SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB HOSTS PROGRAM ON PLANNING A GARDEN

January, 2024

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club will host “Planning a Garden” the first program of four in the “Gardening Basics” series on Saturday, January 27 from 10 AM to 12 PM.  In these two hours participants will learn how to plan their garden, influenced by location, soil, and hours of sun. There will be handouts including appropriate plants for beginners, three ways to create a bed and edge it depending on the time and money available, and a list of local nurseries and seed companies. 

The workshop will be led by Dr. Vana Nespor, educator, publisher, and passionate garden creator for 50 years. She will help participants discover what they really want to happen in their garden and which styles speak to them. Vana will also show how a garden can be both sustainable and beautiful, and how to achieve such a garden within a budget and with efficient use of time and energy. 

While the program is aimed at beginners, it is a great refresher course for experienced gardeners as well.

The remaining programs in the series are; Saturday, February 10 “Starting Seeds Indoors”, Saturday, March 9 “Preparing Garden Soil” and Saturday, April 13 “Composting”.

The classes will be held at the Shea Building, Forest Park, 300 Sumner Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108.

The fee is $10 per class or the series of four for $30. Tickets are available on Eventbrite, by emailing

spfldgardenclub@gmail.com or by calling 413.285.3163.

For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to

www.gcfm.org/springfieldgardenclub or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB HOSTS BEGINNING GARDENING SERIES

December, 2023

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club will host “GARDENING BASICS” a series of 4 classes on the basics of starting a garden. The series will be at 10 AM on four Saturdays in the winter and spring, just in time to get you garden planned and ready to go!

Saturday, January 27 will kick off the series with the class “Planning a Garden” The class will answer the questions; Where? When? What tools do you need? What about seeds? “Planning a Garden” will be presented by Vana Nespor, past SGC president and avid gardener.

Saturday, February 10 is “Starting Seeds Indoors” Tips and tricks for getting seeds started successfully. Presented by Judy Cmero and Claire Valenti of the SGC

Saturday, March 9 is “Preparing Garden Soil” How to make sure you have soil (not dirt) for your plants. Presented by Kerisa Perazella of Crow River Farm in East Longmeadow

Saturday, April 13  is “Composting” - How to turn kitchen scraps and garden waste into brown gold. Presented by Janet Dolder - SGC member and Master Gardener

The classes will be held at the Shea Building, Forest Park, 300 Sumner Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108. The fee is $10 per class or the series of four for $30.  Tickets are available on Eventbrite, by emailing spfldgardenclub@gmail.com or by calling 413.285.3163.

For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to

www.gcfm.org/springfieldgardenclub or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB TO HOLD NGC STANDARD FLOWER SHOW 

May, 2023

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club will host “Welcome to the Park” a National Garden Club Standard Flower Show on Friday May 19 and Saturday May 20. The event will be in held at the Carriage House at the Barney Estate in Forest Park.

The show will have both a design and a horticulture division. The Design Division of the flower show will take place in the beautiful Carriage House with 40 different fresh floral interpretations on display. The divisions include large illuminated arrangements, table design and 8” petite arrangements. This Division is a creativity showcase where those who love to design and arrange flowers can express their style. The show’s Forest Park theme along with class titles, inspire the exhibitors to interpret the classes in a creative way.

The Horticulture Division gives us the opportunity to see plants at their best. Excellence in exhibiting standards, clean unblemished specimens, and variety of genus, species, and cultivars, give the gardener inspiration to find new ideas for growing plants they may not have considered before. The Horticulture Division is an opportunity for local amateur growers to showcase their work and connect with other gardeners to share knowledge and expertise in gardening skills.

The show will also include a youth division for children in grades 1 through 8. The club hopes to teach children about the joys of growing and showing plants by including them in the Flower Show and are excited to have the participation of Forest Park Middle School students. Youth exhibits do not compete with adults in the show and are divided into categories by age groups stated in the schedule.

