Holiday Greens Workshops 2015

2015 Holiday Greens Workshop Volunteers Calendar

11/29 12 to 5pm Kissing Balls

5 to 9pm Boxwood Trees

11/30 1 to 9 pm Boxwood wreaths and Trees

12/1 1 to 5 pm Hurricane Arrangements

5 to 9 pm Mixed Greens Wreaths

12/2 1 to 5 pm Wreaths, Swags, Arrangements

5 to 9 pm Swags, Arrangements

12/3 1 to 5 pm Arrangements

5 to 9 pm Arrangements

12/4 1 to 5 pm Fill Orders

5 to 9 pm Fill Orders

12/5 9 to 1 pm Order Pickups

12/12 @ 1PM

ALL HELP NEEDED

Clean up Greens &

Basement

Spooky Workshop

 

Thanks to all those that came out joined us at the Spooky Workshop last weekend. We had a lot of fun getting ready for the upcoming Greens Sale. Not only did we prepare wreath forms, arrangement bases and created many beautiful bows, we had a good time with our Garden Club Friends.

 

Special thanks to all those that help us organize the event. Our Committee Chairs Lynn Mahoney and Connie Wilson did a fabulous job getting everything ready. As always we enjoy absolutely delightful refreshments provided by our Refreshment Chair, Dayna Tucker.

 

We attached a few pictures so that you can see all the fun that everyone had.

 

The fun is just beginning. The Greens Workshops begin November 11.   You will find the complete list below.   We welcome everyone to join us. No experience needed.

 

Have questions, contact Amy Cohen, CohenAmy@verizon.net.

 

 

Greens Sale Workshops

Nov 11-14     Picking Boxwood call Mary for location

Nov 16-18     Cutting Greens  meet at museum at 10:15am

Nov 20-21     Greens Breakdown

Nov 29          Kissing Balls 12-5pm

                   Boxwood Trees and Wreaths 5-8pm

Nov 30         Boxwood Wreaths and Trees 1-9pm 

Dec 1          Hurricane Arrangements  1-5pm

                  Mixed Greens Wreaths   5-9pm 

Dec 2         Mixed Greens Wreaths/Swags and Arrangements   1-9pm

Dec 3         Arrangements   1-9pm

Dec 4         Fulfillment of Orders/Set-up for sale  1-9pm

Dec 5         Order Pickup/ Clean-up 9am-5pm                   

Two Memoriable Presentations

The Garden Club had the opportunity to make 2 delightful presentations at the Museum’s General Meeting last week.  

Mary Rice Award- Presented by Anne Petzold

Every year the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club presents a leadership award named for our founder Mary Rice.  This is not like the Academy Awards where you get an Oscar for that one outstanding performance in an unforgettable move.  This is award is for a lifetime of achievement.  This year’s recipient has made outstanding contributions to our club since joining the museum in 2001.  She has been our recording secretary and has served as co-president.  She has twice been the co-chairman of our biennial Garden Tour, ensuring its financial and social success.  Beyond holding office, she participates in Greens Sale workshops, maintains the courtyard gardens, and attends field trips and educational programs.  Above all she is valued for her responsible and discerning leadership.  This year’s recipient is Gloria Galyon! 

 

Garden Club Donation to the Museum – Presented by Amy Cohen, Garden Club Co-President

The garden club has a long tradition of working very hard to enhance the beauty of the museums grounds. We would like to continue that tradition. As a club we have put together a match for the Museums Drainage Grant from the county totaling $15,900. Allison keeps saying that drainage is not a glamorous topic. Having to walk through water, mud and ice in the courtyard and during the greens sale is not very glamorous. We are very proud to help the Museum Community. 

September 13, 2015 General Meeting Recycling and Upcycling

After our business meeting led by Amy Cohen, President, the program leader, Chelsea Soniera showed a slide presentation on the difference between recycling and upcycling, with many examples for the garden. Each member worked on glueing together a stack of plates, bowls, cups and even salt shakers.

