Midsummer Greetings
seen at Verrill Farm last week
*checks calendar*
Wow, is it August already? Actually, we are more than halfway through August. Why, it’s practically September! Or as my husband would quip: “Happy Hallowe’en!”
I don’t know about your garden, but I’ve had a banner summer with my herbs: they are all thriving and seemingly bug free (so far)! We’ve been making up for last year’s miserable tomato harvest with almost daily tomato, basil and mozzarella salads. And we have a volunteer pumpkin vine growing in the border that must have snuck in from the compost pile! I am so amused. Anyway: this little newsletter dispatch has two need-to-know bits for you, and then just a bunch of fun items of interest at the bottom that I’ve collected since June. I need to get them off my notepad so they don’t clutter up the place come September when we all get back to Club business. See you then, and in the meantime, savor the last muggy days of summer.
Ag Day September 7th
Concord’s annual Ag Day celebrating the vital agricultural community will be held on Main Street as usual. Our Garden Club booth will be included again this year, so drop by and say hi while you take in the street fair and the delights of the afternoon.
Welcome new member Sharon Vinci
I moved with my family (Bob, my husband; Jacob, my son and rising 10th grader at CCHS; and, Maks, our 9-year-old English Cream Golden Retriever) during the summer of 2023 for a great professional opportunity as SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer at Aspen Technology. I’ve worked in Human Resources for over 25 years and have had the good fortune of living in Florida, California, Scotland, and, now, Massachusetts. With all of those moves, I’ve loved learning about the differences in gardening in very different climates which is the basis for my interest in joining the Concord Garden Club. Even before these moves, horticulture and floristry have been part of my life since my family owned a floral business as I grew up. I’m also looking forward to getting my hands dirty (literally and figuratively) as I learn about gardening in our new home state and contributing as a member of the club. More importantly, I am excited about getting connected within our local community and being part of the projects the club sponsors.
As Always, Plant Sale . . .
Are you thinking ahead to next May as you make the weeding rounds? Now is a great time to take a garden inventory, if you haven’t already. Ornamental grasses benefit from fall dividing, and if you have unusual hostas, they are prettier at sale time when they have been divided and potted up in the fall. You can overwinter them in a protected area, or in their new pots buried under bark mulch. Do you have dahlias? Take pictures of them before they fade if you plan to divide your tubers for the sale. You did label your best non-purple Irises in June, right? No? oh well, maybe next year!
Fun Links: Gardener and Bug Lover Edition
I especially enjoyed this post from Jana Milbocker’s Enchanted Gardens Blog about Joyce Hannaford’s exuberant garden in Natick, Massachusetts, and the true-to-life tips from her experience as a hands-on gardener.
Is it a Dragonfly or a Damselfly? Thank you to Ellen Matheson for the article.
We love our pollinators! National Pollinator Week is an annual celebration since 2010 in support of pollinator health that was initiated and is managed by Pollinator Partnership. This year National Pollinator Week festivities took place across the country June 17 – 23, and in celebration this particular episode of the podcast Cultivating Place looked closely at one particular group of our native pollinators, the charismatic bumble bees with more than 250 species in the genus Bombus. Read that again: 250 species of bumble bees. This wikipedia page makes me so happy.
If you love podcasts, I also recommend you queue up this other episode of Cultivating Place from last December, an interview with organic gardening icon, Maria Rodale.
From Kate Wharton
Apropos of the Club’s visit to New York City’s High Line Park last spring, I found a pdf of their complete plant list for your perusal. How many do you know?
Does it seem like there are there more Monarchs around this year than last year? As it turns out, the population is indeed rebounding! And boy, are they BIG!
