February, 2022 Newsletter
Volunteers Making New Canaan Beautiful
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Dear New Canaan Beautification League Members and Friends,
February is the time to think about preparing for the upcoming garden season. Sean Corenki, Manager of the Gardener's Center in Darien will speak to us about just that on February 2nd at 9:30. Please see instructions below to join our webinar presentation.
There are some wonderful speakers upcoming, including Linda Larson who will give a presentation based on her travels to over 900 gardens in March, and Kirk Brown who will treat us to a lively impersonation of Frederick Law Olmstead at St. Mark’s Church’s Morrill Hall on April 27.
February is also the time when Beautification League’s Nominating Committee, under the leadership of Sara Hunt, is busy making phone calls to ask for your participation on our Board for 2022-23. Our vibrant volunteer organization flourishes as members are excited to serve on our Board. Board member Betsy Bilus recently wrote: “It has been my pleasure to work with my NCBL fellow volunteers on some fun projects – all worthwhile and uplifting to the town and volunteers alike.”
In March we will send out our annual appeal. More on that next month.
As spring approaches, we can look forward to a kind donation from Madalene Laudani and her son, Anthony Pellegrino. Anthony gifted his mom a ‘Little Free Library’ which she has donated to Lee Garden. She will stock it with books and keep it maintained. Thank you to both Madalene and Anthony!
Among other things in the newsletter, please be sure to read about ‘Home Grown National Parks’, a grass roots effort to help rejuvenate biodiversity one garden at a time; some Garden Conservancy virtual programs, and classes Westchester Community College is offering on native plants.
Warmly,
Carol & Karen
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Get Your Garden Ready for Spring
with Sean Corenki
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
9:30 - 11:30 am
Preregistration to attend this Zoom meeting is required. After registration, you will receive a link to attend the meeting.
This meeting and presentation will be recorded.
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Sean Corenki, Manager of The Gardener’s Center in Darien, will discuss the various tasks we should be performing in our early spring gardens--including soil preparation, pruning, and choosing ornamental and edible plants. Be ready with your questions!
Sean has worked in the retail garden center industry for 30 years, the last 16 of which has been at The Gardener's Center as General Manager and buyer for the nursery.
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Non-members are welcome, so have your friends register by directing them to the "program page" on our website: https://www.newcanaanbeautification.org/programs |
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The Best View of Our World is Through a Garden |
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Linda Larson is a lifelong lover of flowers, Master Gardener, and gardens in Mesa, Az where she has lived for over 30 years. Ms. Larson taught public public speaking at Mesa College until her retirement when she became a Master Gardner. She writes a monthly "Traveling Gardener" column.
Her presentation, entitled "The Best View of Our World is Through a Garden",
is based on personal travel to over 900 gardens in 35 countries, all 50 United States and combines travel adventure with nature's beauty.
Gardens, large and small, provide travel destinations all over the globe. For every garden, those who planted the seeds and arranged the ground have stories to tell:
- Tales of the homes they built.
- The social structure of the day.
- The power and struggle required to make a garden.
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The webinar which is open to non-members, will be recorded and posted on NCBL’s YouTube channel for 7 days. |
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'Frederick Law Olmstead: 200 Years of Growing America'
Wednesday April 27
Morrill Hall, St. Mark's Church
111 Oenoke Ridge
New Canaan, CT
9-11 a.m.
Horticulturalist, lecturer and re-enactor, Kirk Brown will speak to us as Frederick Law Olmstead himself, bringing the Father of Landscape Architecture to life on the anniversary of Olmstead's 200 birthday.
More information to come.
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Spring Buffet Luncheon / Victorian Tea Date Change |
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Please note our Spring Buffet Luncheon/Victorian Tea has been moved to a new date:
Wednesday, May 4th
Waveny House
The event is free and open to our members and their guests.
You must be vaccinated to attend.
Details to follow.
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Little Free Library Coming to Lee Garden |
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Meet Madalene Laudani and her son, Anthony Pellegrino.
For Christmas, not only did Anthony buy his mom this Little Free Library but he also spent time working at Lee Garden.
Madalene and her son have spent a couple of Mothers' Days at Lee and both love to read. Now they are spreading that gift to others by donating the library to Lee Garden and will keep it stocked with books for everyone.
Little Free Library’s mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Libraries. Thank you both!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
Dr. Seuss
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Find out more about Little Free Library by clicking the link below. |
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Rare Azalea May be Located in Lee Garden |
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We received an email through our website from Connor Ryan, Rhododendron Collections manager of the Holden Azalea Garden in Cleveland, OH. In looking for information on two specific azaleas, 'Forest Fire' and 'Pyxie', he discovered that they are Gable azaleas and one is listed as being in George Lee’s garden. He asked if we still have these as they are quite rare and have been crossed with a rare species called 'Rhododendron tshonoskii', a Japanese species. Mr. Ryan is interested in getting a cutting of it and Faith remembers 'Forest Fire', where it is, and believes it is still tagged. The Pyxie, was not on George’s original inventory. We hope to send a cutting to the Holden Forests and Gardens in the spring!
The Holden Arboretum was merged with the Cleveland Botanical Garden in 2014, to make it the 12th largest public garden in the country. They are big - the Arboretum has 3,500 acres, 200 of which are cultivated gardens; and the Cleveland Botanical Garden is 10 acres of outdoor gardens.
