Plant Sale, Arbor Day, and Liberty Trees

Marta Taylor and her flowers from the April 17th meeting

Plant Sale in Two Weeks!

First order of business is to update everyone about the plant sale (that’s the link to the sign up if you misplaced yours).

If you haven’t started digging and potting, you should start as soon as possible. Plants are more attractive to our buyers if the plants have had a chance to settle into their pots for a little while . . .  and (checking the clock) it’s only 13 days away! 

Very few members have asked for help digging, but there are volunteers with ready spades to help! Email Sarah Beguelin if you’d like some.

Susie Winstanley took this picture of Wilhelmina van der Wansem and plant sale co-chair Patricia Waters in Wilhelmina’s garden during a digging session this week. Don’t forget you can also donate tools for the plant sale at drop-off. 

Patricia writes:

Thank you!

Plants and tools drop off will be held over two days at 839 Lowell Road, aka at the house of Amanda von Weise. Just as a reminder: it’s a circular driveway, sometimes busy, and members are there to help you unload. 

Tuesday from 9 am to noon, break for lunch, then 1 pm to 4.

Wednesday, same as above.

With Sadness: Shelley Morss

Shelley sporting a festive fascinator at the September 2021 Cocktail party

News has come my way that Shelley Morss passed away on Thursday. Shelley was a long time Garden Club member, having joined in 1976 and achieved distinguished Honorary status through her many years of service. I know many of you must have fond memories of Shelley and like me have long admired her jewel box of a house on Manuel Drive surrounded by the beautiful garden designed by her daughter Lee Lee, also one of our members. As your newsletter editor, and also as one of Shelley’s fans, I would welcome any reminiscences you would care to share. Email me here. 

Arbor Day

Lauren Huyett writes:

The wonderful Garden Club tradition of donating a tree to the town on Arbor Day! The crew from Concord Public Works had the “October Glory” in place for our celebration at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center where the red maple will be a bright spot for passers-by for many years to come!

Attending (and pictured) were: Jane Rupley, Lauren Huyett, Carol Hryniewicz, Pam Hixon, Andrea Meyers, Judy Lane, Susan Hurley, Holly Salemy, Bean Nardi, Maryann Street, Lisa MacDonnell.

Speaking of Trees . . . 

Anyone attending Town Meeting this week might find the following story inspiring as Warrant #40 (concerning funding for Concord 250 activities) currently omits funding for a Liberty Tree memorial for reasons that include a presumption that trees are too ephemeral. Dennis Fiori asked local historian Robert Gross last week what Professor Gross knew about the trees planted at North Bridge. Dennis received this response:

Hi Dennis,
>
> Those trees lining the path to the 1837 monument by the North Bridge were planted in 1838. Here are my notes on this beautification of the bridge site from the autobiography of John Shepard Keyes:
>
> —————————–
> Keyes, Autobiog., 49 1/2
> –.–.–.–.–.–.–.–.–.–
> A year or two after the dedication of the Monument, on April 19 [1838]
> the townspeople held a “tree bee” for the purpose of “ornamenting the
> avenue to the Monument.” Supervised by Cyrus Warren, volunteers
> donated and planted trees on either side of the roadway in “four long
> straight lines to the river.” Altogether, about 100 trees — elms,
> buttonwoods, pines, maples, and spruces — were set out on the
> occasion, which turned into “a sort of festival.” The results of their
> labor have lasted a half-century and “promise a good old age yet.” As
> JSK recalls it, “most of the villagers” participated in the
> celebration, and their names were recorded by the Committee and
> preserved in a formal report to the town.
>
> But the exact kind and size of tree given by each donor was not listed
> next to the names. So, “it is impossible now to identify many of them,
> or which in the course of years have died and been removed.” And,
> though JSK doesn’t say this, nobody can go up to a tree and tell his
> descendants, “I planted this here.”
>
> The tree planting enhanced the attractiveness of the passage to the
> monument. “It made of the bleak road to the Monument a shaded avenue,
> that the visitor now would hardly identify in the old lithograph
> published before this planting.”
>
> And here from the Concord Town Meeting Records are the names of the donors of those trees:
>
> Monuments\Town meeting\
> —————————–
> CTM, 8: 170
> –.–.–.–.–.–.–.–.–.–
> Names of donors of trees to monument site, 4-19-1838
>
> Rev. Dr. Ripley
> Mr. Frost and Lady
> John M. Cheney and wife
> Nathan Brooks and daughter
> Samuel Hoar and daughter
> E.R. Hoar
> Josiah Bartlett and son
> Joseph Barrett and dau.
> Richard Barrett
> John Brown
> Cyrus Stow
> Cyrus Hapgood
> Nathan Barrett
> Nathan B. Stow
> C.C. Damon
> Anthony Wright
> Joseph Wright
> Daniel Shattuck and son
> Timothy Prescott
> George M. Barrett
> Elisha Wheeler
> Nehemiah Ball
> Dr. Heywood and sons
> Mr. Keyes, wife and son
> Cyrus Warren
> Reuben Brown
> Edwin J. Nelson
> William Blanchard
> Luther Wilkins
> R.W. Emerson
> John B. Clark
> Jabez Gowing
> N.M. Wright
> Samuel Staples
> Charles Fogg
> John Stacy and son
> A. Edwards wife and daughter
> Stephen Patch
> Micajah Rice
> Abel Brooks
> Nathaniel Rice
> John Thoreau
> William Bowers
>
> All the best,
>
> Bob
>
>
> Robert A. Gross
> James L. and Shirley A. Draper Professor
> Of Early American History Emeritus
> University of Connecticut

Fun Links

Marta Taylor’s Floral Arrangement session on April was truly fabulous. Everyone there was riveted. And if you were there and forgot the name of the Floral Clippers she recommended, here they are! 

Got Dandelions? Make some Dandelion Tea! It’s good for you.

 . . . or make Dandelion Fertilizer! Watch out, it’s stinky!

I missed this lunch with Kevin Starkey and Martha Stewart at Christies! In honor of the book release of Martha’s Flowers.