October Addenda
The Pansy Project for Concord 250
President Lauren Huyett writes:
Dear Garden Club of Concord members,
I want to share some exciting news about a new opportunity for our Club to directly participate in Concord’s 250th anniversary celebrations next year, including the Patriot’s Day parade that will take place on Saturday, April 19th, 2025.
Following initial discussions with Faye Allen and Holly Cratsley, who head up the “Beautification of Concord for April 2025” committee, Paula Casey and I met with store owners along Main and Walden Streets. Our conversations were to ensure that they would be willing to showcase pansies in window boxes and urns in front of their stores. The pansies will be red, white and blue; the colors will closely match the American flag. These plantings would also include ivy, pussy willows, small flags and little markers indicating that this gift to Concord is from our garden club.
These pansies are generally not available in large numbers commercially because of their unique colors. Consequently, we plan to have Colonial Gardens grow these plants from seed now so that they will be ready for April 2025. We plan to have a “work day” to install all of the pansies and other materials in window boxes and urns at designated stores. The event will be open to all garden club members to participate in. For the future of these plantings, all store owners have committed to caring for and watering their arrangements.
Because we were approached about this project recently, it was not included in the budget for this year. It needs to be funded by specific donations from our garden club members. We currently estimate it will cost 5-7K. We, as a Board, intend to donate generously to this project and we encourage all interested members to do the same. It is a very visual way to celebrate our 250th and the April 19th parade.
If you are interested in donating to this town project, please send checks made out to the Garden Club of Concord and send to either our PO Box or directly to Rod Riedel, our treasurer-here are addresses:
Garden Club of Concord, PO Box 1296, Concord 01742 OR send directly to Rod Riedel, Treasurer, 324 Main Street, Concord 01742.
Venmo is also available in the same way you use it to pay your membership dues. Thanks so much in advance! We feel this is a very exciting project for our Club.
–Lauren Huyett
Club Trip to New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill
Sarah Paino, Lisa MacDonnell, Nan Gustafson, Patricia Waters, Maryrose Sykes
Maryrose Sykes writes: On October 15 th , 2024, a group traveled to the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston, MA, touring a portion of the 200-acre property, home of the third oldest horticultural society in the country. Our fabulous docent, Kathleen, kicked off our tour in The Court, an accessible garden with raised beds and plants selected for their multi-sensory appeal. An impressive 200-year old ash tree is featured in this area, in addition to the two vertical irrigated plant walls, including geraniums, coleus, heuchera, asparagus ferns and more. We learned that the botanic garden has a philosophy of “make haste slowly”, meaning don’t do anything too quickly.
The nearby vegetable garden highlights the sustainably grown heirloom vegetables, fruits and herbs typically producing 800 to 1,000 pounds of food annually, donated to Worcester based organizations supporting food insecurity; Lemon grass, pink amaranth, celery, parsley, carrots, bunching onion and cardoon were some of the plants still growing in the garden.
We enjoyed several additional gardens: (1) Cottage garden intended to greet guests near the 1740’s farmhouse and the first garden developed when the property was purchased in 1986, (2) Lawn garden with 3.5 acres of open space showcasing trees and shrubs on its border with beautiful fall foliage, (3) Secret garden located below the Lawn garden, an intimate space that is perfect for wedding ceremonies, (4) Climate garden used as a teaching garden for youth with an emphasis on sustainability, and (5) Garden of Inspiration, a more formal garden, with 22 plant beds including both annuals and perennials.
Our visit continued with a self-guided tour of a conservatory, The Limonaia; an opportunity to view blooming camellia’s, many from the Isabella Stewart Gardner collection. Following, we admired the enchanted fairy forest exhibition, featuring over 30 magical fairy houses, built with natural and nature inspired materials located throughout the winding pathway known as the Ramble.
Throughout several different gardens, we admired the special exhibit called “Flora in Flight”, created by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics. The colorful, hand-sown canvases dance in the wind, transforming each of the garden spaces. A wonderful, sight to see!
The onsite café, Farmer and the Fork, provided us all great options for lunch, and expansive autumnal views of the Wachusett Reservoir.
A wonderful place to learn about plants and appreciate New England’s natural environment!
Clock Tower Garden Flower Arrangers Get Together
Wilhelmina van der Wansem sent along this memento of a reunion she hosted of some of the talented floral artists who participated in the Art of Flower Arranging day in Maureen Ruettgers’ Carlisle garden in September. As you can see, the Garden Club of Concord was well represented. If you missed the post about the event, scroll back to September for a quick recap. Pictured above are Erika Rodriguez, Pam Nelson, Wilhelmina, Jo-Ann Lovejoy, Jeanne Hamilton, Maria Olander, and Kate Wharton.
Save the Date: December 10th for Holiday Workshop
Save the date for the Club’s annual holiday workshop on Tuesday December 10th from 10-11:30 at Tri-Con. A sign up will be sent out soon. Hope to see you there! Katie Wilson & Anne Umphrey
Fun Links for Leisure
For your Podcast queue: Fall Cleanup, according to Doug Tallamy on A Way to Garden
Save your garden parsley in the freezer! Here’s how.
Amy Tan’s favorite Birding Gear, according to The Strategist
Speaking of birds, do you know about the giant pigeon sculpture by Iván Argote recently installed on The Highline? It’s called Dinosaur.
