Kill Weeds without Round Up

From Maureen:

This weed killer works especially well when the little weeds begin to sprout on brick patios, crushed stone driveways, walks, etc. It works best when applied
on a hot dry day.

1 part each Lemon juice and white vinegar
some vegetable oil
some dish detergent
add to a spray bottle and see what happens...
Good luck...

Round Up is a quick and easy fix for weeds but it is detrimental to our health and our environment. Check out some thought provoking articles on why Monsanto's Round Up is not the way to garden or farm responsibly.

http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=463

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/961236/greenpeace_takes_on_monsanto_over_pesticides_arms_race.html

BeyondPesticides.org

How Herbs Can Keep You Happy

An arrangement of variegated mint, dill, oregano, chive blossoms, and green and silver thymes.

To inspire your culinary imagination, bring your friends in from the herb garden. Good for looking not just cooking!

Do you have a bouquet or arrangement you'd like to share? Send us your
photo and a brief caption.

Garden Conservancy "Open Days" from Gail

Beauty and Quality at Garden Conservancy “Open Days”

Photos by Gail of a recent GC Garden Tour in Southern Maine

The Garden Conservancy is a national organization dedicated to the preservation of public and privately owned gardens throughout the country. Each year, the GC holds “Open Days” in many states during which you may visit private gardens not usually open to the public. The gardens and locations vary from year to year. The GC gardens I’ve visited in the past have really been beautiful. This year, Open Days gardens in Massachusetts are not conveniently located for us, but there are two groups of gardens in New Hampshire that are worth considering:

June 30 Monadnock Region, NH (5 gardens)

July 21-22 Merrmack Valley, NH (5 gardens)

The Monadnock tour looks particularly interesting.

The GC Web site is well worth checking each year!

http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/open-days-schedule

(Search schedule by state)

It’s interesting that the only GC garden open in Maine this year is Braveboat Harbor Farm, which our club will tour privately on this Saturday, June 9^th.

Submitted by Gail Anderson

Flowers in Paint

Floral Painting by Edna Ellis Baylor.
(1882-1966) Studied Under Benson and Tarbell.

"Ipswich Women in the Arts" is a beautiful show opening this week at the Ipswich Museum. FLOWERS dominate the historic works by Ipswich female artists  including  Rylla Saunier, Jane Peterson, and Edna Baylor (Alicia Moore's grandmother).

The show runs through October but  activities this month include a lecture about the artists by Curator Stephanie Gaskins at 7:30 on the 20th, and,on the 27th, a special Women's luncheon with floral designer Constance McCausland of Ipswich, "Interpreting art through flowers". Tickets are $50 (Call 356-2811.) The wine/cheese opener is this Friday, $10 for non-members. Go to Ipswich Museum Website for more Info ➜ ➜

Alicia Moore

Annual Garden Club June Tour -- No Overnight

An Update from Laurie McAleer:

Cynthia Hosmer's Brave Boat Harbor Farm has been evolving for 60 years.

   The trip to Portsmouth and York, Maine will be Saturday the 9th of June--one day, no overnight. We will leave Ipswich at 9am on Saturday at the Town Hall parking lot-- car-pooling as best as we can. Our first stop is Cynthia Hosmer's garden in York.  Her garden was recommended to us by Fred Rice and he says her gardens are spectacular and well-worth stopping to see.

Layout of Brave Boat Harbor Farm

   This garden has been evolving over the last fifty years. It surrounds and complements a Georgian-style stone house. There are formal and informal borders, a vegetable garden, orchards, and collections of various flowering trees and shrubs. Apples and pears are espaliered on the house and along the walls of the formal front garden. Water features include a newly expanded pond in the woodland garden, a farm pond with rustic bridge, and the Atlantic Ocean. This treasure is protected by a sculpted arborvitae hedge on the northwest, a mature stand of hickory on the northeast, and an extensive screen of old lilacs on the south. New projects include expanding the collection of magnolias and rhododendrons, introducing hydrangeas, an espaliered pear fence, a woodland walk, and a summerhouse with views to the pond and the sea.
 
   We will have a lunch at her house, set up ahead by Cynthia. She will order sandwich wraps of chicken salad. Bring your own drinks and extras. After the visit and lunch, we will head to Portsmouth and meet at the Strawbery Banke to visit their gardens and enjoy the area.