The Springfield Garden Club is especially grateful for the support of Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno as well as Patrick Sullivan, Director of Parks, Buildings and Recreation and his entire staff. Flowers! Flowers! is creating the “Welcome to the Park” entry display.

The event is free and open to the public on Friday, May 19 from 2 -5 PM and Saturday, May 20 from 9AM to 4PM.

For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to

www.springfieldgardenclubma.org or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB TO HOST DEBORAH TRICKETT

April, 2023

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club will host “Jaw Dropping, Traffic Stopping, Get Your Neighbors Talking” Container Gardens presented by Deborah Trickett on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 1 PM. The event will be in person at the First Baptist Church, 50 Parker Street, East Longmeadow, MA.

The owner of The Captured Garden and nationally renowned award‐winning container garden designer, Deborah Trickett, will show us how to create spectacular, lush container gardens.

The Captured Garden has worked throughout New England creating container gardens, and designing gardens for clients who want their homes to be beautiful, not typical. By using custom designs that showcase uncommon plants we create combinations for our clients that are anything but cookie cutter. Our goal, when the project is completed, is to hear “It’s perfect, it’s just what I wanted,” followed quickly by “What is that beautiful plant, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Deborah Trickett, owner of The Captured Garden, is an award-winning container garden designer whose work has been featured in The Boston Globe, Garden Gate magazine, New England Home magazine and on the TV show New England Dream Home. She is a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist and a frequent lecturer on container gardening at the Boston Flower and Garden Show, as well as the Philadelphia International Flower Show. She also teaches classes and workshops at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.

Springfield Garden Club members admitted for free. Guest fee is $10 and tickets are available at Eventbrite.com.

For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to

www.springfieldgardenclubma.org or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB TO HOST “STUNNING SPRING PERENNIALS”

March, 2023

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club will host “Stunning Spring Perennials” presented by Joan Butler on Friday, March 17, 2023 at 11:30 AM. The event will be in person at the Barney Carriage House at Forest Park.

Expert plant collector and sought‐after flower show judge, Joan Butler will share a stunning collection of early spring garden choices to add colorful early spring flowers to shade or sunny gardens.

Joan has been an enthusiastic gardener for over 30 years, and believes gardens should invite you to linger in the world outside your door. Her gardens have been included on several garden tours, and feature exciting plant combinations, dramatic horticultural specimens, and collections of hosta, heuchera and epimedium.

Joan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Certificate in Landscape Management from UMass Extension Green School. She is a Master Gardener, has worked as a horticulturist at Weston Nurseries, and is a past Chairman of the Massachusetts Landscape Design Council. She is also a member of the Garden Consultants Council and an accredited Flower Show Judge.

The meeting will be held at the Carriage House at the Barney Estate, Forest Park, Springfield, MA 01108, and via Zoom. Light luncheon, including gluten free options, sweets, coffee, and tea will be served.  Directions to the Carriage house at: www.barneycarriagehouse.com. Raffle for members and guests. Guest fee is $5.00 and tickets are available at Eventbrite.com. 

For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to

www.springfieldgardenclubma.org or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB MEMBERS SHARE GARDEN TRANSFORMATIONS

February, 2023

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club will host “Before and After - Redesigning our Gardens” presented by Springfield Garden Club Gardeners and moderated by Janet Dolder on Friday, February 17, 2023 at 11:30 AM. The event will be in person at the Barney Carriage House at Forest Park.

SGC Gardeners will share their approaches, challenges, frustrations, and joys as they re‐imagined and recreated the spaces in their gardens. A slideshow of before and after photographs will be included.

The meeting will be held at the Carriage House at the Barney Estate, Forest  Park, Springfield, MA 01108, and via Zoom. Light luncheon, including gluten free options, sweets, coffee, and tea will be served.  Directions to the Carriage house at: www.barneycarriagehouse.com . Raffle for members and guests. Guest fee is $5.00 and tickets are available at Eventbrite.com.