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Azalea 'Forest Fire' courtesy of Country Home and Garden |
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SUPER BREAD BOWL SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP
This rich and creamy hot spinach and artichoke dip recipe is easy, delicious, and totally cheesy! Once mixed, this dip is baked until warm and melted in a round bread bowl.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 10 ounces frozen, chopped spinach defrosted
- 14 oz. marinated artichokes drained and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- ½ fresh shredded parmesan cheese
- 1-1/2 cups freshly grated mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 round loaf of sourdough bread
- Olive oil
- Garlic salt to taste
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut the top off the sourdough loaf and remove the center leaving a ¾” shell.
- Cut the top and insides of the loaf into bite sized squares for dipping. Drizzle with olive oil and garlic salt to taste. Bake 5 minutes on a cookie sheet.
- Squeeze as much liquid out of the defrosted spinach as you can and set aside.
- Beat cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise with a mixer on medium until fluffy.
- With a spoon, stir in garlic, spinach, artichokes, red pepper, parmesan cheese and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
- Once combined, microwave for 5 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes
- Place cheese mixture into the bread bowl. Top with remining ½ cup of mozzarella.
- Place bread bowl on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake uncovered 25-30 minutes until cheese is melted and center is hot.
- Serve with cut up bread and crackers or tortilla chips.
Submitted by Anne Tropeano
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PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWEST MEMBERS!
Dianne Colgan: interests include baking, Lee Garden, computer
Jonathan Maggio: interests include flower arranging, baking, garden tours, membership
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If you have changed any of your contact information (home address, email address, or phone number), please let membership know. |
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Please let me know if a member of our NCBL family needs some cheering up in the form of a card, or perhaps, some flowers.
to provide me with the appropriate information.
Many thanks for your thoughtfulness!
Libby
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Looking for 'Blooms'
We want to be sure everyone feels welcome.
We have new members joining us each month and we need volunteers to be 'blooms' to help us welcome our 'buds'. Just share your enthusiasm and alert them to upcoming events.
For more information or to volunteer, please contact Jill Ernst.
203-972-0320.
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To a Butterfly, Not all Zinnias are Created Equal
Zinnias have long been a favorite garden annual as they are easy to grow from seed, have long blooming bright colored flowers, and have sturdy stems for cutting.
Zinnias are native to the southwestern US, and Central and South America. Although they don’t provide a food source for our native butterfly larvae, they are popular in pollinator gardens for the nectar they provide to our adult butterflies. Butterflies don’t love all zinnias equally, however!
There are certain characteristics of a zinnia that make one variety more preferable to others. In general, tall, single flowers that provide a stable landing platform are more attractive to butterflies. Most importantly, butterflies need zinnias where the yellow florets in the center of the flower are obvious and available to the butterfly’s proboscis. If these florets are hidden among layers of petals, the butterfly can’t obtain nectar and will move on elsewhere. It is also known that the nectar of some varieties is of better quality than others.
Winter is a great time to browse seed catalog websites. If you want zinnias that butterflies will love, you can’t miss by using the straight species Zinnia elegans (syn. Zinnia violacea). Other varieties that gardeners have had luck attracting butterflies with include: ‘Profusion’, ‘Cut & Come Again’, ‘Zahara’, ‘Tall State Fair’, Zinnia marylandia ‘Pinwheels’, and Zinnia angustifolia ‘Star White’ to name a few.
To read more about zinnias and the preferences of butterflies, check out the links below:
https://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/zinnias_butterflies_will_come
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The yellow florets in the cultivated zinnia above are obscured and hidden. Butterflies will not visit this
zinnia for nectar.
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The yellow florets in this zinnia above are easily accessed by butterflies. |
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These gloves were found at the Greens Workshop in December. If they belong to you, please contact Faith Kerchoff: faithkerchoff@hotmail.com |
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NCBL has three copies of The Intimate Garden by Gordon and Mary Hayward to give away. Mr Hayward is a wonderful author and has given a presentation to NCBL in the past.
The first (3) members to email Betsy Sammarco esammarco@optonline.net will get a copy of the book!
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About the book: Garden and landscape designer Gordon Hayward and his wife, Mary, take the measure of their home garden―in process for more than twenty years―and tell readers how to make their own gardens welcoming and personal, truly a reflection of their needs and dreams.
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Garden Conservancy Virtual Programs
The Garden Conservancy has several virtual programs coming up which might just get us over the winter hump.
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Learn about Native Gardening
Westchester Community College (30 minutes from NC) is offering some really great native gardening classes. Check out their website below.
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February 2, 2022
7:00pm
Greenwich Botanical Center
Zoom webinar
Timothy Tilghman: Untermyer Gardens: Past, Present and Future
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February 11
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
New Canaan Nature Center
Seed Starting Workshop: How to Start Vegetables and Flowers from Seed
with Jennifer Cipriano from Copia Home and Garden
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CT Flower and Garden Show
February 24 - 27 2022
CT Convention Center
Information regarding the CT Flower and Garden Show is online and at the time of this writing, appears to be on schedule and taking place. The theme this year is "Rhythm & Blooms" and is the 40th anniversary of the show.
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Our NCBL Newsletter is used to distribute information regarding NCBL activities and announcements that pertain directly to our stated mission. The newsletter shall not be used for political issues, or for the promotion of merchandise or services unless such merchandise or services are part of a joint venture with NCBL. |
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visit our website:
New Canaan Beautification League
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