Spectacular Courtyard

The Courtyard Committee, led by Mary Dominique, has been very busy this summer. The courtyard looks absolutely spectacular. You’ll want to stop by the museum and savor the beauty. The Herb Garden has received a major facelift. Thanks to the efforts of Penny Sidell and her team. The Mexican Flame Vine and Mexican Sunflowers are beautiful. My personal favorite the Digiplexis is outstanding. We can’t forget some of the more common varieties of herbs from rosemary to thyme. In addition the left side of the courtyard, near the museum offices, was completely renovated thanks to Kathy Gaskill, Andrea Mohr, Mary Dominique and Diana Day. In this newly planted garden you will find 10 Justin Brouwers Boxwoods, 2 Twinkle Toes Cryptomeria, 2 Sunny Swirl Chamaecyparis and 2 Melody Chamaecyparis. Our sincere thanks to these ladies for their time, energy and creativity.

Garden Club News

Garden Club News The Garden Club, with its long tradition of keeping the museums grounds beautiful, will be providing significant financial assistance for two large and important grounds improvement projects. The most visible will be a redesign of the landscaping by the front entrance parking area of the museum. Through a donation of services that the Garden Club acquired, Bridge Landscape Design will artistically arrange shrubs and other planting material to provide a more welcoming and obvious pathway to the front door. Mr. Bridge is known nationally for his landscape designs and implementations. The second project is much less glamorous but something that has been a longtime in coming. Thanks to the donated services of Therrien Waddell, we have a comprehensive plan for repairing extensive drainage problems that exist throughout the museum property from a soggy court yard green to standing water by the basement door. Estimates for doing the work are over $30,000. The museum just received an emergency grant of $15,937 from Montgomery County. The Garden Club membership took on the responsibility of matching the entire grant! Steve Pettit of Pettit Companies donated the final piece, $3,000, to make the full match a reality. We decided to do this because it benefits the entire museum community . We are very proud that we are able to help the museum with this project. Special Thanks We want to thank all those that came out to Christmas in July last weekend. Everyone seemed to have a delightful time. Catching up with friends and enjoying delicious refreshments prepared by Dayna Tucker. Together we completed many of the bows, forms for kissing balls and wreathes that we will use in December during our Greens workshop. Special thanks to those who coordinated this event: Penny Sidell, Diana Day, Marge Combs,and Meredith McCain. September Program and General Meeting In September, the garden club is doing everybody a favor: de-cluttering our houses and the environment and getting a beautiful piece of garden art in return! This fall, we'll embrace "upcycling," or sustainable creative reuse, learning how to turn our ordinary household undesirables into something better: extraordinary, functional, sustainable, and often pretty pieces. We will craft our way into a colorful fall by creating upcycled glass dish flowers. Please hunt through your cabinets and bring several pieces of unwanted glass or serve ware: plates, teacups, saucers, lamp shades, salt shakers, small glasses, bowls, etc. of varying size and shape, preferably 9" or smaller. If you have some to share with others, please bring them. In the meantime, search the web for "glass plate flowers" to be inspired! There is an $8 materials fee for this project. To help with planning, please RSVP to Chelsea Soneira, chelsea.soneira@gmail.com, by September 6.

Strawberry festival 2015

Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves on Saturday at the Strawberry Festival. The plants were beautiful and the strawberries were yummy. The Butterfly Waystation Table was a big hit. The children and many adults made very creative homes for their fairies at the Fairy Garden Table. 

We wanted to thank everyone that helped with the Garden Club Plant Booth this year from growing and potting plant material to working at the booth and cleaning-up. Special thanks to Andrea Mohr for coordinating the Plant Booth Sale. She started growing plants in February. 

The Tawes Garden – Annapolis,  June 13^th

There is still time to join us for a two hour garden tour of “Annapolis’ best kept secret.”  The Helen Avalynne  Tawes Garden is a “Maryland in miniature” featuring native plants in representations of the state’s various geographic areas.  Five acres of gardens include  a Western Maryland forest, a streamside environment and an Eastern Shore peninsula. In addition, the barrier-free garden contains pleasant ponds; a raised planter with plants of varied textures, tastes and fragrances; and many cultivated plantings.    In 1982, the garden won an award for design excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects

The tour is open to all and is free.  We will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 13th at the Sandy Spring Museum parking lot and coordinate carpooling.  Reservations will be made at a local Annapolis restaurant for our group.  Some may wish to stay a while in Annapolis and tour the city .

