April Meeting & Program with Quill Teal-Sullivan
Wednesday
April 6, 2016
9:30 am coffee
10:00 presentation
New Canaan Nature Center
read more ...
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Tip Toe Through the Tulips on a Sunday Afternoon
Sunday
April 17, 2016
1:00-4:00 pm
1000 Ponus Ridge
read more ...
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May Meeting & Program:
Luscious Landscaping-
With Fruiting Trees, Shrubs and Vines! with
Lee Reich
Wednesday
May 4, 2016
9:30 am coffee
10:00 am program
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Hanging Basket Workshop
Wednesday
May 11, 2016
9:00 am
Libby Butterworth's house: 453 Carter Street
read more ...
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The Azalea Festival at Lee
Garden
Sunday
May 15, 2016
1:00-4:00 pm
Lee Memorial Garden on Chichester Road
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Planting Elm
& Pine Street Planters
Thursday
May 19, 2016
9:30 am
Pine Street in front of Mrs. Greens
read more ...
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Flower & Garden Celebration
Sunday
May 22, 2016
11:00 am-2:00 pm
Pop Up Park
more info coming
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Annual Meeting/Review
Wednesday
June 1, 2016
9:30 am
Grace Farms
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A Letter From Our Presidents
sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime
-e.e. cummings
We are so done with winter and ready for spring to renew our beautification energies! When you see an event or activity that interests you, please come and lend a hand. There's great pride of accomplishment in keeping our town looking beautiful! There are many opportunities listed in our newsletters.
April will bring us tulips! The ones we planted at Town Hall, as well as our own Tiptoe Through The Tulips on a Sunday Afternoon, April 24 from 1 to 4 pm at an estate in town for the benefit of NCBL.
We will hear about Historic Meadowburn Farm (located in New Jersey) with Quill Teal-Sullivan, at our April 6 program at the Nature Center and as a bonus there will be heirloom dahlias for sale!
Lee Garden is starting to bloom; volunteers there enjoy a morning or two each week doing spring activities. Give the chairs a call if you are curious about the garden, want a tour or would like to help. We are grateful to a SLOBS group, organized by David Woodman, for coming on March 26 to spread wood chips on our paths.
We are working on getting the
Leapin' Leap Year at Lee Garden power point presentation and plant list on our NCBL website.
Looking ahead, May will be one of our busiest months, so please put the dates shown here in this newsletter on your calendar or in your phone, so you don't miss anything!
April 6 - Historic Meadowburn Farm with Quill Teal-Sullivan, 9:
30 am
April 17 - Tip Toe Through the Tulips on a Sunday Afternoon, 1-4 pm
May 4 - Lee Reich on Landscaping with Fruiting Trees, Shrubs and Vines, 9:30 am
May 11 - Hanging Baskets Workshop, 9:30 am
All are welcome, especially new members.
May 15 - The Azalea Festival at Lee Garden,
1-4 pm
May 19 - Plant flowers in the 8 large planters in town, 9:30 am
May 22 - Flower and Garden Celebration, at the Pop Up Park in town, 11 am - 2:00 pm
June 1 - Annual Meeting/Review @ Grace Farms, 9:30 am
Our March 4 program with Page Dickey was taped by Channel 79. If you missed it, look on their program schedule (
http://www.nctv79.org/video.html
). It was wonderful and very well-attended!
Dust off your garden shoes and gloves, oil your clippers, and we'll see you soon!
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| There are many varieties of Hellebores blooming now at Lee Garden. |
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| A small and delicate variety of daffodil blooming at the Country Club Road / Smith Ridge triangle. |
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NCBL needs you to GET ON BOARD!!! Will you share your time and talent to serve on the Board of Trustees of New Canaan Beautification League? Please say YES! Board service is important for the vitality of our organization. REALLY!!!
The Nominating Committee seeks additional members to serve on our Board of Trustees for 2016-2017. Board member guidance and input in decision-making coordinates our many beautification, education and conservation activities.
