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September Happenings

Oct17

It’s been several months since I’ve sent out a Happenings update. Other than cancellations and postponements, there hasn’t been much “happening” to report. Thanks to Ann H. and her EAGC Connections, however, we’ve been able to stay in touch virtually and enjoy the beauty of each other’s gardens. What an inspiration Ann’s emails have been! The photos are proof positive of what a superlative group of gardeners we are!

Interspersed throughout this Happenings you’ll find club photos from Septembers past. Test your memory. Do you remember these people and events?

Although it was technically an August Happening, the Promise Tree Garden Party & Social offered a great photo op for this month’s update. Lee had a perfect day for hosting members and did an outstanding job of potting up plants and marking her beds for plant digging. It wasn’t all work though – members had a long-awaited chance to chat and catch up, socially distanced in Lee’s welcoming gardens. Thanks to Johann and Edie for arranging this fun kick-off to our Promise Tree year. And thanks, especially, to Lee for her hospitality and preparation.

And speaking of the Promise Tree — please consider what you can offer to the Tree this fall. Unfortunately, fundraisers our club had planned for last fall and the upcoming year are impossible to implement right now. So our Promise Tree has become more important than ever for financial reasons. But more importantly, we’ve been isolated from each other for months and small Promise Tree events and offerings will help bring us back together. If you’re looking for ideas for your own leaf on the Tree, check the Promise Tree page of the website here for suggestions.

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Announcements

Our first General Meeting of the 2020-2021 year will be held as originally planned on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 9:30. But the venue has changed – we’ll be meeting at the Stratham Hill Park Pavillion. As always, members are welcome at 9 a.m. and refreshments will be served. Please bring your own hot beverage. At this meeting we’ll be installing our officers for the year, since we were unable to do that at the June Luncheon. We’ll also be breaking into committees to discuss our plans for the coming year. Don’t miss it!

Seed Exchange – 2014

Last May, EAGC awarded its $1000 Scholarship to Nicole Berry of Newmarket. She graduated from the Seacoast School of Technology Animal and Plant Science Program in May. In addition to being involved in many school and community activities, including being on the leadership team for the National Future Farmers of America (FFA), Nicole also worked part time.

She considers herself a lifelong learner who always strives to do her best. According to her scholarship application letter, she states, “her career goal is to achieve a job as an entry level environmental scientist, in the field that deals with sustainable agriculture. I want to make the world a more productive place for nature, the current population and future generations”. This fall, Nicole is attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she will study environmental science.

Inspecting a mini-grant recipient – Seacoast Family Promise – in 2017.

Our Awards Committee has decided to postpone the process of choosing and awarding the Outstanding Garden Awards until a later time. The presentation of these awards at our October meeting is always highly anticipated, but committee members realized during the summer that coronavirus restrictions made viewing of gardens and the presentation ceremony impossible. This gives members more time to be on the lookout for especially beautiful gardens – and to pass the addresses on to Awards Committee members for the next awards.

EAGC helped Stratham celebrate its Anniversary – 2016

Our new vice president, Pat. N is taking inventory of all things EAGC. If you have any club supplies, notecards, equipment, etc. would you please let Pat know so she can finalize her list?

Cleanup crew at the Bandstand – 2016.

Some members may not be aware that EAGC has an excellent Facebook page, maintained by the very knowledgeble Patti E. In addition to making EAGC’s presence known to the Facebook world, Patti posts links to some fascinating gardening articles and adds interesting garden tidbits. If you’re not a Facebook user, click here for an example of what you can find on EAGC’s Facebook page. Then click “Like” and follow the page on a regular basis. If anyone would like a little help navigating Facebook, contact Patti. She’ll gladly give some guidance.

Fall Florals – member creations

December Happenings

Jan8

What a busy Holiday month! We had so many opportunities to come together and celebrate, including a cookie exchange hosted by Lee, our Holiday Luncheon, arranged by Lynda and her Herb Committee, Betsy’s famous (or is it infamous?) Swap Shop Yankee Swap, and Susan’s festive and bounteous Holiday Brunch. We hope every member had the chance to participate in at least one of these fun activities.

Thanks to Ann H, we have lots of great photos from those December events — shown here to remind us of what fun we had (and, as always, what wonderful food we enjoyed!)

First, the Luncheon:

The Portsmouth Country Club is always a favorite venue.
A table full of gifts for the exchange.
So many interesting gifts and happy recipients.

There was no lack of laughter or food at Betsy’s Yankee Swap. And Betsy showed her usual impeccable taste in gift selection:

  • Max swapped for this treasure (and happily took it home!)

So which of these lovely gifts remained unloved at the Swap’s end?

Amazing, but true. Dianna swapped it for something else.

Members actually did more than party in December. Early in the month, members of Civic Beautification, led by chair Donna W., gathered at the Exeter Historical Society to decorate the building for the holidays. Wreaths and topiaries were assembled, including a wreath for the front door of the Folsom Tavern.


Linda V. has put together an unusual and interesting Horticulture Tip for January. To be sure you don’t miss it, click here.

Backyard Birds” will be the topic of our speaker, Dr. Stephen Hale, at the January 16 general meeting. His presentation will feature common and likely resident and migrant visitors to any backyard in New England. This presentation offers ID tips on some challenging birds that live among us like … for example, Hairy vs. Downy Woodpecker and Purple vs. House Finch. Tips on feeding birds to attract the most diversity will also be provided.

