It is officially Spring & we have some good weather this week to start working in our gardens with at least some clean-up. As Deb R. noted in the March Newsletter, with a link now on the SGC blog, Membership dues are due by April 1st. The Membership form was included in the Newsletter and is also available by link on the SGC blog. Also coming up is the Bemis Workshop that has been added on April 29th. Please send in check and form by April 23rd per the email.
Back to gardening, here’s a photo of one of my Hellebores that has started to bloom! It will get “cleaned up” tomorrow but wanted to share this pleasant surprise with you even if it’s a little messy. Previous years, a lot of my plants would get a clean-up in the Fall but much recent gardening thinking, that I have adopted, leans to leaving garden beds in a more natural state so that the various good bugs and other good critters have a place to overwinter. Hence, many gardens may start spring with a lot “left over” from the prior year and, in terms of protecting the good critters, a slower clean-up can be a good thing. (Also, it can be a good excuse if you just didn’t get to it!)
Finally, here are some familiar and perhaps not-so-familiar gardening resources that offer lectures, classes, and other wonderful garden-related enjoyment that I have found useful/reliable for your consideration:
Grow Native Massachusetts (GNM) is offering some free online lectures, Evenings with the Experts, this spring. GNM’s President presented a wonderful program a few years ago to SGC and there is much interest in native plants these days.
The Native Plant Trust (Garden in the Woods) offers many classes at its Framingham location this spring. www.nativeplanttrust.org
Tower Hill Botanic Garden is well-known to many of us for its classes and other educational offerings as well as its beautiful gardens in Boylston. Check out their website for their current offerings.
Some additional resources will be shared on SGC’s Facebook page over the next week or so.
Enjoy your gardening,
Sharon
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