The aster has not wasted spring and summer because it has not blossomed.
It has been all the time preparing for what is to follow, and in autumn it is
the glory of the field, and only the frost lays it low.”
Henry Ward Beecher
We all fondly remember this dainty blue flower celebrated by Angela Overy when she chose the Aster for our 2019 SMHC logo. This daisy-like star flower represents not only love and patience, but also reminds us of past events we wish had happened differently or not at all. Many cultures give this simple, small flower magical and healing powers that might be used to heal wounds or just put a smile on someone’s face.
We wish the weather had happened differently for our Annual Meeting, but we will try again to be together outside in October at Chatfield Farms in the Deer Creek Stables. Brian Vogt and Larry Vickerman have adjusted their schedules to share DBG’s Long Range Plan for Chatfield Farms. We are lucky to have all the Denver Botanic Gardens locations to enjoy, including York Street, Chatfield Farms, Mt. Goliath and the Plains Conservation Center.
Your Committee Chairmen are working hard to offer workshops that are educational and fun for everyone, both outdoors and on Zoom. We hiked and biked with Amy Mower and Lise Woodard in Waterton Canyon, learned how to hand tie a bouquet in Nina Sisk’s gorgeous backyard, or took our flowers home to follow a personal video. Please do not be left out in the future! Watch for emails with SignUpGenius links to sign up for meetings and other amazing opportunities! You can also sign-up for General Meetings and most workshops in the Members Area on our website.
The Language of Flowers: A GCA Flower Show will provide us all with endless opportunities to stay busy and connected. The schedule is on our website in the Members Area and copies will be available at the October Meeting. Remember, you can enter classes with a friend. This buddy system can also help us all navigate this new technology, which is intimidating to many of us. Please reach out to a fellow member or members this year and share your expertise while having fun together. It’s a win-win!
If you put Aster flowers in wine, the wine will taste like honey,
even though there is no honey in it.
Anonymous
Cheers,
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Conservation Corner
by Amy Mower
After watching a segment on Denver Composting on the PBS News hour, I have been obsessing about how I can start composting without actually having to manage a composting bin myself. I have to admit my attempt at a home compost bin was aborted as soon as I saw a rat scurrying around the area. So why does Denver have a composting program and Greenwood Village does not? After contacting GWV, I learned the reason: budget.
Since trash and recycling costs are part of our city taxes, we feel like we have a free service and people are not willing to spend more for composting. Denver charges just $10/month for its service and has only 13% participation. That sounds like a bargain to me because outside of Denver, we have to contract independently and pay a lot more with a much smaller collection bin.
So here are some reminders on why this service may be a great way to conserve our resources and have a tremendous impact on the environment. If you look at the landfill in Denver, 25% is recyclable and 50% is compostable. That is a 75% reduction in waste right off the bat. When organic material is mixed into the landfill, it generates a tremendous amount of methane gas, which is 26 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Landfills are the single largest contributor of US generated methane emissions. We as a country generate 40-million tons of food waste and only 6% is composted. By using this amended organic material into our soil, it will help our ever-decreasing topsoil layer build back the nutrients that we have been robbing from the earth.
Is this an incentive to separate food and organic materials? I hope so! Denver and Boulder are two of a handful cities that offer a curbside composting services - let’s use it!
For those of you looking for contract services for composting services outside of Denver, check out Compost Colorado, and Wompost.
Also, click here if you want to watch the PBS segment on Denver Composting.
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Opportunity to Focus on Focus
by Suellen White &
Deborah Foy, co-chairs
The September 2020 issue of GCA’s Focus is out! Time to enjoy this visual feast and educational tool. Click here to check it out.
Showcased are photographs from a GCA Major Flower Show, “20-20 Vision”, put on by six Chicago-area clubs. Members from all over the country entered photographs – the class winners are outstanding.
Also, check out the article on cultural landscapes. What’s the difference between a landscape photograph and a cultural landscape photograph? The article answers the question definitively, complete with example photos.
We hope many of you sent an entry to the Focus contest, ‘America the Beautiful.’ In November, Focus will produce a special voting issue for the contest. Get ready to vote!
Mark your calendars!
Our committee’s first workshop will be Friday, October 9th,, 10 a.m. at DBG outside in the gardens. A detailed description of the workshop and the pre-workshop webinar will be sent out to all committee members. If you are not signed up for the photography committee, please do so on the GCD website or give either of us a call.
