Betsy DeMallie
Trustee Emerita
Growing up in a suburban Boston neighborhood surrounded by woodlands, I experienced the joy, beauty, and curiosities of New England woods. This was my playground and the fact that, today, it has largely been lost to development is probably the genesis of my becoming an advocate for land preservation and conservation. At home, I was fortunate in having a mother who was a talented gardener. However, although I appreciated the creative floral arrangements and lovely gardens she designed and cared for, I did not immerse myself in the practice of horticulture in my youth. Of course, I dutifully weeded and deadheaded, but not participating in the complex process of gardening was a lost opportunity. I took for granted the delightful entrance garden behind the proverbial white picket fence, a beautiful three-season perennial border, and a backyard shade garden of native plants. I appreciated the beautiful Silk-tree (Albizia) which she grew from seed and tolerated plants deposited in the refrigerator, being held back in growth until it was time to groom them for display at the New England Spring Flower Show. Horticulture was a serious passion for my mother, and I regret not asking her to share her knowledge. It was necessary for me to design a self-tutorial later in life and that is where the Worcester County Horticultural Society comes into my life.
After moving to Worcester in 1963 following my husband’s law school graduation, we settled into a modest home which, regrettably, had minimal space for a garden. The Horticultural Society’s annual Spring Flower Show was, for me, the beginning of spring. I have lingering memories of entering the exhibition hall to the delightfully pungent, sweet smell of spring. In those days, the show was free to the public and 20,000-30,000 winter-weary people gratefully accepted this gift to the city after a cold, gray, blustery few months. I left those shows yearning for a garden of my own and our second Worcester home afforded me that opportunity, albeit still on a small scale. Lectures offered by the Horticultural Society and Worcester Garden Club furthered my interest in horticulture and the environment and a growing collection of garden books provided inspiration.
News in 1986 that WCHS had made the decision to purchase land in Boylston for the purpose of establishing a large, comprehensive botanic garden was exciting and I followed its development with anticipation. Shortly thereafter, Worcester Garden Club asked Executive Director John Trexler to suggest a project the club could undertake in the garden. I was Project Chairman for the club at the time so it fell to me to work with John to determine what that project might be. He first suggested siting a viewing structure atop New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, but that idea was discarded because the rough uphill trail was not accessible to all. Ultimately, it was decided that the club would provide manpower to clear a site for the Wildlife Garden and funding to construct the screened ‘Bird House’ for mosquito-free viewing of wildlife at the edge of a vernal pool. It was designed as a place where individuals and school groups could gather relatively unobtrusively to observe and learn about the natural world. Club members donned work shoes and gloves and, shovels and clippers in hand, ventured into what was a tangled web of undesirable vegetation and discarded farm trash. We tip-toed around poison ivy which we were instructed provided food for birds and should be left in place. When completed, the site was in a natural, although more controlled, state. Birdfeeders were added, only to be destroyed by a foraging bear at a later date, necessitating a more inaccessible birdfeeder array. Bat houses were also installed, although it would probably take a night vision camera to know whether they were ever inhabited. Sandwiched between the Wildlife Pond and newly-planted Zacharis Woodland Garden, these areas continue to underscore New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill’s mission of connecting people to the natural world.
From that point on, my association with New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill grew. The woodland paths were reflections of my childhood and each new garden was an inspiration. I now live in West Boylston in a home we built amid five acres of woods. My husband, a golfer who did not want a lawn to mow, insisted that there not be one single blade of grass! I agreed that the landscape would be natural, with plantings extending from the foundation into the nearby woodland edge. While it is not necessarily easier to maintain than a tidy perennial garden, I do enjoy the fact that I don’t tend a groomed, labor-intensive lawn with attendant chemical applications.
In 1997, my husband’s sudden death gave me a more intangible, but impactful, reason to visit New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. The connection I felt with nature in the garden and on the woodland paths was emotionally restorative. It was a place of serenity and beauty which helped me heal. Today, the Garden Within Reach and secluded niches in the Orangerie more overtly surround physically or emotionally challenged visitors with serenity in beautiful, accessible spaces for reflection. There is something subconsciously positive and therapeutic about the cyclical life of plants. They sprout in the spring, leaf out, bloom, and fade into dormancy – then invariably reappear the following spring to repeat the cycle.
I was honored in 2000 to be asked to join the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill Board and it has been exciting to see the garden grow and prosper. After my first full term, I became President of the Board just as Phase IV of the original Master Plan was on the drawing boards. The recession of 2008 caused the project to be down-sized, but not halted. Among features that were able to be built were the Limonaia and Winter Garden, both of which reinforce New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill’s mission to connect people with nature in all seasons. Since then, additional acreage which buffers the northern and southeastern borders from development has been added to the garden’s footprint and construction is underway to implement an updated Master Plan. For many years, members have asked that New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill build a children’s garden. Current construction will address that request in building The Ramble, a woodland garden which will delight visitors of all ages. Gary Smith, perhaps the premier designer of children’s gardens in the country, has designed this garden. It will afford children opportunities to interact with nature physically, creatively, and imaginatively. It will also be a demonstration of woodland plantings which adults will find beautiful and instructive. Multiple spaces where classes can gather for instruction are included in the plan. Going forward, I expect New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill to play a significant role in instilling a love of the natural world in the next generation of gardeners.