march - garden club of darien
TRANSCRIPT
The March Garden
We all will soon be ready to get
back out into our gardens and
get our hands into the soil! I
compiled a list of some of the “March
Chores” we can begin to do during the
month of March!
Garden work should begin when the
soil squeezed in your hand is dry
enough to fall apart
Uncover bulb and hardy perennial
beds near the middle of the
month. Watch the weather
though as daffodils and tulips still
need protection from the cold
and drying winds
Plant deciduous trees and shrubs
Prune fruit trees
Set out pansies as soon as the
ground is ready
Repair trellises now before spring
growth begins
- Clean all pots and flats for
starting seeds and plant the seeds now
In late March, begin to prune and
feed your plant material
Edge beds
Top dress beds with mulch
Remove any burlap from gardens
(The above information is from Ct.
Preppers Network, Sam Bridge
Nursery, and Martha Stewart’s
Gardening.)
Remember to watch for the wonderful
programs at the Garden Education
Center including their “Pruning
Plants Workshop” on March 29th at
10:30.
The Philadelphia Flower Show will be
held March 4-11 and the theme is”
The Hawaiian Islands of Aloha”.
From the Pres ident ’s Garden - C i n d y R y a n GCD Calendar
March 1st—3rd
Greenfingers show, The Nature
of the Game, Christ Church,
Greenwich.
Monday March 5th
Board Meeting at the home of
Susie Brewer, 98 Ridge Acres
Road, 8:45 coffee, 9:00 Meeting
Tuesday March 13th
Membership Meeting ,Joint
meeting with New Canaan
Garden Club, at the DCA
House, 9:30 Coffee, 10:00
Meeting
Thursday March 29th
Inextricably Linked: Long
Island Sound and Our Way
of Life, a Conservation lecture
by Chantal Collier at the Darien
Library at 7:00 p.m.
Monday April 2nd
Board Meeting at the home of
Debby McLean, 120 Long Neck
Point Road. 8:45 Coffee, 9:00
Meeting.
Monday April 30th
All requests for resignation and/
or change in membership status
must be received in writing to
both Janet Sargent and Eileen
Smith by today.
Wednesday-Friday October
2-4, 2013
GCD Flower Show at the DCA
Monthly Newsletter March 2012 Volume 3, Issue 7
Garden Club o f Dar ien G a r d e n c l u b o f d a r i e n . o r g
GCD Flower Show
Debbie Bussey and Lisa Brickman
SAVE THE DATE---October 2-4,
2013 GCD FLOWER SHOW
We are pleased to announce that the GCA
has confirmed and published the dates Oc-
tober 2-4, 2013 on the GCA Calendar for
our upcoming Garden Club of Darien
Flower Show. The show will be held
again at the Darien Community Association
(DCA). Please mark your calendars and
stay tuned for some emails with dates to
meet and brainstorm regarding this very
exciting opportunity for us to showcase
our wonderful club and amazing talented
members. We look forward to working
with everyone during the upcoming year
and a half and thank you all in advance for
your input as we collectively plan for this
very special event!
Garden Club of Darien March 2012
Conservation
Susan Balloch, Gigi Garnett and Margaret Smith
As a community with ties to both the land and the
sea, it is crucial that we recognize the immediacy of the im-
pact of our treatment of the land on the health of our sur-
rounding marine environment. Both The Nature Conser-
vancy and the CT Fund for the Environment in particular are
addressing the importance of reestablishing a sense of ur-
gency in putting the health of Long Island Sound back on the
public radar.
As noted by the CT Fund for the Environment, a recent
Hartford Courant article “Long Island Sound Is A Long Way
From Safe” (Long Island Sound Is A Long Way From
Safe - Hartford Courant ) is a call for both Connecticut and
New York to urgently refocus their attention on the health
of Long Island Sound. The Nature Conservancy has also
stated that there are specific areas that need immediate at-
tention. Their Long Island Sound Program has identified the
following as “urgent problems”, 1) Rising seas and stronger
storms, 2) Disappearing shellfish, seagrass and migratory fish
and 3) Increasing pressures from development.
As members of both a waterfront community and an organi-
zation with an interest in conservation, we would like to
make you aware of a program offered this month at the
Darien Library addressing these issues. Chantal Collier, Di-
rector of the Long Island Sound Program for The Nature
Conservancy is scheduled to present “Inextricably Linked:
Long Island Sound and Our Way of Life” We hope you
consider attending her presentation on Thursday, March 29
at 7:00 PM at the Darien Library. For further information on
this important event please consult www.darienlibrary.org
and go to the events tab to find a complete write up about
the program.
