Garden Club News
Immerse yourself in the spring display of beautiful local gardens. Grow your inspiration as you walk through 5 remarkable gardens. Among the various landscapes, you will enjoy spring bulbs, annuals and perennials, ornamental trees and shrubs, and a variety of hardscapes.
Locally grown vegetable plants, including heirloom tomatoes and herbs, will be available for purchase.
The Garden Tour is held rain or shine.
About the Gardens:
Garden One: This 14-acre historic property sits on a rise with a spectacular view of the Triadelphia Reservoir and includes many old trees, original buildings, an antique iron gate and a lovely old stone wall.
Garden Two: A peaceful 3-acre property with a challenging backdrop of mature woodland, heavy shade, dry soil and abundant deer(!).
Garden Three: Inspired by a love of nature and gardening, this garden is an extraordinary collection of shrubs, evergreens, trees and perennials. Aptly named “Helmut’s Little Arboretum” the garden has been carefully designed to weave together an extraordinarily pleasing mélange of shapes, sizes, color and textures, which includes many unique plantings.
Garden Four: With an emphasis on organic practices and a garden design that is accessible and practical for aging gardeners, the residents of this retirement community maintain both personal beds and community gardens providing fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs.
Garden Five: This property, challenged with a difficult sloping lot, is an excellent example of a design that artfully combines practical needs with aesthetics.
The Mary Rice Award
Every year the Garden Club awards a presentation to one of our dedicated and hard-working members. This year the award went to Claire Bode. Claire's list of accomplishments include: Museum member since 2001; Vice President from 2006-2007; Refreshment Chair 2007, 2016-present; Courtyard/Herb Garden Co-Chair 2014-2015; Garden Tour Co-Chair 2019; Trips Committee 2019-2020; Greens Sale workshop leader and Velvet Bow Maker. An expert cook, you will find her delectable food spread and table decorations at all our events.
Courtyard Garden Angels
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| Our gardening group gets the courtyard garden in tip-top shape. |
Tussie Mussies
On April 10th the Garden Club was treated to a wonderful talk and demonstration on making Tussie Mussies, led by Rhonda Panzera and Ellen Feeney. Each participant made their own tussie mussie held in a lace collar and tied with a colorful ribbon.
What is a tussie mussie?
Tussie is a small group of flowers held together in a little bouquet that was held near the nose level, and mussie was the moss that was moistened and put around the stems of flowers to keep the bouquet from wilting.
During the medieval ages people carried pomanders filled with fragrant herbs to neutralize odors due to lack of sanitation and sewage. In the 18th century, decorative small vases arrived which could be filled with fragrant herbs and pinned to clothing or held close to the nose to again offset the unpleasant odors. During the 19th century the posy holder was still used to neutralize smells but it became a popular fashion accessory due to Queen Victoria (1837-1901) who always carried a tussie mussie with her. Soon the carrying of the small bouquets in decorative holders caught the interest of the wealthy and middle class and posy holders were mass produced in a variety of sizes and materials.
The tussie mussie became an important vehicle for floriography, the language of flowers, which was one of the Victorians favorite preoccupations. Each flower held a different meaning and together conveyed a sentiment. These talking bouquets had secret messages that couldn’t be said out loud in polite society. So the tussie mussie became a popular gift for courtship. A lady receiving a tussie mussie could pin it to the cleavage of her bosom which would signify friendship. If she pinned her over her heart it meant declaration of love. Which hand a tussie mussie was received held meaning as well if the bouquet was pointed down. The message could be complicated so flower dictionaries were carried to help decipher the meaning.
Tussie mussies can be given for birthdays, anniversaries, get well, sympathy, etc. A sentiment tag attached to the bouquet with the meaning of each will be a keepsake for the recipient.
According to sources The Posey Book and other sources on the meaning of flowers, the sentiments of our bouquets were represented by the flowers we used. The rose for longevity, the waxflower for lasting love, the baby's breath for everlasting love, the lamb's ear for comfort and chrysanthemum for joy.
May Flowermarts and Festivals
- Annapolis, Plant Sale, William Paca Garden, May 7-8, 2022
- Baltimore Herb Festival, Leakin Park, May 28, 2022
- Baltimore, Market Day, Cylburn Arboretum, May 7, 2022
- Baltimore, Tulip Dig, Sherwood Gardens, May 28, 2022
- Bel Air, Annual Garden Mart, Bel Air Armory, May 20, 2022
- Beltsville, Beltsville Garden Club's Plant Sale, High Point High School, May 2022
- Grantsville, Mountain Maryland Native Plant Festival, New Germany State Park, May 14, 2022
- Havre de Grace, Garden Mart & Plant Sale, Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Keeper's grounds, May 14-15, 2022
- Mechanicsville, Annual Plant Sale, Summerset Farm, May 7, 2022
- Monkton, Garden Festival, Ladew Topiary Gardens, May 7, 2022
- Mount Savage, Native Plant Expo, Evergreen Heritage Center, May 22, 2022
- Rock Hall, Garden Club Plant Sale, May 7, 2022
- St. Leonard, Plant Sale, Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, May 2022
- Westminster, Flower & Jazz Festival, May 7, 2022
- Westminster, Mother's Day Show, Agriculture Center, May 7, 2022
- More May events can be found at https://pegplant.com/monthly-events/
Have you tried making jellies with your edible flowers?
4 spring flower jellies my daughter & I've made this year:
1. Dandelion Jelly
2. Redbud Jelly
3. Forsythia Flower Jelly
4. Violet Jelly
The Garden Club is a body of the Sandy Spring Museum
Learn more about our activities and how to join the Garden Club. https://www.sandyspringmuseum.org/programs-and-events/garden-club
email: gardenclub@sandyspringmuseum.org or call 301-774-0022.
