Message from the President
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Greetings!
Though deep in the cold of winter right now, my garden is never far from my mind. I imagine it’s the same for all of you. Just for fun in this off-season, I am offering an optional challenge. What is your favorite garden perennial? Obviously, the challenge here is narrowing your answer to just one. I want to know about that one plant you can’t wait for each season, or that one you have always admired in a friend’s garden, or that one plant that you’ll definitely dig up and take with you if you move, etc. Please
reply to me
with your answer, and I will share the results with everyone at our next meeting. Oh, but there’s a catch! Please send me your answer in proper botanical nomenclature. This will be good practice for entering your hort in our next sweeps or show. As a reminder on how to do this properly, I’m including a handout produced by Texas A&M University. Click
HERE
for the handout. Have fun with this challenge, and I can’t wait to hear about your favorite plants!
Good luck!
Annie
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Orchids, Orchids, Orchids!
by Dr. Susan Kennedy
Litchfield Community Center
January 23, 2020
2:00 p.m.
Click
HERE
for more information
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Committee Reports & Announcements
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When you put 15 expert gardeners together, you know you are going to get some serious magic as a result! We met to layout the planting schemes for the Pollinator Garden area under the wild black cherry trees near Ongley Pond at White Memorial, based on three seasons of flowering perennials. Fifteen club members were present at our December 16th Conservation meeting and we set to work in three groups, a season for each group (Spring, Summer, Fall).
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After identifying the list of plants and noting their placement on the site, each group gave a presentation about their design and plant choices. It was great collaborative work and a chance to share plant and garden knowledge together. This is an excellent beginning for the future shape of our Pollinator Garden. It was fun!
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Please put on your calendars dates for upcoming 2020 Conservation meetings: January 10th, February 7th, March 6th, April 3rd, 12:30 pm @ the Oliver Wolcott Library.
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There will be a GH&D meeting January 10th at 10 AM at Diane Stoner’s house.
We will be reviewing documentation of the Ethan Allen garden at Jane Hinkel’s home.
Please let Diane know if you can attend. Everyone is invited.
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On November 15, 2019, 5 dedicated gardeners gathered to learn how to divide, label and store Dahlias in the hopes that we could share the glory of these blooms! We have a few extra if anyone is interested. We will have a sweepstakes honoring them at our September meeting.
See images.
Our next workshop will be February 13 (12 noon) at Grace Yagtug’s barn where we will learn the techniques of propagating seed into 1 gallon milk jugs which are then set outside for the remainder of the winter. I had originally thought that this was possible for only hardy plant seeds however Grace practices this with her Zinnias and other non-hardy ornamentals. It will be an interesting workshop and we will follow up another time with the technique of growing under lights and on heat mats. This event will be a harbinger of springs’ eventuality and warmer weather to come!
Speaking of seeds, we have received seeds of Capsicum ‘Hot Pops Purple’ which is a cute ornamental pepper with round purple fruit. These are for the Gavel challenge at the Zone II annual meeting in October 2020. We will need to propagate those too, and grow them on organically.
January sweepstakes:
Our first sweepstakes of the year will take place at our January meeting. For those who enter, please bring your plants between 11:30 and 12:00 to the Community Center. I hope that many of you will enter!! The sweepstakes will be for house plants or non-hardy plants (the ones that you have brought in for the winter). We will divide them into blooming or non-blooming/foliage plants. Are there enough members who still have trained or stuffed topiaries that you want to make a separate class with them? Let me know if you need entry cards, they are on our website in a printable form. Please try to fill them out in advance to make the process go more smoothly. We are hoping this might be a stepping off point for entries for the Connecticut Flower Show which starts Thursday February 20, however entries need to be brought on the 18th. I will follow up on that.
Click HERE for more information on the show.
If anyone would like help on choosing plants for our sweepstakes or the Hartford show please reach out to me. There will be members going who can help transport your plants if you cannot attend the event.
Other sweepstakes will be In May of 2020 at our May meeting, and we will be concentrating on spring flowering plants from outside and indoor plants also, so if that favorite begonia or Streptocarpus wasn’t blooming in January maybe it will be in May!
And our last sweepstakes for the season (2019-2020) will be in June at the meeting, this will include all outdoor plants.
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This is your final announcement to send in your membership proposals. I need them postmarked (email would be okay too) by January 15th. Please send to my address below…
P.O. Box 1090, Litchfield, CT 06759
Feel free to add as much information about your prospective members as possible as this material will help the membership committee understand why you feel they would be a great fit for our club. The membership committee will meet in early February and looks forward to reviewing the various portfolios.
Thank you.
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January 23rd is a day which promises to lift your spirits and possibly instigate beautiful and perhaps new pursuits as well! All you need to do is come to the Litchfield Community Center at 2 o’clock, put on your glasses, take out pen and paper, then sit down and let our own Susan Kennedy inspire you while sharing her love and knowledge of orchids. This will be a lovely way to launch into a new gardening year.
Kate Jamison and her amazing horticulturalists will further inspire us with a Horticulture Sweepstakes featuring flowering and/or foliage houseplants.
