Tag Archive | photos

August Happenings

Aug25

Our new gardening season is almost upon us – marking another summer that disappeared before our very eyes. Judging by the photos submitted by members, we spent our break enjoying the hard work we and others have invested in nurturing beautiful things. The highlight club activity of August was Lee C.’s design workshop. Ann H. provides us with these words and photos:

What fun members had learning the basics of flower arranging with Lee at her home recently. She is such a natural arranger who effortlessly blends technical skill with creative expression as evidenced by her latest Ogunquit Museum’s Art in Bloom design. Members were fortunate to be guided through arranging techniques, balance and harmony by crafting their own designs with feedback from Lee. How lucky we were to have access to Lee’s gardens and gorgeous umbrella pine tree!  Assisting Lee were Jane J., Kathryn J. and Ann H.

A note from our new President, Vicki…

The Promise Tree is a well-loved tradition for our Garden Club. Members participate in events outside of our regular meetings for the purpose of enjoying a fun time together; as well as providing funds for the community projects that we offer, such as: Civic Beautification, Mini Grants and Scholarships.
We encourage members to offer an event or service. The Promise Tree gets a new leaf, and the host provides a sign-up sheet for her event. This sheet provides date, time, place, theme, the number of people that can attend, and the price of the event (we value the social aspect more than funds).
We have created a new ADVOCATE position, on trial, as we are trying to revive the Promise Tree after our COVID years. Please volunteer to ensure the Promise Tree set-up looks great for your month, be available to answer questions, and encourage new events with our empty leaves. Consider pairing up as Advocates to mingle more during the social hour. Let us try for a full and healthy tree this year to display at our June Luncheon.
The Advocate sign-up sheet is included in your most recent club email or sign up at the next meeting.

Club News

Our first Board meeting of the season will be held at 9:30 on Thursday, Sept. 5, at the Stratham Municipal Center in the Hutton Room.

In case you’ve lost track of your week, the summer maintenance schedules for the Stratham Veterans Garden and the American Independence Museum are now posted on the website, under Members Only. Don’t forget to notify the next person on the list at the end of your week!

Our September 19th general meeting will feature the Awards Presentations for Outstanding Commercial and Residential Gardens. After touring nominated gardens and much deliberation, the Awards committee has made some difficult choices and will reveal them at the meeting. We will also hear committee overviews from the chairs and hopefully have time for some committee discussions. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. at the Morgera Room of the Stratham Fire Department.

Other Plant News

Want more info about where and how plants originated? The five-part Ancient Earth series from PBS NOVA and the BBC is available to stream on pbs.org/nova, NOVA on YouTube, and the PBS app. The series uses realistic animation based on the latest research to explore the dramatic history of Earth, from its formation to the emergence of humans.

Can you guess why the name tulip comes from the Turkish word tülbent which means “turban”? How about why the petunia gets its name from the Tupi word petí̵ma which means “tobacco”? Check out this website for your etymological answers. Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden | Merriam-Webster.

For those of you with night-blooming Cereus who are patiently waiting for a bloom, Carmen G. has discovered a foolproof way to get blooms out of a recalcitrant plant. Being much discouraged that her large, healthy Cereus has refused to produce, she gave it an ultimatum: “bloom this summer or it’s the compost for you.” Well, here’s the result, as of 11 p.m. on the 24th.

Here’s the bloom’s progression from Aug. 14 to the 25th.

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Lastly, more wonderful photos from Lynda B. “I helped my daughter feed cows, goats, and rabbits on the Appleton Farm in Ipswich, Mass. where she volunteers; a doorway in Ipswich; a smoky sunset in Exeter.”

January Happenings

Jan10
Wikimedia Commons

Garlic is on the menu for our January 18th general meeting. Margaret Witham will be speaking about “How to Grow Garlic”. Margaret, along with Rebecca Hennessy, are co-owners of Backyard Garlic. Their business started in 2015 literally in their backyards growing garlic to dehydrate and sell in grinder jars. They wanted to grow and create a product from healthy soil and organic practices for their community.

The business continues to grow. Currently, their garlic grinder jar and refill bags are sold in 45 stores and farm stands throughout New England, and they ship their product all over the country. Margaret will be bringing some of their custom grinders and refill packets, available in local markets, for sale to the membership. Check out their website http//www.backyardgarlic.farm.

Join us on Thursday, the 18th in the Morgera Room at the Stratham Fire Station – not only for garlic inspiration, but also for our E&C presentation, sales table, Promise Tree, refreshments, and especially – great company! Doors open at 9 a.m., meeting starts at 10.

As promised in our last Happenings, here are photos from Betsy V.’s rowdy Swap Shop Party. Betsy once again outdid herself, both in her carefully curated “gift” selection and her festive holiday goodies. Every participant left with a big smile, a full stomach, and a priceless artifact from the Candia dump. What better way to celebrate the holidays?

Let’s start with the refreshments…

And how about those gifts?

