Commonwealth Avenue Garden

A lush rooftop garden overlooking Boston’s historic Back Bay offers stunning views of the Prudential and John Hancock Tower. The character of the site is amplified by the dramatic contrast between architecture and sky. Mature magnolias underplanted with hostas form a threshold into the historic brownstone. Weathered-wood planting beds spill with new hardy shrubs, perennials, grasses, and herbs; a paper birch and a wind-sculpted spruce lend dramatic texture, structure, and scale to the space. Rugosa rose, juniper, lilac, peony, iris, perovskia, artemisia, nepeta, heuchera, sedum, and ornamental grasses survive year round and paint a brilliant summer-long display. A collection of new and antique containers dot the rooftop, and a terrific orchid collection rests beneath the birch tree during summer months.