The  March meeting was on Butterfly Gardens.  The speaker was Rose Hiskes of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station.

This talk introduced the Bird & Butterfly Garden at the Station’s Lockwood Farm in Hamden, gave definitions to some basic terms and then looked at the more common butterflies found in Connecticut.  Images of caterpillars are shown.  Nectar plants for adult feeding and larval food sources for egg laying was presented.  A resource list was handed out along with other pertinent fact sheets.

Black Swallowtail (courtesy of Renee Marsh)

We also covered the Invasive plant of the month:  Norway Maple (Acer platanoides)

For the full meeting schedule and times, see the Meetings page.

The February meeting was a presentation on Organic Gardening by Guy and Janelle Beardsley of Eco-Gardens in the White Hills of Shelton.

This program covered the hows and whys of organic gardening including soil amendments, equipment, and the sequence of planting and harvesting.   Guy discussed the basic organic philosophy, the importance of an honest and nutritious food supply and the threat to food quality posed by corporate agribusiness.

We also covered the invasive Common Reed (Phragmites australis).

Common Reed – Phragmites

The November 5th meeting was the annual Artistic Fall Decoration Workshop where club members tried their hands at making artistic floral arrangements.  Claire Norris gave a brief presentation on important concepts for flower arrangements before everyone got started.

Carol Harding, Ann Gibbons and Marilyn Burkhart commented about the horticulture submissions.  We also discussed the invasive plant of the month which is Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius).

Osborne Homestead Museum “Holidays in Bloom” opens in November.  The public open house begins Nov. 23 thru Dec. 16, Thurs. – Sun (10 AM – 4 PM).  Holiday Twilight Tours are Fridays, Nov. 30 & Dec 7, 14 from 4 to 6:30 PM.

In the October  meeting we reviewed a new invasive insect in Connecticut,  the Emerald Ash Borer.  Click here for more information from the CT DEEP on this harmful insect.

The main program was “Honey Bees and a Taste of Honey” presented by Ralph Harrison, a beekeeper from Milford, CT.    We learned about the inhabitants of a hive (the queen, workers and drones), how a hive is constructed, and what goes on inside. The discussion also covered the flowers that bees use to gather nectar and pollen.   Finally there was a honey tasting where we sampled different varieties of honey.

For more information on beekeeping in Connecticut, contact the Connecticut Beekeepers Association. 

Welcome to the new Olde Ripton Garden Club website.   On this site we share information with members and the community.   Here you will find information about the club including meetings, our community projects and contacts.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring our theme for this year is  “In nature nothing exists alone.”

Our programs will focus on the other inhabitants in our garden from bees and butterflies to fungus.  Unfortunately there are also unwanted, invasive insects and plants that we will learn to recognize and control.