'A Way We Grow'
Martha's Vineyard Garden Club
Early June 2023
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From our President...
Dear Garden Club Members,
Welcome to the Garden Club’s high season! Excellent speakers and demonstrations, fascinating walkabouts and two major fundraisers all launching us into summer.
The new Greenhouse Committee surpassed all expectations with a beautiful array of plants,
taking in over $4,000 at the Memorial Day weekend plant sale! The greenhouse became a happening place for several new members this winter, and the joy was contagious.
Our other major fundraiser, Blooming Art, the weekend of June 16-18, will showcase new and familiar island artists with a particularly creative array interesting and lovely art. Please encourage your friends to visit – for only $10 they can enjoy art, flowers and a historic building, and perhaps even adorn their home with new local art. Thanks to Joan Cavazuti, who organized
a clean-up day, the grounds, planters and window boxes are pristine and inviting for visitors.
Regarding our treasured Old Mill… some of you may recall that the Club received a grant from the West Tisbury Historic Preservation Committee to do an assessment of the Old Mill, which is the only building in West Tisbury that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Sourati Engineering and Sulllivan Associates provided a preliminary readout last week and will issue a
report shortly that outlines potential improvements, targeting either safety or improved functionality. From this, we’ll be able to develop a five-year plan for the building. You’ll learn more at the August annual meeting.
In the meantime, enjoy every moment of our summer! We plan to begin monthly Friday afternoon get-togethers at the Old Mill. The first one will be June 30.
- Susan Hobart, President
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BACK TO OUR MONTHLY MEETINGS in July!
Due to Blooming Art happening in June, there is no June member meeting...
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Our next meeting is
Tuesday, July 18
Speaker: Samantha Look of the Vineyard Conservation Society
Program Title: Love Song for the Vineyard Lawn
Begins @ 1:00pm at The Old Mill in West Tisbury
Oak Bluffs members and VP to provide snacks & refreshments
FREE to MVGC Members / Open to non-members @ $10.00 pp
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FLORAL DESIGN AT THE EDGARTOWN LIBRARY! |
Wiet Bacheller from the MV Garden Club presented a floral design workshop with Emily Becker, Program Coordinator, for the Edgartown Free Public Library and assisted by Trudy Williams.
Flowers were provided by Morrice Florists for the Saturday before Mother’s Day workshop that had a long wait list. Participants were so excited. They jumped right in and the smiles in these photos indicate how much fun it can be to arrange flowers.
Photos and info provided by Trudy Williams
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We would love to create a 'Floral Design Committee' within the Garden Club! If you are interested, please reach out to Joan Cavazuti, Special Projects Chair or Donna Arold, 2023 Programs Chair...lets talk about it!
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A WARM WELCOME TO OUR
NEW Members!
Stephanie Browne - OB
Libby Ellis - E
Katie DiNitto - WT
Barbara Fales de Braganea - WT
Christin Geall - C
Patricia Ingalls - OB
Anne Johnson - OB
Yvonne Lepore - VH
Lauren Lindheimer - E
Denise Mac Devette - E
Michelle Oldershaw - E
Diana Romano - WT
Brad Voight - WT
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Book Lovers Corner - by Ty Johnston
On Flowers: Lessons from an Accidental Florist
by Amy Merrick
Because of Blooming Art and all the talk in our Garden Club about this ubiquitous event, this month's review is of an absolutely lovely and very inspirational book about floral design. The book reads almost like poetry, so beautiful are the images in words and photos. Merrick uses the beauty that is waiting to be discovered all around us-- in leaves, branches, seedpods, a fallen blossom – to tell a story of time and place.
She begins with a short, concise series of lessons containing secrets of the art of flower arranging: selecting containers, choosing flowers, and arranging them in stunning ways. She makes it look so easy! She then takes us on a journey of her life as a flower arranger in the city, in the country, and far away in England and Japan.
From a chapter entitled “Humble Pleasures,” is this dazzling quote: “I worry that humble flowers don't always get the admiration they should, but then again, humble flowers ask for no admiration at all. They simply bloom as they are, whether they're tended or not. The first crocus of the year is a humble flower, its soft yellow petals pushing out of the muddy ground, delicate and shivering. But don't be fooled into thinking that the little yellow crocus is lowly; it takes amazing strength to withstand winter's last frigid gasps.” See what I mean? Poetic.
Each chapter is filled with gorgeous photos and even more gorgeous prose about the beauty of flowers and nature. This is an absolutely must-have book for any of us who dabble in floral design, and even for any of us who do not. I am personally going to buy my own copy to re-read whenever the spirt moves me. Enjoy!
