upright bassist, guitarist, and singer. She plays a variety of styles including folk, bluegrass, old-time, rock, and blues. Hazel grew up playing folk and bluegrass music in the Boston music scene with her father, Eric Royer.
Watch Artist-In-Residence, Liz Walker’s “Dance of Arrival”
As Artist-in-Residence at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA, Walker has choreographed and performed, “Dance of Arrival”, a site-specific dance work which explores themes of life and death. A crucial touchpoint for the project is Liz’s experience as a dancer who is pregnant and preparing to welcome a new life.
Liz Walker is a classically trained ballet dancer and choreographer. Liz danced with Los Angeles Ballet as a soloist and now performs her own work at venues throughout the Boston area. In an interview, Walker told Mount Auburn,
“I am a lifelong classically trained ballet dancer. I performed for 12 years on and off with Los Angeles Ballet. The bulk of my career there was the 7 years after I had graduated from college. I had a great experience, but being in a ballet company is very all-consuming, and it takes a lot of physical maintenance. So as that time was coming to an end, I moved back here to Cambridge. I knew that I wanted to keep dancing and stay creative. I started picking up a few choreography jobs as a way to keep moving and keep doing projects. And then I found that I really enjoyed creating things, particularly site-specific works that respond to a particular environment. And so, I’ve been doing projects like that over the past several years since I retired from full-time ballet, and have been gaining my own voice as a creator, which has been really rewarding.”
From “Choreographing New Life and Death”. Read the full interview here: https://www.mountauburn.org/liz-walker-interview/
Walker also performed “Dance of Arrival: Summer’s End” in early September 2022 after giving birth. Walker guided visitors on a tour of historic graves on the theme of motherhood, as Walker and violinist Beth Bahia Cohen performed together in response to each site.
Guests then took their seats in Asa Gray Garden for the second half of the event, a meditative ballet to Beethoven’s “Spring” sonata.