Greetings from President Deb

I hope your summer was relaxing and you had chances to spend time with family and time in your garden, neighbor’s garden, or one of our community project gardens. Personally, it was an exhausting summer for me - one of my busiest. I felt like I was making up for last summer’s off-limits approach! Frankly, I am looking forward to the wind-down into fall and winter. But before that happens, we have a fantastic year planned for you all, thanks to Carole Barnard’s Program Committee’s good work and our SGC committees planning meetings and workshops. While COVID-19 is still present here in Stonington, we will work once again around it. We chose speakers for this year who have the ability to meet in person and switch to a zoom platform if need be. We, of course, will let you know if plans change - always check the website calendar for the latest updates.

Our first meeting will be on Wednesday, September 8 at La Grua. Amy Ziffer will be presenting “Hardy Perennials for Sun and Shade.” We ask that all attendees be vaccinated and wear masks; windows and doors will open wide with an ocean breeze filling the room. We will not be serving refreshments or beverages (to keep our masks on at all times). There will be an opportunity to sign up for a committee if you didn't do so at the June meeting, and the Horticultural Committee will be hosting a Bench show. Check here for information on the different categories of entries - from plants to fruit to vegetables - if you grew it, share it with us!

Our fundraiser, “An Evening in the Garden,” was referred to as the “Cocktail Party of the Season!” It was a well-attended, perfect summer evening, and the COMO Children’s Garden was a fantastic venue choice. Helen DePersia, Melinda Mears, Candy Sanford, Kate Love, and Jim Eckerle pulled off a stellar party: fun, beautiful, exquisitely organized, and, most of all, financially a roaring success! Net proceeds raised $12,000, which is way beyond our goal of $5,500! Funds generated by this event will support our community grants, community projects, and college grants: 100% will go back into the community. The garden-inspired silent auction was a huge success, contributing to half the proceeds. Kudos to that small but ever so mighty committee. Next time the committee size will be increased (and yes, there have already been several requests for it to be an annual event!). We are so grateful for all the restaurants and farms that contributed magnificently to this event, including The Tin Peddler, Stonington Harbor Yacht Club, Dog Watch Café, Spicer Mansion, 85th Day Food Community, Milagro Café, Shelter Harbor Inn-Farmhouse Kitchen, Wild Briars Family Farm, Noah’s Restaurant, and Water Street Cafe. Please consider stopping at one of these wonderful organizations next time you go out for dinner or need to pick something up. Let them know how much the Stonington Garden Club appreciates their support.

While we all hope to be able to continue to meet in person, we realize circumstances change. Change is inevitable, and our club was phenomenal at adapting last year - by last June, we were all doing a great job on Zoom - and we can do it again this year if needed. We all appreciate your nimbleness!

Please read below the Covid Policy our Board approved at our August 31, 2021 meeting.



Horticulture Pam Wright, Chair

As Deb mentioned above, there will be a Horticulture Bench Show, "Native Plants and Homegrown Vegetables," at our September membership meeting. If you are interested in participating in this Bench Show please click here for rules and guidelines or email Pam Wright, wrightjpamela@gmail.com.

Believe it or not, but the Holiday Season is just around the corner! Place your amaryllis bulb orders at the September Membership Meeting. This year you have a choice of red, pink, white, or red & white (candy cane) flowers.

The bulbs will bloom 4-6 weeks after we pot them at our Workshop on November 3rd. To accommodate everyone's schedule, two workshops will be held: a morning session at 10 am and an evening session at 7 pm. The location is TBA. If you prefer to pot your bulbs at home, we will bag them and you can pick them up.

The deadline to order your bulbs is October 1st so that we receive our shipment on time. Bulbs are $15 each, and the Horticulture Committee will provide potting soil and decorative moss. You provide a container.

Order your bulbs on September 8th or email Pam Wright at wrightjpamela@gmail.com.

Photo by Dodie Bump

Photography Laura Frommer, Chair

Please join us for a Virtual Photography Workshop, entitled "Celebrating our Native Plants," on Friday, September 10th at 10 am with GCA emeritus judge Arabella Dane. Arabella will focus on how to take better photos with a smartphone, basic photography tips, and guidance for our upcoming bench show. In addition, she will show us how to use Snapseed, a great photo app. It is recommended that you download the Snapseed app onto your smartphone before the Zoom call. Click here for the workshop's Zoom link.

All members are welcome to enter photographs in our first Photography Bench Show on October 13 entitled "Celebrating Native Plants" - see details here: https://www.stoningtongardenclub.org/bench-shows-2/bench-show-october-2021/

This Land is Your Land is the title of the 2021 GCA Focus Contest. 

