The 34th Annual Pocket Gardens of Portsmouth (NH) will take place Friday, September 8 from 4:30 – 7:30, and Saturday, September 9, 10 – 4, in the Lafayette Park neighborhood (Middle, Aldrich, Spinney), which includes an urban nature preserve. Garden scouting is underway. Visit https://www.southchurch-uu.org/what-we-offer/pocket-garden-tour/ or email jocfoster@outlook.com The event is a benefit for South Church, A Unitarian Universalist Congregation.
The annual Pocket Garden Tour is hosted by South Church in Portsmouth, NH. Each year a variety of lovely small gardens are open for viewing in a designated Portsmouth neighborhood. The beautiful Victorian Goodwin Garden is one of the 15 gardens featured in the Portsmouth Pocket Garden Tour. The event, which occurs on June 25 from 5 – 8 PM and Saturday, June 26 from 10 AM – 4 PM, begins at Strawbery Banke. On the Saturday of the event, Erik Wochholz, Curator of Historic Landscapes shares engaging lessons with tour participants on 19-century plants, historical garden planning and design, plant cultivation, and herbalism. Visitors can also take advantage of educational tours of Goodwin Garden and take complimentary heirloom seeds from the Museum’s seed-saving program. Covid-19 protocols will be followed. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.southchurch-uu.org
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Dr. Amy Weidensaul will speak about the effect climate change has had on local flora and fauna. In addition, she will provide suggestions on how to reduce one’s carbon footprints at the individual level. This Andover Garden Club event will take place February 4 at South Church, 41 Central Street in Andover.
Weidensaul, who is director of Mass Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, has more than 20 years of experience in the environmental field. Prior to assuming her current role, she served as deputy director for conservation and education at Audubon Pennsylvania and director of the Shehan Audubon Center at Audubon Maryland-DC.
Weidensaul has also served as the outdoor center director of South Mountain YMCA near Reading PA. She has been involved in environmental issues at the state level in Pennsylvania.
In 2011, she received the Together Green Fellowship for conservation leadership. Weidensaul earned a BS in biology from the University of New Hampshire, a master in education from Lehigh University, and a PhD in Environmental Studies from Antioch University.
The event will begin with social time and refreshments, followed by a brief business meeting and the program.
Cost: $10 donation requested for guests (includes refreshments)
Hours: 10:00 AM to approximately noon. Call 978-475-3021 for more information.
The Andover Garden Club will hold its Annual Meeting and Luncheon on Tuesday, May 7 beginning at 10 am at South Church, 41 Central Street in Andover. The public is invited for a charge of $20, which includes refreshments and lunch. Liz Barbour of Liz Barbour’s Creative Feast (http://www.thecreativefeast.com/) will take attendees on a visual tour of her cottage-sized gardens to show how every inch can be used to maximize beauty and bounty with herbs, edible flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
Following the slide presentation on edible landscaping, Barbour will prepare luncheon dishes featuring fresh, healthy ingredients. Recipes will be provided.
Barbour has been cooking professionally in the Boston area since 1992 and started Liz Barbour’s Creative Feast in 2004. Having built her cooking career in a variety of restaurant and catering settings, she now serves as an instructor, sharing her professional experiences and knowledge through cooking demonstration classes, in-home cooking parties, and boutique-style private catering. Her cooking demonstrations and recipes have been featured on New Hampshire Chronicle, and she appears regularly on WMUR Channel 9’s Cooks Corner. Her recipes are featured in various publications, including New Hampshire Magazine and the Nashua Telegraph.
Event begins with refreshments and social time, followed by business meeting, program, and lunch. Reservations must be made by April 19 by calling 978-475-7119, or emailing pianopasta@comcast.net.
The Andover Garden Club will hold a meeting, open to the public, on Tuesday, April 3, beginning at 10 am at South Church, 41 Central Street in Andover. A $5 suggested donation is requested. Garden designer, writer, and lecturer Donna Lane, speaking on Creating Lush Containers, will demonstrate how to create lush container gardens that will be the envy of the neighborhood. She will discuss color, texture, form, mass, and scale; how to select plants; the best soil for planters; which plants are best suited to containers; professional secrets; and use of accessories.
Founded in 1927, the Andover Garden Club is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that encourages the study and practice of horticulture, landscape design, and floral design; aids in the beautification of the town of Andover; and helps protect and conserve natural resources. For more information telephone 978-475-7119.
A few years ago, The Garden Club of the Back Bay welcomed acclaimed performer Jessa Piaia, who took attendees back to 1910 with her dramatic portrayal of Isabella Stewart Gardner, America’s first patroness of the arts, and lover of plant material. For those who missed the meeting, you’ll have another chance on Tuesday, March 6, from 10 – noon at South Church, 41 Central Street in Andover. The Andover Garden Club is sponsoring the program, and a $5 guest charge includes refreshments. Piaia studied performance at London’s Oval House Theatre and graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. An employee of Harvard University, she conducts most of her historical research at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe Institute, which specializes in the history of women in America.
Founded in 1927, the Andover Garden Club is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that encourages the study and practice of horticulture, landscape design, and floral design; aids in the beautification of the town of Andover; and helps protect and conserve natural resources. A member of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc., and National Garden Clubs, Inc., the club provides both financial and hands-on support to a variety of municipal, educational, and environmental organizations throughout the region. To reserve, please call 978-475-7119.
Enjoy a totally new experience in the combined arts of floral design and music. Priscilla Styer, floral design instructor and winning designer at the Boston Flower & Garden Show will be accompanied on the piano by Linda Paulet as Priscilla demonstrates her floral designs, providing a treat to both the senses and the spirit. The program is presented by the Andover Garden Club and will take place Tuesday, December 6 from 10 am – noon at South Church, 41 Central Street in Andover. No charge for Andover Garden Club members, $5 for guests. Refreshments will be served. For more information call 978-470-2627, or email bettychapman@verizon.net.
Lynette Tsiang, a landscape designer who uses Asian design principles and plants to create New England gardens with echoes of the Far East, will present a slideshow presentation on Tuesday, March 2, beginning at 10 am at South Church, 41 Central Street in Andover, MA, featuring six unique garden areas of China. Attendees will vicariously visit the vernacular landscape of Jingxi (1130), considered a Chinese Venice, and will also examine six classical scholar gardens located in Suzhou. Design techniques unique to Chinese gardens will be discussed.
A graduate of the Landscape Institute of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Lynette Tsiang is a residential landscape designer who operates Lynette Tsiang Landscape Design in Lexington. She specializes in designing Asian-style, shade, and water gardens, and also designs public and memorial gardens. She is a member of The New England Landscape Design & the Community Outreach Group for Landscape Design (COGdesign).
This program is sponsored by the Andover Garden Club, and is free to Andover Garden Club members, and $5 for public admission. For more information, you may call 978-470-2627, or email bettychapman@verizon.net. Directions to South Church may be found at www.southchurch.com.
