Mid-summer, 2022 Newsletter
Volunteers Making New Canaan Beautiful
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NCBL Wins GCA Civic Improvement Commendation
The New Canaan Beautification League was honored to receive a Civic Improvement Commendation from the New Canaan Garden Club in June! Below are the comments from NCGC Awards Committee Chairman Nancy Kalal:
The Garden Club of America Civic Improvement Commendation is presented to an organization for outstanding efforts within the community which enhance, protect or restore the local environment or improve the community through sharing the knowledge of plants and/or gardening.
The New Canaan Beautification League, a local non-profit organization formerly known as the Garden Center of New Canaan, was founded in 1939 and has now approximately 215 members, many of whom are also members of the NCGC. Currently, this garden- centric organization maintains 34 roadway triangles throughout New Canaan, donates over 200 colorful hanging baskets along the downtown streets, and is responsible for various other plantings of spring bulbs and perennials scattered all over New Canaan. Lee Garden, a gorgeous woodland garden full of colorful flowering perennials located on Chichester Road, is also maintained by the NCBL.
For quite a few years, the NCGC has annually collaborated with the Beautification League in producing the large beautiful Christmas wreaths and planters made from greens cut from members’ gardens that can be found hanging on our schools and public buildings. In recent years, NCBL has also produced the festive “Christmas Gnomes” that have popped up in different areas and have brought a smile to everyone’s face!
It is for these initiatives and many more that with great pleasure, the NCGC presents the GCA’s Civic Improvement Commendation to the New Canaan Beautification League.
The Citation reads “With appreciation and gratitude for their past and continued commitment to beautify and enhance the Town of New Canaan for over 80 years!"
Congratulations to you and your club.
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Thank you to our past presidents, Carol Seldin and Karen Hanson, for your service! |
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NCBL is looking for a tripod for an iPhone to record meetings. If anyone has one we can borrow, please contact Patricia Spugani. Many thanks. |
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OOPS! Did you pay your NCBL dues?
(Annual Dues were due June 15!)
If you joined the League after January 1, 2022, you need
not pay a thing.
Otherwise, kindly fill out the membership form again so we
have your most current information
and send it along with your check to:
NCBL Membership
P.O. Box 1244
New Canaan, CT 06840
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Waveny Care Center Flower Arranging Help Needed |
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Sign Up Now!
With the end of summer approaching, please think about signing up to make floral arrangements for the Waveny Care Center during the months of September, October and December. This is a fun and worthwhile project for veterans and newcomers alike. We work on Monday mornings, using flowers donated by local merchants or from our own gardens. The work is done on-site at the Waveny Care Center, usually in pairs, creating an assortment of arrangements for the dining room and other areas in the facility. We can find you an experienced partner if you are new to the project. Guidelines and hands-on help are provided. Think of the smiles we will bring to the faces of our seniors residing at the Care Center.
We are currently recruiting help for the following days:
September
6 (Tuesday)
12 (Monday)
19 (Monday)
26 (Monday)
Please email to sign up, including any questions you may have:
Enikō Szatai
Betsy Bilus
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top row left to right: Nancy Malling, Judy Johnson, and Liz Widas prepare arrangements in the floral room of Waveny Care Center.
middle row left to right: Lally Jurcik, Pam Yee, and Ulrika Veroude with Nancy place arrangements on display.
A big thank you to the following members who volunteered with us in June:
Peggy Danneman, Beth Golden, Judy Johnson, Lally Jurcik, Nancy Malling, Eniko Szatai, Ulrika Veroude, Liz Widas, and Pam Yee!
Thank you for making a difference in the lives of Waveny Care residents!
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Wednesday, August 3 (4 gardens)
Thursday, August 18
It is time to register for the August garden visits. There will be seven member gardens to visit in August and we have changed the timing slightly to give more time for each garden. Gardens will be open from 9:30 to noon. As always, we will persist rain or shine (but not lightning or thunder).
An email will be sent the day before each garden visit with directions and parking information. Carpooling is greatly encouraged.
To sign up for the August 3rd and/or August 18th garden visits, click on the button below. Nancy will send a confirmation response.
Members/spouses/significant others only.
Registration required and limited to 25 persons per day.
Sadly, we cannot accommodate children or pets
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This new activity depends on our members' willingness to open their gardens, so we can learn by sharing our knowledge and experience. If you would like have your own garden on the list for a future date, please contact Nancy Malling.
All gardens are a work in progress. Good is good enough. Weeds happen.
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Wednesday
September 7, 2022
Mead Park Colonnade
10:00 am
(Rain date: Thursday, September 8)
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Thursday
October 6, 2022
more info to follow
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Wednesday
November 30, 2022
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Mark your calendar!
Celebrate winter joy by helping with our Holiday Greens & Gnomes Workshop at the New Canaan Nature Center!
Industrious and friendly elves Kathleen and Peter Murphy, and Barbara O'Shea and Bob Strong, would be delighted to have your help for our annual, civic project in conjunction with the New Canaan Garden Club.
