The Olde Ripton Garden Club will hold a Spring Bulb Fundraiser on Saturday, October 13 at 2 pm at the Congregational Church on the Green in Huntington.  All proceeds support the Clubs projects in the community of Shelton.

Top quality bulbs, shipped direct from the Netherlands at attractive pricing will be available.  Christopher Harley, of Colorblends in Bridgeport will also be giving a lecture on planting, design and caring for your spring bulbs.  Colorblends brings decades of experience to the event and they have been suppliers to the trade for more than 50 years.  Mr. Harley will answer questions attendees may have regarding spring bulbs and their care. There will be a $5.00 pp admission that is applicable to the purchase of bulbs that day.

For more information or for updates check with the Olde Ripton Garden Club Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/SheltonORGC.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will present a program on Garden Edibles that will cover the 10 top healthiest nutrient dense edibles to grow, edible flowers and weeds, edible landscaping and organic gardens.

Barb Scala, Certified Master Gardener, takes a refreshing approach to living and eating well. Her talk centers on how to take control of our total well-being and create a balanced life focusing on fresh and healthy foods.  She is a regular contributor on Good Morning CT providing recipes and lifestyle tips.

The program will be held on September 10th at 10 am at the Plumb Library, 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  The event is open to the public and non-members are asked to pay a $5.00 visitor fee which covers the program, lunch, and refreshments.

The Club will also launch its 2018-2019 membership drive at this meeting. Members assist the Club with its mission of beautifying streets, highways and grounds around public buildings in Shelton. Residents are encouraged to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener — to learn about all facets of horticulture and preservation of the environment.

Annual dues for those who want to join will be $35.00.  The Olde Ripton Garden Club is a non-profit organization. For more information visit www.olderiptongardenclub.org or Like Us on Facebook at:  facebook.com/SheltonORGC.

Photo Credit: Linda Tura

The Olde Ripton Garden Club’s summer meetings focused primarily on civic and business topics, but we still took advantage of the peak growing season to share the color and beauty through horticulture displays. Continue reading →

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will be presenting an important program at their next meeting on limiting exposure to toxins around your home & garden.  Gary Ginsberg, a toxicologist at Yale & UConn will be presenting.  He is also the co-author of “What’s Toxic, What’s Not”.

Toxics chemicals exist in many consumer items and this program describes the most important steps to decreasing exposure to risky chemicals and contaminants such as mold and radon. This will be a highly interactive presentation in which all your questions will be answered.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will present this program at their Monday, August 6 meeting.  The program is open to the public and will be held at Plumb Memorial Library at 10 am in the Community Room (downstairs), 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  Visitor fee is $5 and includes lunch.

A member drive is currently underway for the Club.  The Olde Ripton Garden Club is open for new members to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener! Projects include working on community gardens around town, holiday decorating at public buildings in Shelton, a garden therapy program with seniors, and youth gardening in Shelton schools.  Annual dues for membership will be collected in September and are $35 for the year. (no meeting January & February). Meetings include speakers, a light lunch, great conversation and friendly activities.   Interested parties are invited to attend a meeting to see if they want to join.  For more information visit www.olderiptongardenclub.org.

On Tuesday, June 12, 2018, the Olde Ripton Garden Club went on a field trip to Terrain in Westport, Connecticut. Continue reading →

Each year in June, we take a break from regular business duties and gardening work to gather as friends for good food and conversation. For the 2018 annual luncheon, we met at Il Palio in Shelton. Continue reading →

Summer in the Garden

The Olde Ripton Garden Club is warming up to summer! A meeting has been scheduled for July 2 and the Club has arranged for a wonderful program that promises to be filled with discussion about gardening this season and beyond.

The Club Horticulture Chair will present a program on “Planting a Butterfly Garden.”  Members will bring sample flowers from their gardens for display in either formal arrangement or designs.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will meet on Monday, July 2 at Plumb Memorial Library, 10 am in the Community Room (downstairs), 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  Visitor fee is $5 and refreshments will be served.

