Conservation Watch
A Publication of the Garden Club of America
Volume XVII, Issue 4 Fall, 2008
__________________________________________
Conservation Projects Across the Country
There is a new enthusiasm for protecting the environment in America today and, as in years
past, Garden Club of America members are leading the way. Across the country many clubs
have adopted projects to conserve or restore our natural resources or to educate young and
old about how to live sustainably or how to reconnect to nature. The greatest strength of our
organization is that individual clubs can connect with a national network of like-minded people
to share ideas and spread our love and knowledge of the natural world broadly. So, we are
devoting this entire issue to outstanding conservation projects from around the country. We
hope you will discover ideas that have been successful elsewhere and apply them to your own
piece of the Earth.
“To cherish what remains of the earth and to foster its
renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.”
Wendell Berry, 2008 recipient of the GCA Cynthia Pratt Laughlin Medal
Wendell Berry, 2008 recipient of the GCA Cynthia
Claire Caudill,Pratt
G.C. Laughlin
of Houston (Zone IX)
Medal GCA Conservation Committee Chair
!
Piscataqua (NH) Garden Club’s project chosen by Representative Elise
Wellington of Zone I (MA, NH, VT, and ME).
New England Edible Garden Tour
In August of 2008, The Piscataqua Garden Club, along with the non-profit organization, Slow
Food Seacoast, sponsored the Seacoast area’s first Edible Garden Tour. The tour was one part
of the club’s study of the foods we
eat – what we eat, how it was
grown, where it came from, and
how it gets to our table. The
mission of the educational garden
tour was: to connect home and
community vegetable gardeners;
to share ideas for sustaining
ourselves through growing good
food; and to encourage good
gardening practices.
The tour was a one day event and
included ten gardens in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area: five private gardens, a preschool
garden, three community gardens, and the Victory Garden at Strawbery Banke Museum. Each
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garden showcased an educational demonstration ranging from making compost tea, growing and
using horseradish, using red plastic mulch to improve tomato growth, creating a pond for
irrigation by diverting runoff and storm water, building different trellises or ‘tuteurs’ for
vegetables, raising heritage breed chickens, growing heirloom varieties of vegetables, and using
solar energy for a greenhouse. Most gardens also included the opportunity to taste samples of
the food being grown. One inventive gardener, also a PGC member, offered homemade
mozzarella to go with her heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil! The gardener growing
horseradish offered different types of horseradish dips and sauces. Another, who teaches
courses about raw food, shared some of his recipes. The landscape curator at Strawbery Banke
offered tastes of a gorgeous salad composed entirely of edible plants and flowers grow,
organically of course, on the museum grounds!
The tour included something for everyone and attracted visitors of all ages from all over New
England. The comment heard most often was, “This is the BEST garden tour I’ve ever been on!
I learned something in every garden.” Everyone involved learned something important about
the food they eat. Visitors were inspired and many determined to have their own Edible
Gardens at home next summer.
Beth Hume, Conservation Committee Chair
Piscataqua (NH) G.C. – Zone I
Zone II (CT and RI) Rep Frances Trafton offers a project from
Ridgefield Garden Club (CT).
Children’s Teaching Garden Thrills Area Youngsters
The Woodcock Nature Center borders the towns of Ridgefield and Wilton, Connecticut.
Frances Ashforth from the Ridgefield Garden Club and her gardening friend Billie Sue
Hollingsworth from the Federated Garden Club of Wilton decided to help Henryk
Teraszkiewicz, Director of Woodcock, in creating a children’s teaching garden. With the help
of both garden clubs and a few local donors, a rustic, 20’ x 20’ cedar-posted, deer-proof garden
was constructed. It contains eight large raised beds that each has a theme. In one bed common
kitchen herbs reside next to more unusual medicinal herbs, such as the “Toothache Plant.” One
bed is a native three sisters garden, growing the three sisters of corn, beans and squash. Both
hummingbird and butterfly beds are included as well. Other beds contain plants divided from
plantings in Frances’ and Billie Sue’s own gardens, as well as many unusual annuals grown from
seed. Summer campers and fall school field trip students have enjoyed the garden. Everyone
was thrilled at the first hummingbird sighting! This garden has provided a wonderful outlet for
many. Of note is the fact that the garden was watered this summer by a special needs student
who loves to help at the nature center. The Woodcock Nature Center is now a lovely place
for all to enjoy.