For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to

www.springfieldgardenclubma.org or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB HOSTS LOCAL NATURALIST AND EXPERT FORAGER   

September 2022

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club will host “Nibbling on Plants in Your Backyard and Beyond” presented by Russ Cohen on Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 11:30 AM. The event will be in person at the Barney Carriage House at Forest Park as well as virtually via Zoom.

Join Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of Wild Plants I Have Known…and Eaten, for a 60-minute slide show featuring at least two dozen species of native edible wild plants suitable for adding to your own landscape, or nibbling on as you encounter them in other locales. Keys to the identification of each species will be provided, along with edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation method(s), along with guidelines for safe and environmentally responsible foraging.

Russ will also include a few details regarding some native edible plants he has grown successfully from seed, and the partnerships he has made with conservation groups and others to add edible native plants to their landscapes.

Last but not least, Russ will bring printed handouts along with samples of foraged goodies for folks to sip and nibble on.

The meeting will be held at the Carriage House at the Barney Estate, Forest Park, Springfield, MA 01108, and via “Zoom”. Luncheon will be provided, including gluten free options, beginning

at 11:30 am.

Guest fee is $5 and tickets are available on Eventbrite.

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB TREE PLANTING TO CELEBRATE

150TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARBOR DAY AND HONOR WWl VETERANS   

April 2022

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club, in conjunction with the Springfield Parks Department, will hold an Arbor Day Tree Planting on Friday, April 29 at 1PM in the Memorial Grove at Forest Park.

Over one hundred years ago, one pin oak tree was planted in Forest Park for each of the 150 men from

Springfield who gave their lives fighting in World War I, known at the time as The Great War.  That the Memorial Grove remains today – providing new generations with shade and beauty-- is a testament to the foresight of those who planted the mighty oaks when they were but seedlings in 1920.

A plaque placed on a boulder in the grove in 1921 by the Springfield Publicity Club commemorates the planting and the soldiers who gave their lives. Over time, some of the trees have died but due to the efforts of Eagle Scout Geoffrey Klafeta of Troop 77, six were planted in 2018 to replenish some of the missing trees. Last year, the Springfield Garden Club added to the replenishment. With the tree to be planted on the 29th the grove will be 150 trees strong again.

The year 2022 also marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of Arbor Day in the United States as well as the 50th anniversary of the Arbor Day Foundation established in 1972, one hundred years after the first Arbor Day in Nebraska. To commemorate these anniversaries and to help re-establish a tree native to Springfield, MA, the Springfield Garden Club will offer 150 red mulberry seedlings to those who attend the ceremony.

The public is encouraged to join the Springfield Garden Club at the ceremony.

For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to

www.springfieldgardenclubma.org  or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB OFFERS $2000 SCHOLARSHIP 

March 2022

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club is accepting applications for their annual $2000 scholarship awarded to a graduating high school senior, undergraduate or graduate college student majoring in a full-time plant science or environmental studies program, such as horticulture, floriculture, landscape design, conservation, forestry, botany, agronomy, plant pathology, environmental control, land management or other allied fields.

The candidate must be a resident of Hampden County, demonstrate financial need and have adequate academic standing. High school seniors, undergraduate and graduate college students are eligible for consideration.

For additional information and to request a copy of the application contact Elizabeth Tongue at 413-627-5503 or Jane Glushik at SGCscholarship@gmail.com.

Scholarship applications are to be complete and meet the submission deadline of April 15, 2022, to be eligible for consideration.

The SGC has awarded over $80,000 to more than 50 students during the past 30 plus years. Funds for the scholarship are raised at the annual plant sale held each May at the Springfield Museums at the Quadrangle.  The Annual Plant Sale this year will be held on Saturday, May 28 from 9AM to noon.

