January, 2022 Newsletter
Volunteers Making New Canaan Beautiful
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Dear New Canaan Beautification League Members and Friends,
A very Happy New Year to all. We have much to be grateful for - and a lot to look forward to! On Wednesday, January 5th at 9:30 we will hear VIA ZOOM from Kerry Ann Mendez on how to simplify our outdoor spaces with low-maintenance design and plant choices. If you haven't yet registered for this zoom meeting, please do so with the button in the article below. If you already have registered, you will receive an email with a link to join the zoom meeting.
Our Annual Wreaths and Gnomes Workshop in conjunction with the Garden Club was a big success with lots of people helping. The wreaths and gnomes can be seen all over town and add a truly festive look for the holidays. Thank you to all who helped out and a huge thanks to Laura and Andrew Ault and Kathleen and Peter Murphy for their incredible organization and management of this project.
Please read the newsletter below for more information on NCBL.
Wishing you all good health and good cheer in 2022!
Warmly,
Carol & Karen
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The Right-Size Garden
with Kerry Ann Mendez
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
9:30 - 11:30 am
Preregistration to attend this Zoom meeting is required.
Per request of the speaker, the program will NOT be recorded.
Please only register once.
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Kerry Ann Mendez, author, blogger and nationally acclaimed speaker will help us simplify our outdoor space with low-maintenance design solutions and plant choices so that we can spend more quality time in our gardens. The Right-Size Flower Garden will be available at Elm Street Books.
Kerry is an award-winning garden educator, author and design consultant based in southern Maine. Since 2015 she has presented over 400 lectures to more than 40,000 gardeners in 21 states and Canada. As a popular educator and communicator she has received over 450 five-star reviews from her lecture audiences, which are available for review on the independent national website GreatGardenSpeakers.com. In 2014 she received the Gold Medal award from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for “Exceptional teaching and writing that increases public enjoyment and appreciation of horticulture.” Her gardens have been featured in numerous magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, Fine Gardening, Country Gardens, Garden Gate and Horticulture.
Books are available at
ELM STREET BOOKS
35 Elm St.
New Canaan, CT
203/966-4545
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Get Your Garden Ready for Spring
with Sean Corenki
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
9:30 - 11:30 am
Preregistration to attend this Zoom meeting is required. After registration, you will receive a link to attend the meeting.
This meeting and presentation will be recorded.
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Sean Corenki, Manager of The Gardener’s Center in Darien, will discuss the various tasks we should be performing in our early spring gardens--including soil preparation, pruning, and choosing ornamental and edible plants. Be ready with your questions!
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Non-members are welcome, so have your friends register by directing them to the "program page" on our website: https://www.newcanaanbeautification.org/programs
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Holiday Wreaths and Greens Workshop
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It was a gorgeous day for making gnomes and wreaths at the New Canaan Nature Center. Thank you to the NCNC staff for all their help and for letting us use the greenhouse. Big thanks to our chairs for this event: Laura & Andrew Ault and Kathleen & Peter Murphy. Without them, this event would not have happened. And thanks to all our NCBL volunteers who came out to help and spread a true holiday spirit.
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Yvonne Hunkeler, Kathy Lapolla, and Ty Tan with planters for Waveny Care Center
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Anne Tropeano works with items the NCNC Nursery School students collected for a wreath.
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The gnomes get to ride in a big truck, kindness of our town crew.
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Civic Beautification | Traveling Trowels
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Town Hall and Bandstand
Not only does NCBL decorate our town with wreaths and gnomes from the Annual Workshop, we also plant the Town Hall planters and decorate the bandstand at God's Acre. Ty Tan is show below with the Town Hall planters which were created using members' and friends' greenery: White Pine from Carol Seldin, Hemlock from Sandy Siegel, Red Twig Dogwood, Cryptoemeria, and Yellow Thread Cypress from Rob Carpenter, and Ilex red berries from Maryann Markey. These planters are truly a community effort!
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It was a lovely day when the bandstand was decorated:
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Bandstand decorators show above: friend of NCBL Dan Eng, Kathy Lapolla, Faith Kerchoff, Kathleen Murphy. Taking the photo is Peter Murphy.