Frances Ashforth, Conservation Committee Co-Chair
Ridgefield (CT) G.C. – Zone II
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What are the Three Sisters?
The Three Sisters include corn, beans, and squash. As part of the circle of life, these New World
crops rely upon each other for survival. According to Iroquois — who chant "you who sustain us"
to the trio — the Three Sisters hold a spiritual, ceremonial, and celebratory place in the garden.
Not only are the Three Sisters rich in mythological, cultural, and botanical history, they belong
together nutritionally. Corn, beans, and squash complement each other: corn for grain and
carbohydrate, beans for protein, and squash for vitamin A.
(from [Link])
Nancy Howard representing Zone III (NY) chooses the Garden Club of
Orange and Dutchess Counties.
Green Calendar – Just in Time for Holiday Gift-Giving!
“Bring your own garment bag to the cleaners.” “Send your used Crocs for recycling.” “Order
tap water in a restaurant instead of bottled.” These are some of the green tips the Garden Club
of Orange & Dutchess Counties Conservation Committee shares with its members each month.
The tips are manageable ways we can adapt our behavior, provoke discussion and generate
more ideas. Monthly tips evolved into a 2009 Green Tips Calendar, containing 365 green ideas
and an inspirational quote for each month. The Club was hosting the Zone III Meeting in
September 2008. The idea of giving each attendee a calendar in their gift bag led to soliciting
photos of other clubs’ projects from Zone III for the calendar. The GCA New York Committee
generously underwrote the cost of the first printing of the calendar.
Members spent many hours researching and collecting green tips, organizing them by
appropriate time of the year, collecting and photoshopping pictures, proofing, and so on. The
calendar was then complete - just in time for the zone meeting! The committee learned an
incredible amount about “living green” - and how to create a calendar. After working together
with the other clubs in our zone, members have been excited to hear the “buzz” the calendar
created. Imagine if each GCA member bought a calendar and incorporated the tips into her life.
The result would be real change!
Now in its second printing, the club members are pleased to share the Green Calendar with
you. It’s a great holiday or hostess gift, and a great tool for discussion with children and
grandchildren – and their teachers. The calendars are $15 each. Profits will be used for the
club’s next conservation project. To order, please email Beth Stradar Santiago at
estradar@[Link].
Beth Stradar Santiago, Conservation Chair
G.C. of Orange & Dutchess Counties – Zone III
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Zone IV (NJ) Rep Sophie Glovier nominates Summit Garden Club.
Briant Pond Park Gets a “Make-Over”
Our club’s Conservation Committee hosted the April, 2008 Summit Garden Club meeting,
featuring our main speaker, Betty Ann Kelly, Environmental Specialist for Union County, New
Jersey’s Dept. of Parks & Community Renewal. Betty Ann’s presentation was a thorough
description of the economic and practical problems involved with invasive plants. She included
information on how to get rid of the main problem invasives of New Jersey. The attendees then
walked to nearby Briant Pond Park and, under Betty Ann’s guidance, removed invasive plants,
did general weeding and cleaning up, and then replanted with several native saplings supplied by
Union County. Our
goal is to continue to
work with the county
to beautify the park.
In addition, the garden
club has hired
Kathleen Galop, an
historic preservation
consultant, to write a
grant application to
nominate Briant Pond
Park to the State and
National Registers of
Historic Places. The
Summit Garden Club
received funding from
the New Jersey
Committee of GCA, Summit club members hard at work on park clean-up.
which it used, along with its own funds, to hire Ms. Galop. Several of the garden club members
sit on the board of the Briant Park Olmstead Conservancy, which has hired Faye Harwell,
landscape architect from Wash. D.C., to design a landscape master plan for the park. (The park
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is a 1930 design by the Olmstead Brothers Architecture Design firm.) We are all working
together to maintain, beautify and improve Briant Pond Park for our community.
