June, 2024 Newsletter
Volunteers Making New Canaan Beautiful
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Dear Members and Friends,
It has been - and continues to be - a busy Spring for the New Canaan Beautification League. In May, we saw the rededication of the renovated Train Station garden, patio, and 9/11 Memorial. Our town leaders, Department of Public Works, the New Canaan Police, and the New Canaan Fire Department were all in attendance. The tulips in the Town Hall planters gave way to the current beautiful planting display, thanks to the dazzling and dedicated work of the Travelling Trowels. Plantings went in at the School House Apartments and also in the town barriers on Elm Street. The azalea bloom at Lee Garden may have been the best ever (do we say that every year?), the hanging baskets once again adorn our beautiful town, and triangles have been mulched and tended.
Sadly, the Memorial Day Parade was rained out.
There is still much to look forward to this Summer. The Programs Committee is hard at work, and our Annual Meeting and Program on June 5th at the New Canaan Nature Center will feature Mark Kokinchak, horticulturist and NYBG instructor, with his presentation “Good Bug or Bad Bug - How To Have a Safe and Healthy Garden Through Natural Pest Control”. Also, the informal garden visits, which are incredibly popular, will continue this summer - do check the website for details.
Lastly, after two years as co-presidents, we could not be more proud of the work the New Canaan Beautification League has done to improve our wonderful town. Our volunteers are truly amazing and probably some of the best in town - we may be biased, but the results speak for themselves. We are so happy to be passing the gavel to the very capable hands of President-Elect Nancy Malling, who will work closely with our new Vice President, Claude Colabella. To those leaving the board, we thank you for your time and commitment, and to those joining the board, welcome and thank you. To all our members, thank you for supporting the New Canaan Beautification League, and we hope to see everyone at the Welcome Back Coffee at Mead Park this Fall.
Sincerely,
Robin Bates-Mason & Jill Ernst
co-Presidents
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Annual Meeting:
Good Bug or Bad Bug
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
New Canaan Nature Center
9:30 - 11:30 am
For our final program of the year, the NCBL will get a taste of the New York Botanical Garden. Horticulturist, arborist, and instructor Mark Kokinchak will present a preview of the classes he teaches at NYBG on pest and disease management in gardens and landscapes.
Mark obtained a degree in Environmental Horticulture from UConn and later trained with Bartlett Tree, monitoring the first Integrated Pest Management Program in Danbury. In addition to teaching in the Horticulture Certificate Program at NYBG, he maintains insect and disease control systems at various wholesale nurseries across Connecticut and holds a State-issued Custom Grounds 3A license and an Arborist 3D license.
For our program, he will share some of his 35-plus years of knowledge about identifying and controlling pests and diseases using cultural and biological techniques in an effort to minimize the use of toxic alternatives.
You will want to come prepared to take notes.
THIS MEETING IS FOR MEMBERS ONLY
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Spring Floral Design Savvy from Susan Bergen:
From Susan: "For those of you who asked about the mechanics of my May wildflower arrangement, my watertight container has a removable grid insert. The grid keeps all the stems perfectly in place and lifts out so the box can be used to display potted plants.
I ordered it from Ballard Designs a few years back. They don't appear to carry it anymore, but other vendors likely have something similar on the market."
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Railroad Station Dedication | |
On Friday, May 10th, the plantings and terrace at the railroad station were dedicated. Faith Kerchoff made the following remarks:
Wally Meyer was a powerhouse. In the days of our Festival of Trees Fundraisers, where we turned Waveny House into a magical Christmas wonderland, she was a go-getter! One year, deciding that we needed a raffle to go with the Festival, she got prizes like a Caribbean cruise with airfare donated, as well as 9 more fabulous prizes! She also worked through all the paperwork required by the state to have a raffle. An epic undertaking. I think she ran 2 or 3 raffles to benefit the Beautification League. Wally was given the very first Golden Trowel Award (in 2004), for volunteering above and beyond expectations.
We are proud to honor her, and her daughters are here today.
We also want to acknowledge the talents of two members and designers who created this transformation: Barbara Wilson, landscape architect, designed the hardscape—the sidewalk, plaza, fence, and steps areas—making this all barrier-free. Ty Tan, landscape designer, planned and purchased all the plant material.
