January Happenings

Beautiful garden blooms are hard to come by in New Hampshire in January. Lee has kindly sent us a picture to brighten our day – taken in her garden bed in Cayman. I’m not sure if we should feel cheered or just jealous…

Lee’s Hibiscus

January’s General Meeting featured Dr. Stephen Hale, who presented a lively discussion of Backyard Birds. The audience was able to identify most of his bird photos, but he may have stumped us on one or two.

Stephen Hale
Look Familiar?

The Environment and Conservation committee presented an extensive overview of native birch trees at the January meeting. We all learned something new about one of our favorite local trees. If you missed the meeting, or the display, you can see it all on the website, under “Garden Talk” or by clicking here.

Susan & Linda V. hosted a novel Promise Tree event — an afternoon with Britain’s leading garden writer and broadcaster, Monty Don (via Netflix). Our intrepid reporter on the scene, Ann H., filed this report:

Big Garden Dreams

What are gardeners to do on a dreary, cold January afternoon? Enjoy each other’s company and talk about gardening, of course. Club members were invited to meet up for a little camaraderie and refreshments and to watch a landscaping program at a time when our own gardens are in a deep winter sleep. How wonderful it was to be greeted by our host home with spring floral displays and a smorgasbord of food and drink…. including a spot of tea for the British program we were about to see.

Are you an amaryllis fan? How many bulbs will you have in bloom this winter? Becky has put together some very useful information about caring for amaryllis bulbs, including methods for saving them over for another year. Check out her Hort Tip here.

Next up for our February 20th general meeting:

A garden water features offer years of joy, relaxation and tranquility.  Come hear about the variety of possibilities and the build process available today.  Our speaker, Sean Radomski, is owner and designer for Aquatopia in Bow, NH.  He believes there is a water feature for every yard, every space and almost every budget.  From DIY to professionally installed, you will be pleasantly surprised at how possible it is to add a wonderful, relaxing aquatic oasis. Bring your own pictures of a space and let Sean show you what is possible!

We’re very pleased to announce that Jan C. and Paula F. are our new Civic Beautification chairs. They will be overseeing the maintenance of the Exeter Bandstand and the holiday decorations for the Historical Society. They’ll co-chair with Donna W., who will continue to manage the Stratham Veteran’s Garden.

The Rye Driftwood Garden Club will meet on Tuesday, Feb 18. They will discussing a creature we don’t usually associate with gardening – lobsters!  Cameron Bonsey, Director of Marketing at Coast of Maine, will present a program called “Why Your Plants Love Lobster: The Story of Calcium, Chitin and Nitrogen”.  He will discuss how one person’s trash can truly be another’s treasure as left-over lobster shells become organic fertilizer. Coffee & refreshments 9:30-10:00.    Suggested donation $5 non-members. Program starts at 10.

On Feb. 20 th at 7 pm Molly Janicki will be presenting “Pollinator Plants and Gardening Tips” at Rye Jr. High School, 501 Washington Rd., Rye. This presentation is sponsored by Pollinator Pathways New Hampshire.

Club Memories — Although our club no longer maintains scrapbooks of our activities, we still have lots of pictures of the highlights of our last 8 years. They’re all stored on our website. Here are a few photos of a very fun event. How many remember this day in June, 2012?

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