Beth Shalom Garden Club Newsletter September 2010 This newsletter is dedicated to our dear friend, Avis Simon, who passed away on Friday, September 17th. Letter from the President Welcome back to Garden Club! This year our Garden Club Board will offer a variety of interesting programs, workshops, and community events that we hope you will enjoy. Garden Club provides us with many opportunities to learn about plants and flowers and to practice designing with flowers. We hope you will participate and join our Club in its many activities this year and find out how worthwhile Garden Club can be. If there is an area of interest that we have not offered, please contact me, one of the Board members, or our Membership Representatives. Membership Representatives are meant to be the ears and eyes of the membership. Sharon Mills and Karen Gorton fill that role and will be happy to hear your ideas and relay that information to the Board. Our most important community event is the November 7 Antiques Show & Sale at Needham High School. It is vital that everyone contribute in some way. This is our only means of fundraising and we use the proceeds to provide club supplies, programs, and to partially fund our own Needham s Art in Bloom. We need everyone to help even if it is to bake, distribute flyers, sit at a ticket table, or help organize the day before. Please say yes when someone from Garden Club contacts you to help. We appreciate any assistance that you can give. See you at Garden Club. You won t regret it! Carol Gershman FIRST PROGRAM MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2010 7:00 Refreshments Distribution of Yearbook Sign-up for Year s Events SURPRISE DESIGN PROGRAM
SUMMER ACTIVITIES by Donna Lane The garden club has been busy over the summer tending their gardens in excruciating heat, entering flower shows and touring gardens. After a fabulous program by Rene Van Rems organized by Judy Levine, members entered the Barnstable County Fair, the Marshfield Fair, took field trips to Suzanne Mahler s garden in Hanover and Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, RI, and entered the Washington County Fair and the Rhode Island Dahlia Society s Annual Show. Following are a few photos and descriptions of some of these events. Working with a cast on his foot and a good dose of pain medication (his words), Rene van Rems entertained a full house at the Wallack Lecture at Regis College in June, with a bit of off-color, good natured humor (often directed at Mary Huntoon who was a great sport). I can t remember laughing so much during a floral design presentation... and the designs were, well WOW! What a wonderful program. Thank you Judy Levine and your elves for bringing us this fabulous designer. Needless to say, some of the arrangements were difficult for the winners to transport. The next event came in July when a small group motored to see Suzanne Mahler s daylily garden. Since the summer was so warm, many of the daylilies had already gone by, but there were plenty of other perennials to see. Unfortunately, no-one took pictures that day. August brought a trip to Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth, RI, preceded by lunch at Evelyn s Drive-In in Tiverton. At Green Animals, Club members were treated to a special tour by Jim Donahue, horticulturist and manager of the Green Animals property owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County. If you haven t visited Green Animals, it s worth the trip.
Standing outside Evelyn s Drive-In in Tiverton, RI prior to our tour of Green Animals. A snapshot of the mama and papa topiary bears made of privet. To the left in the background is the dahlia garden, a joint project with the Rhode Island Dahlia Society. 3
Rows of meticulously trimmed boxwood encircle many varieties of flowers throughout the gardens from May through October. While the rest of the crew sat on the porch overlooking the grounds and Narragansett Bay, I snuck off to cut some Swiss chard from the vegetable garden for dinner (with Jim s permission, of course). The next notable event was the Marshfield Fair, where four of our members entered the GCFM Design Division of a Standard Flower Show entitled Wonders of the World. Barbara May and Donna Lane entered Class 4, The Amazon Rainforest, an All-Foliage Design, Traditional or Creative style. They put us side-by-side. Talk about pressure! The outcome was predictable. Barbara took 1st Place and the Tricolor. Surprisingly, I came in second. Considering my competition, I was very proud of that standing. Marisa McCoy and Sue Kaplan were both entered in Class 6, The Roman Colosseum - A design, traditional or creative style, inspired by a sport (ancient or contemporary) selected by the exhibitor. Marisa chose Javelin, Discus & Shotput and garnered 1st place, while Sue selected Track & Field, taking 2nd (90+). What are the odds that we d be competing against each other? Photos of our entries appear below.
Barbara May - 1st + Tri-color Donna Lane - 2nd Place Marisa McCoy - 1st Sue Kaplan - 2nd 90+
They say practice makes perfect, so I entered designs at the Washington County Fair in August and the Rhode Island Dahlia Society in September, where I took several blue ribbons and received best in show at both venues for my arrangements. Since dahlias must predominate and I had few dahlias in my garden, a fellow dahlia grower from Rhode Island allowed me to pick from her garden the day before the show so I could enter. The Washington County arrangements are judged by dahlia experts, but the Rhode Island Dahlia Society arrangements are judged by a team of NGC certified judges from the Rhode Island Garden Club Federation. The schedule was Summer Fun with Dahlias. Class 4, Down by the Seashore, required a line design which had to incorporate something from the sea. Class 1, Let s Join The Parade required a parallel design. I chose to do a simple design which the judges liked. 1st Place - Line Design 1st Place & Best in Show - Parallel Design Be sure to check out the corner of Bancroft and Brookline near the Mitchell School for the two window boxes our club planted for the Habitat for Humanity house. Sweet potato vine, dusty miller and white impatiens with a touch of pink made for a lovely display. SAVE THE DATE: October 7th, 7:00 p.m. in Simon Hall - a free BIMA workshop led by Barbara May.