GCA will have a new online full-day educational Photography Conference on January 21, 2021. The conference will be open to all 18,000 members of GCA clubs, free of charge. Stay tuned for more details and registration information.
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Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' by Suellen White |
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Horticulture 101 Is Live
On The GCA Website:
Knowing, Growing, Showing
by Nancy Schotters
The GCA Horticulture Committee has spent a couple of years developing a curriculum for clubs and members to be more engaged with horticulture. There are several hands-on propagation topics as well as how to show specimens in flower shows. The committee has prepared detailed instructions as well as slide shows demonstrating a step-by-step approach to propagate plants in a variety of ways. During the year, the Horticulture Committee plans to try our hands at propagation, potentially for specimens to enter in the upcoming flower show “The Language of Flowers.” Take a look at the GCA website to check out the modules. Click here to read the article.
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Now is the Time...
by Dodie Jackson
If you are thinking about entering a Botanic Art Class in The Language of Flowers, next Fall, now is the time for you to start gathering, drying and pressing your plant material.
There are so many choices this time of year. The variety of materials is amazing!
Please see the links below for a list of Botanical Supplies and Materials and start collecting now.
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Floral Design
Nina Sisk and Cora Wheeler
The Floral Design Committee held it's first meeting Monday, September 14th, in person no less! We welcomed an enthusiastic group while maintaining social distance outside.
We touched on topics of our goals for the year, the frequency and process of meetings and programs, and skill development in anticipation of the "Language of Flowers" flower show in September, 2021.
Our first program on September 24th focused on the technique for a hand-tied bouquet. A gorgeous autumn recipe was created by Cora. The photo above is her inspiration.
Members were able to pick up the ingredients for the bouquet in a grab-and-go package or select stems from presorted tubs of beautiful stems. A video was created for members to watch while creating the bouquets at home.
If you have not done so please join our committee on the GCD website. By joining you will help create our focus for the year and be the first to know our plans. We looking forward to a great year!
October Monthly Tip:
Lets get started by Creating your Florist Toolbox
Having the right supplies for floral arranging organized together will simplify the "doing" when inspiration strikes.
- Tool Box (from Home Depot or Michael's) or canvas bag
- Floral Snips (Chikamasa T-600 Almighty Shears)
- Pruners (Felco F-2)
- Fabric Scissors
- Flower Frogs; assorted sizes and styles
- Floral Adhesive Clay (for securing frogs to vases and containers)
- Floral Stem Wrap
- Waterproof Floral Tape
- Rubber bands
- Twine
- Chicken Wire
- Wire: 26 gauge paddle (spool) wire and precut stem wire
- Wired Picks
- Water Tubes: prefer tubes with stem
Extras:
- Rose Snipper
- floral buckets
- Lazy Susan or a large round cork mat....anything that will allow you to rotate your floral design as you work
- straight corsage pins
- glue gun
- lighter (for sealing stems)
- Ribbon, raffia
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Congrats to our own Tish Szurek! Her beautiful photo of Booth Falls trail in Vail, Colorado was included in the September GCA Newsletter. |
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Get a Tech Buddy!
Do you want to attend meetings or workshops virtually but not sure how the technology works? Call Meg Nichols and she’ll set you up with a technology buddy who can help you!
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We are updating our calendar page on the GCD Website in the Members Area. The shared Google calendar will remain, and we are creating a new, easy-to-read event listing below the calendar. The event listing will go through the end of this year and into next year, so you can get the important GCD dates into your personal calendar. Please send your event information to Alice Hughes at ahughes521@msn.com and Alice will post your event. |
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The Language of Flowers
GCA Flower Show
by Missy Eliot
The Garden Club of Denver will be hosting, hopefully in person, a GCA Flower Show, “The Language of Flowers”, September 3rd and 4th, 2021 in the lobby of the Freyer Newman building at DBG. The final schedule for the flower show has been approved by the GCA Flower Show Committee and will be landing in your inbox and on the GCD website. Thanks to Angela Overy for her wonderful graphics and to Meg Nichols for putting it all together so beautifully. Please know that the official date to sign up to enter into at least one, and hopefully more, of the classes in the different divisions is January 1st, 2021 but …. It is not too early to start imagining and planning. Should you have any questions, please email Nina Sisk (nsisk@comcast.net) or Missy Eliot (mke123@msn.com).
