In your Fall Cleanup this year, consider our native bees..... read on for advice on how to support their life cycle as you tidy your garden.
President's Letter
The Club held its Centennial Celebration the evening of Friday, September 6 at Tricia Wentworth’s home. Thank you to Tricia, her husband, Mark Fagan, Anne Mills and Tara Reardon who were responsible for arranging this outstanding event, and to everyone who kindly contributed food. Special thanks to Lauren Savage who delivered a presentation on the history of the Club from its founding in 1924 until 2000. Lauren found original records dating back to the beginning of the Club in the archives of the Concord Public Library and her talk was full of fascinating details. She made us all proud to be part of such a storied organization. In case you were not able to attend, a copy of Lauren’s talk is included at the bottom of this newsletter and will be added to the History page on the Club’s website.
The Centennial Celebration also kicks off the Club’s 101st season and we have a great lineup of speakers and social events planned. Please check out our website for all events. Thanks to Johane Telgener, Anne Mills and the rest of the Program Committee for arranging our schedule. Get in touch with Anne with all your ideas for future speakers or events. We are always looking for ideas.
As we embark on our second century, we need all your help to sustain and grow our Club. I encourage you to think about friends, neighbors and colleagues who might enjoy being part of our wonderful community. Invite them to attend a lecture or join us for a community service activity. I also encourage you to think about becoming involved in the Club’s leadership. Even if you have previously served, we need you back!
The Centennial Celebration was a great success. As one member said: “we really do have a wonderful club and fabulous women who make it possible. I sincerely believe we gave the 100th year a royal send off.”
Take care all, see you in the garden.
Gena
October Meeting
Putting Your Garden to Bed
with Isabelle Burley
Thursday, Oct 10, 2024
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Black Forest Nursery, 209 King St, Boscawen
Learn everything you need to know to ensure your garden is protected from winter and ready to thrive come spring. Discover which plants to cut back, how to clean up your garden, and the best ways to safeguard evergreens. Isabelle will also discuss supporting wildlife during the colder months and offer helpful hints for garden planning, including planting fall bulbs. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and skills for maintaining a healthy, beautiful garden all year round!
Questions? Contact Johane Telgener at Jtelgener020@gmail.com
November Meeting
Flesh and Bones of a New Hampshire Garden
with Michael Gordon
Thursday, Nov 07, 2024
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Women's Club of Concord, 44 Pleasant St, Concord
Michael Gordon is an optometrist by profession and a gardener by obsession. A self-trained gardener, he has learned about gardening by visiting the best gardens possible. He leads garden tours to England and has designed public gardens for 20 years in Peterborough, NH where he and his wife live in a 120- year old house on a terraced half-acre lot. He will talk about the process of creating a garden around his home in the last three decades. In particular, he will discuss how the gardens he has visited have informed his decisions and how the garden and the house relate to one another.
Questions? Contact Lauren Savage lauren.savage1971@gmail.com
No guests, please. This event is for Garden Club Members Only
Community Service
The Community Service Committee will meet on October 21st to discuss future activities and potential recipients for Polly Perry grant funds. If you have ideas for a Community Service project or a worthy recipient of grant funds (last year's recipient was the Concord Public Library), please contact Melissa Smart (lisbeetea.ms@gmail.com) or Jenny Robson (jenrobson@mac.com). Thank you!
Art and Bloom 2025
Planning for our 22nd Annual Art and Bloom is underway. Many hands make light work, and we are still hoping that several more of you will step up as volunteers on our committee.
The event will take place at Kimball Jenkins again this year, January 23-25, 2025. We will be needing hosts to sign up closer to the time. But of course Art and Bloom can’t happen without the work of our wonderful designers. We’re looking for you NOW! And ask anyone who has done it: no prior experience is needed to come up with an amazing floral piece to complement the art!
Email me, Millie LaFontaine, if you’re interested in volunteering for our committee.
Email Millie, Lucy Gentilhomme or Cynthia Rouvalis if you’re interested in being a designer.
Millie LaFontaine, lafontainefamily@comcast.net
Lucy Gentilhomme, lgentilho@gmail.com
Cynthia Rouvalis, c.rouvalis@comcast.net
LOOKING FOR CHRISTMAS GIFTS?
Look no further! Our Concord Garden Club merchandise makes the perfect gift for every person on your list, and your purchase helps the CGC to defray the cost of our events, keeping membership dues as low as possible. Win-win!
Choose from a stylish Eddie Bauer softshell vest, a practical insect repellant wide-brim sunhat made from SPF fabric, an apron with pockets for your phone and tools, a snappy baseball cap, or a Carhartt bag featuring pockets for your gardening tools, knitting projects, hobby or art supplies...... whatever you carry, this bag will organize it.
All sport our beautiful Concord Garden Club logo and can be ordered directly from our special website here.
Consider sharing the website link with family members or friends who might want to gift you something special but wouldn't otherwise know of this opportunity.
