Jonathan McElvery photo

In 1842, twenty-four individuals were inspired to create the Worcester County Horticulture Society (WCHS). Since then the Society, and eventually New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, has been committed to connecting people with plants. Fifty years ago, a similar pledge was formed by our larger community of the United States. That pledge was Earth Day. The history of both is a history of learning, growth, action, and hope. On this special Earth Day week we wanted to invite some members of the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill community to speak about that history. We begin with leaders from the WCHS. 

James Karadimos 
Board President

One hundred and seventy nine years ago, 24 philanthropists formed the Worcester County Horticultural Society to provide a venue for connecting people and plants.  The greatest idea of the WCHS was New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.  It has been a privilege to serve as their President for the past four years.

It has been a half century since the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. In a less unusual year, that 50th anniversary might have brought worldwide notice, but a pandemic has consumed most public attention.  Yet, the environmental issues that Earth Day highlights are as urgent as ever. In many ways they are woven with the coronavirus crisis.

The challenges are enormous: biodiversity loss, polluted air and water, plastic pollution, ecosystem degradation and climate change.  Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life, the support systems that make our world habitable.

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill continues to evolve and respond to the times. Together, with a distinguished Board of Trustees, a highly talented staff, dedicated volunteers, and thousands of visitors for whom THBG is their garden, we have worked toward our mission. We have created new gardens, increased accessible features to better welcome our community, developed programs to educate and enrich people’s livesand helped our community forge a deeper connection to nature. Clearly nature calls to something very deep in us.

THBG is truly a sight to behold. But beyond the beauty of this gardenwhat makes it so special for me is the larger story it contains. A story of the forest, the water, the plants, the earth. By knowing this story we will better understand ourselves and each other, it binds us together.

Human hubris is robbing Earth of its symphonic aliveness and on the moral inadmissibility of menacing silence about the destructive forces driving climate change.  At THBG we are committed to transforming lives and communities through the power of nature in an inclusive environment. We view ourselves as shepherds of this message, our work to champion the environment and protect our horticultural heritage continues.

So isn’t it wonderful (in this world where comfort is very much needed) that New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill is always here for us? That it heals in moments of pain and amplifies in moments of happiness? Here, we can take solace in the predictable unpredictability of nature, not only of bloom, but also of blizzards and know that at the same time we’re doing good for the earth and for each other.

Nature beckons us to be on her side.

Lisa McDonough
Board Vice President

I have lived in the Worcester community since 1983 — first in Paxton, and for the last 20 years in Worcester. My mother-in-law Jean introduced me to New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. I drove her to a meeting at the Farmhouse to meet John Trexler (the founding director) when he shared his dream of moving the Worcester County Horticultural Society from Horticultural Hall in Worcester to Boylston. 

Fast forward, and by the 1990s with five small children always looking for adventure, one of our go-to places was New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. With packed lunches in tow, we would head out for hikes along the trails. We would always stop at the Bird House to watch for some avian friends. We could always find things to look at along the way as the tapestry of plants was always changing with the seasons.  

Fast forward again to 2014, and I became a Board Member at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. A wonderful organization to be involved in especially at a time when we were seeing phenomenal growth to the gardens as well as in visitation. With the Ramble in the works to begin, I will be bringing my grandchildren to enjoy all the wonders at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill as I did their parents — another generation to delight in the marvels of plants, and to learn the lessons of the importance of stewarding the planet. 

Tom Halpin
Board Member

It’s Earth Day, and I’m surprisingly optimistic. My usual go-to-Earth-Day feeling is frustration frustration over the inaction of policy makers. But not this year! The reason? New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.

This change is a direct result of the experiences I’ve had at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.

My love of plants started back in the summer of 1988. I spent the summer as a THBG garden intern. I remember a summer of mowing fields, mulching for hours, scrubbing algae from fountains, and being terrified that a visitor would ask me the name of a plant.

My passion for the environment started when I went to school in Vermont. In Vermont, developing an ethos of conserving natural resources and protecting the environment came as naturally as wearing mountain boots to class and pretending that handknit, wool sweaters didn’t itch. I recall spending my freshman year drinking out of my reusable CUPPS cup: Can’t Use Paper, Plastic or Styrofoam Cups and walking a campus plastered with three Rs posters: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

My experiences at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill have helped me merge my love of gardening and passion to protect the earth. New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has taught me how to take action to improve the health of the planet.

One impactful experience that stands out was a November evening in 2015. That night, I attended a book talk by Doug Tallamy, professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at University of Delaware. He had recently published Bringing Nature Home. His lecture taught me how planting native trees, shrubs, and plants create healthy ecosystems for insects and birds. That was something I could do. I left that experience motivated and ready to take action.

I’ve been fortunate to serve on New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill’s Board of Trustees. In this role, I’ve continued to learn. I’ve learned how landscape design can help us manage stormwater runoff, how unused open space can become meadows that support migratory birds, and most recently, how we can design and plan resilient landscapes that are climate change ready.

I plan to build on my optimistic feeling and celebrate Earth Day reading Doug Tallamy’s new book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Backyard. Just because I can’t go to New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill doesn’t mean I can’t continue to learn from it.

I hope that THBG opens soon, and we can return to the gardens. I hope your visits to New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill will create experiences with plants that will inspire you to improve our world just as they have done for me.