Please let us know if you are interested and to reserve a place by calling Sunny Banvard at 301-924-4645 or  Sunnybeme@hotmail.com  by June 10^th.  We will need to know the number of participants to make appropriate arrangements for the tour and restaurant. 

Happy Gardening,

Amy Cohen and Pat Ebner, Co-Presidents

Garden Club June 2015 Plans

June promises to be an exciting month for the Garden Club. You’ll definitely want to help out with the Strawberry Festival on June 6 ^th  and see all the native plants at Tawes Garden on June 13 ^th .  The exciting details are below: 

Strawberry Festival, June 6th

This year's Strawberry Festival will be held on Saturday, June 6.  There is lots going on and it looks as if we may have record breaking attendance!  What an opportunity for us and our Plant Sale Booth.  We will be having our 2nd annual Fairy Garden Table, along with a new Butterfly Waystation Table.  This will include different types of milkweed, along with different plants, and flowers perfect for attracting butterflies, and other pollinators to your garden.  And of course, our wonderful selection of vegetables, herbs, perennials, and annuals! 

Volunteers are needed to help ensure the success of The Plant Sale Booth.  Set up will begin on Friday, June 5 from 9-2.  You may stop by at any time during those hours to help. Our set up includes prepping plants, and getting them organized so they are ready to be placed on the tables Saturday morning.  We will be doing everything from pricing, to labeling, to cleaning them up (pinching any dead leaves, etc.)  Set up is crucial to the success of our sale.  

The day of the Festival, we will need volunteers from 8-6.  Shifts are two hours each.  8 - 10 is set up, 4 - 6 is final sale, and clean up.  If you can help at either of these shifts, or anytime in between, please let us know.  

If you are available on the 5th or the 6th, please contact our Plant Sale Chair Andrea Mohr thatsamohre@aol.com.  The Plant Sale Booth is always so much fun, and with our new and exciting features, promises to be the best booth yet!

The Tawes Garden – Annapolis,  June 13^th

Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 13^th, and join us for a two hour garden tour of “Annapolis’ best kept secret.”  The  Helen Avalynne  Tawes Garden is a “Maryland in miniature” featuring native plants in representations of the state’s various geographic areas.  Five acres of gardens include   a Western Maryland forest, a streamside environment and an Eastern Shore peninsula. In addition, the barrier-free garden contains pleasant ponds; a raised planter with plants of varied textures, tastes and fragrances; and many cultivated plantings.    In 1982, the garden won an award for design excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects

The tour is open to all and is free.  We will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Sandy Spring Museum parking lot and coordinate carpooling.  Reservations will be made at a local Annapolis restaurant for our group.  Some may wish to stay a while in Annapolis and tour the city .

Please let us know if you are interested and to reserve a place by calling Sunny Banvard at 301-924-4645 or  Sunnybeme@hotmail.com  by June 10^th.  We will need to know the number of participants to make appropriate arrangements for the tour and restaurant. 

2015 Garden Tour...Be Inspired

Everyone seemed to really “be Inspired” by the 2015 Sandy Spring Museum Garden Tour. All of the gardens were simply spectacular. We are very grateful to the garden owners that welcomed us. The Ex Libris Ensemble was a delightful treat as we enjoyed our delicious box lunches. It was a wonderful to view the Plein Air Artist’s impressions of the gardens while we partook of wine and hors d’oeuvres at the “Wine in the Garden.”  Even the weather cooperated until the very end.

Organizing an event as special as the Garden Tour takes many volunteers. As we started counting everyone, we easily reached over 75 volunteers. We couldn’t possibly mention them all by name and we surely would miss someone. We appreciate all those that helped.

There are 3 people that we want to mention. The first two are Kathy Gaskill and Penny Sidell who started working on the tour last summer. They spent countless hours driving around the community selecting the gardens and working with the garden owners. We would also like to thank Kathy for inviting us into her home and garden for the lovely “Wine in the Garden.” Finally, we want to thank Dee Hawkins our 2015 Garden Tour Chair. She worked tireless hours coordinating the amazing tour.  Without her dedication and hard work, we could not have had such a spectacular event.