Author: Amherst Garden Club

Holiday Magic Awards

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“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” thanks to all of you who participated in the Holiday Magic event sponsored by The Amherst Garden Club, as well as the neighborhoods/streets that came together to produce very creative holiday decorations!

Below are our winners along with a tour handout that you can print for heading out to check out the lights. We have grouped the participating houses into three areas in Amherst, so take a different route each night! You won’t want to miss any of it, but please slow down and drive responsibly, as some of these areas will have more cars than usual.

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Photos from Holiday Grab Bags & Greenery

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“The music, bonfire, giant grab bags, greenery, and goodies all made it a festive event!” — President Kathy Brundage

Despite a light rain, garden club members gathered — masked and safely distanced — to distribute holiday “grab bags” and greenery in preparation for our upcoming online holiday event on December 3. Participants will incorporate the items in their bags (no two bags are the same) in a holiday creation to be shared virtually at the holiday event.

Many thanks to Vice President Linda Fraser for her creativity in re-imagining this annual club tradition in the time of COVID, and to all who came out to help.

Click the photo below to see the rest of the photos on our web site (courtesy of Marti Warren).

Linda Fraser, Peggy Wallace, Joan Poltack, and Jeanne Nevard

Adding Compost to Civic Gardens

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This year as part of the fall cleanup of the club’s Civic Gardens, several of the teams decided to apply a top dressing of compost to improve soil fertility and improve the health of the gardens next season. In addition to adding important nutrients, the addition of the compost will improve the ability of the soil to absorb and hold water, which is increasingly important given recent droughts and the lack of irrigation at most of the gardens.

Happily, the day that was selected for delivery of the compost was sunny and warm for November, and we had a great turnout of volunteers. It was definitely an illustration of the concept that “many hands make light work.” Thank you to all of the volunteers, particularly Patty Healy Osborne and her husband Ken for letting us use their truck to transport the compost (3 yards in total) saving the club delivery costs.

Can’t wait to see the results!

Have You Noticed Our Garden Helpers?

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The AGC Civic Gardens team decided to enlist help in our various gardens around town this fall. Take a walk and try to find all of our helpers, from Bertha at the northmost entry into the center of town (who was featured in a brief clip on WMUR) to suffragettes at the Police Station and Sunset Road, to mini-scarecrows and children at the Brick School and Library and just hard-working gardeners at Town Hall, the western entry to Amherst Village, and at the Wigwam Museum. Happy Fall! Why not make one of your own?

2020 Annual Meeting and Social on Zoom

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Garden club members gathered together via Zoom on June 4 for the club’s annual meeting followed by social time. Thank you to Vice President Kathy Brundage for masterminding an event that made us feel close and connected even though we could not be in one place.

President Becky Stoughton delivered heartfelt remarks as she recounted the events of the year, which took a dramatic turn in March. Although our plans were upended, Becky drew our attention to the many silver linings that have shown through the cloud.

 

A Special Welcome to New Members

Membership Co-Chairs Sally Hooper and Barbara Williams welcomed the new members and invited them to say “hello” so we could put faces to names.

Kathy Brundage delivered these pretty little flower pins to new members in advance, so that they could wear them online.

Continue reading “2020 Annual Meeting and Social on Zoom” →

The Dahlia Lady Now Selling Online

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A garden club member shared that By Design Dahlias just started selling her tubers online with the option of curbside pick-up (Springfield, NH) or shipping within New Hampshire.

Emily Cleaveland — The Dahlia Lady of Springfield, NH — has been growing and selling dahlia flowers and tubers for 20 years. Visit her online store

She writes: “Pick out your favorite varieties, or grab a mixed bag of my 2nds, and don’t forget the Emily’s Dahlia Gro so your garden can look just like mine!”

You’re Invited! Webinar: Encouraging Wildlife Diversity in Designed Landscapes

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Presented by Matt Tarr

Join the Amherst Garden Club on Thursday, May 7 at 10:30 AM for this webinar.  The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Click to join:
https://unh.zoom.us/j/92173654172

Meeting ID: 921 7365 4172

To join by phone:
+1 312 626 6799 (US Toll)

A recorded version of the webinar will hopefully be available.

Matt Tarr, Wildlife State Specialist
Matt Tarr, Wildlife State Specialist

An abundance of wildlife is one of the best indicators of an ecologically well-designed landscape. By understanding how pollinators, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians select their habitats during each season of the year, we can design landscapes that effectively attract and support a diversity of wildlife.

Matt will provide practical methods for designing ecologically complete landscapes that invite human interaction and transcend simple aesthetics through their functioning interconnected elements.

Join us for this webinar and learn how to encourage wildlife diversity in your own landscape.
Continue reading “You’re Invited! Webinar: Encouraging Wildlife Diversity in Designed Landscapes” →