2
March Membership Meeting
Ann Mckee and Sheryl Lincoln
A Four Season Garden -- Tuesday, March 13
Please join us for the annual joint meeting with our
neighbors from New Canaan. Coffee and breakfast treats
will start at 9:30 am and the meeting will begin at 10:00
am at the DCA on Tuesday, March 13.
Mar Jennings, home and garden lifestyle expert and TV
host, will speak to us about "A Four Season Garden.". He
is known to be wildly entertaining and fun as he gives his
take on the casual luxury style which is his life at his home
and gardens in Westport. Mar is involved in very medium
available and hosts a weekly TV show on Fox CT called
Northeast Living.
His book, "Life on Mars, A Four Season Garden,". Will be
available to us for a special price of $25 -- it retails for
$39.99. So bring your checkbooks.
Flower Arranging
Lisa Brickman, Beth Crump & Emily D’Andrea
There were 7 entries for the Valentine in-club competi-
tion at the February meeting. For the “Month of Love”,
the entrants were asked to use a visual interpretation of a
watercolor by Jim Dine. The arrangement was to be no
larger that 14” in a container of choice. The judges, Emmy
Ogden and Bridget Bucknall were really impressed with all
of the arrangements, the creativity and willingness to
make the interpretation their own design thus all who did
not place received Honorable Mention Thank you all for
brightening up the DCA. ( see photos )
Thank you to Lisa Brickman and Beth Crump for putting
together a lovely pink and red tea table filled with treats
and the simple elegance of flowering Quince branches!
We do not have a March competition but start thinking
small & spring flowers for the upcoming April In Club
Competition--Miniature Spring Flower Arrange-
ments. Springtime is on the way!
1st place Lynn Reilly and
Cyndy Stamm
2nd place Betsy Hester
3rd place Carol Caufield
Honorable Mention went
to Emily D’Andrea, Susan
Cator, Bridget Rudner and
Joanne Shakely & Francis
Wilson.
Garden Club of Darien 3
Horticulture Debbie Bussey and Debby McLean Kearney
March 2012
Hort Cont’d All GCD members are encouraged to visit the Greenfingers
show and see first hand our club's wonderful entries. A re-
minder to all that Horticulture entries must be entered and
passed Wednesday February 29th between 1:30-4:30pm. Good
luck to all who are entering!
April Daffodil Competition
Looking ahead to April, we will again have our cut
stems of Daffodils competition. Please see the GCD
web site Horticulture section for the 13 classifica-
tions of Daffodils and Daffodil entry cards. We will
be holding a ‘Groom for Show’ workshop in preparation for
this competition conducted by Jennifer Brown on Thursday
April 5th at 9:30am, also at Debby McLean’s home. This is a
wonderful opportunity to learn about Daffodils, and Jennifer
runs a fabulous workshop. Even if you aren’t planning on en-
tering a competition we encourage you to attend this informa-
tive workshop.
Herb Garden Susan Massamillo and Charky Armstong
What a wonderful presentation by Sal Gilbertie on Jan.10th at
the DCA!
Thanks to Clare for some quick notes, here are some of his
tips for your herb/vegetable gardens:
--Root Crops (carrots, potatoes and onions)-always buy or-
ganic-liquid nitrogen in the soil takes away taste
--Garlic becomes hard to digest when it absorbs the pesticides
in the soil-which our body, in turn, tries to process--buy or-
ganic
--Greek Oregano, is the true oregano and is best tasting
--Sweet Marjoram, (which flowers mauve, pink and lavender) is
great for cooking, variegated marjoram is attractive in the gar-
den
--Scented Geranium "citrosa", is a great insect repellent, place
around your patio
--Rosemary "BBQ" is very hardy, can take -20 degrees occa-
sionally
--Basil "Genovese", most popular, has large leaf
(Check your basil topiary plants for bugs-first whiteflies and
now black bugs are very attracted to mine-use insecticidal
soap)
---To dry Herbs: 1) Pick and lay between paper towels, must be
a dry and dark environment. 2)Crumble and store in a dark
area. (Do not hang, as they loose their essential oils, flavor)
In April Newsletter: Spring cleanup of the Herb Garden at the
Historical Society-Herb Garden Committee.
Sincerely, Susan, Charky and Clare
February Club Competition
Congratulations to our three entrants and winners of the
Streptocarpella saxorum competition:
1st Debby McLean
2nd Carol Caulfield
3rd Bridget Rudner
March Forced Branch Competition
We are excited to have the Garden Club of New Canaan
joining us in our March Forced Branch competition. As both
clubs have horticulture sweepstakes, each club’s entries will
be judged separately. Information on forcing branches can be
found on the GCD web site. You may enter as many differ-
ent types of branches as you wish, but each entry can consist
of only one single branch, i.e. one stem of Forsythia, one
stem of a cherry tree, etc. Beakers & wedging material will
be provided. Entries will be accepted at the DCA from
8:30am and must be in place for judging by 9:00am.
