November 2025

NEWSLETTER

Tewksbury

Garden Club

Tewksbury, MA, USA

Our October Meeting

What a great meeting we had for October. We welcomed speaker Giancarla Kalpas, a recognized naturalist and environmentalist. She has helped restore the local bluebird population and has now focused her work on helping dwindling native bee populations recover by planting native plant species known to support those specific types of bees using the research of Dr Robert Gegear.

The November Fundraiser

Our next 'meeting' is our November Fundraiser, Bringing Paris Home! Join us for an evening of exceptional floral design by Sandra Sigman of Les Fleurs in Andover, with the opportunity to win one of the excellent themed baskets our members design or one of the floral creations. Ms Sigman will also be selling and signing her book French Blooms. What a fun-filled evening! As always, our members can attend without paying an admission, but because the November Program is a fundraiser, please sell tickets if you can. You can also direct people to EventBrite to purchase tickets.

Literary Blooms Arrangements at the Tewksbury Public Library

Our Jersey Joan created October's display with colorful kalanchoe

Highlights from Committee Reports

ACE

Good weather made the Fall Cleanup at the Library and the Town Common even more enjoyable. Garden Club friends got together to spruce up the day lily gardens at the library and the Gazebo, War Memorial and Waters at the Town Hall. The Annex and Muster Park were minimally cleaned because they are native plant and pollinator habitats.

Garden Therapy

Our Garden Therapy teams brought seasonal Autumn floral creations to the assisted living residents at Blaire House and Bayberry.

Blaire House

Bayberry

Dine Out Nights

Great food and fun times were had at Three Amigos in October!

Mark your calendars for our next Dine Out at Wicked Cheesy happening for 3 days on November 17th, 18th and 19th. Treat yourself to lunch and dinner while getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Wreath & Boxwood Tree Fundraiser

We will be holding our annual wreath and boxwood tree fundraiser on Saturday, December 6th from 10 AM - 2 PM at the Tewksbury Hospital Greenhouses. Wreaths, bows and decoration packets will be available for purchase for $35.00.

Decorated boxwood trees will be available for $38.00.

Cash, club member check, credit card and Venmo will be accepted. we hope to see you there!

Horticulture Article

PREPARING YOUR GARDEN BEDS FOR WINTER

By Joan Hoeckele

It is best not to cut your perennials down all the way to the ground in the fall. Cut the old stems to about 12 inches. The remaining stems

will provide visual interest, insulation, and shelter for wildlife. Also, the plants can store energy in their roots if you leave some stems and leaf cover.

This was pointed out by our club’s speaker at the October meeting,

Giancarla Kalpas, an expert on pollinators. By doing this you are helping provide crucial shelter for beneficial insects like native bees and butterflies.

Federation News

Susan attended the Northern District meeting on October 22, chaired by the new District Director, Jane Jeffers. The meeting was attended by representatives of many of the clubs in the Northern District and lots of good information was shared. One important piece of information that was questioned was club size. It turns out there is no longer a club size limit. This might influence our discussion on member category size. Other interesting information was shared and will be brought forward as we keep our club structure current.

There is still time to register for Spirit of Christmas Past webinar by Ken Turino on November 4th. Sign up here.

Be sure to check out the Federation website for information on more events.

Tewksbury Community Pantry Donations

Thank you for everyone's food pantry donations at this month's meeting! We donated cooking and baking items.

Some of our town neighbors will be experiencing more food insecurity due to the government shutdown. Please consider a personal donation of food, pet food or personal care items. Monetary donations are also welcomed

A reminder - please No Expired Items. Anything past date has to be discarded.

Newsletter Submissions

Post committee updates on our Facebook member's page so we can pull content from there and images are easy to grab.

Submit all info/pictures for inclusion in future newsletters to tewksburygardenclub@gmail.com by the 27th each month.

Thanks for all you do, and for contributing to this publication!