- Founded: 1970
- Address: 69 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02108, United States
- Timings: 9 am – 5 pm
- Entry Fee: Free
Friends of the Public Garden is a great enhancer and replenisher of Boston’s three prideful public park extensions – Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Public Garden, and Boston Common. The Friends has provided outstanding green expanses that attempt to exhibit the city of Boston and pull in international and national travelers worldwide, numbering appropriately millions each year. Operating in collaboration with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the Friends makes a great contribution in providing salient stewardship for the public parks. Besides, it ensures proficient care for the incomparable collection of trees, memorials, fountains, and amenities of the parks.
Beauties of Friends of the Public Garden
The Friends of the Public Garden offers spectacular green beauties to relish for the visitors that strive to make their visit more glamorous and galvanizing.
Public Garden
Remarkably known as the younger relative of the savoring and spirited park- Boston Common, the Public Garden finds its reputation as a well brushed and scenic garden park on the beautiful land of Boston. The sculpture, structure, shape, planting style, floral collection, and scenic appearance of the garden has played a significant role in kindling the elegant Victorian acquisition. This impressive garden has acquired the honor of being a Boston icon and rises up as the first public garden of the botanical variety in the whole of America. The blossoming attribute and greenness of this fluorescing oasis has much more than expected to delight the inner hearts of its visitors.
Swan Boats
The contiguous and abiding attraction of the Public Garden, the Swan Boats hold their history back in 1877 when they were established by Robert Paget, a famed shipbuilder. After the death of Paget, his widow, Julia took the operations of the Swan Boats organization. As of now, the fourth generation of the Paget family has found to reliably preserve a treasured custom by saliently managing the services of the organization. Unlike the ancient ones, the latest Swan Boats have a capacity to accommodate 20 passengers. These boats possess 5 to 6 benches (seating arrangements) and are found to be the exact replications of the primary boats. The primary boats incorporated only single seater seating arrangements with a capability of holding few passengers, probably 8 in number.
Memorials and Sculptures
Capable of bestowing an incomputable attractiveness and stunning elegance, the memorials and sculptures are exquisite public arts and one of the best ravishing mediums of the Public Garden. The brilliantly sculpture of George Washington constructed in equestrian style is a beautifying monument of the garden. The aesthetic piece of art was sculpted by an identified carver named Thomas Ball, who originates from the land of Charlestown. The construction work was completed by a foundry from Massachusetts and the Boston craftsmen. Honored by a 13 gun salutation, this fantastic item of skillful art was unwrapped on July 3, 1869 in a heroic fashion.
Plantings
The Public Garden demonstrates its botanical resplendence through its enchanting flower beds and other crowning elegances. The beauteous plantings of the garden are illustrations of William Doogue’s heritage that exercises the gardenesque fashion of landscape gardening. Doogue’s bedding out fashion of plantings with modern sequences have found an enduring place in the garden, despite of the critics made to apply a realistic variety of plantings. Out of all the splendid flowers, the tulips are the only ones that hold the nearest affiliation with the glorious history of the garden. Loved by the photographers as the most dramatic scenes, these tulips form a striking image of the garden.
Boston Common
Set up in 1634, the Boston Common is recognized as the age old public garden park in the United States of America. This pleasant garden park is seen to have the shape of a pentagon edged by the Boylston, Tremont, Charles, Beacon, and Park Streets covering an area of about 48 acres. The visitors are facilitated by an aiding visitor information center, which is settled at a section located close to the Tremont Street region of the garden park. The gratifying park capable of drawing in thousands and thousands of visitors is well noted for being a center piece of the celebrated history of the United States of America.
Frog Pond
Living as the heart of Boston Common, the Frog Pond continues to serve as a refined and graceful melodramatic feature that allures many visitors to visit the park. It acts as an extraordinary location for spending a day’s vacation and to find tranquility and coolness during the daunting heat of the summer season. The pond has become a place of enjoyment for both young and elderly children as they splatter and play in the spray pool. The dazzling carousel close to the pond is another feature that gratifies the hearts of the young visitors. As the water turns into cold ice form in the winter period, this likable feature becomes a skating platform for the skaters. The skaters enjoy the bouncy music played as they skate along the pond.
Memorials and Sculptures
The memorials and sculptures of the Boston Common are honorable features that strive to amplify the enjoyment of the visitors. The Brewer Fountain is an astounding bronze feature of the park, which is rightly titled after Gardner Brewer, a rich merchant from Boston. Mythical illustrations related to water such as Galatea, Neptune, Acis, and Amphitrite are the idealistic sculptures that can be vividly seen at the fountain. At the present stage, the fountain is known to return back to its erstwhile resplendence and aura after being deprived of water for a considerable number of years. The Boston Massacre Memorial is also a dumbfounding attraction of the park.
Commonwealth Avenue Mall
Shaping as the central coalition of the Back Bay, the Commonwealth Avenue Mall curls out to be an exalted path of shady woody trees and thriving plants. The Mall was patterned by Arthur Gilman who undertook the idea of modern Parisian boulevards for construction purposes. Serving as an indispensable amenity for the visitors, the Mall was primarily composed of European and American elm plantings. Despite the primary style of plantings, the Mall is now an assortment of hardy large scale shadowed floral life. The Mall has been firmly congratulated with the statement – “The grandest boulevard in North America”, which was made by Winston Churchill. Apart from the plantings, the Mall is attracted by its graceful walkways, sculptures, and benches.
Memorials and Sculptures
Settled betwixt the Charlesgate East and Arlington Street are the nine splendid memorials and sculptures that make up for the public art of the elegantly structured Commonwealth Avenue Mall. Featuring John Glover, the Berkeley Clarendon is a historic and sophisticated sculpted figure made with granite and bronze. The architect of Boston Common’s striking feature – The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Martin Milmore has made a significant effort in sculpting the Berkeley Clarendon sculpture. The Mall’s first sculpt work – the Arlington Berkeley statue was established in 1865 and carved by William Rimmer. The granite and bronze monument of Patrick Andrew Collins, Clarendon Dartmouth is another likable extension of the Mall.
Sculptures and plantings are not the only elements of pleasure of the renowned Friends of the Public Garden. It promises a high spirited pleasure with its fabulous programs, events, projects, and other attractions that give a good respite from the fussy urban ambiance.