Goodwin Garden at Strawbery Banke

The next stop will be another garden in town which we will surprise everyone as to it's location; then heading home .

We need a head count!!  Please email Laurie McAleer ASAP . 

jacksonlodge@yahoo.com

Thanks,

lm

Here is your map to Cynthia Hosmer's Garden.

Map to Brave Boat Harbor Farm 

       Stand by for more photos here and in the late June IGC Newsletter!

Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill

 A message from Alicia Moore:

Next Thursday, the 17th,  9am to 5pm, The Beacon Hill Garden Club holds it 83rd annual tour of the "Hidden Gardens of Beacon Hill",  UN-hidden on Tour Day for $40 a pop; get them advanced online at  for $10 less. Tickets may be purchased at $40 per ticket the day of the tour at Hostess Booths on Charles Street on Beacon Hill. (Baby strollers are not permitted in the gardens! Complimentary tea, etc, at garden entrance of the Church of the Advent). For complete information and details go to: info@beaconhillgardenclub.org

Important Plant Sale Info from Susie W.

Hopefully, with this wonderful early spring, you have all been busy digging and have many beautiful plants to bring to the sale.  The earlier you dig and pot them up, the nicer they will look for our customers.  Carol Williams has been a star organizing our dig days all over Ipswich and many of you have dug in - thank you all.

Friday,  May 18th Plant drop off and pricing - 3:00 p.m. til 5:30 or 6:00

Please be certain that all your plants are labeled (labels are on the blog for most of our plants - cut and paste to make lots of them, then use mailing tape to put them on tongue depressors which can be purchased at Connolly’s drug store if you need more)  Start early, this will take a bit of time!
     
All plants should be dropped off on Friday between 3:00-4:00pm.  If you can not do this, please ask someone else to bring them for you.

When we finish pricing and are all organized, many of our members plan to gather for dinner at a local restaurant - everyone is welcome. Location TBA.

Location Announcement:  If it rains we’ll have to set up in Boone Hall at Ascension Memorial Church.  I will send an e-mail to all members on Friday a.m. if we can not be outside on the green in front of the visitor’s center.

We need everyone to help both Friday afternoon and Sat. morning. - it’s a lot of work to get everything ready.

We need many, many wheelbarrows.  PLEASE, if you possibly can, bring one on Saturday (be sure to put your name on it) and plan to take it home with you after the sale is over..

We will not sell any plants until 9:00am on Saturday in order to ensure equal shopping opportunities for all customers.

In an effort to reduce the length of our lines, we plan to have 3 check-out tables at least for the first hour of the sale.  Laurie McAleer will provide the cash boxes and the starting cash for each box.

SALE Saturday   May 19th  9-12 noon    7:30-9 A.M. Set Up     

12-1:00 P.M. Clean-Up

"Plant, Nurture, Celebrate Trees"

The Arbor Day Assembly is an annual event at Winthrop School in Ipswich. Each year, the students from the lower grades take part in celebrating the beauty and the importance of trees. Students prepare for the day by learning how important trees are in their lives. When Arbor Day comes, they decorate themselves with headbands that show the leaves of their favorite trees, read poems, and sing songs. 

The IGC continues to be present at the assembly. Members Barbara Ostberg, Susie Glessner, Therese Armstrong, Paula Jones joined other parents to see President Maureen Leonard address the students and Vice President Debbie Trevarrow discuss the tree which is planted for the year and the seedlings that were given to each student by the Ipswich Forestry Dept. Honorary member, Armand Michaud was also at the assembly. This year, Maureen shared the message that students have the ability to make the world a better place. "One thing you can do is to plant a tree. Or if you can't plant a tree and don't have a place, you can still NURTURE a tree and CELEBRATE trees."

 

To read more about the IGC and its strong connection with the Winthrop School Arbor Day over the last 20 years, see our next IGC Newsletter which will be out in early June.

Can You Dig It?

The IGC continues to prepare for this year's Annual Plant Sale on May 19th. Have you been able to help on a Dig Day? It's a great way to do your part for the Club and get to know members, get exercise and have fun. Here are a few photos from two of the Dig Days this week.

If you would like to help with a "dig", please contact Carol Williams who is Dig Days chairman.

Joyce Kippin and Susie Winthrop work together on dividing some "great" perennials for the Plant Sale.