Vinny Ambrosio of Vinny's Custom Metal Fabricators in Norwalk designed and made the inner fencing along the plaza and the stairs. Peter Lanni and his team did all the Stonework, and Tiger Mann and Marie worked with us to coordinate all these elements: plans, excavation, irrigation by Summer Rain, sidewalks, fencing, and more.
Over two very rainy days last October, we planted about 1,000 plants with the DPW.
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| Wally Meyer's daughters at the railroad station dedication. | |
The hill with yarrow and euphorbia blooming. | |
Thank you to Ty Tan, Designer; Faith Kerchoff, Claire Perkins, Anka Jones, Eniko Szatai, Yvonne Hunkeler, Sandy Siegel, and Pam Yee. Gay Clarke, Robin Bates-Mason, Kathy Lapolla, Fanny Moran, Betsy Sammarco, Lois Himes, and Cindy Bamatter are not pictured.
Tongue in Cheek, Faith sent Tiger a photo of the porta potties with a note, 'Nice touch.' It was moved less than half an hour later. Thank you, Tiger!
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Special Traveling Trowels Projects | |
The Town asked the NCBL to plant the 13 new planters
along Elm Street with flowers that would work well with
this year's hanging baskets.
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From Faith: "Thank you to all who helped plant the restaurant planters on May 7. We also thank Walt and Jeff from the town and Jessica Havens for planning the selection and handling the Beds & Borders order.
Thanks are also due to our worker bees: Lois Himes, Cindy Bammater, Pam Yee, new member Sara Amour, Eniko Szatai, Karen Ferguson, Sandy Siegel, Kathy Lapolla, and Pat Spugani. We got it done in time for the restaurant's lunch service on a sunny day!
I hope I didn't miss anyone...."
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Updates to landscaping at
the Schoolhouse Apartments
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From Faith: "Thank you to Claude Colabella, Eniko Szatai, Kathy Lapolla, Cindy Bamatter, and Roger Saunders, for helping on this project for Schoolhouse Apartments. (Roger is on the School House board.) We dug hosta & roses and we weeded! We also moved sun-loving plants to sunnier spots. The town placed 3 rocks, and planted hostas by the stairs and the shrubs by the white fence.
Also, Ginny Dobbs picked up the plant order from Planters Choice in Newtown, for Schoolhouse Apartments thus saving a huge delivery fee.
She's our hero of the month!"
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On June 13th we will visit 4 gardens, each as unique as its owner. All are a labor of love and a work in progress. One of the gardens is modern and sure to delight all the senses. Three of the gardens are on one street which underscores our need for people to carpool.
Four members have agreed to open their gardens July 10th. Again the gardens are diverse and delightful. Prepare to be amazed! The season will wrap-up with four more gardens opening to us August 7th.
Please register for the visits soon as spaces are limited to 35 and fill up fast. Directions and descriptions of each garden will be sent the day before the Informal Garden Visit which will take place rain or shine.
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The gardens will be open from 9:30 am to noon for 35 registered
NCBL members. If the dates are full, contact Lois Himes to be added to the waitlist:
203 451 2355 or loisbhimes@gmail.com
Directions to the gardens will be sent to the registrants the day before the event. The Garden Visits will be held rain or shine!
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Greeters Needed for June, July & August!
We hope some of you will volunteer to be Greeters as it is a great way to see everyone and enjoy the gardens too. Click on the link to sign up below.
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Thank you to Anne & John Tropeano and Afsie Amir-Aslani for opening your beautiful gardens to us (scenes from those visits are below.
It was a lovely day to visit. And a huge thank you to Suzy Spatz and Cindy Bamatter for greeting visitors.
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Please let Nancy Malling know if you would be willing
to have your garden on the 'tour'.
nancy@themallings.com
Please contact Pam Yee if you have any questions: pamyee6@gmail.com
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Flower Arranging at Waveny Care Center
Sign Ups Available
June, September, October, and December
Once again, NCBL members will arrange flowers at Waveny Care Center during the months of June, September, October, and December. Volunteers source flowers from their gardens or from grocery stores (eg Stop and Shop or Trader Joe's) on Sunday and make the arrangements between 9:00 and 11:00 am Monday in the flower room at Waveny Care Center. Volunteers check the arrangements on or around Thursday morning to refresh the water and remove any spent blooms.