Our photographer, Ann H.
Our hostess, Betsy
The venue — Betsy’s house

The gnomes at the Stratham Municipal Center offices decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve this year, with a little assistance from Lee C. After successfully spreading holiday cheer to everyone who visited the offices, the gnomes have been retired for the season. Once snow season has passed, Lee, Ellen, and Linda S. will be assembling a new seasonal display for the area.

Speaking of gnomes, Lee was inspired to make a mini-gnome table-top decoration for her home. She looking for a few members who can help design a similar gnome for the garden club to sell at the next Yuletide Fair. Contact Lee to share your inspiration!

In Pollinator and Other News…

Flowers are reacting to the shrinking number of pollinators by evolving to self-pollinate, according to a recent study at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. The flowers they studied were saving energy by producing less nectar for pollinators and instead self-pollinating. Scientists are stunned at the speed of this evolution which is disrupting 100 million years of evolutionary history. To read more, go to articles in The Guardian or Science Alert.

The Rye Driftwood Garden Club will be hosting Darcy Boyle, floral designer, on Jan. 16, 9:30 a.m. at the Rye Congregational Church in Rye. https://www.ryenhgardenclub.org/programs

Owen Wormser, author of “Lawns Into Meadows,” will be speaking on “Meadowmaking for Beginners” on February 7, 2024 (Wednesday) from 7:00 – 8:30 pm ONLINE via Zoom Webinar. Sponsored by New England Botanic Garden. Register here.

October Happenings

Nov7

November has launched with a flurry of activity for EAGC members. We’ve been tidying up our community service gardens, planning for our Holiday Luncheon, attending workshops for the Yuletide fair, and best of all, welcoming new members to our busy club. But first, let’s recap our October general meeting.

Our Awards Committee, chaired by Carmen G., took center stage in presenting EAGC’s annual Outstanding Garden Awards. This year, three awards were presented – Outstanding Residential Garden, Outstanding Commercial Garden, and the new Lifetime Achievement Award. After visiting a number of beautiful gardens, the committee chose these three as the most impressive.

Outstanding Residential Garden: Elizabeth Niebling, Exeter. Her gardens are a wonderful example of all that can be accomplished on a modestly-sized town property.

Outstanding Commercial Garden: Inn by the Bandstand, Robin Davis (partner of Jamie Lopez, owner of Inn at the Bandstand). The Inn’s location at the center of Exeter near the bandstand is the perfect location for a front garden and planters that help beautify the historic downtown.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Jack Fermery of Hampton Falls received the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award for his many years of dedicated care and maintenance. A photo of a bit of his beautiful gardens show why he earned this award.

Award Recipients Jack Fermery, Elizabeth Niebling, Robin Davis, and EAGC member Judy Roberts

Carol C., a member of our Horticulture committee, provided a detailed Hort Moment for attendees that focused on the plant, bay laurel. Her presentation, including posters and plant cuttings, covered all aspects of this useful plant. A transcription of her program can be found in Hort Tips on the website.

Carol C.’s Bay Laurel Presentation

At our November 16 General meeting we will host Betty Sanders, a Massachusetts Lifetime Master Gardener, a former District Director for the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, and an accredited Flower Show Judge. Her talks share her knowledge and experiences on a diverse set of topics. She will be sharing the following talk:
Going Native: Low Maintenance Trees and Shrubs — Native trees and shrubs evolved in New England without our help. They have adapted to hot, dry summers and cold winters, to browsing deer, and local insects. The flowers and fruit they produce attract birds and butterflies, and along with their foliage add color to your landscape. Nativars—the cultivars of native plants—have expanded the color palette and options for the homeowner.

While at the meeting, don’t forget to sign up for the Holiday Luncheon, which will be on Thursday, December 7th, 11:30 a.m. at the Wentworth by the Sea Country Club. You must sign up no later than Nov. 23rd to attend.

Yuletide Fair Committees at Work Club members have been attending workshops, organized by Lee C. & Johann S., to prepare sale items for the Nov. 18th Yuletide Fair in Stratham. Many projects have been completed, with impressive results, but our biggest preparation effort will be the workshop held on Friday, Nov. 17 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Stratham Municipal Center. We’ll be working on fresh arrangements, gourd decorating, and finishing up the amaryllis containers for sale. Here are Yuletide committees at work and a preview of some of the completed sale items talented members have created:

With Veterans Day soon upon us, Linda S. and her Beautification committee spent a few hours this week tidying up the Stratham Memorial Veterans Garden for the upcoming ceremony. Spent plants were pulled, leaves were raked away, and grasses were trimmed. Applecrest Orchards in Hampton Falls donated their remaining mums for our use, adding some color to the garden.

The cleanup crew

And lastly…

Lynda B. took some time during her walks in Exeter (and on Star Island) to document some of the summer’s highlights and has shared them with us.

Mid-Summer Update

Jul14

Area gardens are flourishing these days – thanks to copious rain and plenty of heat and humidity. We gardeners may not be coping quite as well, due to that same rain, heat and humidity. Early morning gardening seems to be advisable on these 90 degree days, and dealing with this summer’s very happy weeds is a challenge. Nonetheless, our community projects look wonderful. Our volunteers have managed to keep up with the weeding and deadheading despite the heat, and here are the results.

