October 2015 - Community Garden Club of Cohasset

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Fall equinox brings cooler nights and shorter days but no rest for this club. Like the bees
gathering pollen from the lingering asters and goldenrod, we all are busy creating things for the
Yuletide marketplace. Keep collecting mussel shells or just eat mussels and save the shells to
make wreaths that are always popular with shoppers.
This summer we have lost wonderful past members. It is with sadness that we mourn
the loss of Kay Lincoln, Joyce Sturdy and Kathleen Woerner. Iku has donated lovely books
to the Cohasset Library from all of us in memory of these fine ladies.
Take a moment to breathe deeply of the brown sugar smell of a Katsura. Try collecting
five different colored autumn leaves rejoicing in the pageant our New England short days
and crisp air reward us with. Maybe vow to plant a fruit tree or shrub, grow a vegetable in
your perennial border or start an herb garden. Now is the time to look at our gardens and
decide what to do next spring. Questions we might ask ourselves: Where are there gaps in
bloom time? How can we simplify maintenance by replacing perennials and annuals with
flowering shrubs? Where can we replace lawn with meadow to feed the birds, bugs and bees?
Lelia
OCTOBER Calendar
2-12 Topsfield Fair Flower Show
6 Executive Board Meeting:
Lightkeepers Cottage, 9:30 a.m.
Hostesses: Dickstein, Fraker
7 Craft Workshop: Lightkeepers, 9:30
a.m., “Mussel Shell Wreaths,” Barbie
Bowman will guide us through the
creation of wreaths made with mussel
shells.
the
COMMUNITY GARDEN
CLUB
13 Horticulture & Design:
Lightkeepers Cottage, 9:30 - 11:30
a.m., Orchids - Learn how to care for
Orchids as house plants and “dress”
an Orchid to look its finest (Kate
Farrington).
14 Garden Therapy: Harborview
Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation, 2 3:00 p.m., “Harvest Moon”
of Cohasset,
MA
www.CommunityGardenClubOfCohasset.org
19 Junior Gardeners: Deer Hill School Cafeteria, 2:40 - 3:40 p.m., “Decorated Pumpkins” with Arienne Lima
20 Craft Workshop: Lightkeepers Cottage, 9:30 a.m., “Owls & Angels,” Arienne Lima will show us how to make critters
using products found in nature.
27 Monthly Meeting: Second Congregational Church, 43 Highland Ave; Coffee: 9:00 a.m.; Meeting: 9:30 a.m.
Flower Arrangement: Cynthia Chase. Hostesses (Food, Set-up, and Cleanup): Sullivan, Marie, Tinory, Todd, Toomey,
Vater, Ward, Wholley M, Wholley N., Winn, Wood, Woods, Abbadessa. Program: Judith Sumner presents “A Secret
Garden.” Join us to learn some closely-held botanical secrets, from seed germination and companion plants to pruning
and watering. Judith will share many of the subtle aspects of plant growth that control plant survival in your garden. This
mini-class in botany will demystify several perplexing topics in plant growth, with the goal of improving your garden’s
success!
29 Senior Center: Willcutt Commons, 91 Sohier Street, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., “Using Dried Material”
Lightkeepers Garden Maintenance: Every other Wednesday
Historical Society Garden Maintenance: Every other Saturday
Newsletter Editor: Pat Cammett
pcamme@gmail.com
Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts October
Calendar
CGCC OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 2015 - 2016
PRESIDENT Lelia Stokes Weinstein 749-8770
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT Susan Reagan 383-1845
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Julie Hess 383-1012
RECORDING SECRETARY Dolores Roy 383-0838
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Diane Benson 383-0302
TREASURER Maureen Adams 545-0457
DIRECTORS: Pat Cammett 223-3491
Eric Eisenhauer 923-1109
Linda Fraker 923-1197
Marie Sullivan 545-0655
19 Back to Basics #1, Espousal Center, 554 Lexington
Street, Waltham, MA, 10:00 a.m.
20 Design Workshop #1, Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, Hunnewell Building, 900 Washington Street,
Elm Bank, Wellesley, MA
26 Fall Conference, Framingham Sheraton
29 - 31 Landscape Design School, Massachusetts
Horticultural Society, Hunnewell Building, 900
Washington Street, Elm Bank, Wellesley, MA
Announcements
• Please make note that the “Mussel Shell Wreaths” craft workshop, originally scheduled for 29 September,
has been rescheduled to 7 October.
• When you receive your CGCC yearbook, please make
-
the following changes:
Dana Roberts has a new address, 176 Water Street in Hanover, 02339.
Susan Reynolds Pergola has not renewed her membership as she has move to Harwich, MA.
The correct email address for Jane O’Brien is janeobrien521@gmail.com.
Marcia Diekmann lives at 63 Wheelwright Farm and her phone number is 383-1925.
Terry Carraher and Nancy Creighton have not renewed their memberships.
Yuletide House Tour Ad Book
Do you own your own business?
Here’s your opportunity to advertise in
the Yuletide ticket book!!