Any flower purchases are reimbursable, so save your receipts.
Sign up with a friend or just add your name to our sign up.
Questions should be directed to Amy Reid: areid1010@gmail.com or Amy Sorensen: AC_Sorensen@yahoo.com.
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Dig and Divide 2024
Do you have plants in excess? Are you dividing favorites or trying to control voracious growers? Have you had too much success growing from seed or taking cuttings? Perhaps you would like to rearrange your garden.
If so, this is your opportunity to find new homes for your plants and for members to benefit from your donations.
How to offer your plants
Members wishing to offer plants should email the below information to Camilla Austin: Camillaaustin127@gmail.com
Please copy and paste the following into your email and fill in the information. Please give your email the subject line, "Dig and Divide".
We need the following information:
- Member's Name:
- Address:
- Contact number:
- Email address:
- Plant Name:
- Number available:
- Growing condition: (sun, partial sun, shade, etc.)
- Flowering month and color:
How to claim plants offered:
- Make contact with the member offering plants
- Arrange a date and time to collect the plants
- Check if the plants are in pots or need to be dug out
- Take any tools/pots to transport the plants
- Be ready to replant and water your new plants
- Email Camilla, who will mark the plant as taken on the offerings sheet
General guidelines and spirit:
- Dig and Divide is for New Canaan Beautification League members only.
- Make direct contact with the member who has a plant you would like to take.
- Plants offered should be pest-free and healthy. Plants are taken and given at the member's discretion.
- Members should be home and present when plants are taken (no landscaping companies should be sent). This ensures the correct plants are taken and the members' gardens are not damaged.
- There will be no monetary payments for plants given or taken.
- Please do not offer diseased plants or those in soil with jumping worms.
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Town Hall's planters were 'summerized' by Kathy Lapolla, Eniko Szatai, Kathy Kwiatkowski, Faith Kerchoff and Yvonne Hunkeler. | |
If you would like to sign up for emails about helping with our Traveling Trowels, contact Faith: faithkerchoff@hotmail.com. We discuss plants, tools, and our yards all while spiffing up the town. | |
Invited by Lois Himes, approximately 30 members of The Hortus* Club visited Lee Garden on May 21. Among them were Alan Gorkin, whom we met at Sleepy Cat Farm in Greenwich, and Ken Twombly, former owner of Twombly's Nursery in Monroe.
The Hortus Club was started about 1955 by Harold Epstein, a past President of the American Rock Garden Society (and with whom Lois Himes worked). At that time, it was exclusively for men who were professional horticulturists. Many of the original members were the head gardeners of private estates in the NY area. Current members represent public organizations like Wave Hill, NYBG, and Planting Field Arboretum. Since their founding, they have met monthly at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park and frequently enjoy dinner and a speaker. In the summer months, they visit gardens and arboretums. It wasn’t until about 2000 that they finally allowed women to join...
Lee tour guides were Lois Himes, Faith Kerchoff, Kathy Lapolla, Kathy Kwiatkowski, and Sandy Siegel. Special thanks to neighbor Peter Farnsworth, who put a sign out allowing cars to park in his driveway, and others who parked on Wascussue Court and our parking lot.
*Greek for Garden
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There's still work to be done at Lee!
Lee Garden work will continue in June as there is plenty to do: Remove invasives; take galls off azaleas; prune dead branches on rhodos and azaleas; move ground covers off the paths.
Work days are Mon, Wed, and Thurs. Approx. 9:30-1pm.
Wednesdays, Kathy Kwiatkowski works with Master Gardener Interns from 9:30 - 11:30 on various projects.
Be on the lookout for tall orange native deciduous azaleas that bloom in June, the laurels, late-blooming rhodos, and more.
Celebrate June 20th, the longest day of the year at Lee with lunch.
Details to follow.
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A few hearty people from Simsbury, CT, a couple from mid-state Colorado, a person who used to live here, and a couple who had recently moved from Darien to a condo in New Canaan as well as some neighbors came to the Open Day at Lee on Sunday May 19. Despite the rain, the garden was lovely. Thank you, Kathy Kwiatkowski for the delicious treats. | |
Hanging Baskets chairs Pam Yee and Jessica Havens welcomed the delivery of the hanging baskets for the summer season. | |
NCBL Membership Dues are due June 1
If you joined the League after January 1, 2024, you do not need to pay.
