Massachusetts
Best places to find fresh flowers during spring in Massachusetts
Spring has sprung in Massachusetts.
People looking to shed the winter blues can once again immerse themselves in floral displays across the state.
From fruitful farms to bountiful gardens, here are some of the best places to see flowers bloom — and possibly take some home — during spring in Massachusetts.
Eastern Massachusetts
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
125 Arborway, Boston
The Arnold Arboretum’s 281 acres of trees, flowers and other plants make it an ideal place for walks, picnics and other activities this spring. Visitors can also celebrate Japanese culture during a cherry blossom celebration from 2 to 4:15 p.m. Saturday, April 19
Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden at Elm Bank
900 Washington St., Wellesley
Not only can visitors see more than 75,000 blooming tulips at this garden, they can also take them home. Tulip Mania is set to return to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Garden at Elm Bank in Wellesley in April. There are also several other gardens to stroll through.
Cider Hill Farm
45 Fern Ave., Amesbury
Named the fourth most beautiful farm in the world by The Travel in 2022, Cider Hill Farm is a 145-acre farm where visitors can cut their own flowers. The farm’s annual Tulip Feast, featuring 100,000 flowers, is scheduled for May 3 and 4 and May 10 and 11. Tickets should go on sale by late April.
Central Massachusetts
New England Botanic Garden
11 French Drive, Boylston
Visitors can see several blooming spring flowers at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, from daffodils and tulips to magnolias and irises. The garden, which was voted the best Botanic Garden in the U.S. by TravelAwaits in 2023, has tons of events in March and April as well.
Ferjulian’s Farm
7 Lewis St., Hudson
Ferjulian’s Farm allows visitors to get lost in its two-acre hillside field this spring by offering subscriptions to the Flower Cutting Garden. The subscription costs $175 and lets people pick flowers from more than 200 varieties once a week from July 7 to Oct. 5. Subscriptions go on sale Sunday, April 13, on Ferjulian’s Farm’s website.
Western Massachusetts
Naumkeag
5 Prospect Hill Road, Stockbridge
Forty-eight acres of elegant gardens surrounding a rare cottage await visitors at this public garden in the Berkshires. Naumkeag will host its annual Daffodil & Tulip Festival, open Thursdays to Sundays from April 18 to May 11. Tickets for the festival can be purchased online.
The Botanic Garden at Smith College
16 College Lane, Northampton
The Botanic Garden of Smith College is free and open to the public year-round. Visitors can explore the garden’s 127-acre arboretum, 6 acres of managed outdoor gardens, and/or its 12,000-square-foot conservatory on a spring day.
Botanic Garden at Mt. Holyoke
15 Lower Lake Road, South Hadley
The Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden has more than 2,000 different types of plants throughout its Talcott Greenhouse and surrounding gardens. The gardens and greenhouse are open year-round and are free for the public.
Did we miss your favorite flower destination? Email dcifarelli@masslive.com with suggestions.
Massachusetts
Who will take care of our older and disabled people? – The Boston Globe
Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.
I’ve been writing for years about immigrants filling jobs that Americans don’t want. Haitians in particular have stepped into the void where the work is hard and the pay is low – cleaning, groundskeeping, preparing food, caring for elderly and developmentally disabled people.
When an influx of migrants flooded into the United States a few years ago, a number of savvy Massachusetts employers opened their doors to them. Thrive Support and Advocacy, a developmental disabilities provider in Marlborough, hired 41 newly arrived Haitians, filling all its full-time direct-care jobs for the first time in a decade.
With the Supreme Court last week siding with the Trump administration’s attempts to end Temporary Protected Status for Syrians and Haitians as part of its continued immigration crackdown, Massachusetts stands to lose 10,000 Haitian TPS holders in the workforce. A decision on Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, which grants automatic citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil, is expected today.
But it isn’t just a numbers game. Employers continually cite Haitian migrants’ loyalty, hard work, and devotion to the people they’re helping — many of them elderly. Not to mention the ripple effects of losing these valued employees as the aging population skyrockets.
“At some point, many people will be rehab patients,” Adam Scott, CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife told me. “At some point, many people will be long-term care patients. And this impacts all of them.”
