A Note from Hollye

Hollye Thomas, Plant Sale Chairperson, wants the garden club to know that the plant sale made about half the amount she had set as her goal.  While it was a successful plant sale in terms of volunteer help and donations, the attendance at the Spring Market seemed to be down this year. Some people thought that the fair at Haddam Neck the same day may have cut into participation and our profits.

This note is from Hollye--ever hopeful to increase the amount she can claim the Plant Sale generated:

I have some information from sale to share.  We had some of the community who either came late and/or didn’t find what they wanted.  I have a list so that if any members have these items, they should dig it up and call me so I can arrange pick up and get some more $$ for our coffers. Also, I got a list of names of people who want us to come and dig now or in fall.  Will be looking for people with availability times/dates now and I will worry about fall stuff when it gets closer.

Plants wanted-Does any member have more to share??

Sedum-didn’t specify, so if anyone is still dividing etc, I will take it all just in case (with exception of that creeping sedum that has a yellow flower-I have so much of that I could cover Blueberry Island with it).

Horseradish Root

Yellow Japanese or Swamp Iris

Can you help me get the word out?

The Digs will be for snowball bush, hibiscus, sun drops, spiderwort, iris and lilies…..but only if we know they AREN’T ORANGE!!!

Everyone should keep their eye out at their neighbor’s yard.  We can use some new items never before sold for next year’s sale.

Thanks, Hollye

Belltown Garden Club Garden Tour Monday, June 26

The East Hampton Belltown Garden Club meeting for June will take place in the gardens of two members: Karen Gallmon at 23 Old Skinner Road and JoAnn Hewett at 120 Hog Hill Road.  We will be at JoAnn's garden first at 6:00 p.m. for appetizers and at Karen's garden about 7 p.m. for dessert and a business meeting. Bonnie Desaulnier will be contacting you to sign up for appetizers or dessert.

Also, each member is asked to bring a small "thimble arrangement" for display at Karen's.  It can be small blooms or a single bloom in any small, unique container. But here's an idea for a thimble display from another blogger. She was inspired by a Martha Stewart Living idea.

From http://resurrectionfern.typepad.com/resurrection_fern/2008/05/thimbles-as-vas.html

Be creative-- as we know our garden club members can be!

Warning: Teasers from JoAnn's woodland garden!
But these will probably not be blooming on the 26th.

Jack in the Pulpit

Anemone

Foxglove

The Gardens of Mary Drews on Quarry Hill Road

We had an invitation to visit a local garden belonging to Mary Drews of 181 Quarry Hill Road, Haddam Neck.  If you haven't had a chance to visit yet here's a sampling of what JoAnn and Dianne saw today, the first (and glorious) day of June.

View from the terrace

Picnic spot

The firepit



The terrace

Peony

Poppy

The flower garden

The invitation is still open to garden club members. 
Try to make time to stop by--and smell the flowers!

Perennial Plant Sale at the Spring Market

Lori, Hollye, and Judy ready to help a fellow gardener find the "just right" plant.

It was not a sunny morning, but the temperatures and the humidity made it feel like summer.  Surrounded by plants from members' gardens and people looking for plants to put in their own gardens, it was a good beginning to summer.  The customers were steady and we hope that we made enough money to fund our activities for the upcoming year.

Cheryl brought some tea cups filled with Hen and Chicks or Sempervivum.  Ellen really cleaned out her garden and brought lots of perennials.  Everyone brought divisions from their own gardens to offer to the public.  So many customers were appreciative of the low cost and personal stories and information members could provide about the plants.  We had many repeat customers who want to find that "just right" plant for a bare spot or difficult location in their garden, whether it is new or mature.

We just awarded our annual scholarship this week to Molly Maturo, a senior at East Hampton High School who will attend Mount Holyoke College to study environment science and political science.  Karen Gallmon, President, gave Molly a check at the Senior Awards night, May 24th. Congratulations, Molly! We wish you all the best as you pursue your mission to make this world greener, cleaner and more efficient.

And we have an invitation to visit a local garden belonging to Mary Drews of 181 Quarry Hill Road, Haddam Neck.  She has many poppies, peonies, daylilies and Siberian iris blooming right now in her old farmhouse borders.  Give her a call at 860-267-2631 -or- just come and park on the barn side of the road and walk around the gardens if she's not home. If you see a car, knock on the door and she'll give you a little tour. She's so proud of the perennials and wants to share the joy!

And we have a new member, Holly Stackowitz. Welcome, Holly.

Watch for information soon on the Progressive Garden Tour coming up in June.

It's that time of year we all love!

Plant Sale Saturday, May 26th

Hollye and the Plant Sale Committee need your help.

Call Donna Nicholas to volunteer to work Saturday 8 -11 or 11-2.

Volunteers are also needed for set up on Friday night.

Hollye also needs donations from your gardens.

We hope every member can contribute.

Please divide and pot your perennials and drop them off Friday night or bring them Saturday morning to the East Hampton Congregational Church parking lot.  Our plant sale is located just off the parking lot by the side of the church. Perennials should be labeled at least with common name and whether they prefer sun or shade.

There are many systems for labeling but you might use one of these:

• wooden tongue depressors or popsicle sticks written with permanent marker
• metal blind slats written with permanent marker
• wood skewers available at Stop 'n  Shop and other supermarkets with paper labels

Hollye also has a box of pre-printed labels, clear plastic tape and wood skewers available at the plant sale for labeling "on the spot."  Call Hollye for pots, if needed, or any questions.

 



Upcoming Plant Sales

As we prepare for our annual Perennial Plant Sale on Saturday, May 26th, we wanted to let you know about two other garden club plant sales in May.

• Enfield Garden Club has a plant sale Saturday, May 5th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Senior Center on Elm Street in Enfield.  They have many perennials including a lot of daylilies from a  CT daylily enthusiast.

• Middle Haddam Garden Club will hold their plant sale at the Cobalt/Four Corners Saturday, May 19th.

Let us know if you have more information on local opportunities to buy plants from gardeners by adding a comment to this blog posting.

As you divide perennials from your own garden, please remember to pot them up and bring them to our plant sale at the Congregational Church Spring Market on Friday evening, May 25th or early Saturday morning, May 26th, the day of the sale.  This is our one fundraiser for the year.  We use the proceeds towards the scholarship and general fund.  Help us make this year a successful sale with your donations.

April Meeting Tonight at 7 p.m. at EH Public Library

The clean up at the Village Center Gazebo has been postponed to next Monday, April 30th at 5 p.m. --or whenever you can make it that evening. Keep your gloves, shovels and pruners handy for next week.  And bring some pots and newspaper if you have those items available.  The garden club will provide trash bags, potting soil for potting up new divisions and a tarp.

The regular meeting will still be held tonight at the East Hampton Public Library Community Room. We have a lot of planning to do for the annual May Perennial Sale.  We also need to discuss civic projects to replace our upkeep of the Village Center traffic triangle and finalize details for garden tours and field trips for summer.

We hope to see you there tonight. The rain is supposed to end this afternoon, but it will be too wet to work at the gazebo. We can always meet and talk!