From the President
Christine Paxhia
January is always a quiet time of year. The holidays are over, the Greens Sale is in the rear view mirror and a new year is in front of us. So January is a month when we often firm up our plans for the coming year. We have many excellent programs to look forward to and lush gardens to plan.
In this relatively mild winter, it is easier than usual to witness life in your garden. If you look closely, you will notice the Hellebores emerging from their summer slumber. It always amazes me to see them showing signs of life in the winter! A mild winter can also provide some challenges for our gardens. Let’s see how the rest of the winter plays out and then we can discuss some steps that you may want to consider as you open your garden this spring.
While we are not spending much time outside in the garden these days, there is much to do indoors. The seed catalogs have been rolling in, teasing us with their brightly colored flowers, and succulent looking vegetables. They can provide hours of eye candy for the weary gardener. They are also excellent resources for the Latin names of your plants! (Think of nomenclature)
So enjoy the rest of the winter and join me in looking forward to the potential for an early spring.
Committee News
Membership Update
By Rachel Wohanka
New member application deadline approaching
The deadline for proposing new members is April 15 – remember that it takes time to collect all the necessary application information and letters of support. Please email Rachel Wohanka at for applications or with questions. Any non-provisional member of at least 2 years may propose, second and/or write a letter for a new member. Each new member will need a proposer, a seconder, and one letter of support. Members may only propose/second/write for two new members. Try to introduce your proposed member to a member of the executive team, as well.
Conservation
By Becky Simonds
Our next Conservation Committee meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 26, 3:30-5pm at Becky Simonds's home 1053 Brush Hill Rd.GCA position papers on Clean Air and Climate Change will be presented. Our assigned winter book, The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in The Digital Age by Richard Louv, will be discussed. Possibly entering The Freeman Medal competition perhaps with Hort is also on the agenda.
Early this spring we will bring the Neponset Program to Cunningham and Collicott Elementary Schools.Be on the lookout for volunteer signups. Please volunteer for this fun worthwhile program if you can.
Horticulture
By Christine Paxhia
What is a plant exchange (PX)?
A plant exchange is an old custom that garden clubs across the country participate in. It takes a couple of years to plan a plant exchange. It can take just a few weeks for it to fall apart. Can you recall the Asclepius PX from last year? There is no way of predicting Mother Nature. With a PX, each club is given propagation instructions from the Horticulture Committee rep. Whether seeds or cuttings are used, each club will attempt to propagate from the list. This fun exercise can boost our knowledge, test our skills, and form friendships.
The GCA used to have a Plant Exchange (PX) at every GCA Annual Meeting. Club Presidents and delegates would carry their clubs’ entries on airplanes, in cars and on trains to the event, and shepherd them through passing. Plants were evaluated by a panel of GCA Horticulture Judges and invited horticulture experts. After the evaluation process, an exchange of plants would take place, with delegates taking home plants grown by members from another club. These plants would be given to club members who propagated their clubs’ entries. All this became more complex as security tightened in airports, and rules regarding “live plant material” crossing state lines became more stringent. Thus, GCA stopped including Pox’s at Annual Meetings but subsequently, it was felt that much was lost. The PX is a way to revive this tradition, and it is now hoped that every Zone will include a Plant Exchange at their Annual Zone meeting. We are already planning the PX for our Zone 1 meeting to be held n 2018!
News and Events
Zone Meeting 2018
"Alchemy - The Magic of Nature"
By Carla Morey, Meg Kasuba and Roxanna Hurst
We are on our way toward creating an amazing experience for the attendees of the GCA Zone I Meeting in May of 2018.
The Flower Show Schedule is coming together nicely; 5 categories all evoking the elemental and magical nature of Alchemy.Alchemy has many definitions, here are but two:
- a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way
- an inexplicable or mysterious transmuting
We are focusing on the mysteries and wonders of the elements - Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, without these elements we would not exist. Fire can turn a solid piece of wood into mere ashes,a seed miraculously blossoms into a beautiful flower, the power of water can create life and destroy it, and mother earth embraces all of them. The ancients believed through the science of Alchemy they could turn base metals into gold and find the key to everlasting life!