Contact Arienne Lima
arienne.lima609@gmail.com
781-383-0933
To get your space
Sadly, during the summer months, three members or
former members passed away:
KATHLEEN (KATIE) WOERNER was interested in
our sister club so the book Bonsai, by Peter Warren, was
purchased.
The book Foodscaping, by Charlie Nardozzi, was
purchased in memory of KAY LINCOLN, who was a
founding member.
The book 21st Century Herbal, by Michael J. Balick,
Ph.D., was purchased in memory of JOYCE STURDY, who
was a past president. These books are available to borrow
from the Cohasset Library.
Hypertufa
Pots
Members took
advantage of a
gorgeous day to
make pots and be
with friends in this
messy and fun
workshop led by
Arienne Lima.
Yuletide House Tour
by Janice Todd
By the time you are reading this, many of you will have gotten down and dirty at
Arienne Lima’s hypertufa pots workshop last Tuesday. Did you feel a familiar warm
excitement deep in your belly, that wonderful mix of learning something new, useful,
and interesting laced with the fun of sharing with friends during even the earliest
preparations for our Christmas house tour? Hopefully, some of the very best pots
will offer the spirit of the season and call out from our crafts center on Thursday,
December 10.
Have you saved the day? If you have not done so yet, this is the moment. Get your
diary or schedule and highlight the date: Thursday, December 10, 2015 YULETIDE!
Our once-every-two-years fundraiser will, as always, need every member to be a
part of that day. The weeks before, however, are varied, stimulating and such fun
that you will not want to miss out. Over the next weeks you will be given the
opportunity to decide for yourself which aspects of Yuletide attract you the most. You
will be able to sign up.
Also, craft days, as listed in the September newsletter, will continue throughout the
autumn.
If you have any suggestions about publicity, house decorations, communications,
crafts -- really anything that has to do with Yuletide -- do pass on your ideas to Linda Fraker or Julie Hess,
julieandsimon@gmail.com, 383-1012. Yuletide has become the wonderful event it is because of the care and love of
our members. This is your Yuletide.
The Senior Program
by Dolores Roy
While Linda Fraker was president, she asked me if I thought the club could
spread our community outreach to Cohasset Elder Affairs as we were already
doing with the schools and local nursing home. I thought we could as Elder
Affairs was always on the lookout for programs that would be of interest to their
senior clients.
The staff at Elder Affairs was delighted with our proposal. As a result, last year
we organized five flower arranging programs. Each program is directed by a
club volunteer who demonstrates the arrangement to be made that day. Club
volunteers are on hand to assist as needed. The seniors love the program, and
the volunteers thoroughly enjoy the participants. Each program is as much
about socializing and getting to know one another as it is about creating a flower
arrangement, discussing types and care of flowers, and picking up design tips.
Last week we held the first of five programs of this year in a light-filled activity
room at Willcutt Commons, Cohasset’s new senior center. This room looks out
on the beautiful plantings made possible by CGCC’s generous donation and by
the donations, work and time given by many in the Cohasset community. Inside,
the room was filled with conversation and laughter as the seniors, under the
guidance of Cynthia Chace, created their own arrangements. Volunteers
Maureen Adams, Barbara Dillon and I were there to assist and chat.
This is a fun program. We’d love to have anyone who is interested join us either
as a volunteer or as a participant. The program dates are in the yearbook. The
commitment is for an hour, 1:30-2:30. Participants pay $3.00 to help cover the
cost of materials. Let me know if you are interested.
The CGCC supports the North and
South Rivers Watershed Association,
I n c . ( N S R W A ) , a n o n - p r o fi t
grassroots environmental
organization located on the South
Shore. Executive director Samantha
Woods thanks the club for our
support, which "helps ensure that our
rivers are swimmable, herring can
pass freely to spawn, and that
natural habitat, beautiful open
spaces and access to the rivers are
protected." We have a membership
card that CGCC members can
borrow to participate in NSRWA
programs at a discount. Contact Julie
Hess for more information.
http://www.nsrwa.org
Willcutt Commons
by Janice Todd
If you have not yet ridden by or taken a walk around Willcutt
Commons, Cohasset’s new center for elder affairs, you will see that
it looks even better than the pictures included with this article. The
landscaping includes fifteen new trees, as well as shrubs, roses,
lavender, etc. While you are there, you may notice the old cart
path that separates the forest from the embankment. One might
hope that the loving care the cart path requires will be realized in a
future Eagle Scout project. The embankment was planted last
November with the hope of preventing soil erosion over the winter
(of course, prior to a winter not to be forgotten). Today the
embankment looks quite solid. Many of those native plants,
however, did not make it through to spring, but those that did
survive certainly look hardy and healthy.
The garden itself along the entire side of the building, as well as the
landscaping to the right of the front door, is your landscaping,
planned and paid for by The Community Garden Club of Cohasset.
Our committee was aware from the start that this garden would
require plants that are survivors. Public buildings under the care of
a government need to be able to survive without a lot of TLC.
Nonetheless, our hope was that our landscape plan would create
an attractive space and draw people into it.