Greenfingers “The Nature of the Game” Show
March 1-3, Christ Church, Greenwich
Many of our members have been growing Amaryllis, Hya-
cinth, Narcissus and Tulipa which were planted at our bulb
workshop run by Pat Van den Broek last fall for entry in this
show. The weather this winter has made our bulb forcing
extremely challenging! We hope that there will be many
entries from our club. Lois Baylis will be conducting a bulb
grooming workshop in preparation for the show Tuesday
February 28th at 10:00am at the home of Debby McLean, 120
Long Neck Point Road. All who are growing bulbs for entry
in Greenfingers show are encouraged to attend and all others
are very welcome to attend.
Our Provisionals have been hard at work designing and creat-
ing their show container, and forcing mini Tulip, Crocus, Iris
and Muscari bulbs for their entry as well as growing ground
covers from seed for their entry “Scene of the Crime”, the
Billiards room from the board game “Clue”. A special
THANK YOU to Lois Baylis for mentoring our Provisionals
throughout this entire project and to Carol Caulfield for co-
ordinating this fun and challenging experience for our provi-
sional members.
Photography
Danielle Granath and Tracy Drippé
Thanks to all who entered our February competition
"Coastal Connecticut". Our GCA judge said any one of
them could be entered into a GCA show! We hope you
will enter an upcoming show. Please contact us if you have
any questions or want additional information on how to do
that.
Our beautiful winning photo is reproduced here. Congrats
to all.
1st. Amy Cholnoky
2nd-tie. Gwynne Tibbets
Susan Cator
3rd. Tracy Drippe'
Hon. Mentions to:
Carol Caulfield
Susan Brewer
Danielle Granath
Debby McLean
Susan Balloch
Debbie Murray
Garden Club of Darien 4
Pleasure Through Plants
Susan Doelp and Pam Elliott
March 2012
Pleasure Through Plants was busy this month spreading Val-
entine’s Day wishes to both the Senior Center and Elder-
house. At the Senior Center, Adria Fitzpatrick demon-
strated making pave arrangements. With some hesitation to
cut the stems very short an assortment of beautiful arrange-
ment were born! Pam Elliott and Sandy Drimal assisted with
lovely red boxes filled with pink and red roses, carnations
and white babies breath and topped with chocolate candy
hearts. All 16 participants were very excited about their ar-
tistic masterpieces! Elderhouse has moved back into their
newly renovated space which provided a really nice setting
for the workshop. Pink and red containers with hearts were
filled with a combination of red, pink and white carnations,
sweetheart roses and alstromeria to make cheerful and lovely
arrangements. Debbie Murray and Bridget Rudner chaired
the workshop with Annie McKee assisting.
Garden Club of Darien 5
Hospitality—Meeting Response
Audrey Cadwallader and Robin Stineman
Mugs Still Available We still have plenty of mugs for sale to bring to the meetings
or keep for home! The Garden Club of Darien logo is im-
printed on both the travel mug and the green ceramic mug.
Ceramic cups will be $5 and travel mugs will be $10 or $15
for the set. Any questions please contact Debbie Murray at
203-655-0902 or [email protected]
March 2012
The meeting will at joint meeting with New Ca-
naan. It will be held on Tuesday March 13th at
the DCA House, 9:30 coffee, 10:00 meeting.
Please remember to bring your own mug!
April Newsletter Deadline
Monday March 26th
Email to [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP
Janet Sargent and Varina Steuert
Please note the following from GCD bylaws:
"Any request for change in membership status, including
resignations and reinstatements, shall be directed to the
Membership Committee which, in turn, will present its rec-
ommendation to the Board for action. REQUESTS FOR
RESIGNATION MUST BE MADE BYAPRIL 30TH OF
THE CURRENT YEAR. ANY MEMBER WHOSE RESIGNA-
TION HAS NOT BEEN RECEIVED BY APRIL 30TH WILL
BE OBLIGATED FOR DUES PAYMENT FOR THE FOL-
LOWING YEAR." Requests for change of status from Ac-
tive to Associate or Affiliate should also be in writing by
April 30.
The April 30th deadline for someone intending to resign is
for practical reasons. We pay the GCA dues based on our
headcount. We are charged for anyone who is on our
books as an active member on April 30.
Please send your requests for change of status to Janet Sar-
gent and Eileen Smith.
Many thanks,
Janet and Varina
Lisa Brickman and Beth Crump created this Valen-
tine’s Day themed tea table arrangement that cre-
ated a lovely ambiance for the February Meeting!
Above: Lynn Ryan, Betsy Hester and Deb Carnes gave the
GCD great representation at GCA HQ where they
served lunch at the Zone II Presidents meeting last
month.