April 2026 Newsletter

By Anne Lehmann | April 12, 2026

Our member garden this month:

         

Jane Rupley’s gardens bring you into a tranquil setting. The more one meanders into the landscape the further you enjoy the flora and fauna. As Jane is truly in her element as her career is in landscape design, she created and built this multifaceted landscape over decades. The choices of greens vs. color, wild vs. sculpted and tight vs. tall provides a look into her talent! Her landscapes have been featured in local garden tours and it is clear to understand why she and her gardens were selected. 

       

 

Letter from our President:

Dear Members:
Unfortunately our April speaker is not able to present on Wednesday, BUT the good news is we have a new speaker, Kay Hurley, recommended by Cherry Cory: All About Lichens. The program will be an introduction to lichens, the remarkable underdogs of the natural world. The presentation will cover their unique lifestyle and the roles they play in the lives of various creatures, from reindeer to tiny tardigrades to humans, in every corner of the globe – including a stint on the International Space Station. They are in yourgardens, on trees, on stone walls,  and even on your concrete paths.
Kay Hurley is an avid naturalist with a special interest in lichens which she has been studying for 20 years. She is the author of Lichenpedia, part of the – pedia series of books from Princeton University Press. She is active on the lichen team in regional bioblitzes including those in Concord run by Minuteman National Park.
 
Upcoming Events:
Arbor Day: Please join us for on April 24th at 11AM at Rideout Playgroud

Art in Bloom: will be held at the Museum of Fine Arts is May 1-3.

Sarah Beguelin and Sarah Paino have been working on their arrangement which will be located on the second floor, Ancient Greece and Rome Gallery 215C.

Plant Sale: It is time to start thinking about the 15 plants to donate to the upcoming plant sale on May 9th.

If you have extra gardening tools to donate to the tool shed please contact Joan Campbell. There will be a brief labeling tutorial on Wednesday including some new ideas! If you have not done so already please sign up for the Plant Sale. All members are required to participate and there are lots of opportunities to help if you are not able to be there on the day of the sale.

Click here for the sign up genius to participate:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A094DA4AB2EA1FB6-62731368-gccplant. 

Stay tuned for an email coming out in the next week with more specifics!

Garden Club Federation of MA upcoming classes:

FUNDAMENTALS OF FLORAL DESIGN II  – Wednesday, June 3, 2026 10:00 to 11:30 am at Topsfield Fairgrounds. It is a series of 2 classes to learn the elements and principles of design, Flower Show rules, and presentation of three designs to be critiqued. Instructors: NGC Judges Pat Fleming and Suzanne McCance.

Cost:$25 for one class, $40 for both. Checks made out to GCFM

Registration: Send your check, name, email, phone number, name of Garden Club to: Pat Fleming, 143 Cherry St, Wenham, MA 01984 All participants receive reference handouts. Contact Pat Fleming at fleming.3patricia@gmail.com with questions.

Best,
Holly
Wilhelmina’s Wonderful Workshop:
       
Lisa MacDonnell writes: 
 
Wilhelmina generously welcomed 10 members into her extraordinary home for a flower arranging workshop yesterday. The experience felt less like a demonstration and more like stepping into a master’s living work of art. While focusing on basic mechanics, choice of containers and structure, we witnessed her joyously compose nine stunning flower arrangements with simplicity and grace. Thank you, Wilhelmina, for inspiring us with your magic!
Speaking of Plant Sales…
 
The West Concord Green Thumbs is having a plant sale too.  If you need more plants head to their sale Saturday May 16!
 
In addition, The West Concord Green Thumbs would like to invite you to our up-coming Gardening Presentation with Trevor Smith at the Concord Free Public Library/Goodwin Forum on Thursday evening, May 21st from 6pm-7:30pm.
 