October To-Do's
Fall Cleanup Information from Tufts University's Pollinator Initiative (an excellent resource worth checking out) -- About 30% of New England’s native bees build nests above ground. Besides bee hotels (many of which have their own issues), a great way to support these above-ground nesting bees is to leave dead plant stems standing in gardens. Bees will lay and provision offspring in these hollow or pithy stems. TPI members are often asked by gardeners, “when is the best time to cut down stems?” The answer is at least two years (ideally never), which is longer than you might think. Let’s review bee and plant biology to understand why.
Year 1: Plant stems are growing. Native plants like joe-pye weed, elderberry, wild bergamot, mountain mint, and swamp milkweed produce hollow or pithy (e.g. soft, spongy tissue) stems suitable for nesting bees. Bees won’t nest in these actively growing stems. At the end of the growing season (December through March), cut the stems back to between 6-18” tall. Use sharp tools to ensure a clean cut. By cutting back the stems, you have created homes for next year’s bees.
Year 2: Bees active during this year will nest in the stems you left standing. They will lay eggs in the stem and provision each egg with a nutritious ball of pollen and nectar. Inside the stem, bees will develop from eggs into larvae and adults that hibernate through winter. Bees won’t emerge from stems until next growing season. Remember to cut back the new, green stems produced this year for next year’s bees.
Year 3: In spring of year 3, stems produced in year 1 still contain bees; stems produced in year 2 do not contain bees. Leave both generations of stems standing throughout the year. Spring-active bees will emerge from year 1 stems by June, whereas fall-active species might not emerge from year 1 stems until August or early September. During this time, new bees will nest in year 2 stems, so leave them standing!
While this may seem like an awfully long time to leave stubble in a garden, it is the only way to ensure that native bees find safe, undisturbed places to nest. Posting signage in your garden to inform visitors about how gardens can be managed to balance aesthetic and ecological goals can be helpful.
Cut the tops of your tomato plants so the fruit will ripen.
Seed saving…..make sure the flower or vegetable is fully ripe or past ripe. For tomatoes, it can’t be a hybrid. Cucumbers need to be open pollinated. Scrape out the seeds and wash well. Soak seeds for 10 to 15 minutes in a solution of ¾ teaspoon apple cider vinegar to 1 cup water…rinse well. Dry on wax paper. Make sure the seeds are thoroughly dry before storing in jar, baggies, or envelopes. Don’t forget to label container.
Flower seed saving, Just dry the flower head with seeds….when dry, pull out seeds or just save the whole thing. Make sure it is thoroughly dry or it could mildew.
Start basil seeds and parsley seeds now to enjoy this winter. Start in a sunny window.
Pelargoniums….when evening temperature regularly drops below 55 degrees, it is time to cut back to 6 to 8 inches and store for winter. Keep plant in pot in unheated basement or garage that does not freeze. Keep soil dry and only water to just keep alive.
Dahlias need to be dug up and overwintered in our climate. After the first hard frost cut back all of the stems to about 3 to 4 inches. Then dig up the tubers, brush off all of the soil, and let them air dry for a few days if it isn’t freezing. Store them in ventilated cardboard boxes or plastic storage tubs in a cool (40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit) dark, humid place like an unheated basement.
History of Concord NH Garden Club 1924-1990’s
This is the presentation Club Historian Lauren Savage gave at our September 6th Centennial Celebration cocktail party. Party attendees were so interested to hear about our Club's history that we've been asked to share the presentation with all members.
Three years ago, we started talking about the fact that our garden club
would be 100 years old in 2024. We decided to form the Centennial
committee which would plan and create the events for the year and so
tonight we are here in this beautiful home paying tribute to our club
and all its past and present members.
So thank you to the Centennial committee members who helped with
the Doug Tallamy event, and of course all of you who participated in
making tonight happen. Thank you so much, you made my job a
pleasure.
I hope that sometime tonight you will get a chance to take a look at the
“yearbooks “ that I have brought from the Concord Records room at
the Concord Library. They have been stored there and I hope all the
records that we have will be placed there. I have read all of the
yearbooks, and they chronicle each accomplishment, and the women
who contributed to the “beautification,” as they called it, of Concord,
through the past 100 years, and I think you will agree they are
impressive.
In 1924 Calvin Coolidge was our president, white women had only
had the vote for 4 years, Babe Ruth was the most popular athlete and
the Model T Ford cost $290.
Concord citizens had a long history of planting trees on Main Street to
help with erosion and shade in the spring and the fall.
The Great War had ended and many people were mourning the
deaths of their beloved soldiers and nurses overseas. The citizens of
Concord thought that the process of planting trees would help
memorialize those lost. Our local American Legion planned a day to
bring everyone together on Main Street for a ceremony.
That day was April 24,1924. The concept of honoring the war dead
took on a new life. The citizens of Concord felt that each tree planted should honor a fallen hero or veteran. The entire nation turned toward
Concord New Hampshire, on that day, to report the news of this VERY
first event in the United States. The concept gave many grieving
families an opportunity to honor their loved ones while providing some
time of closure to others. News media from all across the nation came
to cover the event held by the American Legion.