When the TPS ruling is implemented, 10,000 Massachusetts residents will be out of a job and expected to leave the country. But many of them have nowhere to go. A pharmacy tech I’ve been talking to over the past few months knew this day was coming, and she has a detailed plan in place that will allow her 14-year-old US-born son, who has autism, to stay. But she has no plan for herself. She can’t go back to Haiti, where she was kidnapped by gangs as a teenager. So she’s hoping to keep working until her employer tells her she has to go.
To where, though, she doesn’t know.
—
Read: Who will care for the elderly and developmentally disabled?
Also: More than 100 Venezuelans deported from the United States just hours before the deadly earthquakes are missing. Seven children were among the group, which was taken to a hotel that was destroyed in the quake. (AP)
🧩 6 Across: Bookstore category | ☀️ 88° Hotter Wed.
World Cup: Can the US soccer team beat a European national team for the first time in 11 matches and make it into the Group of 16? We’ll know tomorrow night. In a thrilling upset, Paraguay sent four-time champion Germany home at Foxborough.
Five in a row: Don’t get too excited yet, but the Red Sox followed their four-game sweep of the Yankees with a 6-3 victory over the Nationals last night. They were led by Wilton Contreras, who has been struggling with the news of the deadly earthquakes in his native Venezuela.
Cannabis rollback: If Mass. voters repeal marijuana legalization, would that put you in danger of being arrested? We answer your questions here.
Heat wave: An Extreme Heat Watch has been declared for Wednesday through the Fourth of July. Here’s how hot it will get.
Wellesley killing: The 24-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing his father had suffered serious mental health issues and battled “to contain his demons,” family friends say.
Hiya, neighbor! Cambridge wants to build “social housing.” What is it?
What now? More people are surviving cancer than ever before. Now health providers are helping people navigate the next step.
Duck Boat accident: Questions about equipment quality and decision-making are being raised about the accident Saturday that injured 11 people when the craft flipped in East Cambridge.
Beaches, shellfish areas closed: A sewer line break in Haverhill dumped millions of gallons of wasterwater into the Merrimack River.
He’s No. 1: Yes, but what made AJ Dybantsa the NBA’s top pick? He’s the exact type of player NBA teams are looking for.
By David Beard

📺 Best TV so far: A whip-smart Italian import. A New England horror comedy. A gay Lutheran minister and his sister stumble across a criminal. Check out our faves.
🏰 Home of the Week: Hail, Victorian! Brookline’s regal Webber-Bouve Mansion has hit the market for $4.3 million. Take a peek. Plus, see the 1976 home for sale that has a Revolutionary War touch.
🍕 Riverside eats: Years in the making, the $24 million Esplanade pavilion project with a café nears the finish line.
🎻 Music as a focusing tool: The jury is out on whether music helps you study or work better or takes away focus, However, instrumental music may help more than those jumping lyrical workout tunes. (The Conversation)
🏴 Tartan adventure: A Globe reporter went to Scotland to find family history, Highland culture — and a wee dram of whisky.
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
This newsletter was edited by David Beard and produced by Ryan Orlecki.
❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.
✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.
📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.
Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her @ktkjohnston.
Massachusetts
Millions of gallons of wastewater discharged into Merrimack River due to broken pipe
Approximately eight million gallons of wastewater are currently being discharged into the river per day.
HAVERHILL, Mass. (WWLP) – Those traveling for the Fourth of July weekend are being advised of a wastewater pipe break on the Merrimack River.
The Massachusetts Environmental Police stated that over the weekend, a major wastewater pipe in Haverhill broke, releasing millions of gallons of sewage into the river. The broken pipe was carrying wastewater from the main pumping station to the treatment plant.
Police estimate that approximately eight million gallons of wastewater are currently being discharged into the river per day.
At this time, fishing in the river is not prohibited, and the estuaries and beaches remain open. However, the information is being released to the public to help community members be aware of current conditions and use caution.
To access more information on water quality testing results, you can visit the official DPH website. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
Massachusetts
4 shot during World Cup watch party in Massachusetts
BROCKTON, Mass. (WJAR) — Four people were shot on Friday night after hundreds had gathered to watch a World Cup match in Massachusetts.
Police said the shooting happened just before midnight on Main Street in Brockton.
Officers said the victims were taken to the hospital.
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Police have not said if there were any arrests.
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