mid-summer, 2024 Newsletter

Volunteers Making New Canaan Beautiful

Dear Members and Friends,

It has been a busy summer.   We were honored to help make Carol Seldin’s Garden Party as beautiful and as memorable as she was. Special thanks to Jolley Frank, Peggy Dannemann, Lisa Ferrante, Faith Kerchoff and the floral committee who worked tirelessly to help Carol's family make this happen. If you missed the event, the link below will give you a glimpse of Carol’s Celebration of Life and the beautiful umbrella toast organized by her family.

Many thanks to Pam Yee, Lally Jurcik , Lois Himes, Jessica Havens, and Karen Hanson  for all the work they did for 5 months to make the Garden Visits the highlight of our summer season. And special thanks to all the NCBL members who generously opened their gardens, rain or shine. 

The hanging baskets look fantastic this year. Julianne Livesay, Jessica Havens and Pam Yee, with the help of the New Canaan Department of Public Works team (DPW),  installed them in late  May and they are looking great despite the weeks of blistering weather. We planted the new Elm Street restaurant barriers to coordinate with the gorgeous hanging baskets.  

A genuine note of appreciation to the Triangles volunteers, Traveling Trowels and the Lee Garden Committee for working so hard to keep our spaces beautiful. 

Our Welcome Back Coffee is on September 11, at the Mead Park Colonnade at 10 am. Members and guests are welcome.  No need to register. Just come and bring a friend.

Save the date for the October 9th Luncheon to be held at the Country Club of New Canaan, 11:30 am-2 pm.  Details and how to register will come in September.

Finally, I am excited to start the new season of NCBL with an energetic board and their committees. There are a lot of new ideas and new talent to carry us forward.  I hope to see you all soon at the Welcome Back Coffee.

Nancy Malling

President

September 11

10:00 am

Mead Park Colonnade

(rain date: September 12) 

Join your fellow members and town crew at our annual gathering

to kick off the new year!

The Programs Committee has lined up a wonderful year for us.

Mark your calendars so you don't miss a thing!

September 11: 10:00 am Welcome Back Coffee at Mead Park (rain date: 9/12)

October 9: 11:30 am "Edibles and Ornamentals in the Garden", with Karen Bussolini

New Canaan Country Club, Luncheon

November 6: 'Making Fall Planters', with Colin Coogan

December 4: Greens Workshop

January 8: 'Winter Houseplants' via Zoom

February 5: 'Perfect Earth Project' via Zoom with Edwina von Gal

March 5: 'Back to Nature: The Benefits of Eating in Your Back Yard', with Claudio &

Diego

April 2: 'Continuous Bloom', with Alice Ely - Joint meeting with NCGC

May 7: 'Flower Again', with Jill Robey

June 4: 'Using Keystone Species to Attract Pollinators' with Suzanne Thompson

Heartfelt thanks to all who showed up to the train station in the oppressive heat on August 2nd to weed and plant 'filler' plants brought over by Ty Tan.

Many thanks to Eniko Szatai, Cindy Bamatter, Claire Perkins, Karin Weller, Pam Yee, Katherine Humphreys and daughter Emilia, Sandy Siegel, and Lois Himes.

Our wonderful friends at the National Charity League, along with our stalwart Traveling Trowels group, have been working hard to keep the Train station weeds in check!

Here's some of the work our Traveling Trowels has done this summer!

• Gold Star Bridge: June 7

• Train Station: June 14, 15 (with the Charity League) 22 (again with the Charity League) & 29, July 19 & 26 (with the Charity League & raffled items!) and August 2.

• Elm street barrier planters: June 26.

• Mailbox drop-off: June 28.

above: A monarch butterfly feeds from the phlox at the Train Station garden.

If you would like to sign up for emails about volunteering with our Traveling Trowels, contact Faith: faithkerchoff@hotmail.com. We discuss plants, tools, and our yards all while spiffing up the town.

NCBL was awarded a grant from the CT Master Gardener Association for a tree identification project at Lee Garden. Master Gardener and Lee Garden volunteer Kathy Kwiatkowski, mentored interns from the Master Gardener program and led them through identifying 25 trees that will be professionally labeled. On August 7, interns and volunteers met with arborist Rob Hutchinson for help in confirming the identification of some trees. Shown above (left to right) are interns from that drizzly but productive morning: Mary Jo Giunta, Carol Caufield, Jenny Santora, Marcia Falk, Ali Luddy, Kathy, and Faith Kerchoff. Taking the photo was Betsy Sammarco. Further progress in labeling the trees will be made this fall.

Thank you to Rob Hutchinson once more, who came over to cut up some large branches after a storm blew them down, making it possible for us to drag them to the brush pile. Fallen limbs damage azaleas and rhododendrons, among other lower growing plants.

The summer 'crew' at Lee that has done awesome pruning includes, new member Tom Tierney, Lois Himes, Faith Kerchoff, Sandy Siegel, Kathy Kwiatkowski, Yvonne Hunkeler, and UCONN Master Gardener intern Ali Luddy.

A big thanks to the town DPW crew, especially Walt Jaykus, for picking up 2 very large loads of brush and branches from our parking lot.

