This month we welcomed Barbara and Peter Rzasa, who shared with us a Power Point presentation of “Summer Wildflowers of Connecticut.”
Summer wildflowers are found in Connecticut’s forests, wetlands and fields, compared to spring flowers, which are light pastel colors, summer flowers are vibrant.
At our July meeting, Master Gardener and past President Renee Marsh spoke to us about the Beech Leaf Disease that is affecting the Beech trees in Connecticut.
Beech leaf disease (BLD) is a novel disease which is affecting the American beech (Fagus grandifolia) in North America. BLD symptoms have been shown to be associated with a newly recognized subspecies of the anguinid nematode Litylenchus crenatae mccannii.
The symptoms on beech foliage, best observed from below 
looking up into the canopy, are characterized by dark striping between leaf veins. Symptoms have also been found to include: aborted leaf enlargement; cupping, browning, and yellowing of foliage; branch and tip dieback; and in some cases, premature leaf dropping.
Leaves with severe symptoms are heavily banded, shrunken, and crinkled with a thickened, leathery texture.
Little is known about the biology of the pathogen and epidemiology of the disease, effective control or eradication measures are still the subject of ongoing research.
For more information about Beech Leaf Disease visit the website of CAES (Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station.)
Information in this article was taken from the CAES article “Beech Leaf Disease – Updates 2021” by Drs. Yonghao Li and Robert E. Marra.
This month’s presentation will be by Barbara and Peter Rzasa on “Summer Wildflowers of CT. ”
Area naturalists Peter and Barbara Rzasa will provide a PowerPoint presentation highlighting not only our common native wildflowers but also the not so common ones such as pipsissewa, turtlehead, bottle gentian, butterfly weed, rattlesnake plantain, Virgin’s bower, and arrowhead. The presentation will also cover the parasitic plants dodder and Indian pipe as well as the carnivorous Northern pitcher-plant and sundew.
Both are members of the Wallingford Garden Club and serve as Co-chairs on the Horticulture Committee. In 2015, they were presented the Ellen Carder Memorial Award for their horticultural education by the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut. They maintain a native plant garden and a DIY bog at their residence.
The meeting will take place on July 11th at 10:00 AM and will be held at the American Legion located at 295 Bridgeport Avenue in Shelton.
Olde Ripton Garden Club (ORGC) of Shelton is a community of garden enthusiasts committed to sharing the love of gardening and conservation. We provide education in horticulture and assist in beautifying the grounds around public buildings.
Guests are welcome to attend, there is a $5.00 Visitor Fee for non-members and membership is $35.00 a year.
Hydrangea Petiolaris is a vigorous climbing vine that clings to surfaces by aerial rootlets. It has a slow growing, shrubby habit until established, then becomes quite vigorous, producing long, fast growing stems. The foliage is blanketed with magnificent, white lace cap blooms in the summer.
This massive Hydrangea was photographed in Lina Hooper’s garden, the Hydrangea has climbed to the top of an old tree trunk.
The climbing Hydrangea will grow from 30 to 50 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide. It is at its best where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade, however it can tolerate dense shade.
On Monday, June 6th we held our annual June luncheon at Matto Wine Bar in Shelton. The luncheon was coordinated by club Second Vice President Dee Blewett.
At the center of each table were Golden Empire Bidens. At the end of the luncheon the member at each table with the birthday closest to the date of the luncheon got to take home the Bidens.
At each place setting were terra cotta pots containing sedum and hand painted with a sunflower by Dee Blewett. Also at each place setting were hand painted rocks and everyone was also given a potted sunflower, “Helianthus annuus” to take home.
For our November 2021 meeting we welcomed Debbie Semonich who led us in a workshop of “Winter Sowing.” Members learned how to make their own miniature greenhouses from recycled plastic containers. After planting the seeds, containers were wintered outdoors and in the spring seedlings appeared.
These are the successful plantings of Linda Hooper, pictured are the winter sowing jugs containing Hollyhocks, Love in a mist, blue wheat, and Chinese lanterns.
