Last month was a sorrowful one for our club. We lost an irreplaceable member  with Ronnie Schoelzel’s death. In response to our Memorial Notice, many tributes to her have been posted including Sue Kennedy’s magnificent orchid photo on the LGC blog page HERE. The Memorial Notice was published by the GCA website and is available for viewing on the Zone II landing page HERE. Adding to the sadness of the month, we mourn the loss of Ronni Anderson’s husband Todd, a respected local radiologist. Our hearts go out to the Anderson and Schoelzel families.

We thank the Program Committee for engaging a delightful speaker in September. Arabella Dane, a noted photography judge and expert, regaled us with her talk on “How to Take a Good Photo.” As advertised, she was knowledgeable and witty. In addition, she personalized her presentation by critiquing members’ photos, which she did in a kind and helpful manner. We all learned a lot and had a fun time. The event also featured an impressive Hort sweeps, and a beautiful morning tea.

For those of you who attended this meeting, you noticed that we are now keeping track of attendance with a sign-in sheet. This will help us in the future with planning specific programs based on interest levels; and also will aid in keeping members invested in our programs. We are constantly striving for ways to increase member participation at our meetings, and to offer programs of interest to all. Coming up on October 20 is Jamie Fischer’s talk on iridescence at the White Memorial Museum’s Ceder Room. This is a not to be missed event! There will also be a Floral Design sweeps at this meeting -- a good opportunity to hone your artistry in preparation for the Flower Show next June. You can sign up now for Floral Design, Hort, and Photography classes at the Show HERE.

This month brings the Annual Awards Meeting and Luncheon of the Federated Garden Clubs of CT Inc. on Wednesday, October 26, 2023. Information on the luncheon is included HERE. LGC will be receiving a special award for our Newsletter, and Crystal and I plan to attend and accept this honor. If anyone else would like to go, please register by using the link above by October 16. Let me know if you’re going, and we can carpool if convenient. 

It's important to RSVP, so click HERE to email Nan Skeie.

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc1j78Osnt

The first Floral Design sweepstakes of the year is scheduled for the October meeting. Entries must be placed between 9:00-9:30 am, prior to the coffee/tea and before the 10am meeting at the Ceder Room at White Memorial. Click HERE for details about this Sweeps.

Members are encouraged to register for the design and photography classes at this time, before the show opens to registration from other GCA clubs in October. You can register HERE.

The Flower Show Committee Chairmen for A Tapestry of Nature Flower Show will be having a meeting in late October to organize the time frame and responsibilities which will need to be covered.

At the Zone II Club Floral Design Chairmen Zoom meeting on Friday 9/23 we received rave reviews on our flower show schedule and graphics. People are looking forward to participating with us next June. Hortulus, (Greenwich) will be having a show in September of 2023.

The Federated Garden Clubs of CT are sponsoring Course II of Flower Show School. Participants will learn about organizing a flower show, and judging and presenting table classes (Wednesday), plus horticulture classes with Cathy Felton, an excellent NGC and GCA horticulture judge (Thursday). Members are encouraged to attend one or both days or all three and take the exam Friday towards becoming a judge. Register via the Federated Garden Clubs of CT website by clicking HERE. You can check with Polly Brooks who will be there learning along with you, or feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

I must recommend that if anyone is offered the chance to go to one of these meetings do not say NO! You can read my trip report HERE.

October 14^th at 2pm

130 Norfolk Rd.

I invite our horticulture committee, and anyone else who is interested in joining our ranks to attend this meeting. Please RSVP first by clicking on my name below. We will be discussing our upcoming year and activities.

My committee is looking for candidates for our provisional program. The guidelines on this topic are clearly spelled out in our ByLaws, so please review them prior to submission by clicking HERE. Please remember that these candidates should not know that they are being proposed!

I need three supporting letters mailed to me or placed in my mailbox by the January 15th deadline. My address is:

If you have any questions, please email me at lynne.sherman@yahoo.com or just click on my name below.

The photo shoot at March Farms on September 9th, took place on a beautiful morning. We were excited to be welcomed by Mrs. March to her beautiful fields and orchards in search of patterns in the landscape.  I couldn’t resist this corn and hay scene in a nearby field.

The LGC Photography Committee held our first meeting on September 6 and focused on the upcoming year. We discussed what would we like to accomplish and learn, where would we like to go to shoot as a group and where should we print our work?  We also voted to NOT hold a Sweepstakes in October.  However, we will hold a Bench Show and Sweepstakes in December where we will show our images on our boards so we can see how our entries will look for our upcoming flower show next June. To view Classes for this sweeps click HERE.

Last month, we welcomed Arabella Dane who shared iPhone and Lightroom tips and offered enlightening critique and commentary about each of our entries in the September Sweepstakes.  She recommends mPix as the printer of choice.  The mPix company is completely online and easy to use.

Ripley Conservancy Update: Unfortunately, the Ripley Conservancy ponds will not be fully healed by September 30.  We have rescheduled the photo shoot for the morning of Thursday, October 27, at 8:30 a.m.

Mr. Sheikh has been documenting the story of individuals and communities displaced by conflict and environmental change.

We will travel to New Haven as a group. There are many ideas for abstract patterns (Think Tapestry of Nature schedule), as well as his individual portraits and landscapes. There is a good place to have lunch before the tour nearby at Maison Mathis. Please RSVP/ASAP by clicking on my name below.

Geraniums. The heat made them impossible to grow in Texas so I've been surrounding myself with them now that I am back home in the NE. I especially adore the ones with decorative leaves. I also love everything about birch trees, their bark, how they flutter in the light...perfection.

My hori hori knife is by far my favorite all around garden tool. I also love the simple design and functionality of my Helen Chen scissors and I use them all the time.

Benign neglect can be a good thing when it comes to indoor plants. My sister is a fabulous gardener and can grow most anything and she always tells me to water less and to let some things "just be".

I've been a big fan of Margaret Roach for a long time. She is a practical gardener and her book, "A Way to Garden" is one of my favorites. Her weekly New York Times column and her newsletter are always so informative, especially her "monthly chores" list. She lives and gardens in our plant hardiness zone, so her suggestions are very relevant to our own gardens. On Instagram I follow #houseplantjournal, the guy is a wizard with his plants and he focuses on light requirements, #floretflower, is a small but mighty flower farmer in Washington State who often has short video courses, and #jensjakobsenfloralconstruction is a quirky Danish florist that lives in London. His work is very whimsical, original and quite beautiful.

NOTE: I'm forced to profile myself 🙀 as I completely forgot to recruit someone to be profiled this month!