One entry per exhibitor will be accepted between September 1 and September 30. On October 1 if there are openings in any class, exhibitors may enter up to an additional three entries until the class is full. When a class receives 18 entries, the class will be closed. For more information, click here.

Photo by Laura Frommer



Conservation Lisa Szaro, Chair

A few upcoming conservation-related events that might interest you:

• 9/24/21 Dennison Pequot Sepos Nature Center is hosting its “Ready or Not” Green Tie Gala on Friday 9/24/21, 6-8 pm to "fund the need for nature education.” Tickets are $100 and can be purchased at dpnc.org/greentie/ or call 860-536-1216 for more information
• 9/25/21 Mystic Aquarium is looking for Ocean Ambassadors for International Coastal Cleanup Day is 9/25/21 from 10 am to 1 pm. For more information and to sign up, click here.
• Roger Williams Zoo is hosting Conservation Initiatives from global to local initiatives (such as frog watching and restoring the New England Cotton Tail rabbits). See rwpzoo.org/conservation

While walking around the village...please pop into Wayland's Wharf and let us know if the Rain Garden needs a hand. There are days when frisky dogs and frolicking children knock over the garden fence (it is just 12" high), so it often needs uprighting..(as we all do from time to time). Thank you!

To all SGC members, Conservation needs a helping hand! We are a hardworking few and would love some camaraderie. This past year during COVID, we managed to organize group hikes, take a boat ride with Save the Bay (where we witnessed seals and bald eagles), create a winter seed sowing project shared with the local high school, and create some powerful PowerPoint presentations. We would love for you to join us and hear your great ideas for this next year. Call Lisa Szaro at 401-559-6157. You will be able to sign up at the September 8 Membership Meeting.



COMO Children's Garden

Wanda Sullivan, Chair

The Children’s Garden volunteers have been very busy harvesting vegetables and fruits with the COMO kids.

Plentiful rain came after a long July dry spell, and all the hard work came to fruition - literally. Across to the COMO went baskets of tomatoes, beets, eggplant, squash, kale, Swiss chard, lettuces, blueberries, strawberries, garlic, potatoes, and onions. The final results were cooked up at the COMO kitchen as the children really did have the “Seed to Table” experience.

As for the other plantings, the Garden still looks lovely with dahlias, coneflowers, zinnias, and lots of sunflowers in bloom, which all miraculously survived Henri!! So as the final squashes, late blueberries, and flowers make their final bow, we now will focus on the “bedding” of the garden. In October, the cutting, cleaning up, and treatment of the soil will happen. Please join us as we close the garden for the winter. Dates to be announced.

In the meantime, please join us in the garden. Just sign up on our SignUp Genius for slots on Mondays at 8 am or Wednesdays for "Clip & Sip" at 4:30 pm.

Thanks to all for the hard work and fulfillment of our mission to the COMO kids!

Photos by Priscilla Rouquayrol, Stonington COMO



Membership Update Kirby Williams, Chair

Stonington Garden Club Membership by status:

• Actives - 55
• New Members - 4
• Secondary - 2
• Friends - 25
• Lifetime - 1
• Honorary - 1

Total - 88

Membership News:

• Any changes in address or contact information must be forwarded by email to Kirby Williams (kirbywilliams02@gmail.com) by September 10th to be included in the printed yearbook. We are working on getting these books to you as soon as possible.
• All members are encouraged to participate on a committee. You can sign up for a Committee by SignUp Genius on the SGC website. Active members are required to join at least one club committee.
• All members must participate in the club’s major fundraisers and buy a ticket to the event in advance. This practice provides the event committee with some “seed money” to make pre-event purchases.

Please share your Tips and Tricks!

This new membership meeting agenda item will open each meeting with members' sharing their wisdom about growing, cultivating, floral design, and all other things “garden club.” September’s meeting will open with Tips and Tricks with Tomatoes! If you wish to volunteer for this 1-minute "sharing" or can recommend a member who may want to share, please contact Kirby Williams ASAP.

New Members Welcome

We welcome new applicants to the garden club. Please reach out to someone who shares our club’s purpose and host him or her at one of the upcoming membership meetings. Be sure to let Kirby Williams know (by email or last minute by text at 203-536-7933) the name of any guest whom you will introduce at the beginning of the membership meeting.

Order Your Bulbs Today!

We are pleased to offer a wide variety of bulbs sourced from Holland – all 100% guaranteed!

Order by October 15 – Shipments begin September 15

Order online at:

stoningtongardenclub.fpfundraising.com

or scan the QR code!

The net proceeds from this sale will benefit the club’s Community Grants Program.