American Independence Museum
Stratham Veterans Garden

We finished off our 2022-23 garden club year in festive fashion again this year, with our Plant Auction and June Luncheon. Paige Curtis and her committee arranged for a lovely meal and setting, while Johann and her crew put together another fun and profitable plant auction. We have pictures!

Our welcoming Membership team
Plants for auction
More plants for auction
Someone went home with these herbs
Pre-auction shopping
Connor -our honorary plant assistant, provided some muscle.
Centerpieces included lovely embroidered pictures, courtesy of Carmen G.
No luncheon is complete without our traditional sing-along.
Impressive attendance again this year.

Congratulations to one of our gardeners extraordinaire, Patti E, who earned a Certified Pollinator Garden designation. She posted on her Facebook page that the application strictly looked at the number and variety of native pollinator plants in her yard, which has encourage her to add even more natives. She’s seen “an amazing increase in the number of pollinators and birds here compared to the barren landscape that was here just 3 years ago.”

Another of our very talented gardeners, Becky M., was recognized in June by the Stratham Selectboard. The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance has honored Becky, a longtime member of the Town’s Heritage Commission and a community leader in historic preservation efforts, with its 2023 Elizabeth Durfee Hengen Award. The award recognizes Becky’s extensive contributions to preservation planning, advocacy, and education here in Stratham over more than two decades. Congratulations, Becky!

Upcoming:

Christmas in July? Plans are underway to begin preparing items for the November Yuletide Fair. Pat N. will be hosting amaryllis pot decorating workshops on July 24 and 26. Abbie-Jane A. is also planning another crafting workshop for this summer. Watch your email for more information on signing up. We want to complete as much of the preparation as possible before the busy holiday season begins.

The Piscataqua Garden Club will be hosting “The Business of Food Waste: Growing, Selling, Composting” on Thursday, July 20, at 10:30 AM at the York Harbor Reading Room on 491 York St., York Harbor, ME. Experts in sustainable food production, waste reduction/composting, and community food service will hold conversations on how to help reduce greenhouse gases through everyday actions. Open to the public. There is a non-member charge of $5.00 at the door.

Independence Day has gone by, but this arrangement by Lee C. deserves to be enjoyed after the fact.

December Happenings – Part Two

Jan9

With the holidays behind us, most of us are probably enjoying the quiet time of January – reading a book, browsing seed catalogs, or just appreciating homes newly cleared of holiday decorations. (Apologies to Anne C., who is in the midst of moving to a new home and would no doubt love to be quietly reading a book.) Before we dive into the new garden club year, let’s wrap up 2022 with photos of our final holiday celebrations.

An especially large group of members celebrated the season, and each other, at our annual Holiday Luncheon at the Wentworth by the Sea Country Club. A social hour kicked off the fun, followed by a delicious meal and our customary gift exchange. Thanks go to Nancy D. for organizing the event, assisted by her talented Hospitality committee.

Clever favors
Festive table setting
Tempting gifts bags
Just one of the exchange gifts
And lots of happy faces…

Susan C. prepared a holiday feast for members on December 16 – a Promise Tree event that Susan has been hosting for several years. Anyone who is familiar with Susan’s cooking skills knows that attendees were treated to a bounty of delicious food. And her holiday decorations alone are well worth the visit.

The speaker for our next general meeting, Wendy Snow Fogg, is from Misty Meadows Herb Garden in Lee, NH. She will present “Herbs to Support A Healthy Immune System.” As she explains, “In this time of mutating viruses, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and oh so much angst, our immune systems have taken a mighty wallop! But Mother Earth provides plants to help us regain our strength and, yes, even our confidence and hope.” We’ll be meeting as usual at 9:30 on Thursday, Jan. 19 in the Mogera Room of the Stratham Fire Department.

If you’d like to learn more about heirloom gardening, the Rye Driftwood Garden Club will be sponsoring John Fortis, Heirloom Gardener, who will be speaking about “Traditional Plants & Skills” on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at the Rye Congregational Church. More info can be found at https://www.ryenhgardenclub.org/.

Gardening, or communing with nature in general, is certainly limited during these cold months. Watching our local birds compete for a turn at the birdfeeder is an entertaining diversion, for sure, but how about hand feeding-birds for a much more fulfilling adventure? Some of you may have cultivated such close relationships with your neighborhood birds that they’ll come to your hand for lunch, but most of us haven’t had that experience. It takes time, lots of patience, and an impressive tolerance for the cold to train birds to trust our good intentions, as we stand – stock still – in our freezing backyards hopefully offering a handful of birdseed.

Luckily, there’s another way. According to the Boston Globe, the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield, MA, is home to flocks of chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches tame enough to perch on any hand that offers a seed snack. The Innermost Trail, a short walk from the parking lot, is said to be the best place for successful hand-feeding. If you’re interested in experiencing some “hands-on” winter adventure, you can find more info about the sanctuary at https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/ipswich-river.

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