See our November 2021 posting for instructions on how to make a miniature greenhouse of your own.
On Saturday, May 14th we held our Annual Plant and Bake sale at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parking Lot. Thank you to the public for supporting this important fund raiser. The Olde Ripton Garden Club is a non-profit organization and all proceeds benefit the community projects in which we are involved. A special thanks to Co-Chairs Lisa DiNardo and Debbi Garrow for all of their hard work that made the Plant Sale a success.
Besides Perennials we also offered Gift Cards donated by local businesses, Painted Rocks designed by club members, Baked goods provided by club members and a Raffle of items donated by local businesses and nurseries.
Join us this Saturday, May 14 from 9:00 to 12:00 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parking Lot, 25 Church Street (Huntington Green) Shelton for our Annual Plant and Bake Sale.
Proceeds benefit the community projects for Shelton – scholarships, school programs, senior garden therapy and beautifying our city gardens. ORGC is a non- profit organization
For sale will be Member Grown Perennials, Annuals, House Plants and Herbs. There will also be Hand Painted Rocks, a Bake Sale and a Raffle.
Follow the links below to visit the Facebook pages for the Local Garden Centers donating annuals and perennials.
Langanke’s Florist & Greenhouses
Follow Olde Ripton Garden Club on our Facebook page.
This month we welcomed once again Margery Winters from Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton, CT. Margery did a Power Point presentation on “Soil – It’s Not Just Dirt.”
Margery is the Assistant Director and instructor at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton where she is delighted to be able to share her passion for earth science and nature with students of all ages. She manages the Nature Center’s native plant gardens and is an advocate for the role of natives in our designed landscapes. She is a Master Landscape Design Consultant.
Rarely discussed by gardeners, soil is the foundation of the garden. Each teaspoon of healthy soil is alive with millions of creatures, many working to keep our plants healthy. We learned why we should care about this intriguing ecosystem.
Always an interesting speaker, Margery, kept us absorbed in her presentation. We learned all about the different types of soils, the connections between soils and plants and how organic matter makes healthy soil.
For Horticulture this month Linda Hooper shared with us the gardening trend that “bloomed” during the pandemic.
Everyone was planting a garden and retailers found themselves struggling to keep up with the demand for seeds.
Gardening became an activity for the entire family, working from home encouraged people to put more thought into gardening, landscaping and nature. It helped relieve stress and boosted the connection with nature and outdoor physical activity.
Our May meeting will be held at the Shelton Community Center – lower level on May 2, 2022 at 10 a.m. Our speaker this month will be Margery Winters from Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton, CT. Margery will be doing a presentation on “Soil – It’s Not Just Dirt.”
Rarely discussed by gardeners, soil is the foundation of the garden. Each teaspoon of healthy soil is alive with millions of creatures, many working to keep our plants healthy. We will learn why we should care about this intriguing ecosystem.
Margery is the Assistant Director and instructor at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton where she is delighted to be able to share her passion for earth science and nature with students of all ages. She manages the Nature Center’s native plant gardens and is an advocate for the role of natives in our designed landscapes. She is a Master Landscape Design Consultant.
Margery serves on several land use boards in Simsbury. She is chairman of their Inland Wetland / Conservation Commission and a member the Open Space Committee, and currently serves as president of the Simsbury Land Trust.
Guests are welcome to attend, there is a $5.00 Visitor Fee for non-members, membership is $35.00 a year.
Earth Day is an annual event held every year on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2022 is “Invest In Our Planet.”
Follow the link above to visit the official Earth Day website and see how you can help.
At our April meeting we welcomed Lee Ganim of Ganim’s Garden Center and Florist in Fairfield, Connecticut. Lee’s presentation was “Preparing Your Garden for Spring.”
He is well known as “That Garden Guy” with his weekly Sunday morning radio show on WICC600AM. His gardening talk show offers real-time advice for local gardeners as well as information about current gardening trends.