Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Looking Ahead - Dig Day Calendar from Carol

Several members of the Club have kindly offered to let us dig lots of
plants from their gardens, for the plant sale. Working together on
teams to dig in these gardens - dividing plants and potting them up,
talking about plants, and just enjoying being in each other's gardens
and each other's company  - is one of the most fun club activities we
engage in each year. I always learn a lot from these dig days, and
working together is a great way to get to know each other better.
 
Dig times are 9-noon. You can sign up for a dig date and location at the Annual Meeting on April 9th.
 
Thanks,
Carol Williams

Reminder: Annual Dues

Hi,
Please note that your annual dues are due at the annual meeting on April 9th.
Active members $40 
Sustaining members $50.

If not attending, Please mail in your check to:
Ipswich Garden Club 
40 East Street 
Ipswich, MA     01938
Thanks,
Laurie McAleer, IGC Treasurer

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Useful Items by Gail Andersen IGC Horticulturist



Pansies Are Not Pansies!

by Gail Anderson, IGC Horticulturist

About this time of year, everyone is looking forward to blooming plants. That’s especially true if your appetite was whetted by the beautiful spring garden displays at the recent Boston Flower & Garden Show.

Of course, pansies are one of the first commercially available spring flowers. But many people are unsure when they can leave pansies outside day and night. Pansies are not “wimps.” They actually have built-in natural “antifreeze.” and can withstand a very light frost. However, they will stop growing and producing blooms at that temperature. A good rule of thumb is to wait until night-time temperatures do not dip below the very high 30s or low 40s. This is usually in mid April but varies each year.




2013 Greenslet Cup Competition- "Earth Laughs In Flowers"

Where did our quote for the Greenslet Cup Competition this year come from?
Though it’s often been attributed to e.e. cummings, the quote actually appears in "Hamatreya", by Ralph Waldo Emerson. A slight misquote, its meaning taken out of context is quite different than in the poem. The full poem reads:
  







Hamatreya
By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bulkeley, Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint,


Possessed the land which rendered to their toil

Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool, and wood.

Each of these landlords walked amidst his farm,

Saying, “’Tis mine, my children’s and my name’s.

How sweet the west wind sounds in my own trees!

How graceful climb those shadows on my hill!

I fancy these pure waters and the flags

Know me, as does my dog: we sympathize;

And, I affirm, my actions smack of the soil.”

Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:

And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough.

Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys

Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;

Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet

Clear of the grave.

They added ridge to valley, brook to pond,

And sighed for all that bounded their domain;

“This suits me for a pasture; that’s my park;

We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge,

And misty lowland, where to go for peat.

The land is well,—lies fairly to the south.

’Tis good, when you have crossed the sea and back,

To find the sitfast acres where you left them.”

Ah! the hot owner sees not Death, who adds

Him to his land, a lump of mould the more.

Hear what the Earth say:—


Out of context, it’s warm-and-fuzzy imagery. In context, it’s an illustration of nature’s supremacy, mocking the arrogance of a humanity which thinks it holds dominion over Earth – an immortal force created long before we existed and which will remain long after we’re gone. I find the quote more interesting with the nuances of meaning the poem presents, and I can’t help but wonder if Emerson would be dismayed to see it printed on coffee mugs as a happy pick-me-up.

And yet, it is a happy pick-me-up, too. For us, it’s an excellent reminder to live in the moment, to pay attention to fleeting instants of beauty, and to appreciate what we have when we have it. Because as Emerson points out, the nature of life is transitory.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Breeding Birds of Ipswich by Habitat



Thanks to Catherine Carney Feldman, Ipswich Conservation Commission member for alerting us to this opportunity:

Conservation Commission Hosts Jim Berry

Jim Berry is the next speaker in the Ipswich Conservation Commission’s Speaker Series.  Jim’s talk and slide show presentation will focuses on, ‘Breeding Birds Of  Ipswich By Habitat’.  The talk is at the Ipswich Town Hall on Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. in room A.  This presentation is free and open to the general public and will be simultaneously shown live on the ICAM television stations, Channel 9 (Comcast) and Channel 33 (Verizon).

Jim, a well know resident of Ipswich, moved to this town in 1972. His favorite activity is the study of birds, other forms of wildlife, and plant communities in the context of their ecological relationships. He is currently writing a series of articles in Bird Observer on significant nesting records from Essex County. He also is writing a book on the birds of Essex County which will update and expand Charles W. Townsend’s Birds of Essex County published in 1905. Jim founded the Ipswich Open Space Committee in 1991 and has worked with local public schools to identify and certify vernal pools for state protection. He is also a member of many ornithological clubs including the Essex County Ornithological Club and the Nuttall Ornithological Club of Cambridge.

For further information about Jim’s presentation, please call the Ipswich Conservation Commission’s Office at 978 356-6661