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Thanks to Dave and Sara Hunt, Lee Garden barn now has a vacuum cleaner that has been aptly named 'Big Red'. Look out cobwebs and spiders!
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The leaves shown above, are clumped on the tops of branches.
If you can't see the base of that plant, neither can the sun nor the rain.
Heavy snow would fall on top of the leaves and weigh down the branches, possibly breaking them.
Below is the after-shot of the same azalea after the leaves were gently swatted away.
Whew! That's better!
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Still needed:
A used book case is still needed to help house our ever growing library of gardening books at Lee Garden barn. If you have a book case that's no longer needed and would like to donate it, please let Faith Kerchoff know.
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Waveny Care Center Flower Arranging
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Covid cases and numbers forced our Waveny Care flower arranging volunteers to do a little improvising this month as access to Waveny Care was limited. Not wanting our Waveny Care residents to be without flowers during this festive month, volunteers got inventive by picking up vases in the Waveny driveway, making the arrangements at home, and delivering back each and every week of December for the enjoyment of all!
A huge thank you to our volunteers in December: Jill Ernst and Amy Reid, Betsy Bilus and Lisa Ferrante, Eniko Szatai, and Betsy Sammarco.
Here are just some examples of the holiday cheer our volunteers created:
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Mango Chutney Chicken
from the 'Silver Palate'
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) butter
2 tbsp curry powder
1/4 c. dry white wine
4 pcs. chicken with bones in
1 1/2 C mango chutney (hot is great)
2 Tbsp. shredded coconut (optional)
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh chives
Preheat oven to 350.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add curry powder and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add wine and stir until blended. Remove from heat.
Place chicken into baking dish and pour butter mixture over.
(The above steps may be done ahead of time.)
Bake 30 min, Remove from oven and spread chutney over chicken. Bake 30 minutes more basting frequently.
Remove chicken to serving platter. Pour pan juices into saucepan and boil 3-4 min. Pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with chives (and coconut).
submitted by Fanny Moran
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If you have changed any of your contact information (home address, email address, or phone number), please let membership know.
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Happy or sad, please let me know if one of our NCBL members, needs some support or cheer in the form of a note and maybe, some flowers.
Many thanks for your thoughtfulness!
Libby
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Looking for 'Blooms'
We want to be sure everyone feels welcome.
We have new members joining us each month and we need volunteers to be 'blooms' to help us welcome our 'buds'. Just share your enthusiasm and alert them to upcoming events.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Jill Ernst.
203-972-0320.
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Lois Himes is the Bloom for Bud
Angie Materna.
Valerie Monaghan is the Bloom for Bud, Claire Perkins
Gay Clarke is the Bloom for Bud,
Jane Shoenholtz
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A gardener's winter is often a time for dreaming and planning. If you are thinking of new plants and ideas for your landscape this year, consider planting native plants. The Native Plant Trust has a wonderful interactive Garden Plant Finder that can help you choose native plants that fit certain criteria you specify. Try it out by clicking the button below.
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Please recycle your Christmas tree.
Christmas trees may be brought to the Waveny Pool parking lot from 9am to 3pm through January 9th. All trees should be free of any decorations.
Mulched trees will be used for Nature Center trails.
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A note from Kirsten Gregorio
The exhibition at the New Canaan Historical Society called 'Women of Waveny' is open. The garden at Waveny was designed by the Olmsted brothers and our April 27 speaker, Kirk Brown, will portray Frederick Olmsted and will include his Connecticut contributions in his presentation. I have sent him the website for the Waveny Conservancy and I know he will be interested to see the garden when he comes. Note that Olmsted’s sons continued his work after he was incapacitated and after his death.
Some NCBL members plan to go see the exhibition on January 20 at 10 a.m. If you would like to go with the group, please just show up! Parking is behind the museum.
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Ask for reusable 'cloth' bags from the dry cleaner to cut down on plastic. Most dry cleaners have them. Spread the word!!!
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Our NCBL Newsletter is used to distribute information regarding NCBL activities and announcements that pertain directly to our stated mission. The newsletter shall not be used for political issues, or for the promotion of merchandise or services unless such merchandise or services are part of a joint venture with NCBL.
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visit our website:
New Canaan Beautification League
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