Lastly, but certainly worth note, is the fact that it will no longer be dark at 4:30 in the afternoon, a much nicer way to enjoy the hospitality of LGC. Looking forward to seeing you all there.
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Projects/Civic Beautification
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Projects/Civic Beautification has finalized our plans for the benches and cubbies at the skating rink behind the town hall. We worked with Woodmaster Builders from Litchfield (keeping it local) and are pleased to announce that the benches and cubbies are now complete! We are hoping to have a skating party to celebrate soon. Grab your skates and stay tuned for the LGC skating party.
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Message from our Vice President
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Do sign up for the GCA On the Road at Yale School of Forestry on March 14, from 11-3. The cost is $60. Learning and lunch; what could be better? These events fill up quickly, click
HERE to register. I will be driving to New Haven and can take 3 others. We can add more carpools if necessary. Email me or call with any questions. See additional detail below.
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From the Communications Desk
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There have been several email changes in the LGC Directory. Please note:
Click
HERE if you would like a copy of the GCA active member Directory.
Do you want to be part of a LGC Committee - and be included on the committee mailing list? Visit our
Clipboard
page to lean more.
Do you need help in logging into the GCA website? Each member has their own user name and password. Do you need the password for The Federated Garden Club of CT? Check with
Joan
if you need help.
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.
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Upcoming Events for your Calendar & Member News
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LGC Conservation Field Trip
16 January, 2020 Thursday
12:00 pm
Meet at St. Anthony Church parking lot for car pooling.
What better way to bring in the New Year than to spend time in a warm, magical butterfly house in the company of over 200 tropical butterflies!
The butterfly house at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford, Connecticut has up to 50 different species of butterflies and 30 different nectar growing plants, including a butterfly nursery.
You may even have the great fortune of having a butterfly alight on your shoulder if you are quiet and still. Enjoy the moment! Taking photos is encouraged.
Please let me know if you are coming and I look forward to seeing you there!
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LGC Conservation & Horticulture -
Seeds Are Smart!
seminar
13 February, 2020 Thursday
12:00 pm
Meet at The Gray Barn, 191 Fern Avenue, Litchfield
Can you really plant seeds in February, and set them outside for the remaining winter season? Yes! You can.
Horticulture and Conservation invite you to a
Seeds Are Smart
seminar to learn how to plant seeds in jugs and set them outside until the Spring. This results in thick, vigorous seedlings with no need for hardening before planting out in your garden.
The seeds know when to start their growth as the winter ends, and the jugs provide them with the protection and environment to withstand the weather, mice and other hungry creatures and natural condensation maintains exactly the right amount of moisture.
All supplies are provided, just bring your curiosity and willingness to plant some seeds! We will work inside the barn by the warmth of the wood stove, and you will return home with your jugs of planted seeds to set outside until the Spring.
Please let
Kate Jamison
and me know if you are coming. I look forward to seeing you there!
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LGC Open Conservation Meeting - March 12, 2020. Speaker is Dr. Megan Parker -
Working Dogs for Conservation. Noon at the LCC.
Learn more.
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Upcoming GCA On the Road trip to Yale School of Forestry, March 16, 2020.
A note from
Susan Magary
: I will be driving to the Yale event on March 16, and can organize other carpools as needed. Please let me know if you have trouble signing up for the trip on the
GCA website
(you must be logged into the GCA website)
, and I will walk you through it! It should be a marvelous day, Conservation-wise.
YALE SCHOOL OF FORESTRY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES...
in Zone II
New Haven, CT | Monday, March 16, 2020 | 11:00am to 3:00pm | Max: 70
Spend a stimulating day learning from faculty and researchers at this notable institution whose graduates include Aldo Leopold and Frances Beinecke. Learn more about invasive plants in urban public spaces, new urban conservation initiatives, biological disruptors, and the role of a university botanical garden. Enjoy lunch in and tour Kroon Hall, a Platinum LEED building.
REGISTRATION OPENS 12/1/19
WETHERSFIELD AND INNISFREE...
in Zone III
Millbrook, NY | Friday, May 15, 2020 | Time TBD | Max: 40
Tour these two stunningly different gardens with curator and GCA club member Kate Kerin. Wethersfield, now a public garden and foundation, was Chauncey Devereux Stillman's estate, a sanctuary of elegance and charm. Innisfree is a 150-acre public garden and is recognized as one of the world's ten best gardens, an icon of mid-twentieth century design. And have a lovely lunch, too! This trip will coincide with the Trade Secrets Garden Show.
REGISTRATION OPENS 2/1/20
Read more
about all the GCA On the Road Trips.
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Spring into Connecticut for the 39th annual Flower Show of the Federated Garden Clubs of CT., Inc at the Convention Center in Hartford - a NGC Standard Flower Show “Spring into Connecticut” from February 20 – 23, 2020.
You’ll get that first taste of Spring that we all need in late winter as you enjoy more than 60 creative floral designs inspired by Connecticut’s Cityscapes, Orchards, Rivers and the Shoreline.
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Litchfield Garden Club | PO Box 848, Litchfield CT 06759
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