It was that same year and in that same spirit that the Concord Garden
Club was founded and the first 25 members got to work. The president
was Mrs. Charles Carroll and the secretary was Mrs. Charles
Jackman who lived at 1 Auburn St., this very house. The
Constitution and the By-laws were hand written and are in the first
Yearbook. Members paid their $1 dues and met at the president's
home. They listened to lectures and tea was served. Most of the
members lived nearby this house so they could walk to meetings, as
few women had cars or could drive.
Their first project was to sponsor and add two memorial trees to Main
Street and to prune existing shrubbery around Dewey School. They
also did presentations to school children on wild flowers, encouraging
the students interest in the natural environment.
The first flower show was held in 1928, at Phenix Hall titled the Bower
of Blossoms. Six years later, in 1934, 1,700 people visited the show.
During the 30’s what was called “civic beautification” continued around
the schools, Concord Hospital, and South End Triangle. Six hundred
iris bulbs were planted at Blossom Hill and Norway maples were added
on Main Street. With the help of the Boy Scouts, caterpillar
extermination was implemented through out Concord. In 1931 we had
50 members.
In the 40’s, the Club sponsored an extremely successful birdhouse
competition in the elementary schools. Students grades 4-12
participated, resulting in 800 bird houses. Prizes were given for
workmanship, and originality. Also that year the CGC partnered with
the State Library for an exhibit of flower paintings and prints which
was open to the public.
As quoted from the Yearbook “during World War II, the situation
changed. The Board placed the Club on a war-time status and their
funds were used for bonds, vegetable seeds, supporting the Red
Cross, and assistance with Victory Gardens.”
During the 50’s house and garden tours continued as well as flower
shows, both of which were very well attended. Proceeds from these
projects were used to continue the beautification programs. In 1959
we received a letter of thanks from the state of New Hampshire for the
new trees and shrubbery CGC planted on the State House grounds.
Also at this time plantings at the Concord Hospital were added. Many
of those trees and shrubs still grow today on the grounds.
During the 60’s CGC continued funding scholarships to Conservation
Camps, sometime for students and sometimes for teachers. The Club
held a Christmas and a Spring Flower Show, an Open House and a
garden tour. This tour of 6 homes had a “Brides and Blooms”
theme.
Flower arrangements for events were made for the NH Historical
Society, the Concord Library and the Antiques Show at the Highway
Hotel. The Club donated $500 for plantings at the new Nurses
Residence at Concord Hospital, and a like sum for planting the NH
Historical Society.
A gift of money, time, and consultation was given to landscape the
addition to the Concord Public Library; the club also received a note of
thanks from the Chamber of Commerce for the flower arrangements placed in the Library's children’s room during National Library Appreciation Week. It was at this time the club became members of theSociety for the Protection of NH Forests, and we continued to
contribute to the Concord United Way.
It was in the 1970s, what was called a Flower Cart, was created at
Havenwood, later to be called the Green Thumb cart. Then the Flower
Mart was held at St. Paul’s church. Both raised a substantial amount
of money ($846.00) that was used to fund scholarships to the conservation camp and to workshops at Mt. Cardigan AMC, for both teachers and students. Also, six Linden trees were planted at Walker School. Members also volunteered at the Audubon House selling bird seed through the mail and planted Autumn Olive and High bush cranberry
bushes to attract birds to the Center.
Late in 1979 Edwina Czaijkowski gave a talk titled “Back to Basics,”
giving members a real lesson in the basics of NH food supply and the
necessity of preserving farm lands from the encroachment of shopping
centers, housing developments, and highways. During the 80’s the CGC relationship with Edwina Czajkowski was established while she was working for project SEE. This was a
program which was all about emphasizing environmental education for
school children. She was the person who saved White’s Farm -- a
cluster of farm buildings, a cottage, broad fields, apple orchard and
woods -- and repurposed it for her environmental classroom.
The CGC community service committee was right there supporting her
and the students throughout the years. She was made an Honorary
Member of the club for her significant contributions to the children of
Concord.
During the 90’s the club supported Arbor Day and planted trees in
White’s Park. This was also a time when we sponsored camper-ships,
usually to Camp Spaulding (until it closed), and the Audubon summer
programs. Also we have donated dozens of gardening books to the
Concord library.
On April 21,1999 the Garden Club celebrated their 75th Anniversary.
Members and guests gathered at St. Paul’s Memorial Hall to hear
Roger Swaine from PBS give a talk titled”Getting a Handle on
Gardening.”
I will stop there as so many of you have been members and can relate
to the last 25 years of history in real time. Our pride and joy has been Art and Bloom since 2002, and it will be as amazing this coming year as it has been in the past. We continue with fun and interesting programming, supporting the park, the library, Friendly Kitchen and
many other projects, always responding where and when asked.
While reading each Yearbook it was apparent that despite what was
going on in Concord and the world, our Garden Club kept meeting,
kept working on projects, kept “ cultivating the spirit of gardening” with
each and everything that we have accomplished.
Therefore I hope, it is with a tremendous sense of pride that each of
you celebrates all the accomplishments of the Concord Garden Club
from the past and going forward.
I am sure as we have a sense of pride in the women that came before
us, they would have that same sense of pride in us now.
Lauren Savage
Club Historian
September 6, 2024
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