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A HUGE 'thank you' to Kathie Skinner!
On May 17, Kathie once again hosted a hydrangea pruning demo at her WT home...this time, it was on the Spring pruning of hydrangeas, the macrophylla variety and other lesser known varieties that set flowers on old wood. Kathie explained why we need to carefully examine the plants, the wood and the hydrangea buds before proceeding. (As I trimmed my own macro hydrangeas after the demo, I could still hear Kathie's voice saying, "DEAD IS DEAD!") There is lots to learn and know about hydrangea pruning, so having an in-person demo was quite helpful for those of us who are hesitant pruners.
Kathie works with Mal Condon, (also known as The Hydrangea Guy / The Hydrangea Whisperer) pruning and caring for hydrangea at Heritage Gardens...and sadly he has informed her, (and she shared this info with us), that there will most likely be minimal blooms on our summer blooming hydrangeas this year. Its a result of the cold snap we had a few months back and also the light rainfall overall. :-(
If you are interested in learning more about hydrangeas, Kathie shared this website with me...Hydrangea University Registration... registration is open now. In addition, Kathie has created a handout for us on 'Pruning Hydrangea Blooming on Old Wood'. Click here to read or download it from our website...just scroll down the page until you find it.
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Thanks so much, Kathie for your sharing your knowledge, your time and your property with us! It was fun learning about the different varieties of hydrangeas, and the neat tools you recommended to make pruning a bit easier and less physically challenging! We are thrilled to have you as part of the MV Garden Club!
NOTE: This seat is ergonomic and Kathie swears by it...it can be found on a number of sites, not recommending any one in particular...just Google Vertex Ergonomic Garden Seat...its a game changer for those with bad knees or back! Here's a pic of it.
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WALKABOUTS ARE HAPPENING!
Many members find it fun and informative to view other people's gardens. A stroll through a friend's garden enhances our skills and helps inspire us all. Our walkabouts are a perfect forum to allow an exchange of gardening philosophy and ideas in a VERY informal way. Whether you have a very established garden or are just beginning your “journey” down that road, you will enjoy checking out the gardens that are being shared this year.
Walkabouts scheduled so far this year have been Peter Norris's fabulous gardens in Chilmark, and Nancy Weaver's in Oak Bluffs. We viewed Peter's on two different dates, once in April when all the gardens on the Vineyard were just waking up and once on June 1st to view the beautiful rhododendron collection. As you have received the emails and calendars so far, you've noticed there are 3 more walkabouts scheduled in June, 2 in July, and 1 in August. These informal tours take you all over the island and give you a chance to see the various conditions we have on our island with many exposures and mini-climates! I will send out reminders and details by email to everyone as the dates get closer. - Ty Johnston, MVGC VP
CLICK HERE to take a peek at a few walkabouts that took place in 2022!
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A Field Trip to America!
A handful of MVGC members attended the container gardening class given
by Deb Trickett in early May. Thanks
to The Falmouth Garden Club for
the warm welcome! We enjoyed Deb's demo and hope to attend another program in the future!
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Our 'Members-Only' Plant Sale + the May Meeting!
Our May get-together at Wakeman was super energetic as the Greenhouse Committee welcomed us with plants galore, ready to be purchased prior to our meeting / program beginning!
The Edgartown members, were rallied by Edgartown VP (and energizer bunny), Trudy Williams and provided sweet and savory snacks with refreshments prior to the start of the meeting. (Thanks to all the members who contributed!)
Following part one of the plant sale and snack-time for all in attendance, we enjoyed an extremely colorful and inspirational program at the May meeting!
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Our speaker was writer, designer, photographer (and new MV Garden Club member), Christin Geall. As a prelude to our Blooming Art event, Christin brought us the 'Art and Ideas of Dutch Floral Still Life' via a power point presentation, and a live floral demonstration that she created as attendees observed Christin's creation of the arrangement and asked questions. The program was attended by 50 people, consisting of existing members, three new members who joined that day, and 3 guests from the Falmouth Garden Club! The topic paired nicely with the members plant sale which was hosted by the Greenhouse Committee. Members and guests purchased plants and Christin sold a beautiful book from her 'Cultivated' collection along with floral puzzles and her photography note cards.
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Via the power point we learned a bit about art history! |
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The lovely Christin and her completed floral design. |
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All of us in attendance were quite WOWED by this beautiful arrangement! |
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The bed in front of the entrance was cleaned up by Susan Hobart, Ty cleared out another bed where some Eupatorium Chocolate plants were put in, and Donna cleaned up and weeded the bed near the OM entry door.