ORGC stock photo

A member drive is currently underway for the Club.  The Olde Ripton Garden Club encourages new members to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener! Projects include working on community gardens around town, holiday decorating at public buildings in Shelton, a garden therapy program with seniors, and youth gardening in Shelton schools.  Annual dues for membership is $35 for monthly meetings (except January & February). Meetings include speakers, a light lunch, great conversation and friendly activities.   Interested parties are invited to attend a meeting to see if they want to join.  For more information visit www.olderiptongardenclub.org or Like Us on Facebook at:  facebook.com/SheltonORGC.

For 2018, we split our annual Perennial & Garden Plant Sale across two weekends:  Saturday, May 19th and Saturday, June 2nd.  We hosted the event at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on the Huntington Green in Shelton. The sale is a highlight of our year, when members donate cultivars from their own gardens. As always, we featured ornamental perennials, shrubs, and houseplants, as well as baked goods and fresh, local honey. Continue reading →

by Kimberly Wehger

This month, the Olde Ripton Garden Club invited me to speak as the guest presenter, and I was thrilled to lead a presentation on photography using landscape and horticulture subjects.  We also spent time reviewing plans and donation guidelines for our upcoming plant sale — an important annual fundraising event for the club. Continue reading →

SECOND SALE SCHEDULED 

SAT., JUNE 2

The Olde Ripton Garden Club Annual Perennial & Plant Sale  – many from member’s gardens, is being scheduled for a second sale on Saturday June 2.  The first sale was hampered by a rainy day and many plants were not sold.  Featured at the sale will be a large assortment of perennial plants as well as annuals, and house plants.  

Proceeds from this annual event benefit the Garden Club activities including maintenance of the Shelton community gardens and the Club’s scholarship activities.

The popular Shelton event will be held Saturday, June 2 from 9 am to 12 noon, Rain or Shine, at St Paul’s Episcopal Church Parking Lot, 25 Church Street across from the Huntington Green in Shelton. 

Also on sale will be the Shelton City Flower, Rudbeckia Fulgida goldstrum, a yellow coneflower designated in 2016 by the City Board of Alderman.  This item was very popular with residents last year and is expected to sell out quickly once again.  For more information please visit the Club’s website at: www.OldeRiptonGardenClub.org or go to their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SheltonORGC. 

SATURDAY, MAY 19 FROM 9AM TO 12 PM

• MEMBER GROWN PLANTS & PERENNIALS

•  SHELTON CITY FLOWERS – RUDBECKIA FULGIDA

• ANNUALS – HOUSE PLANTS – ORGANIC VEGETABLES

• LOCALLY GROWN HONEY

• HOMEMADE BAKED GOODS

Bring Your Questions – Certified Master Gardeners Available

ST PAUL’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH PARKING LOT

25 CHURCH STREET, HUNTINGTON GREEN, SHELTON

Proceeds benefit the garden club’s community project including scholarships, school programs, senior center garden therapy and beautifying gardens around town and holiday decorating.  The Olde Ripton Garden Club is a non-profit organization.

For more information call (203) 775-6645

Photo courtesy of Kimberly Wehger

We welcomed members to the first ORGC meeting of the year by diving into the heart of the 2017-2018 theme, Functional Gardening:  Plants, Pollinators and Water Conservation.  Margaret Miner, Executive Director of the Rivers Alliance of Connecticut, presented “How Gardening & Landscaping Can Improve Water Quality.”  With 2018 marking the conclusion of the current club term, we also discussed upcoming changes to leadership and by-laws. Continue reading →

Over the weekend of February 22 through February 25, The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut hosted the 2018 Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, “Breath of Spring,” at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.  We’re proud to announce that ORGC members Nancy Whiteley, Karel Julian, and Renee Marsh had photographs featured in the Educational and Botanical Arts division, taking home First, Second, Third, and the Cheryl Collins Photography Awards. Continue reading →