Please contact Shirley Stancik at 203-517-6236 or at
[email protected]
if you are interested in finding out more about positions on the board that would allow you to share your talents for our vital New Canaan organization. Thank you!
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Wednesday, April 6
9:30 am coffee | 10:00 am program
New Canaan Nature Center
Quill Teal-Sullivan
"The Legacy of Historic Meadowburn Farm"
You can read the NCBL publicity announcement
here.
Heirloom dahlia tubers from Meadowbrook Farm will be available for purchase after the program.
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WANT TO SPEND A COUPLE OF HOURS IN A BEAUTIFUL SETTING?
Volunteers are needed for our NCBL event:
"Tip Toe Through the Tulips
on a Sunday Afternoon"
April 17, 2016
Volunteers are needed for two shifts:
12:30 to 2:30 and 2:30 to 4:30.
Help out at this beautiful private estate featured in Garden Design's Spring 2015 issue as an "outstanding garden in America".
If you would like to help, contact
Gale Stafford @ [email protected] by April 5.
There will be convenient parking and a car to shuttle volunteers at 54 Toquam Road; located close to the event.
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Triangles and Municipal Areas:
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Triangle at Oenoke and West Roads.
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Spring has sprung and it is time to get out and do some work in our triangles and municipal areas. Most all of our triangles have volunteers, however there are a couple of volunteers that would love an extra hand when it comes to working on the triangles. If you would be interested in helping out, please contact us, and we will share with you the volunteers that could use some help.
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Libby Butterworth among some of the flowers NCBL used for hanging baskets in 2015.
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It's Hanging Basket Time!
Please come for coffee 9:30 am, Wednesday, May 11 at Libby's house, 453 Carter Street.* We will be assembling the hanging baskets from 9:30 am onward. No experience required. Just drop in and stay as long as you can. Bring scissors, pliers, and clippers. We hope our newest members will come; it is a wonderful opportunity to see what we do and meet other members. The more people we have, the faster and more fun it will be!
Let us know if you can help!
*
You can park on one side of Carter Street or at the east end of Long Lots Road (part of "Hoyt Farms").
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| Hanging Baskets Workshop Day 2015 |
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Welcome New Members!
Ann Brookshire
Mimi Findlay
Mimi Gammill
Ty Tan
and returning member:
Robert Carpenter
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Earth Day Planting at Grace Farms
Saturday, April 23
NCBL and the Traveling Trowels will be assisting at the Community Garden Opening at Grace Farms
from 11am - 3pm.
If you are interested in helping plant their lovely raised bed garden, contact
Carol Seldin.
You can see the schedule of activities planned at Grace Farms for that day at
this link.
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Karen Hanson at Stamford Post Office with 5,756 bulk mail envelopes. Thank you volunteers!
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Many thanks to the following who made our Annual Appeal possible this year. You wrote and stuffed envelopes, 6,462 in all. Of those, 706 went first-class with personal hand written notes. A special thank you to those who volunteered to do extra. As John Heywood said, "many hands make light work!" Everything was mailed out on March 1. It's good to know we have so many dedicated NCBL members. Let's hope we raise enough funds to keep New Canaan beautiful - - that's our goal!