Gail Scudellari, Conservation Committee Co-Chair
Summit (NJ) Garden Club – Zone IV
Suzanne Roth, Rep for Zone V (Pennsylvania and Delaware) brings us
the project from the Four Counties (PA) G.C.
Mount Pleasant Viewshed Restoration Project
Since November of 1999, Four Counties Garden Club has been working to restore the original
view and surrounding gardens of Mount Pleasant Mansion in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. This
historic house was built c.1761 and declared a
National Historic Landmark in 1974. Today, Mount
Pleasant, a colonial masterpiece, is considered one of
the greatest American houses of its type. The work
to restore the original view from the house down to
the Schuylkill River has involved clearing invasive tree
shrubs and replacing them with low growing native
plants that would have grown on the banks of the
river at the time Mt. Pleasant was built. The Club’s
focus is not only to check on the health of these
native plants, but also to make sure that the general
area of the viewshed is maintained. The view from the
house to the river is still obstructed by an untouched
portion of land near the river where invasive trees and Mount Pleasant Mansion
shrubs have flourished. Clearing this area will be costly and funding is always a challenge.
However, we are determined to continue with this project, and bring the original gardens and
view back to this grand country estate.
Dencie Brooke, Conservation Committee Chair
Four Counties G.C. – Zone V
[Note: “viewshed” – the natural environment that is visible from one or more viewing points.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary]
Brenda Moorman, Zone Rep for Zone VI (District of Columbia and
Maryland) nominated the Trowel Garden Club’s project.
Teaching Gardening and Environmental Responsibility
at D.C. Public School
The Trowel Club of Washington, D.C. has adopted public school Horace Mann Elementary’s
gardening and environmental studies program as one of its conservation projects. This program
strives to give students opportunities to make direct connections to the natural world, as well
as to learn the value of healthy nutrition through organic and sustainable gardening. Students,
teachers, parents, and volunteers work side by side in several on-site perennial, vegetable, and
herb gardens. School-grown herbs and vegetables are sold to parents at an after-school garden
market and to a local chef for use at a neighborhood restaurant. Garden club members help
with the maintenance of the garden, assist in planning planting workshops for different grade
levels, and share plants from their own gardens. This month the club will also hear how the
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chef uses cooking and tasting demonstrations with the children to help them make the garden-
to-table connection. This horticulture and conservation project has been a fun focus for all
those involved.
Amy Jagodnik, Conservation
Trowel Club (Washington, D.C.) – Zone VI
Horace Mann student Marco Shaik won first prize in the
DC School Garden Photo Contest with this flowering
trumpet vine photo.
Lynda Strickler of Zone VII (VA, WV, NC, and KY) announces the
project done by the Garden Club of Norfolk (VA).
Exceptional Recycling Effort
In April of 2008, during Earth Week, the Garden Club of Norfolk’s Conservation Committee
undertook a massive electronics-recycling project in partnership with the City of Norfolk. Club
members passed out over 1300 fliers to four different schools and contacted the Go Green Club
of a local high school where weekly announcements were made about the event. The garden
club provided manpower
throughout the week, with
Saturday being the big day for
drop-off of items. The
program accepted anything
that could be plugged into the
wall, except large kitchen and
laundry appliances.
Keep Norfolk Beautiful and
the Garden Club of Norfolk
collected over 61,000 pounds
– or two and a half tractor-
trailer loads – of material!
This included televisions and
computers containing lead and
mercury that would have
otherwise gone into landfills Melanie Wills shows us the rewards of the club’s efforts.
or contaminated the earth’s waters. The electronics were then packed onto wooden pallets,
wrapped, and taken to a source where they are stripped of all valuable materials that can then
be re-used. The hazardous materials were disposed of properly. The Garden Club of Norfolk
received a thank-you letter from Keep Norfolk Beautiful on behalf of the city and its citizens for
a job well done!