Trevor is a local area, award-winning regenerative landscape designer, and will be presenting a talk on ReWilding – the why, what, and how of native planting in your gardens and lawn. Transitioning to native planting can lead to many benefits, such as: 
  • Less maintenance and costs – Believe it or not, native trees, shrubs, and plants require little or no fertilizer, irrigation, and weeding, once established. 
  • Reduced need for mowing your lawn. 
  • Less water use – Many native alternatives have deep root systems which improve water efficiency through decreased need for irrigation. These conserve limited natural groundwater, especially in times of drought conditions. 
He will discuss different plant choices for your lawn and/or gardens that could turn your yard into a beautiful, sustainable, evolving habitat, and will also discuss why native landscaping is important to our community and environment. Pre-Registration is required – and even though the presentation is a couple of months away, we anticipate that it will fill up quickly, so consider signing up sooner than later. Here’s the link to the Registration….We hope that you can join us!

Upcoming Field Trip:

Maryrose Sykes writes:

We are very excited about the opportunity to visit The Gardens at Clock Barn in Carlisle, MA.  We have scheduled a private tour of the gardens on Wednesday, May 6th at 1pm (rain date on Thursday, May 7th). The owners, Maureen and Mike Ruettgers, have been gardening in Carlisle since purchasing the property in 1980, intending to inspire and educate visitors. In this remarkable garden, their children grew up having “walking picnics”, finding and devouring whatever was ripe; the garden is designed with both edible and ornamental plants.
 
Upon entering the gardens from an arched gate, there is a wonderful old barn with trays of dried flowers and herbs harvested from the gardens.  During 1939, these trays were drying digitalis leaves for a WPA project relating to the war effort, while cut off from Europe. The digitalis was used medicinally for the heart.  In addition to the old barn, there are beautifully manicured specimen gardens with greenhouses, apple and peach orchards, a woodland garden, a tree house and pond. It is a special property with amazing perennials, annuals, a collection of scented geraniums, over 25 varieties of dahlias, and much more.
 
The gardens at Clock Barn are fabulous!! We particularly encourage members who have never seen the gardens to sign up. If people have an interest, but the date does not work, then they can visit the gardens on “open days” offered through the Garden Conservancy, currently scheduled on May 2nd this spring. The owners are very excited about our Club members visiting the property!  
 
Carpool: 12:45pm at Walgreens (Concord Center)
* Please note that there are two dates provided. The date of the field trip is Wednesday, May 6th with a rain date being Thursday, May 7th.  You can sign up for both days, if you are available for both.  If you are not available for both days, you can sign up for just the day you are available.  The same approach applies to the waitlist.
Arbor Day is coming:
 
Jane Rupley writes:
 
The Garden Club of Concord is sponsoring Arbor Day again this year, to be held on Friday, April 24, at 11:00 a.m.
We donate a tree each year, and the Town kindly installs it on our behalf. This year, a Sourwood Tree will be planted at Rideout Park, in West Concord. The address is 61 Lawsbrook Road. 
 
Last year we planted a Sourwood in front of the Armory. It is a favorite tree of mine. It is a graceful native tree that blooms in mid summer with pendulous lily of the valley type flowers. It has spectacular Fall color of brilliant scarlet, requires acid soil and grows to about 30 ft. at maturity. Grow in full sun for best flowering and fall color. It has no serious pest problems. Please join us to celebrate this special National day. Refreshments will be served.

Other Events Around Town:

Plant Mobile: On July 15 The Mass. Horticultural Society plant mobile will visit the Buttrick Gardens with a program for children on pollinators. Registration opens in June.

Tea Party Request: The COA is having a Tea Party April 28th at 2:00 and they’re looking for one or two to come and do simple flower arrangements at 10:30 that morning.  Call Vicky at the COA if interested (978) 318-3020.

Beacon Hill: (one of my favorite events of the spring) May 21 is the Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill self-guided garden tour…rain or shine.  Check their website for details. www.beaconhillgardenclub.org
Buttrick Garden Tours: will take place May 28 and June 25.
 
Repeat reminder: May 1,2,3 is the 50th anniversary of Art in Bloom at the MFA in Boston.

Finally a lovely note and photo from member Ellen Whitney:

                                                              Ellen wrote on March 21, I was walking to yoga by the town garden yesterday, and look what I saw! They are teensy. Likely yesterday, the first day of spring, was their first day in bloom. Just thought you and maybe members might like to see when you’re getting a missive out.

 

 

 
Posted in activities, Federation of Garden Club Info, field trips, flowers, gardening, monthly events