For those of you who might wonder how we became involved in this project, here is a nutshell history: As CGCC’s
President, Lee Jenkins’s term was about to conclude her term of office in the spring of 2010, when she discovered that
the club had $5,000 that could be used for some sort of charitable contribution. There had been discussion in the town
about the need for a senior center. Some years earlier, the Social Services League had received a large donation that
the league thought would be a good fit for a project like this. Lee asked Jan Todd, CGCC’s incoming 2010-2012
president, what she thought would be a good thing to do with the club’s money. Jan suggested offering the money for
a garden for the hypothetical new center. Several of the club’s members were already donating time volunteering for
elder affairs while other members were
enjoying some of the elder affairs
programs. If the project came to fruition,
there would be a need for a garden, a
good fit for our garden club. Lee and
Jan met with the head of elder affairs
and made a clearly worded offer:
CGCC’s money could only be used only
for trees, shrubs, and other plant
material but for neither hardscape nor a
watering system. We were not keen on
paying for grass either, but we were
willing to take the idea under
consideration. (We did say that although
we were not going to pay for a watering
system, it would be necessary to have
one installed prior to the planting of our
garden.) CGCC’s money would only
become available only after the
construction of the building and our
expectations were fulfilled. The Elder
Affairs administrators were delighted.
Our offer was one of the first to be made.
Thanks to the dedication and work of our wonderful members, Yuletide, Four Seasons in the Garden, Tablescapes and
the Plant Sales had left the club in a strong
financial position. Thus, in the spring of
2012, the Board voted to add another
$15,000 to the money which had been set
aside for a garden. Over time the land off
Sohier Street, near the swimming pool, was
acquired. Construction began. In the spring
of 2014 the first formal landscaping
conversations were held with The Social
League, various other parties who were
interested in making a contribution in some
way, and with our club. By autumn 2014, a
committee composed of CGCC members
who had had an interest in the project and/or
had a background in landscape design met
and considered various options. Many plant
lists later, in June 2015, the garden became
a reality. In August the Community Garden
Club of Cohasset delivered a check for
$20,000. The garden is tangible proof of our
club’s commitment to community and to our
environment.
The Garden Club of Nagoya
Activity Report of September 2015
Our September general meeting was a lecture by Mr. Sumio Ando, Chief of Parks Maintenance & Public Works
Bureau for Nagoya City. Mr. Ando talked us about the roadside trees of the City of Nagoya.
Greens in the city create comfortable living circumstance, providing the residents with serenity, fresh verdure,
autumnal foliage and many colorful seasonal flowers. Habitat for other living creatures is also inherent. Our country
roadside trees were already described in “Chronicles of Japan” (compiled in 720 AD). In 759 AD fruit trees were planted
along roads in several central areas with secondary purpose as provisions. After the Meiji Restoration in 1867 AD a
carriage drive in Yokohama was planted along the both sides with willows and pine trees.
In 1887, when Nagoya Railway Station was built, the main avenue was planted with weeping willows (Salix
babylonica). By the end of the Second World War, weeping willows were replaced with plane trees (Platanus), gingko,
phoenix trees, trident maples, and camphor trees.
In the 1940s, more than fifty-five percent of the city was
destroyed during wartime air raids and by the “Ise Bay Typhoon.”
Phoenix trees and trident maples were planted because these
would grow rather fast. However, in 1960 smaller trees such as
dogwoods with beautiful blooms and gingkoes were increasingly
planted along the streets. Currently roadside trees in the city of
Nagoya number more than two million eighty thousands. Familiar
species are trident maple, ginkgo, dogwood, Chinese tallow tree,
Yoshino tree, crape myrtle, green willow, Japanese zelkova,
magnolia, and camphor tree.
There are 300 miles of walkways and median stripped
boulevards. Among cities of more than one million in population in
Japan, the density of these trees per square miles in Nagoya is
508, which is the highest followed by Yokohama with 488. Tokyo
is only 150.
Camphor
Tree
Gingko leaves
Mr. Ando’s office provides administration, supervisory and
appropriate maintenance for all of these trees and parks in the
city. They maintain everything in healthy condition.
Their assigned works include:
(a) trimming: to be done generally once a year to keep trees in
shape suitable for keeping the traffic safe and comfortable
(b) weeding: to be performed once or twice a year by
professional gardeners and often helped by volunteers
(c) dis-infection: to be done whenever needed
(d) prevention of outbreak of insect pests by excision of
branches and leaves
(e) checkup of possible fallen trees and, if necessary, to
replace them with new plants in advance
(f) maintenance: fixing roots reached out above the ground
and cleaning up the roads. Gingko trees ranked in the second are now more than fifteen thousands in the city and they
are rather aged and have grown too huge in size for the city streets. In fall they scatter about olfactory nuisance of foul
odor from ginkgo nuts so that they have to be replaced with more controllable species like dogwoods. The latter is rather
much suitable as roadside trees. This species bears pretty pink or white flowers in spring and red fruits and scarlet
leaves in fall. They tend to grow in good shape and therefore are easy to be maintained.
The dogwood trees were presented to Japan in 1915 in return of Japan’s offering of cherry trees to the United States
in 1912. We are very happy that we chose dogwood as our club flower.
Takako Kohri
Recording Secretary
CGCC
221 Massachusetts Avenue
#1018
Boston, MA 02115