It's a wonderful way to start the season and enjoy the friendship of our members and those of NCGC. Talent is not a requirement - just energy and interest in helping with a truly rewarding and enjoyable endeavor. The commitment can be a few hours or the whole morning. Please save the date!
The sign up link will be available in a future newsletter.
Click below to see all the elves at work from last year's wonderful workshop.
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Ginny Dobbs & Judy Gilroy spread the word at the Farmers Market. Ginny repurposed our hanging baskets from 2021 and gave them away to lucky winners. |
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The Triangle Committee has an orphan triangle.
Luke’s Wood Road and Oenoke Ridge Road
The work takes an hour or two per month, and is fun and rewarding. Your efforts will play a prominent role in making New Canaan even more beautiful.
Please consider taking a triangle with the knowledge that we are here to help you every step of the way in maintaining your new garden.
Let Claude know if you are interested. nccolabellla@hotmail.com
N. Claude Colabella
Barbara Wilson
Greg Brown
co-Chairs of the Triangle Committee
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This beauty at Oenoke & Luke's Wood (above) is in need of a volunteer caregiver. |
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Pam Yee and Barbara Wilson work on a triangle in June. |
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NCBL's Traveling Trowels care for:
The Gold Star Walk and Plaza at Mead Park on Richmond Hill Road
The mail box drop-off at the corner of Pine and Park Streets
Town Hall's pots and the garden running atop the wall along the driveway
The railroad station
Traveling Trowels, lead by Faith Kerchoff and Rob Carpenter, takes on the task and has a lot of fun in the process!
We need members who are willing to pitch in when garden help is needed.
If you'd like to be part of the group, meet more members and learn a lot about the plants we grow, the history of the town and laugh while you're doing it, please email Faith at
faithkerchoff@hotmail.com
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A big group turned out to weed at Town Hall. Tiger Mann and John Howe came out to thank them.
Left to right: Pam Yee, Cindy Bamatter, Tiger Mann, Faith Kerchoff, Jackie Alexander, Angela Materna, Claire Perkins, Jill Ernst, and John Howe
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At left: A pineapple lily blooms in the town hall planters, designed by Rob Carpenter and Kathy Lapolla.
Below: The planters in full glory.
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Bouquets of Thanks!
Thank you to the Town of New Canaan crews for helping us in caring for our spots around town. They stepped up and watered dry - very dry - triangles in July! They regularly pick up our weed piles as well.
Thank you to Walt Jaykus, who waters the hanging baskets in difficult dry times.
Thank you to all our members who tend triangles, weed, water, and watch over them, and do rain dances when we need it the most!
Consider yourselves hugged!
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Weeding tip from a Triangles Steward and Traveling Trowels
Tired of trying to tame bindweed?
Bindweed is a climbing vine resembling morning glories. It wraps itself tightly around vertical plants, trees and poles. You may have been repeatedly pulling bindweed in your own garden. One of our triangle stewards has had luck with cutting the vine to the ground instead of pulling. This decreases dirt disturbance while depriving the vine of photosynthesis, and weakening the plant over time.
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photo of hedge bindweed: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/hedge-bindweed |
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Lee Garden is a teaching garden.
Do you like research, labeling plants, organizing informational notebooks,
propagating new plants from seed or little rootings, or photographing blooms for our records and publicity? If so, we could use your help.
Want to learn how to properly plant bulbs? Later in the fall we'll be doing this at Lee Garden and we could use your help. More information will be coming in a future newsletter.
Want to know what grows well around here, especially in dappled shade? Lee Garden contains plants that grow particularly well in the dappled shade of our rocky Connecticut woods. Many of these plants are native to the United States. Lee Garden can teach you about these plants.
For more information on any of the above, contact Faith: faithkerchoff@hotmail.com
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We are so happy to have an irrigation system this year! Whew! In the driest times, we watch to see how the irrigation is going, to see which areas might need more water, and supplement newer plants with water.
There are two new areas to see!
The Gnome Stepping Stone Walk is located above Olive's Way and below the viewing patio. The gnomes, who appear and disappear because they are very shy, are working on signs now.
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The bog has a new "boulder border" (below) to help define that area. We look forward to the fruit of red winterberries this winter. We have added horsetail Equisetum sp.,(a native plant with a prehistoric history) and will be adding other plant "babies" from other areas around the garden.
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Keeping plants hydrated this summer has been quite a challenge. It's been difficult at our own personal properties. Can you imagine keeping our 224 hanging baskets growing? Thanks to Walt Jaykus, he has been watering on his town approved schedule to keep our baskets looking good. The photo below was taken on July 22nd in the middle of our heat wave. |
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Beginning in 2020, the NCBL Hanging Baskets committee started ordering baskets with plants that perform better in shade for the shady areas in town. Currently, 20 of the 225 baskets ordered are "shade baskets". Forest Street has many shade baskets as shown below. |
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Welcome to our newest members:
Lucille Dunkin
Ted and Nancy Lundberg
Diane Wells
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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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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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