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Spirit Award of 2006
This award is given annually to a committee of the Garden Club of Denver that has performed extraordinarily well. The 2020 Spirit Award of 2006 is awarded to the Steering Committee of the Shirley Meneice Horticultural Conference for their extraordinary work in creating a truly spectacular GCA conference. The accolades continue and we were honored to have the last conference that Shirley attended in person. The entire event was flawlessly executed and tremendously appreciated by all who attended as well as the leadership of GCA.
Florence Martin Cup
Florence Martin was one of the Garden Club of Denver’s earliest members. The inscription on one side of the cup reads: “To Florence Martin from a few of her many friends in Denver.” On the other side it reads: “New friendships come, old friendships stay, which are stronger is hard to say. Love is not measured by time that has passed. Florence is treasured, whether first or last.” In keeping with the spirit of Florence Martin’s many friends, the club decided, during Mary Fowler’s presidency, that the Florence Martin Cup will be awarded annually “to a long-serving member of the Garden Club of Denver-to someone who has demonstrated unstinting generosity in the sharing of her friendship and her life’s store of knowledge with all the members of the club.” The Florence Martin cup is awarded to Sissy Gibson. Her sense of humor, willingness to give of herself and her time and her tremendous knowledge of horticulture (she is both a GCA Horticultural Judge (emeritus) as well as a Federated Horticultural Judge) have and continue to be such a gift to the Garden Club of Denver.
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Conservation Award
In 2000, a silver bowl was given to the Garden Club of Denver by Linda Roberts Zinn to be presented yearly to a member or members for an outstanding contribution to conservation. The 2020 Conservation award goes to Debbie Davis, Mary Fowler and Barb Hamman for the pre and post Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference trips. Both showcased the diversity of our region as well as the state’s continued efforts to be good stewards of our natural assets.
Walker Tears Tureen
In 1939, Mr. Irwin Tears gave a silver tureen to the Garden Club of Denver in memory of Mrs. Hepburn Walker and Mrs. Daniel Tears. In 1941, the club voted to have the tureen given each year to a member who does outstanding work for the Garden Club of Denver for that year. This award will go to a group this time versus an individual. The Walker Tears tureen is awarded to the Steering Committee of Florabundance. The committee pulled a rabbit out of a hat right before COVID – the fundraiser netted over $70,000 that was donated to the Denver Botanic Gardens. Actually, this award should go to the entire club for the tremendous support and generosity of all of you and your friends. Thank you!!!
35-40 Years of Service Awards
Nancy Downing: 39 Years
Ginny Freyer: 37 Years
Melanie Grant: 37 Years
Barb Hamman: 36 Years
Kay Malo: 39 Years
Courtney Marsters: 37 Years
Susan Sheridan: 39 Years
Genie Waters: 38 Years
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GCD Board and Committees
2020-2021
Executive Committee
President: Meg Nichols
Vice President: Cindy Scott
Corresponding Secretary: Bar Chadwick
Recording Secretary: Alice Hughes
Treasurer: Maureen Barker
Director: Missy Eliot
Committee Chairmen
Admissions & Membership-elected:
Jane Davis & Margaret Garbe
Awards & Founders Fund:
Sally Obregon
Bulletin & Communications:
Sarah Young
Conservation National Affairs and Legislation:
Lisë Woodard & Amy Mower
Denver Botanic Gardens Committees:
Cutting Garden:
Genie Waters & Linda Zinn
Fete Liaisons:
Debbie Davis & Nan Procknow
Flower Arranging:
Debbie Davis
Holiday Décor:
Lisa Duke & Ann Ellis
Directory (Roster):
Amy Slothower & Megan Mahncke
Floral Design:
Nina Sisk & Cora Wheeler
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Committee Chairmen (Continued)
2021 GCA Flower Show:
Missy Eliot & Nina Sisk
Fund Development:
Liza Grant
Garden History & Design:
Holley Sanford
Historian:
Muffie Dahlberg
Horticulture:
Leslie Liedtke & Nancy Schotters
Hospitality:
Nancy Jones & Martha Veldkamp
Judging:
Hope Connors
eNews:
Marianne Sulser & Mary Talbot
Nominating:
Missy Eliot
Photography:
Suellen White & Deborah Foy
Programs:
Caroline Rassenfoss & Tish Szurek
Scholarships:
Ann Crammond
Visiting Gardens:
Lindsay Dodge
Website:
Kathleen Woodberry
& Elizabeth Weigand
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