Where Are All the Monarchs?

Maureen suggested IGC members may want to read this timely report on the disappearance of Monarchs. Kim Smith, the author, is a landscape designer from Gloucester. She is currently producing documentary films about the Monarch Butterfly, Black Swallowtail Butterfly , and Gloucester’s Feast of St. Joseph. 

 Monarchs usually arrive in our region by the first week in July and go through several brood cycles. This year, barely any arrived. The Monarch’s sensitivity to temperature and dependence on milkweed make it vulnerable to environmental changes. Since 1994, U.S. and Mexican researchers have recorded a steady decline in the Monarch population in their overwintering grounds, with 2012-2013 being the lowest recorded to date.

Temperature change and habitat loss affect breeding success and longevity. Dr. Chip Taylor, a leading Monarch researcher at the University of Kansas reports that the widespread adoption of GMO corn and soybean crops resistant to herbicides, along with with intensive herbicide use, coupled with the federal government’s incentivized expansion of corn and soy acreage for the production of biofuels have caused a significant drop in milkweed throughout the heart of the Monarch’s range. Lack of milkweed equals no Monarchs. “Monarch/milkweed habitat has declined significantly in parallel with the rapid adoption of glyphosate-tolerant corn and soybeans and, since 2006, the rapid expansion of corn and soy acreage to accommodate the production of biofuels,” Taylor wrote on May 29.

What can we do? Encourage conservation organizations that conserve Monarch habitat, plant milkweed, plant nectar plants, and raise caterpillars. Hopefully the weather next spring and early summer will be more conducive to the Monarch’s northward migration and breeding success, and if and when the Monarchs arrive, they will find our milkweed plants.

See the original article at
http://kimsmithdesigns.wordpress.com/

Read more about the disappearannce of the Monarch at http://wgbhnews.org/post/summer-without-monarch-butterflies

North Green Dedication Ceremony- September 28th, 2013

Members of the Ipswich Garden Club were thanked for their contribution of the butterfly meadow to the North Green's renovated streetscape by Selectman Patrick McNally. The ceremony included a history of the North Green and the very long story of how the area has changed from the 1600s to the present.

North Green Dedication ceremony with butterfly meadow in the foreground.

Selectman Patrick McNally, Pat Flanagan (Town and Country Garden Club past President) with Ipswich Garden Club members, Paula Jones, Ann Wright (IGC Beautification Chair) and butterfly meadow designer and Barbara Monahan.

September Meeting at the Greenbelt in Essex

A fascinating look at wild edibles from an Russ Cohen.

Edible Wild Plants- Russ Cohen - Saturday, Sept. 28th IGC Meeting

A note from Maureen about our first meeting:

Join us for our first meeting of the 2013 - 2014 IGC program year at the Essex County Greenbelt Association located at 82 Eastern Ave., in Essex. Thanks to our coordinator Alicia Moore. 
     

This is an exciting meeting, not only because of our speaker and location, but it introduces Gail's new feature for our programs, her  "horticultural minutes."
   
 Tame vegetables are fine, but gardeners can also enjoy the wild edibles that abound around here, and no better person to introduce them than THE guru of  wild edibles, enthusiastic Weston-native, Russ Cohen.     
    
 Russ has taught his unique courses at some 2 dozen nature and ecologically-related organizations for near 40 years. Mention his name to anyone lucky enough to experience his knowledge and you will know that our program with him next Saturday at Greenbelt is bound to be a treat. His popularity was evident from the difficulty in getting him  to join us this date for our program, being held at  Greenbelt's magnificent marsh-edge headquarters.  The Essex organization is the  publisher of Russ's popular new book, "Wild Plants I have Known..and Eaten". and we have the use of Greenbelt's lovely barn for our meeting and the facilities.
    

So, make sure you don't miss all this ... and possibly a seafood lunch with us after at nearby Farnham's. Wear suitable walking clothes. This is a hands-on field experience!   

 Email Maureen on or before September 23rd to let us know if you are coming to the meeting and/or lunch!
                         
The Essex Greenbelt is on the left just before reaching Farnham's Restaurant on the road to Gloucester, and  that there's plenty of parking in the field just beyond the barn.
 

Thanks,
Maureen

The British Society Invites the Ipswich Garden Club to an Evening with David Austin Roses

Dear Ipswich Club,

As the vice president for the British Society, I wanted to invite you and your members to our upcoming event at the Union Club in Beacon Hill - Boston  on Wed. October 2nd. We welcome any of your members or friends to our evening!