Renew your membership easily online by clicking the button below!
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If you'd rather renew by mail, download the membership form below and send with your check to:
NCBL Membership
P.O. Box 1244
New Canaan, CT 06840
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A NOTE FROM OUR DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:
Dear Members,
As stated in our recent newsletter, June is the time for our membership dues payment. As a reminder and clarification, if you are planning to make an additional contribution for the annual appeal when submitting your payment for your dues, please be kind enough to specify the amount for your dues payment and specifically note the additional donation for the annual appeal. That way it is clear where the gift amounts are to be designated. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to the NCBL.
The Development Committee
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Executive Board for 2024-5 | |
NCBL 2024/2025 Board Slate
OFFICERS
President: Nancy Malling
Vice President: Claude Colabella
Recording co-Secretaries: Nancy Jordan, Robin Miner
Treasurer: Dave Hunt
Vice President, Civic Beautification: Faith Kerchoff
BEAUTIFICATION
Traveling Trowels: Faith Kerchoff
Triangles: Greg Brown, Sarina Vetterli, Claude Colabella
Lee Garden: Faith Kerchoff, Lois Himes, Kathy Kwiatkowski
Hanging Baskets: Karen Christie, Suzy Spatz
Waveny Care Center: Amy Sorenson, Amy Weber-Reid
Holiday Greens: Wendy Fogg, Kathy Kwiatkowski
PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
Programs: Christina Fagerstal, Angela Materna
Zoom Programs Host: Patricia Spugani
Garden Visits: Pam Yee, Lally Jurcik
MEMBERSHIP SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT
Membership: Sara Hunt
Member Outreach Chair: Jill Ernst
Development: Mary Ann Henry, Kathleen Murphy
Annual Appeal Treasurer: Karen Hanson
Donor Relations: Karen Ferguson, Lisa Ferrante
COMMUNICATIONS
Webmaster: Lisa Ferrante
Marketing: Laura Ault
Publicity: Rebecca Harris
Newsletter: Fanny Moran, Kathy Megrue Smith
Photography: Nora Fay, Barbara O'Shea
Nominating: Betsy Sammarco, Jill Ernst
New Board members will begin their terms on July 1, 2024.
THANK YOU FOR SERVING
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It's Annual Appeal Season! | |
Our Annual Appeal mailing has made its way to New Canaan homes. Click our graphic below if you'd like to donate. | |
Pollinator Pathway Program | |
The two-acre meadow behind Waveny House is officially becoming a Pollinator Pathway meadow and will be maintained with completely organic methods to maximize the pollinator potential. No chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers will be used in this area and it will only be mowed once in the late fall to allow for the plants to grow to their maximum height by next year. We will use this coming summer to see location and densities of each of the major pollinator plants that are already there and add plugs next year as needed. The meadow is already full of New York Ironweed, Joe Pye Weed, Northeastern Asters, Goldenrod and Rudbeckia. It will be wonderful to watch it develop each summer week by week in the upcoming years. Educational signage and additional walking pathways will be added in the near future.
Many thanks to Bill McDonald, Steve Zatz, Donna Merrill, Michelle Crookenden, Kevin Moynihan, Stephen Boeschenstein, Sara Lewis and all the great Planet New Canaan folks.
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Welcome to our newest members!
Tom Tierney
Nicole & Ben Dillon
Geri Rhoades
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If you have changed any of your contact information (home address, email address, cell phone number, home phone number or simply dropped your landline), please let Sara Hunt (skhminky@optonline.net) from Membership know. | |
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Please let me know if a member of our NCBL family needs some cheering up in the form of a card, or perhaps, some flowers.
Call me at 203-801-0862 or e-mail me at eabutter@gmail.com
to provide me with the appropriate information.
Many thanks for your thoughtfulness!
Libby
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Looking for 'Blooms'
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 Sara Hunt:
skhminky@gmail.com.
We want to be sure everyone feels welcome.
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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. | |
visit our website:
New Canaan Beautification League
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