For more information on the Springfield Garden Club events go to www.springfieldgardenclubma.org or visit them on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/SpringfieldMAGardenClub/

Click Here for Detailed Scholarship Information and Application 

DESIREE NARANGO TO SPEAK ON USE OF NATIVE PLANTS IN WILDLIFE CONSERVATION 

March 2022

SPRINGFIELD, MA -- The Springfield Garden Club will host “THE BIRDS, THE BEES, THE FLOWERS, AND THE TREES: WHY NATIVE PLANTS MATTER FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, presented by Desiree L. Narango, Ph.D., UMass Amherst Department of Biology. 

The presentation is open to the public as well as club members in person and via Zoom. Desiree will examine conservation in urban and suburban gardens and the importance of plants and insects over the annual cycle of birds. Her current studies involve the habitat and diets of migratory birds in urban forests. Desiree’s research emphasizes the need to save pollinators by selecting native plants. 

The meeting will be held at the Carriage House at the Barney Estate, Forest Park, Springfield, MA 01108, in person and via “Zoom”. Guest fee is $5.00 and tickets are available on Eventbrite. 

Social hour begins at 11:30, the club business meeting is at noon and the presentation will begin at 12:30. Lunch will be served, including gluten free options, beginning at 11:30 am. For more information on this and other Springfield Garden Club events go to www.springfieldgardenclubma.org. 

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB PRESENTS HERBS, HERBALS, AND HERBALISTS

February 2022

SPRINGFIELD, MA -- The Springfield Garden Club will host “Herbs, Herbals and Herbalists” presented by Judith Sumner on Friday, February 18 at 11:30 AM. The event will be in person at the Barney Carriage House at Forest Park as well as virtually via Zoom.

Judith Sumner is a botanist who will talk on early herbals and plant life, including the Doctrine of Signatures, an ancient practice of using plants for their beneficial capacities through observation. She will also discuss ancient and modern herb and spice uses as part of herbal history. Discussion will include Judith’s recently published book Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II, which examines victory gardens, timber, fibers, rubber, medicinal plants, herbalism, camouflage, survival practices and botanical gardens in wartime.

Sumner specializes in ethnobotany, flowering plants, plant adaptations, and garden history. She has taught extensively both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Garden in the Woods.  Judith graduated from Vassar College and completed graduate studies in botany at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  She studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at the British Museum (Natural History) and did extensive field work in the Pacific region on the genus Pittosporum and is widely published.

The meeting will be held at the Carriage House at the Barney Estate, Forest Park, Springfield, MA 01108. Directions to Carriage house at: www.barneycarriagehouse.com.

The presentation is open to the public as well as club members via Zoom.  Social hour begins at 11:30, the club business meeting is at noon and the presentation will begin at 12:30. Tickets for guests are $5 and are available at EventBrite.com

SPRINGFIELD GARDEN CLUB RAISES FUNDS FOR

      GARDENING THE COMMUNITY   

January 2022

SPRINGFIELD, MA — The Springfield Garden Club used the last day of 2021 to support a stronger future and improve food equity in Springfield by contributing $1078 to Gardening the Community.

The donation was presented on New Year's Eve by SGC President Vana Nespor to Ramon Elliston, GTC Farm Store Manager; Toussaint Paskins, GTC's Assistant Director of Youth Leadership & Agriculture; and his son Jaiden Jimenez. "The donation is critical", Toussaint said, "in getting us nearer our goal." While there, Toussaint took Nespor on a tour of the new experimental winter composting unit and showed her the different varieties of kale that were still growing vigorously in the gardens.

GTC operates a training program created for youth from around the Mason Square neighborhood and beyond to grow fruits and vegetables on vacant and abandoned lots. Youth receive a stipend and are taught principles of urban sustainable living and urban agriculture.

The food that is grown is sold at their 200 Walnut Street Community Farm Store, the Mason Square Farmers Market, local restaurants, and bodegas (corner stores).  Youth also bring food home to their families. When Nespor visited the Farm Store to present the check, business was brisk with area residents purchasing nutritious food for their New Year’s Eve dinners.

For more information on how you too can support Gardening the Community, visit www.gardeningthecommunity.org