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The Hampstead Garden Club Newsletter
April 2006
Hampstead Garden Club Newsletter
PO Box 714,
Hampstead, NH
03841
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"Ornamental Grasses"
The Hampstead Garden Club will gather on Wednesday, April 19th at 7:00 pm the Congregational Church, Hadley Hall, at 7:00 pm.
Tall, short, flowing, blowing, every avid gardener has learned to appreciate
the value of ornamental grasses. Clumps of grasses require little care,
provide visual interest such as color and texture throughout the year and add
a sense of motion to the garden. Bill Holt, owner of Willow Mist Grasses in
Stratham, will describe the selection, growing, and care of ornamental grasses
for our area.
Garden find of the month will be presented and the business meeting will
follow.
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Hosts for this meeting are Terry , Gail L, Sue N and Bev
Garden Walk Update
The 2006 Garden Walk committee has had a couple of organizational meetings
and is well underway with the planning for the walk and the ticket brochure.
There will be a sign up board at the April meeting for garden site teams and
other tasks for those who aren't available on June 24th.
Since this is how we fund everything the Club does, we all work together on this.
So mark off your calendar for June 24th, rain or shine!
Party! Party? Does anyone want to celebrate all our hard work after the walk?
Let Lisa D, Isabel or Marianne know what you think.
Member News
from Gail L. Membership Chair
You're invited……to an "Information Night Social" (or a New Member Tea) that
will be held at the library on Tuesday, May 2nd at 7 p.m.
It will be for all new members and any other members that have not been to one
before. We will have coffee, desserts and lots of info about your club.
Contact Gail L. for more information.
Lisa has rejoined our club. Welcome back, Lisa. Please update your yearbook.
Donna is at Brigham and Women's hospital and is doing
well. She is awaiting news as to whether or not she can have her hip
surgery--we will keep all posted.
Our heartfelt condolences to Judy W. who lost her mom recently.
Patty L. and a few friends went to the Atkinson Garden Club's Petals
and Palettes show a few weeks ago. Patty was able to capture some of the creations with
her camera and would like to share her slide presentation with all the club
members. If you would like to see her slide presentation, please contact
Patty by phone or email and she will gladly send you it to you.
Also, Patty and Pat M. are planning on attending the Art N Bloom
show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on Monday, April 24th.
If you would like to join them, please call Patty or Pat for further information Corrections:
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Civic Site Clean Up
As is our custom in the early spring, we begin our clean up of our
civic beautification projects. We beautify the Hampstead and East Hampstead
post offices, the Fire Station planter, the two Veteran's Memorial gardens,
Sign Island, the two Library gardens, and Ordway Park. At these spots we
beautify from early spring through the holiday season. Groups of members
participate in preparing the gardens for the full gardening season and put it
to bed in the fall.
It's time to clear the winter debris and fluff things up. New members,
if you do not have a garden assignment…don't miss out!! This is where we work
together and share knowledge, ideas and get to know each other.
Sandi G. is the Civic Site Overseer and the executive board member
to contact if any problems or questions arise.
The clean-up day for Sign Island will be Saturday, April 29th at 9:00 a.m. The dig/planting will be on Saturday May 13th at 9:00 a.m. Your Committee Chair will contact you with dates for clean up of other sites.
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Tips, Trips and Clips
At last month's meeting, Tessi McKeown promised to provide the recipe for the non-toxic pesticide for use on Roses. She said to combine 2 1/2 Tbsp. Horticultural Oil, 3 tsp. baking soda per one gallon of water.
This takes care of blackspot and mildew.
If you like hostas, check out this website - it's local and in South Hampton http://www.nhhostas.com/conditions.php
From Terry: - I received this and thought that it might be a nice field trip this spring.
I would like to extend an invitation to all Garden Clubs in the region to attend a
"Plant Your Own Containers" workshop this spring at Beech Hill Farm in Hopkinton,
NH (www.beechhillfarm.com ). We started offering
this opportunity last year to local clubs and it was so well received that we
would like to continue with it. Kate from The Bow Garden Club has already signed
up for their May activity and meeting to be held at Beech Hill. They had a great
time planting containers last year and then they had ice cream and held their
monthly meeting. We provide the tools, organic potting mix, and fertilizer for
free. We sell high quality annuals, Proven Winners, perennials and all sorts of
garden decor. We offer the "plant your own workshop" as a private function-
before we open for the day - and offer as much or as little assistance as is
requested. I would love to get the word out to other clubs and would appreciate
any help you could provide in this area. If you have any questions please give
me a call at 223-0828. Thank you!
