September 2020
Message from the President
Greetings!

It’s the beginning of a new working year for the LGC, and our committees are off and running, planning activities for the year.

The club will have the chance to meet for not just one, but two programs this month. 

We’ll meet by zoom with Julia Metcalf’s cousin, a master composter in Washington state, and we’ll gather, socially-distanced, in the Tapping Reeve Meadow to present annual awards. Click HERE for details of the Awards Meeting.

With so many activities in the works and ways to be involved, I hope you’ll find something to participate in at your own comfort level, whether in person or online.

All the best and stay well,

Virtual Meeting
Peter Dubois, Master Composter
Peter will discuss active and passive composting, composting techniques and equipment, and explain how to effectively use compost to transform your gardens.

September 17, 2020
3:00 PM
Zoom
We are fortunate to have Master Composter Pete Dubois lead us in a conversation about composting. Pete coordinates the Master Composter Recycler program for Clark County, WA which intensively trains 30 volunteers annually and an additional 400 community members through their Spring and Fall workshop series. Pete has constructed hundreds of compost piles and built dozens of lasagna compost gardens. In addition, he maintains 20 worm bins and oversees a large-scale vermicomposting system. Over 5 tons of urban waste (food scraps, coffee grounds, shred paper) are processed annually at his close-in urban home.

Please join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone
or dial in using your phone
A Zoom link will be sent prior to the meeting
Committee Reports & Announcements
Vice President
We had a wonderful welcome for our three new Provisional Members at Frank Fontana’s house in mid-August. Frank and his gardens were most welcoming to these new members, all avid planters and gardeners! Hopefully everyone will meet them sometime soon. In the meantime, say hello virtually to Cameron Bove, Crystal Carminati, and Susan Fearey on our Members’ Blog Page
 
Treasurer
Many thanks to the members who made donations to the LGC funds along with their dues: 

CIVIC FUND: Judy Ash, in memory of Tracy Griswold, Ann Borzilleri, Susan Jordan, Sue Kennedy, JoAnna Koster, Cathy Oneglia, Rosamond Quay, Christine Rindos, Phil Samponaro, Nan Skeie, Holly Taylor, and Barbara Veerman 
POLLINATOR GARDEN: Joan Burgess, Susan Jordan, Sue Kennedy, Jackie Miller, Ellen Oneglia, Rosamond Quay, Christine Rindos, and Holly Taylor 
CENTENNIAL FUND: Polly Brooks, Susan Jordan, Sue Kennedy (in memory of her mother, a LGC member), Seton O’Reilly, Christine Rindos, and Holly Taylor 
 
Conservation Committee
Change of Date - In the interest of social distancing and safety, Our 50th Anniversary Earth Day Tree Planting at Tapping Reeve House has been moved from September 17, 2020 to the Spring or Autumn of 2021. Please delete this September date from your diary. We look forward to celebrating this event together next year.  
Rain and Pollinator Gardens
Our Rain and Pollinator gardens are thriving at White Memorial! Thank you to everyone who donated plants, watered, weeded, and gave us incredible support establishing these gardens. All together you have created a place of peace and beauty. Enjoy them, visit them often, especially during these times when we all need a change of environment and connection with nature. These are your gardens! Visit our website for additional images and updates.
Horticulture
Greetings! The summer is winding down in spite of a few lingering 90 degree days. You can already see how much lower the sun is and how much shorter the days are.   

As fall approaches, I have been asking myself what to do with all of these “houseplants” that I have collected. How about you?   I have heard from some of you about how well your “Hot Pops” peppers are doing. Mine were doing very well too until a bird (and not a chipmunk I think) found the fruit, and now my plants are naked. Oh, no! They are re-flowering, so we’ll see. Thankfully, these peppers are for our own enjoyment and not a competition. Congratulations on getting them going from seed! 
 