Becky Barlow, Rose Bauersfeld, Barbara Beall, Susan Bergen, Betsy Bilus, Eileen Boehme, Libby Butterworth, Carolin Buttrick, Jane Campbell, Michelle Clark, Claude Colabella, Peggy Dannemann, Katherine DeMarco, Joan Dionne, Karen Ferguson, Lisa Ferrante, Georgene Frantz, Margery Gardner, Judy Gilroy,Tonya Gwynn, Joan Hayenga, Gisela Hobman, Yvonne Hunkeler, Sara Hunt, Peggy Jay, Judy Johnson, Faith Kerchoff, Laura King, Kathy Lapolla, Karen Mactas, Penny Mardoian, Ann McCulloch, Ellen McMahon, Barbara Mechanic, Jayne Meythaler, Val Monaghan, Ceci Murray, Liz Orteig, Tracey Ozendo, Tracy Phillips, Debera Prosek Simpson, Marian Rose, Carol Seldin, Sandra Siegel, Gloria Simon, Margo Sisson, Gerda Smith, Nell Smith, Susan Smith, Gale Stafford, Shirley Stancik, Megan Steele, Effie Trahanas, Norma von Jena, Susan Weatherley, Amy Weber Reid, Eva Wingate, and Marianne Zarnik
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Did you get your Annual Appeal letter and FREE bookmark in the mail recently? If not, let us know!
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Mark Your Calendars for our May Program!
Wednesday, May 4
"Luscious Landscaping-With Fruiting Trees, Shrubs and Vines!" by avid farmer
Lee Reich, PhD. Learn how to beautify your yard and put stunning flowers and healthful food on your table by adding ideal plants that are local and low maintenance.
New Canaan Nature Center
Coffee: 9:30 am
Program: 10:00 am
You can find Lee Reich's website
here.
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Lee Reich's "Farmden" - not quite a garden and not quite a farm. Something quite charming and in between!
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"Leapin' Leap Year At Lee
Garden" was a great success!
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Lee Garden Chairs: Faith Kerchoff, Yvonne Hunkeler, and Kathy Lapolla before the program.
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A gardening display on the refreshment table.
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Faith's informative slide show is about to begin.
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Copia Home and Garden donated woodland type plants for a display.
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Lee Garden Gets Help from the SLOBS
The NCHS Service League of Boys helped our Lee Garden crew Saturday, March 26 spread mulch along the 3/4 miles of winding pathways in the garden.
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| Pictured left to right are: Kathy Lapolla, Chip Newton, David Woodman, Brad Newton, Nicholas Khzouz (Luke), Jack Khzouz, Derek Perone, Charlie Woodman, and Faith Kerchoff |
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Our March program had
record attendance! According to
New Canaan Channel 79, you will be able to view the presentation from Page Dickey
at this link soon.
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| Page Dickey signs one of her books with Amy Weber Reid, Carol Seldin, Faith Kerchoff, and Sara Hunt looking on. |
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The NCBL and the NC Garden Club are co-sponsoring the Best in Show award at the upcoming Carriage Barn exhibit
"Spectrum 2016 / Natural Inspiration". This year, guest Juror Gabriel de Guzman, Curator of Visual Arts at Wave Hill, a public garden and cultural center in the Bronx, is reviewing work that explores the phenomenal ways that nature inspires us. Landscape, flora, fauna, effects of light, natural forces, seasonal cycles, and environmental issues are just a few examples of subject matter that fall within this broad theme. All media except photography was considered for this exhibit.
The exhibit runs April 9 - May 12 and you can read more here.
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Program of Interest at the New Canaan Public Library
Tuesday, April 19 at 6:30pm Andrea Wulf presents THE INVENTION OF NATURE.
The Invention of Nature reveals the extraordinary life of the visionary German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and how he created the way we understand nature today. Find a full description of the program here.
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The shadblow attracts birds and more ...
Do you want to attract more birds to your garden? Try the shadblow, also known as the serviceberry (
amelanchier spp). This North American native tree has interest in spring when it's clusters of white flowers open before its leaves, in the summer when its berries form, and in the fall when it displays beautiful red foliage. It is its early summer berries that attract birds and other critters to its branches. The berries are edible by humans and can be used for cooking and baking, but gather them quickly as the birds love these berries so much that they won't last long on your tree!
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| A robin with a shadblow fruit in its grasp. |
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| Squirrels will go to great lengths to get the berries. |
The photos above were taken from the Sammarco's front door last year. Read more about this often overlooked tree
here.
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| Shadblow berries are edible for critters and humans alike. |
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