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.

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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.

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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.

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Horticulture Co-Chair Joyce Fedorko presented our flower of the month, Hellebores.

Hellebores are native to Europe and western Asia. Hellebores are also known as the Lenten Rose because they flower in the early spring around the period of Lent.

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The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is eastern North America’s sole breeding hummingbird.  Feeders and flower gardens are great ways to attract these birds.

Photo Courtesy of Eric Wehger, Slater Sanctuary

Around the middle of April we will be seeing the first hummingbirds arriving in Connecticut.  After their long voyage they are hungry and will be looking for food to regain their weight.

Take the time to make sure before you put your feeders out that they are well cleaned.  Because hummingbirds are very territorial about their feeders it is a good idea to put out more than one around your yard.

A simple recipe for Hummingbird food is 1 cup of cane sugar mixed with 4 cups of hot/boiling water.  It is important to remember that you only use cane sugar since other sugars are not safe for Hummingbirds.  Change the water before it grows cloudy or discolored and remember that during hot weather, sugar water ferments rapidly to produce toxic alcohol.

Brightly-colored flowers that are tubular hold the most nectar, and are particularly attractive to hummingbirds. These include perennials such as bee balms, columbines, daylilies, and lupines; biennials such as foxgloves and hollyhocks; and many annuals, including cleomes, impatiens, and petunias.

Join us Saturday, May 14, 2022, rain or shine, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church parking lot for our annual Plant Sale.  For sale will be member grown perennials, there will also be annuals, house plants and herbs.  Our successful bake sale will be offered along with hand painted rocks and a raffle. Click here for the printable flyer.

Here are some of the rocks members painted at a recent workshop that will be available at our annual plant sale.

For our April meeting we will be welcoming Lee Ganim of Ganim’s Garden Center and Florist in Fairfield, Connecticut.  Lee’s presentation will be “Preparing Your Garden for Spring.”

Our meeting will be held at the Shelton Community Center at 10 am, guests are welcome to attend, there is a $5.00 Visitor Fee for non-members.

As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat. This leads to global warming and climate change. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history.

For our virtual meeting this month we welcomed Susan Quincy who is an outreach educator for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  Susan is stationed at the Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby, CT.  Her virtual presentation was “Climate Change, Actions & Impacts.”

The presentation highlighted what is happening in Connecticut related to climate and the actions we can take on personal levels to start reducing our carbon footprint.  It also looked at the largescale actions states and countries are taking to reach the goal of reducing temperature rise globally.

Using the interactive simulator En-ROADS from Climate Interactive and the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, we were able to change variables to try and lower our carbon emissions.

Susan went over the things that we can do to help reduce this buildup including switching to electric outdoor tools and electric cars, adding solar panels to your home, recycling and educating yourself and others.

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ORGC member photo

The International Herb Association has chosen the Pansy, Viola or Violet as the Herb of the Year for 2022.  Plants selected must be outstanding in two of the three categories:  Decorative, Culinary or Medicinal.   The Pansy also known as a Violet, a Johnny Jump Up or a Heartsease meets all three of these categories.

As Decorative they have sweet smiling faces with a sweet fragrance and multi-colored flowers.

As Culinary the flowers are edible and superb as decorative garnish for soups, desserts, and beverages.

As Medicinal, historically violets were a healing herb, viola tinctures were used to treat skin conditions.

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The members of the Olde Ripton Garden Club wish everyone a safe, healthy, happy holiday season.

Wreath at the Shelton Community Center main entrance

Some of the wreaths created by the members of the Olde Ripton Garden Club.

Alfreda Mozdzer and Irmina Grabarz with their wreath for the Huntington Branch of the Shelton Post Office.

Rich with history and symbolism, the wreath is a favorite Holiday decoration.  Every December, Olde Ripton Garden Club members decorate wreaths for locations throughout the community.

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