Flower Arranging at Waveny Care Center

Sign Ups Available

September, October, and December

Once again, NCBL members will arrange flowers at Waveny Care Center during the months of September, October, and December. Volunteers source flowers from their gardens or from grocery stores (eg Stop and Shop or Trader Joe's) on Sunday and make the arrangements between 9:00 and 11:00 am Monday in the flower room at Waveny Care Center. Volunteers check the arrangements on or around Thursday morning to refresh the water and remove any spent blooms.

Any flower purchases are reimbursable, so save your receipts.

Sign up with a friend or just add your name to our sign-up. Anyone doing this for the first time - or just wishing to work with a seasoned volunteer, please get in touch with Amy or Amy.

Questions should be directed to Amy Reid: areid1010@gmail.com or Amy Sorensen: AC_Sorensen@yahoo.com.

Dig and Divide 2024

Do you have plants in excess? Are you dividing favorites or trying to control voracious growers? Have you had too much success growing from seed or taking cuttings? Perhaps you would like to rearrange your garden.

If so, this is your opportunity to find new homes for your plants and for members to benefit from your donations.

How to offer your plants

Members wishing to offer plants should email the below information to Camilla Austin: Camillaaustin127@gmail.com 

Please copy and paste the following into your email and fill in the information. Please give your email the subject line, "Dig and Divide".

We need the following information:

• Member's Name:
• Address:
• Contact number:
• Email address:
• Plant Name:
• Number available:
• Growing condition: (sun, partial sun, shade, etc.)
• Flowering month and color:

How to claim plants offered:

• Make contact with the member offering plants 
• Arrange a date and time to collect the plants
• Check if the plants are in pots or need to be dug out
• Take any tools/pots to transport the plants
• Be ready to replant and water your new plants
• Email Camilla, who will mark the plant as taken on the offerings sheet

General guidelines and spirit:

• Dig and Divide is for New Canaan Beautification League members only.
• Make direct contact with the member who has a plant you would like to take.
• Plants offered should be pest-free and healthy. Plants are taken and given at the member's discretion.
• Members should be home and present when plants are taken (no landscaping companies should be sent). This ensures the correct plants are taken and the members' gardens are not damaged.
• There will be no monetary payments for plants given or taken.
• Please do not offer diseased plants or those in soil with jumping worms.

above: A summer scene from the Thrift Shop triangle.

Member Steve Zatz' garden will be on the Garden Conservancy's tour on August 24. Steve has been diligently creating a huge pollinator garden complete with pond and boardwalks. This is a must-see garden!

Thank you to our new Executive Board for serving!

OFFICERS

President: Nancy Malling

Vice President: Claude Colabella

Recording co-Secretaries: Nancy Jordan, Robin Miner

Treasurer: Dave Hunt

Vice President, Civic Beautification: Faith Kerchoff

BEAUTIFICATION

Traveling Trowels: Faith Kerchoff

Triangles: Sarina Vetterli, Claude Colabella

Lee Garden: Faith Kerchoff, Lois Himes, Kathy Kwiatkowski

Hanging Baskets: Karen Christie, Suzy Spatz

Waveny Care Center: Amy Sorenson, Amy Weber Reid

Holiday Greens: Wendy Fogg, Kathy Kwiatkowski

PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

Programs: Christina Fagerstal, Angela Materna

Zoom Programs Host: Patricia Spugani

Garden Visits: Pam Yee, Lally Jurcik

MEMBERSHIP SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT

Membership: Sara Hunt

Member Outreach Chair: Jill Ernst

Development: Mary Ann Henry, Kathleen Murphy

Annual Appeal Treasurer: Karen Hanson

Donor Relations: Karen Ferguson, Lisa Ferrante

COMMUNICATIONS

Webmaster: Lisa Ferrante

Marketing: Laura Ault

Publicity: Rebecca Harris

Newsletter: Geri Rhoades, Kathy Megrue-Smith

Photography: Nora Fay, Barbara O'Shea

Nominating: Betsy Sammarco, Jill Ernst

The two-acre meadow behind Waveny House is officially becoming a Pollinator Pathway meadow and will be maintained with completely organic methods to maximize the pollinator potential. No chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers will be used in this area and it will only be mowed once in the late fall to allow for the plants to grow to their maximum height by next year. We will use this coming summer to see location and densities of each of the major pollinator plants that are already there and add plugs next year as needed. The meadow is already full of New York Ironweed, Joe Pye Weed, Northeastern Asters, Goldenrod and Rudbeckia. It will be wonderful to watch it develop each summer week by week in the upcoming years. Educational signage and additional walking pathways will be added in the near future. 

Many thanks to Bill McDonald, Steve Zatz, Donna Merrill, Michelle Crookenden, Kevin Moynihan, Stephen Boeschenstein, Sara Lewis and all the great Planet New Canaan folks.

Welcome to our newest members!

Bianca Romano (has re-activated her membership)

Lindsay & John Cooper

Joanne Sullivan

Kristie Breed

Julia Arvan

We are in the process of creating our membership directory for 2024-2025.

If you have changed any of your contact information (home address, email address, cell phone number, home phone number or simply dropped your landline), please let Sara Hunt (skhminky@optonline.net) from Membership know.

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.

Please call or email me with pertinent details.

Thank you.

Many thanks for your thoughtfulness!

Jill Ernst