Included in this newsletter at long last is the short slide show of plant portraits that many submitted to me earlier in the summer. My future son-in-law helped me with this project. We had hoped to get it to you sooner, but work and a hurricane slowed us down. At last it’s done, and I hope that it puts a smile on your face. Thanks again to all those who shared their photos. Hopefully, we will have a few horticultural adventures this fall. Enjoy the cooler weather.

Click the button below for the slideshow. Use the password Litchfield to get in.

Photography
The Photography Committee met on the 27th, and we voted to hold an online sweepstakes in September. See the attachment (print version) for the classes and timing details.

We are excited to assist with photography in the ongoing Pollinator Pathway program and in the GCA documentation of all of the Olmsted designed gardens, parks, parkways, landscape designs, etc. in the country. There are several properties that are local, and you will definitely hear more about this project soon.

Upcoming events of interest:
The Hollister House is hosting again an iPhone photography workshop on Friday, September 11. Sign up through their website.

The Berkshire Botanical Garden is hosting a lecture with the author, online and virtual, sign up on their website.

THE EARTH IN HER HANDS: 75 EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN WORKING IN THE WORLD OF PLANTS,
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 - 6:00PM TO 7:00PM

Projects and Civic Beautification
Dale and I hope that you had a wonderful and safe summer. In September, we will be changing out our summer planters for Fall. We might want to change the name of Murphy’s planter since Murphy’s Pharmacy is sadly no longer there. If you have any suggestions for a new name, please send them to me at lynne.sherman@yahoo.com. A special thank you to all of our dedicated watering people. You are the best! 

From the Communications Desk
The Blog page is updated regularly - visit often.

Blog Posts: How and what to post? Take a look at what has been posted already, and that may spark a thought. Entries are up to approx 200 words. Send your image(s), article and article title to Joan Burgess for posting.
Don't see something but want it posted or have a question - contact Joan. Need LGC information - use our website! It's all there and easy to find.

If you want something posted on the LGC Calendar, please contact Joan.
News and Upcoming Events
Remember Ranger Doug who let us use his posters for our 2017 Flower Show? Diane Stoner hosted him at her Colorado house next to Rocky Mountain National Park a few years ago. There is a terrific article about him - Click 'Meet the National Parks’ ‘Ranger of the Lost Art’.

Background: In 2015 we were planning our flower show celebrating the centennial of our National Parks and happened to come across Ranger Doug Enterprises online. Diane Stoner contacted him and discovered that he would allow us to use his images without charge for our show. That conversation floated a dinner invitation at her family house near Rocky Mountain NP for summer 2016. Doug joined the Stoners for a memorable dinner, and they are still in touch. He is an American original. He currently lives on an 1899 tugboat in Petersburg, Alaska.
Grow a garden in your backyard...
Be inspired by the experts of horticulture...
Find solace working with plants...

The Garden Club of America invites you to join us virtually for this exciting opportunity as we bring together passionate plant enthusiasts, world-class gardens, and horticulture demonstrations all in one epic location.

Tuesday, September 22:
    11:00 a.m. EST - Morning Session
    4:00 p.m. EST - Afternoon Session

Wednesday, September 23:
    11:00 a.m. EST - Morning Session
    4:00 p.m. EST - Afternoon Session

Registration for the virtual conference is free and open to all club members of the GCA!*
Upcoming events from GCA
Next year, conferences that could only be offered to a few GCA club members in the past will be available to every club member at no cost. For these conferences, we are assembling a powerhouse of speakers who will share with you their lifelong accumulation of knowledge and wisdom. But, we don’t plan to just tell you or teach you; we plan to involve you in dynamic experiences that will offer you the opportunity to apply what you have heard. 

Mark your calendars now, and save these dates: 
  • September 22-23, 2020 ~ Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference
  • November 17-18, 2020 ~ Conservation Study Conference
  • January 21, 2021 ~ Photography Conference ~ NEW!
  •  February 23-24, 2021 ~ National Affairs & Legislation Conference
  • April 8, 2021 ~ Floral Design Conference ~ NEW!
  • May 11-12, 2021 ~ GCA Annual Meeting

Further information on these events will follow.