Holly Kimball
Reminder: NHFGC District Five is hosting the Semi-Annual Meeting on September 27th and needs small, fresh, mushroom containers and old 35-mm. film for the arrangements. Bring them to the meeting for Suzy M., Terry, or Mary Ann M.
News Clippings
Have you gotten a copy of the Hampstead Town Report? Such nice things are said
about us.
From the Public Library Report:
"Town organizations also provide support for the Library. The Hampstead Garden
Club makes the Library and story garden more beautiful every year."
From the Historic District Commission Report:
"We can't thank the Garden Club enough for the flowers and shrubs around the Old
Meeting House and Museum that they maintain all year and also the Christmas
Decorations for the two Buildings. THANK YOU…!"
From the Ordway Park Report:
"Hampstead and the Friends of Ordway Park Committee extend a big thank-you again
this year to the Hampstead Garden Club for the continuing work on their adopted
civic site in Ordway Park. Their handiwork creates a special centerpiece in the
park and brings pleasure to many in the community. The plant tags help admirers
identify plants which could be introduced to home gardens. The town is fortunate
to have such a talented independent organization contribute to the community in
many ways and places-including Ordway Park."
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Earth Day - April 22nd
Do you do your part for the Environment? Has Earth Day lost it luster? Does Earth
Day need an overhaul?
The first Earth Day was about raising awareness of environmental issues in
American popular consciousness. The results were impressive. Shortly thereafter
landmark federal legislation was passed directed at protecting the environment,
including creating the Environmental Protection Agency and passing the Clean Air
Act.
Behavioral changes do not have to be radical; we just need to take more personal
responsibility for our own "footprint", or impact on our environment. This can be
as easy as turning off the water while your are brushing your teeth, dropping a
plastic or glass bottle in a recycling bin instead of a wastebasket, or choosing
to buy a product with less packaging than its competing brand. If on Earth Day we
specifically focused on thinking about our individual consumption patterns, if
every American considered how much water and energy he or she used, how much waste
he or she produced, then maybe we could begin to create broader culture of
environmentally-sustainable behavior.
Earth Day began as a grassroots effort and people should remember that humble
beginning and the impact that the bottom-up effort had at the highest levels.
Earth Day can regain the importance it held in 1970 when it kicked off the environmental revolution. Let this Earth Day be the spark
for a new level of environmental consciousness in your home, family, and daily
routine.
View the complete message from NH DES Commissioner Michael Nolin at http://www.des.nh.gov
We welcome any suggestions, comments, member news, or questions-gardening or otherwise.
See March minutes on website.
Dottie, Corresponding Secretary
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Hampstead Garden Club
Minutes of Meeting March 15, 2006
The meeting began at 7:10 with the introduction of Tessi McKeown, President of the NH Rose Society by Barbara, member of the program committee. Mrs.
McKeown narrated two very informative slide presentations- one on the care,
planting and identification of various kinds of roses and the second on roses in
her spectacular garden in Wilton, NH. Mrs. McKeown answered questions from the
audience and provided participants with several handouts with valuable
information.
After the program refreshments were served and the business meeting began at 8:30- lead by first vice president Sandy G in the absence of president Gail T.
The club accepted the minutes from last month as presented.
The treasury consists of $1574.62 in the checking account and
$6,757.63 in the savings account. In attendance for the meeting were 26 members
, 3 honorary members and three guests. The present membership is up to 46 members.
Lisa DeMio is working to complete the 2005 scrapbook for competition.
Suzy M. and Terri will be working on the 2006 scrapbook.
Please forward any additions to them. When sending news clippings- make sure you
include the top banner with the date.
Spring is coming- start thinking about the town garden sites. The civic site
chairs will be getting in contact with members soon.
The two garden finds were won by 2 new members!
Isabel shared Garden Walk info- The date is June 24 and the club
is looking for one additional garden for the tour. Please contact Isabel if you
are interested in adding your garden to the tour.
Under new business:
The Rockingham County Botanical Gardens will be moving in 2008 from Brentwood to a site in Derry on Hampstead,
Road- more info to follow in the future.Churchill's Nursery in Exeter will be sponsoring a spring Open House Friday,
Saturday and Sunday- March 24, 25 and 26.
With no new business, the meeting was adjourned.
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