Susan and Donna managed to find time to go shopping and found two beautiful planters that are now deployed at the entrance to the Old Mill with some bright yellow flowers to catch the eye.
All in all it was a productive two days. Plants will be in the window boxes by the time you read this and hopefully put back up to be enjoyed by drivers passing our wonderful Old Mill.
It takes a lot of work to be the stewards of this wonderful property. Come and enjoy it at Blooming Art June 16-18! - Submitted by Joan Cavazuti, Special Projects and Fearless Leader of the OM Property, Plant & Clean-up Project!
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Thank you so much to Wiet and Fawn for their informative and inspiring floral demos that were done the past two Tuesdays! We hope our floral designers for Blooming Art, 2023 will feel confident going into creating their arrangement, and maybe this support will get other members excited to participate in Blooming Art in the future!
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DO plan on attending Nancy Cabot's floral design demo, which is set for Tuesday, June 6, @ The Wakeman Center at 1:00pm. Nancy (pictured here with her floral interpretation of a dry needle felting creation from Blooming Art, 2022) is planning an interactive floral demonstration, featuring helpful hints for floral design including choosing and caring for flowers, containers, size and scale of arrangements, accessories, and the mechanics of flower arranging. Known for her calm presence and teaching method, Nancy will instill confidence in your floral design skills. The main focus of Nancy's presentation will be to offer suggestions for how to decide what to emphasize, how to avoid problems and do’s and don'ts. She is encouraging designers to bring their photos with them to the demo if they have questions, also containers, and accessories they might like to use if they have questions about them. Nancy does not plan to do a complete arrangement but will bring a piece of artwork and some foliage and flowers that she would use and talk a bit about how she made those decisions. Nancy will plan to stay as long as people have questions so that she can address each person’s concerns individually. We hope to see you at this final floral design demo!
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KUDOS to the Greenhouse peeps! Here are a few pics from the Plant Sale to the public over Memorial Day Weekend! |
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Great work, Greenhouse Committee...folks loved the set up, the organization, your welcoming way and the supporting signs! You should be very pleased with your accomplishments! The Club thanks you all! |
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COMING in August!
We are gearing up for our August fundraiser...
'An Edgartown Garden Stroll'
Preliminary work and planning has begun for our 'Edgartown Garden Stroll', slated for Thursday, August 10, from 10am - 3pm. There will be five 'private' gardens and one public garden open for attendees to stroll and enjoy at their own pace. General admission can be purchased online with a credit card via our website (beginning June 16 @ $50.00 pp) with ticket pickup at the Gate House of the Cooke House and Legacy Garden on the day of the Stroll. Tickets will also be sold on the day of the Stroll at the Gate House location via cash or check @ $60.00pp.
We are presently looking for MVGC members to volunteer to docent at the gardens for this event. There will be two shifts (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) Volunteers will be given a complimentary ticket in exchange for their working one shift, to allow them time to enjoy the Stroll either before or after their shift.
More details will follow and a webpage for 'The Stroll' on our website will be live, online soon (once Blooming Art is past) ...but for now if you are interested in volunteering to be a docent, please reach out to one of the Co-Chairs, either Anne Kushwaha or Donna Arold and we will contact you later in June to explain the 'Stroll' vision and time commitment. We hope our members will help to make this a fun and successful fundraiser. Thank you in advance for your support!
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From Joan Eville, Windemere chairperson
The Windemere residents are looking forward to the MV Garden Club’s flower arranging activity on June 14th. Joan Eville and Gay Smith will assist them in this project. Donaroma,as usual, will supply the 💐 flowers. The participants will work in a group making flower bouquets for their rooms. They will also create arrangements for the nurses’ stations.
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DO SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS TO ATTEND! |
Blooming Art is our Club's Biggest Fundraiser of the Year...this event celebrates the diverse art of Island artists and the talent of its Garden Club members. The Old Mill in WT, will be open to the public, Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17, 10am - 5pm and Sunday, June 18, 10am - 3pm for this ‘Blooming Art’ treat!
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One exciting addition to Blooming Art, 2023 is a ‘silent auction’ where bidders will have an opportunity to ‘win’ a framed Allen Whiting oil on board painting and a signed copy of Allen's book, 'Allen Whiting - A Painter At Sixty'.
Admission to Blooming Art is $10.00 pp and all art is for sale, with a portion being donated to the Club by the artist.
Please spread the word and support the Club via our Blooming Art event!
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There's SO MUCH on the horizon for the MVGC!
JOIN THE CLUB ONLINE BY
CLICKING HERE or attend an upcoming program and join in-person...we are always happy to welcome new members!
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