A perfect morning to dig and divide perennials... (right to left) Susie Glessner, Dianne Fischbach, Janet Craft and Maureen Leonard show how it is done.

Happy worker, Connie Price, fills newly potted plants with extra soil.

Dig Day at Barbara Ostberg's... Here is Barbara on the JD with Plant Chairman Susie Winthrop.
Are those "Bleeding Hearts" they are capturing for the Plant Sale?

Springtime at The Arnold Arboretum

"The structure and wide canopy on this maple are gorgeous"-- Gail Anderson

70• temperatures in April -- A perfect day to explore the Arboretum!
 

Thanks to the planning of Alicia Moore and Laurie McAleer, the IGC enjoyed a beautiful and fascinating Saturday afternoon at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on  April 21st. Michael Dossman PhD, Curator of Living Collections at the arboretum, met with club members to explain the many aspects of his job. Dr. Dossman guides the development of historic and contemporary collection of woody species; he researches and documents each plant's native environment and past scientific research, and explores new ways to improve the management and collection of present and future plants. Dossman's presentation included a lecture and a glorious tour of selected collections of the Arboretum. It was a perfect warm and sunny day for learning about the importance of the ecological study of woody temperate plant species-- all this in the oldest public arboretum in North America and one of the world's leading centers for the study of plants.

Top Row: (Left to Right) Richard Howard, Laurie McAleer, Alicia Moore, Gail Anderson, Therese Armstrong, and Nancy Howard. Middle: Joan Cook, Bottom Row: (Left to Right) Peter Moore, Michael Dossman, Annie Pulver, Susie Winthrop, (standing) Barbara Ostberg and President Maureen Leonard.

Photos by Maureen Leonard and Nancy and Richard Howard.

Early Blooms at Market St. Island

This article appeared in the Ipswich Chronicle on Thursday, April 19th.
We are so proud of Ann and all the work she and her committee do to beautify the town.

The Ipswich Garden Club has fulfilled another year of planting and maintaining the islands at Market Square, the Hall Haskell House and the corner of Main and Elm Streets. This year's early arrival of warm weather has brought the beauty of tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils to the center of town in April. The Club plans to replace spring bulbs with summer flowers earlier than usual and to refurbish the Hall Haskell House garden.
  Special thanks to Ann Wright who chairs the Ipswich Garden Club's town beautification committee and her hardworking co-workers who plant, maintain, and water the flowers throughout the seasons. Many of this Spring's bulbs were chosen and donated by Pieter Messlaar of Messlaar Bulbs. Don't forget to take time to enjoy the floral displays when you are in town.

In Memory of Ann Hobson

Annual Meeting

This year's annual meeting was particularly poignant since it was the last meeting for Janet Craft as President; and a new beginning for Maureen Leonard who begins her two-year term as IGC's new president. Janet praised the work of members and reviewed the Club's progress these past two years. Maureen spoke of her goals for next two years. See the late June IGC Newsletter for more details. In the meantime, enjoy these photos from April the 12th. Thanks to Susie Glessner who graciously secured a beautiful site for the meeting.

 Laurie Matson, Joan Cook and Pam Kelleher pose for a quick photo. Laurie and Pam hosted the meeting.

 Therese Armstrong took notes of the meeting and took a "bean poll" in place of a questionnaire, to find out how people stood on several issues.

 Getting the meeting started is difficult, because everyone wants to visit.

Janet thanks the Club for a great two years as President. And THANK YOU

Janet for your guidance and leadership!

Grace Hanson and Susie Winthrop explain the guidelines for this year's

Annual Plant Sale as Paige follows along.

 Carol Williams has a Dig Day schedule for everyone to sign.

Dorcas Rice reads her report on the Ross Committee's 

activities this past year.

Everyone needs a little sherry at an Annual Meeting Tea. Cucumber sandwiches by Paige Mercer.

This year's Greenslet Cup entries on the theme "Early Birds".

 

And the winner is ... Maria Hebbel posing with IGC's new 

President Maureen Leonard.

Maria, Mitzi Marsh and Judy Hallberg enjoying the tea and putting up with

the photographer. Isn't that Gail Anderson in the background?

April 10th Annual Meeting-- Note NEW LOCATION!

Susie Glessner's house is under construction and the project is running behind schedule.  She has arranged for us to use her brother's home very near her house on Argilla Road for the Annual Meeting at 2pm on Tuesday, April 10th.