Remember to bring a specimen (or more) from your winter garden for display at the general meeting. We’ve had intriguing and surprisingly beautiful fall & winter stems at the past few meetings — it will be interesting to see what January produces.

Lee has shared with us a photo of her self-pollinating winterberry. A perfectly bright and cheerful image of winter in New England.

And as a postscript, do you ever wonder who looks at this website and learns a little about our club? Maybe not — but as Web Manager, I do. This is what I learned about the past month:

  • 414 people clicked on our website. 21% were return visitors, 79% were new to the website.
  • 279 of them were from the U.S.
  • India, Canada, and the UK accounted for 17, 16, and 13 clicks, respectively.
  • Folks from countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Finland and Nigeria also accessed our website.
  • The most clicked on post on our website was The Language of Roses, from February, 2012.
  • The most clicked on page on our website was our Home Page.
  • The next most popular page was Horticulture Tips.

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November Happenings

Dec9

I think most would agree that the highlight of our month was the General Meeting held jointly with the Hampton Garden Club. It was very well-attended by members of both clubs, the speaker was engaging, and we were able to enjoy a number of presentations set up by both clubs.

Speaker Jana Milbocker spoke about inspiring slides from her book “The Garden Tourist.”

  • Refreshments, provided by both clubs, were plentiful and delicious.
  • Members again brought interesting clippings from their gardens for the Hort Table.
  • The Hampton club showed off the results of their charity collection.
  • E&C did an extensive display on The Mighty Oak, including this informative wreath made by Ann H.
  • Recycling information supplied by the Hampton club.

From Ann H. and Connie, co-chairs of the Design Committee:

With Thanksgiving around the corner, our arrangers at the November Design Workshop created seasonal fall arrangements using fresh and artificial flora and locally sourced dried and fresh materials from plants and tree foliage.  Participants mixed and matched flowers in a variety of colors and styles using our provided baskets as containers or their own personal containers. All these lovely arrangement were displayed the following morning at our November general meeting.

Arrangers hard at work.

Here are the beautiful results:

What would the holiday season be without holly? Learn all about this seasonal favorite in this month’s Horticulture Tips, provided by Pat N. of the Horticultural Committee. Click here.

Coming up at our January General Meeting …

Thursday, January 16, “Backyard Birds” will be the topic of speaker, Dr. Stephen Hale.

September Happenings

Oct14

The fall months here in New Hampshire bring us so much beauty — by way of both fall colors and perfect weather. They also bring us some creepy-crawly roommates. For more about these invaders, check out Linda V’s October Hort Tips.

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At our September General Meeting, Betsy, Linda V. and their Environment & Conservation committee gave a short presentation about the 2019 Beautification Mini-Grant award recipients. Seven grants, for a total of $1800, were awarded. The recipients were:

  • Portsmouth – Greengard Center for Autism, entrance planters
  • North Hampton – Rye Beach Little Boar’s Head Garden Club, North Hampton Beach parking lot restoration part 2
  • Exeter – Folsom Acres Condo Association, planting to screen compost area
  • Exeter – Yoga Life Institute, plant herbs and edibles
  • Exeter – Intersection of Drinkwater and Hampton Rd., add stone perimeter to garden begun last year
  • Exeter – Tenant’s Council of the Exeter Housing Authority, add a perennial cutting garden for residents
  • Isle of Shoals – Star Island Flagpole Garden Sustainability Project

Star Island Flagpole garden
Star Islamd
Star Island
EHA Tenant’s Cutting Garden

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Speaking of General Meetings, Susan has in introduced an interesting new project for our meetings:

What will we see at the October meeting?

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How does sipping wine & tasting cheese on a chilly fall evening in a lovely home, surrounded by happy friends, sound? If you’re curious, go the the Promise Tree Page to have your questions answered.

Lee C. has shared some shots of her late season gardens…

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And finally, mysterious aliens were spotted admiring our flower boxes at the Exeter Bandstand. Probably snipped some cuttings to take back home with them.

Intrepid photographer: Jill C

June Happenings

Jul7

The big news of June is the Annual Luncheon and Auction and we have some great photos of this year’s event, thanks to Ann H. Our attendance this year was up substantially from last year, and auction plants flew off the tables, compliments of Max’s auctioneering skills. Jill C and the Hospitality Committee made it all possible. Here are some of the hightlights…

  • Max starts the bidding on the plants
  • Garden miscellany was also up for bid
Lucky winners went home with one of the lovely table centerpieces
  • Two baskets packed with gardening goodies were raffled off, compliments of Environment & Conservation
  • This basket went to a Coffee Cup entry
  • The food received high praise and our rapt attention
  • Connie was surprised by a special honor
  • Susan recognized Connie’s suggestion of the Promise Tree, a very special contribution to our club.
  • Pretty in pink, Connie thanked members
  • Susan addressed members and guests
  • To send us off, members of the Hospitality Committee led a garden sing-a-long to the tune of
    “Raindrops on Roses.”

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Mark your calendar for our summer get-together on Thursday, July 18, at 11 a.m. at Prescott Park in Portsmouth. Go to the website Calendar for more details.

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If you have any photos of your gardens that you’d like to share, email them to me (LuAnn) at my home email or to [email protected]. I’ll post them periodically through the summer for all to enjoy.