Melanie Wills and Jane Cole, Conservation Committee Co-Chairs
G.C. of Norfolk (VA) – Zone VII
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Zone VIII (FL, GA, SC, and AL) Rep Susan Caven offers varied
projects by the Grass River Garden Club (FL).
Florida Club Fights Bugs and Developers!
In an effort to kill no-see-ums (see below) the Commissioners of Ocean Ridge, Florida in 2006
decided to spray the entire community at 6 PM once a week with a truck that sent the chemical
Anvil 2+2 into everyone's back yard and into the mangroves. Residents, many of them Grass
River Garden Club members, became concerned about the noxious fumes and decided to take
action. It was a tough and long battle but we finally won by perseverance! Sadly, it reminded us
of the 60' and 70's, with the massive spraying of DDT.
The Grass River Garden Club gave money, and a foundation matched the funds, to hire a lawyer.
We sent a petition to the commissioners with about 50 signatures, but it did no good. We
spoke to the Mayor, EPA, state and local health, agriculture, and pesticide officials - still to no
avail. We printed up post cards that were signed by every resident that we knew who was in
favor of stopping the spraying. Still no luck. Last spring, a new Commissioner was elected who
was opposed to the spraying. When the budget hearings rolled around, he suggested cutting
expenses by eliminating spraying to balance a tight budget. It passed! We also suspected the
Commissioners wanted to get rid of this persistent group, the garden club, because they knew
we were not going away!
The clu The club demonstrated its persistence on a different kind of
environmental challenge that same year when developers
proposed bulldozing the sleepy hamlet of Briny Breezes, a
trailer park community, to erect three 20-story condominiums,
a hotel and time-share apartments. Members of the garden
club, led by former Congressman Tom Evans, joined a broad
consortium of environmentalists and neighbors who managed
to force the developers to cancel the project. As Margaret
Mead said: “Never believe that a few caring people can't change
the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
[Common name: no-see-ums!, biting midges.
Typical Briny Breezes home. Scientific name: Culicoides spp. (Insecta: Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)]
Laura Evans and Margie FitzSimons, Conservation Committee Co-Chairs
Carolyn Patton, Conservation Committee Member
Conservation Committee, Grass River G.C. – Zone VIII
Zone Rep Ruth Flournoy chooses the Laurel (MS) G.C. to represent
Zone IX (Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi).
Removing Invasives Leads to a Future Educational Center
The DeSoto National Forest is a mere six miles from the city limits of Laurel, Mississippi.
This forest is a treasure trove of pristine plant material and abundant wildlife. But it was under
attack. Threatened by cogongrass, one of the most invasive weeds in the country, the 378,000-
acre forest faced a serious problem and limited resources. The Laurel Garden Club joined
forces with the forest staff to fight this invasive. Local nurseries were warned about the invasive
plant. Garden club members were trained to recognize cogongrass. A GCA Partners for Plants
project equipped club members and volunteers with handheld GPS monitors to map stands of
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cogongrass for removal by the National Forest Service. Wildflowers were then planted to
cover areas scarred by Hurricane Katrina. The Zone IX Horticulture Restoration Fund
contributed funds.
The partnership between the Laurel Garden
Club and the DeSoto National Forest has now
led to future plans for an educational walking
trail and outdoor classroom. The garden club
hired a consultant to create a master plan for
a trail, pavilion, and interpretive stations in the
forest. The Laurel Garden Club has allocated
significant funding for this project. The
Chickasawhay Interpretive Center will be both
educational and recreational. Students will
learn about ecosystems, the environment, and
their role as future stewards of our forests. A
long future of collaboration between the club
and the National Forest will benefit
generations to come.
Nan Thames, Conservation Committee Co-Chair
Laurel (MS) G.C. – Zone IX
A Forest Ranger and a child view the future site of
the Interpretive Trail.
Sue Klein, Rep. for Zone X (Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana) nominates
the project of the Garden Club of Cincinnati (OH).
Bulb Planting at Habitat for Humanity Homes
During November of 2007, the Garden Club of Cincinnati embarked on a project to plant
daffodil bulbs at fifteen recently constructed Habitat for Humanity homes in the inner city.