The Steering Committee will be reaching out in the next couple of months to ask you, if you haven't already signed on, to take a role in this important meeting. We are looking for: hostesses, drivers, co-chairs for registration, Flower Show assistants, homes for dinners, and more. We look forward to all Active, Sustaining and Provisional members to be involved, and of course, to our Seniors, we welcome all of your sage wisdom and expertise.
Blue Hills Trailside Museum Update
By Tucker Smith
Trailside's Fiscal Year Budget '18 was eliminated in the governor's round of 9C cuts in the late fall, due to projected revenue shortfall. Robert DeLeo, Speaker of the MA House of Representatives, is expected to submit a supplemental funding bill (late January?) to the legislature to restore funding for Health and Human Services issues but is unlikely to include Trailside's funding. DCR has lost staff due to funding and may not have resources to support the annual Maple Sugar event in the Blue Hills. This is a very popular public education collaboration between Trailside (Mass Audubon) and DCR, not to mention an important income source for the museum. Please be willing to write letters and/or make phone calls to Milton's state legislators in support of Trailside, given all it does for the public, the Blue Hills, and our natural world -- details soon.
Some exciting news, now: the International Snowy Owl Working Group will be meetMarch 5-10at Chickatawbut Hill -- 30 raptor experts from around the world to attend, with Norman Smith hosting! Mary Keally, Becky Simonds, and Tucker Smith will have more to report soon about plans for Trailside's Native Plant and Rain Gardens, and their role in MGC's 2018 Zone I Annual Meeting.
Greens Sale
By Elizabeth Buckley and Peggy Rusnock
Many thanks to all of our talented greens gatherers and designers whose devotion to our club made for another successful Greens Sale. When the doors opened at 9 am there were close to 60 customers that had formed a queue…So thank you too to our talented public relations crew for getting the word out! Before 11 am we were packing up our supplies and heading home with not a piece of merchandise left.
The season is truly magical, not just for the holidays, but for those of us lucky enough to be a member of The Milton Garden Club, it is a time of camaraderie, catching up with old friends and making new ones.
From our early shopping trips in October right up until we packed the last of the supplies after the sale, we the co-chairs had a great time. We would like to thank you for trusting us with the task of heading up this time-honored tradition.
We will be available next year to guide the next chairs of the sale and promise you will forever look back on your days as co-chair with fondness!
Federation Events
By Linda MacLean
Please join us in any of theseactivities sponsored by the GCFM.
Also check out their website atGCFM.org.
Feb. 2- "Stoneham GC, "Gardening is a Mystery" presented by Neil Sanders.
11:30 AM- Location: Public Library.
Feb. 28 -Needham GC presents "Hydrangea Highlights" with Gail Anderson.
9:30 AM- Location: Needham Public Library.
Mar. 4-5 -Beth Shalom GC presents "Needham's Art in Bloom 2017."
Location: Needham Library.
Mar. 16 -Stoneham GC presents"Getting your plants ready" by Grace McManus.
11:30 AM- Location: Public Library.
Apr. 4- Franklin GC presents"Pruning 101."
7PM- Location: Franklin Senior Center.
Events Calendar
Chris Wood – iPhone Photography: Tue. Feb.7.
Debra Kraft – Woodland Designs: Tue. Mar. 7.
Boston Flower and Garden Show – Mar. 22-26, World Trade Center, Boston.
Irwin Ehrenreich – The Rose Man: Tue. Apr. 4.
Perennial Sale: Sat. May 13.
Kaye Vosburgh – Ikebana and Creative Design: Tue.May16.
Annual Meeting: Mon. Jun. 12, home of Shelley Gallagher.
Visiting Gardens: June (TBD).
Editor
Anke Herbert
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