Michael Marriott, senior rose breeder, for David Austin Roses will be presenting a seminar on how David Austin develops roses and how you can use them to accent your garden.

It should be a wonderful evening to celebrate love of roses and Britishness. As a half Brit and avid rose grower, I am enthusiastic about this event and hope you will find it interesting to attend. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me or call 617 331 1318.

We look forward to seeing you on October 2.

Sincerely yours,
Becky Liley Wagner
Vice President
The British Society

We need 400 households to recycle their organics!

Many of the IGC members already belong to the Ipswich Curbside Compost program. We are now renaming the program Ipswich Organics Curbside Collection. Although many of us may backyard compost, (this is the most environmental way to recycle food waste) there are some organics which can be recycled curbside that you would not want to put outside in your composter. These items include meat, dairy, kitty litter, chicken bedding/waste. Also you would be helping to reduce the weight of your trash and save the town money! If you decide to join or renew, do it by October 20th and pay an annual fee of only $50.

Happy Autumn

Ipswich Evergreen... get involved

Dear IGC Members,

Are you interested in helping out at a special town event in
December?
Perhaps you’ve heard that the Ipswich Recreation and Culture Department is planning on a community solstice event on Saturday, December 21st, 1 pm – 4 pm. The event, Ipswich Evergreen, will take place at the Hall-Haskell House, the Ipswich Museum, and the lawn in between the 2 buildings. Part of the scheduled activities include assembling arrangements out of greens. A local vendor has agreed to donate greens, but the committee is looking for individuals to help provide some basic instruction to participants. Our local garden clubs are being asked to see if they would like to participate. See the event summary and schedule of events below. Would any members of the Ipswich Garden Club be interested in getting involved?

For more information on volunteering, contact Trina H. Schell, The Trustees of the Reservations/ The Crane Estate mailto:tschell@ttor.orgtschell@ttor.org. Find information on the event at: http://www.ipswichvisitorcenter.org/events/holiday-2012/

Event Summary and Schedule of Events  
Ipswich Evergreen is envisioned as an event where people gather and do things together as a community, celebrating the very best of what Ipswich has to offer. Promotion will begin as early at September 28, in coordination with Ipswich Illuminated.


PLANNED ACTIVITIES:

Evergreen Décor

Participants will be able to make and take home bouquets, swags, wreaths, etc out of tree trimmings donated by Heliotrope Tree Farm. (We will contact the Garden Clubs to see if one or more of their members are willing to help children and adults create these.)

Stories for children

3 books have been chosen to be presented by talented reader/performers. These will rotate every 20 minutes throughout the event. Location will be indoors, either at the Hall Haskell House gallery or in the Ipswich Museum. (More on that later!)

Craft project

Tying into one of the stories (The Night Tree), a craft station will be set up to create pinecone ornament/feeders to hang outside for birds.

Theatre by and for children

Actors Company will present an original production of “Stone Soup” at least one time, perhaps more.

Ice sculpture

Wolf Hollow will create an ice sculpture at the beginning of the day to be enjoyed by all. It will remain in place as long as weather allows.

Art show

An art show, curated by Time & Tide Fine Art will be presented in the Hall Haskell House gallery. Ipswich’s finest artists will present artwork reflecting Winter Light in Ipswich. This show will be on display December 17-22.

Music performances

Essex Harmony (an a cappella group) and North Shore Ringers (handbells) are confirmed. Others may be added

Changing the Present

One of the most meaningful aspects of the event will be a display of non-profit organizations (TTOR, Cuvilly, Ipswich Agricultural Commission, Ipswich River Watershed, Audubon, etc have been invited). This is an opportunity for the organizations to highlight their activities and to offer people a chance to purchase gifts that make a difference… memberships, promotional items, etc. This is tentatively planned for the Appleton Room at the Ipswich Museum, but this location has not been confirmed at this time.

Candy cane hunt

Much like an Easter egg hunt with candy canes “hidden” in tree branches for small children to find and claim.

Winter Get-up and Go Contest

In order to encourage people to dress warmly and join the fun outdoors, we will have wandering judges who will give out awards (buttons) for winter costuming of special note. “Wackiest Hat,” “Warmest Looking Coat,” “Fuzziest Boots,” this sort of thing. Could be handled by high school students or a service organization.

ADDITIONAL POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES:

Soup party

Various groups (restaurants, civic organizations, etc) will be invited to make and sell homemade soups, supporting the Stone Soup play and keeping visitors warm at the same time.

Petting Zoo

This is a late breaking idea, and is not confirmed yet. Would be presented by the Ipswich Agriculture Commission.