Over the course of three weekends, teams of garden club members planted 50 to 60 daffodil
bulbs at each of the new homes. Each of the homeowners had given their consent to have the
bulbs planted and were telephoned in advance to let
them know when we would arrive to dig and to
plant. At every home, appreciative homeowners and
their children met us and watched our gardening with
great interest. The interaction with these families
made our project all the more rewarding and we
were sharing the joys of gardening with new
homeowners!
All of the homes had minimal landscaping, with only a
few shrubs to soften the foundation.
We hoped that the addition of spring-flowering bulbs
would not only add to the beauty of these homes’
front yards and neighborhoods, but would also add to
the well-earned pride that the owners felt in their
homes. This past spring we returned to see if, in
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spite of the rocky soil, the bulbs had flowered. To our great satisfaction, they had. They’ve
added color and life to the lawns of these new homes in our urban landscape.
Alison Zimmerman, President
G.C. of Cincinnati (OH) – Zone X
Colles Larkin, Zone Representative for Zone XI (Illinois, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri) suggests
the Ladue (MO) Garden Club’s project.
Invasives Out, Natives In
The Ladue (MO) Garden Club fulfills the conservation portion of the GCA purpose statement
of improving the environment through its efforts at Rodes Park. This small triangle "pocket
park,” is, in fact, the only park in Ladue. Deer Creek, part of the Des Peres River watershed
which empties into the Mississippi River, meanders through the Park.
In an ongoing project, club members cleared the invasive honeysuckle which infested the park,
and in its stead planted Missouri natives such as river birch, witch hazel, serviceberry, river
willow and deciduous hollies, to name a
few. In addition, to give the park some
"pop" a variety of flowering perennials
were planted. Boulders and benches by
the creek were added as well. A former
"runaway" hill was terraced ending its
erosive slide. Through educational
programs, the group learned what to
use as replacement plants for bush
honeysuckle. The club’s actions stopped
the erosion of creek beds and hillsides
through plantings, correct mulching, and
gentle landscaping. As a result, the civic
improvement of our drive-by, formerly
anonymous park turned it into a place of
beauty for our residents to enjoy.
Rodes Park with bench supplied by Ladue G.C.
Kim Scherrer, Past President with proceeds from a native plant sale.
Ladue (MO) Garden Club - Zone XI
Heidi Ho Conjugacion, Zone XII (Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico,
California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) Rep, brings us a
project from the Woodside-Atherton (CA) Garden Club.
Award Winning Community Garden
The Woodside-Atherton Garden Club (WAGC) started the Woodside Library Native Plant
Garden in 1970. California native and Mediterranean plants adorn the one-acre plot and
demonstrate to the public how a water-conserving, pollinator-friendly garden can achieve
beautiful and sustainable results. WAGC members tend the garden and rigorously prevent the
incursion of invasive plants on periodic workdays throughout the year. The recent addition of
rough-edged gravel from a local quarry has proven invaluable as a clay soil amendment and as a
surprisingly effective top dressing, allowing the soil to absorb our scarce rainwater. Cautious
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irrigation using targeted micro-
sprinklers provides any needed
water boost with a minimum of
water waste. WAGC was
honored at the 2008 GCA
Annual Meeting with the GCA
National Award for Public
Relations. Many visitors,
including school children and
gardeners of all ages, come to
see how native plants can
create a water-wise, yet
pleasing landscape.
Woodside Library Native Plant Garden
Carol Spieker and Terry Miller, Conservation Committee Co-Chairs
Woodside-Atherton (CA) Garden Club – Zone XII
Book Reviews
Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It
by Elizabeth Royte
In 2006, eight billion gallons of bottled water were sold in the U.S., an $11 billion dollar
business. The bottled water industry spent $158 million on advertising in this country alone.
In Bottlemania, Elizabeth Royte looks at the water wars: between bottled water and tap water;
between big corporations and local water interests; between consumers who say they want the
convenience, cleanliness and status of bottled water and environmentalists who liken buying
bottled water to driving a Hummer. Bottled water produces tons of plastic bottles to dispose
of, racks up huge transportation fees, and leaves behind a significant carbon footprint.
