May Newsletter

By Julia Farwell-Clay | May 11, 2023

With the Plant Sale this Saturday and our evening May meeting next week, I thought there is so much to cover, I should send this batch of news out now rather than wait.

Is this thing on?

First of all, our Facebook page is live! Please follow the page and share with your friends. Sally Savelle and Barbara Fadden have worked hard to mindfully envision our internet presence going forward, and they are forming a content committee that will work with our webmaster to oversee the website, and plan our interactions with traditional and social media. Please let them know if you’re interested. 

 

May Meeting

Please remember that our May meeting is open to the public and is at 7 pm at Trinity-Con. Our program will be Pruning Demystified! Be a barber, not a butcher … from holly to hydrangeas, learn the proper way to prune your shrubs and trees. C.L. Fornari is the author of eight books, including Coffee for Roses and The Cocktail Hour Garden. She’s a professional speaker, the host of GardenLine on WXTK, and co-host of the Plantrama podcast. She is a frequent speaker to groups nationwide, and has worked for a family-owned independent garden center for 25 years. C.L. grows vegetables, flowers, shrubs, trees and numerous other plants at Poison Ivy Acres on Cape Cod. Connect with her at www.GardenLady.com. 

There’s still a few opportunities to provide for our lemonade & cookie break afterwards, if you are so inclined. 

 

Arbor Day

Many thanks to Community Outreach Chair Wendy McNally and Arbor Day Chair Susan Hurley, and everyone else who came out to support our town DPW workers and administration. The annual Garden Club tree gift this year is a Jefferson Elm, planted on the green space next to Nosh at Concord. DPW director Alan Cathcart tells me that former tangle across the road from Public Works was cleared out and furnished with picnic tables by volunteer DPW folks during Covid to give patrons at the marketplace a pleasant outdoor space to eat. And now it is punctuated with a glorious tree! There are two others across the street planted just last year, so there will be a mini-grove on Keyes Road in years to come. 

 

Art in Bloom

The club’s assigned object this year was the pair of John Singleton Copley 1760’s portraits of Mr & Mrs James Warren. A number of friends in and out of the club sent me photos of the arrangement made by Erika Rodriguez and Jeanne Hamilton using Butterfly Ranunculus, Ranunculus, Peonies, Delphinium, Garden Roses, Queen Anne’s Lace, Sweet Peas, Cherry Blossoms, Jasmine, and Agonis. 

I understand Jeanne and Erika are especially proud of how it was the container (found at Home Goods!) that echoed the teal in Mercy Otis Warren’s dress, since there aren’t many teal options in the floral world. I hope many members were able to appreciate it in person as the show this year was exceptional. You can read more about the fascinating Warrens and their Copley portraits on the MFA website here and here. 

 

 

Welcome new member, Catherine Cagle!

Catherine writes: “Five years ago my husband and I moved to Concord with our Labrador, Lizzy. I am a landscape architect who just retired. After many years of enjoying the Concord Garden Club Plant Sale, I am very proud to become a member and get involved with community service projects, especially those that involve dirt and being outdoors. In addition to gardening, I am a passionate knitter (new spinner), watercolorist, birder, runner and 9th year PMC Rider.”

 

 

 

Two field trips this month happened quietly. A group went to the Rose Kennedy Greenway on a chilly day last week for a guided tour of the park’s highlights, and Joan Campbell led an intrepid few through the mysterious Wright Woods last Monday afternoon. I know getting together is one of the things that especially appeals to Garden Club members, and we have a lot more of that to look forward to soon.

 

Fun Links

 

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