Skating

In the event of an early hard freeze, it could be possible to have skating on Sally’s Pond.

FROM ALICIA: Have you visited the gardens at the Isabella Gardner Museum lately?

Excerpts from Boston Globe article, September 17, 3013

"Gardner Museum unveils Monks Garden" By Cate McQuaid |  Globe Correspondent

 http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater-art/2013/09/17/gardner-museum-new-monk-garden-unveiled/esgC7nMzNr3O0R18VlnIwL/story.html

"Isabella Stewart Gardner never quite perfected her Monks Garden. From the time she moved into her palazzo in the Fenway in 1901 and began cultivating her museum and gardens, she tinkered with the green space inside the high brick wall on the building’s east side. She installed a hill and a brick walkway, added pergolas, and planted more and more annuals and perennials.

Now, as the final touch in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s ambitious expansion and renovation project, the Monks Garden is complete. And landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, whose new design for the garden was unveiled Tuesday, has kept more to Gardner’s spirit than to her vision.

“Not to be mean, but she never got the garden right,” Van Valkenburgh said. “She never liked it.”

Flanking the east side of the original museum, a few steps from the Renzo Piano-designed new wing, the Monks Garden feels as ornate and rambling as the palace. Open to the public starting Wednesday, September 18th, the garden makes a wonderful counterpoint to the clean lines and glass walls of the new wing, balancing that structure’s transparency.

The curving pathway is key. With its many switchbacks, it feels like the track in a labyrinth, walked for contemplative purposes. Slithering here and there, sometimes out of sight, it hints that it might just go anywhere. Many people can walk it at once and still discover a sense of solitude. The walls that border the garden add to the privacy, yet the design, with its hidden places and quiet corners, feels spacious.

“Anytime you can’t see the entirety of something, it feels bigger,” Van Valkenburgh pointed out.

Only one flower blossomed in the newly planted garden Tuesday: a Bearsfoot Hellebore, low to the ground and pale green, easy to miss among the ferns and leaves. Like many landscape designs, the Monks Garden is a year-round art installation, from autumn foliage to spring blooms, with 66 trees, more than 7,000 perennials, and more than 2,000 bulbs yet to be planted.

“There are certain moments we’re emphasizing, like late winter,” Van Valkenburgh said. “The Lenten Rose, or hellebore, might be in bloom in January, By March 1, it will be crazy with blooms.”

Several touches echo details from the museum’s collection. Mica schist gleams from the dark brick path, inspired by one of the Gardner’s Venetian mirrors. Bark on trees such as the Paperbark Maple, the Japanese Stewartia, and the Gray Birch evoke the mottled quality of the monumental tapestries in the Tapestry Room.

“People have always loved the hidden garden,” Hawley said, glancing at the wall that guards the Monks Garden from the street. “I think it’s a civic contribution to foster people’s connections to their inner life.”
________________________________________________________________________________

Also found at the Gardner website:    October/November Chrysanthemum Display
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/gardens/courtyard/chrysanthemums

Dozens of varieties of chrysanthemums appear in the courtyard in late October. Japanese-style single-stem chrysanthemums mix with traditional types in an explosion of color and texture.
To create this unique exhibit, Museum gardeners and volunteers work from June to October using Japanese cultivation methods to create a single stalk and a single flower on each specimen plant. Over the spring and summer, each plant is pinched weekly (this is called disbudding) and fertilized at specific intervals. This style, which produces a large single bloom, is called ogiku.

Fall Native Tree/Shrub Planting Basics

Hello IGC Members, 

Here is information on a course that I am teaching at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary on Saturday, Sept 21, 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. Register at (978) 887-9264. It's title is "Fall Native Tree/Shrub Planting Basics.  

All the best, 

Catherine

As every one knows there is a time for everything and Fall is the best time to plant or transplant trees and shrubs. This mini course will cover the basic techniques of planting trees and shrubs, explain the importance of landscaping with native plantings to provide food and shelter for our local wildlife and divulge the secrets one needs to know to select  deer resistant plants.  Lists of native trees and shrubs, that help sustain our native insects/bees/butterflies and birds, will be provided as well as lists of deer resistant plant selections.   

  Catherine Carney-Feldman is an accredited organic land care professional, landscape designer, educator and consultant specializing in native plantings. She has been a volunteer at the IRWS for over 25 years and can be found working in the Nature/Butterfly Gardens every Tuesday morning during the growing season.

Save Your Styrofoam for Sept. 21st Collection