Ms. Royte surmises that the worldwide scarcity of water will accelerate with global warming,
population growth, drought, and increased pollution and development. She writes, “Water
experts predict shortages will pit communities and states against each other, . . . the rich against
the poor, cities against villages, corporations against individuals, and humans against other
creatures that compete with us for water.”
The author discusses the growing reaction against bottled water and
promotes the use of refillable water bottles filled with tap water. While
she discusses the various types of contamination that may affect our
water, she still reminds us that this is a country where “more than 89%
of tap water meets or exceeds federal health and safety regulations,
regularly wins in blind taste tests against name-brand waters, and costs
240–10,000 times less than bottled water.” And, we are also reminded,
that more than a billion people worldwide lack sufficient access to safe
water. Editor
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Hot, Flat, and Crowded:
Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America
by Thomas L. Friedman
Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times reporter Tom Friedman calls for a green revolution
to revitalize our economy, restore the world’s view of our country, and, to save the world’s
ecosystems and, ultimately, the long term survival of the human race. He contends that the
world is increasingly becoming “hot, flat and crowded” due to global warming, the rise of the
middle classes all over the world, and rapid population growth. The convergence of these
conditions is tightening energy supplies, intensifying the extinction of plants and animals,
deepening energy poverty, strengthening petro-dictatorship, and accelerating climate change.
Friedman believes the best hope for our nation and our world is to
undertake a green revolution to address the challenges. “Right now we
are having a green hallucination, not a green revolution,” he states. We
offer our children a green vision without the resources to make it happen.
He suggests higher efficiency standards, tougher regulations, and an ethic
of conservation that will turn the vision into a reality. He tells us that we
have the good fortune of living in a time of enormous prosperity and
technological innovation. We need to redefine green and rediscover
America by meeting the challenges of energy, climate, conservation, and
preservation.
Sophie Glovier, G.C. of Princeton
Zone IV Conservation/NAL Representative
Quote for Fall
“Destroying a tropical rain forest and other species-rich ecosystems for profit is ‘like burning all the
paintings of the Louvre to cook dinner.’ ”
Famed entomologist Edward O. Wilson in Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman
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Contacts
Claire Caudill, Chairman Elva Busch, Editor
Conservation Committee Santa Fe Garden Club (Zone XII)
Garden Club of Houston (Zone IX) 20 Windridge Circle
518 Westminster Dr. Santa Fe, NM 87506
Houston, TX 77024-5610 (505) 982-4435
(713) 932-8933 (505) 982-4437 (fax)
(713) 932-7850 (fax) elvabusch@[Link]
jccaudill@[Link]
Derry MacBride, Chairman Anne O’Brien, Assistant Editor
National Affairs and Legislation Columbine Garden Club (Zone XII)
Committee 6018 East Cholla Lane
Piedmont Garden Club (Zone XII) Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
One Crocker Ave. (480) 874-3323
Piedmont, CA 94611 annie39ob@[Link]
(510) 547-1330
(510) 658-8797 (fax)
derry123@[Link]
Conservation Watch, a publication of The Garden Club of America, is produced by
the GCA Conservation Committee. Readers’ ideas, contributions, and suggestions
are welcome. Letters to the Editor may be e-mailed, faxed, or mailed to the Editor
and will be published as space permits.
Elva Busch, Editor
Index of Articles Page
Introduction by Claire Caudill 1
Zone 1 – Piscataqua Garden Club 1
Zone II – Ridgefield Garden Club 2
Zone III – Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties 3
Zone IV – Summit Garden Club 4
Zone V – Four Counties Garden Club 5
Zone VI – Trowel Club 5
Zone VII – Garden Club of Norfolk 6
Zone VIII – Grass River Garden Club 7
Zone IX – Laurel Garden Club 7
Zone X – Garden Club of Cincinnati 8
Zone XI – Ladue Garden Club 9
Zone XII – Woodside-Atherton Garden Club 9
Book Reviews 10
Contacts 12
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