President’s Project

During my term, April 2021- to April, 2023, our Federation will have a Theme, but, no, will not have a President’s Project. We’re all dizzy from pivoting, reacting to ash borers, microbursts and vaccines.

Granted, by the time you read this, the “rules” will have changed multiple times. I feel as though I’m finally freed from being grounded. No, I do not mean “grounded” in either gardening or electrical varieties, but as though I were an errant teenager.

We’ve been itching to get outside, as much as we’ve wanted to get into our gardens.

The same urge is true for so many who are not members of garden clubs – yet. Some discovered their patios or front stoops or back yards thanks to the pandemic. Others moved here within the same time, and want to plant wisely. Throughout Social Media, they post gardening questions.

They look to us, their neighbors, for answers.

We have an opportunity and an obligation to assist them.

These garden newbies are the future members of our clubs, and offer hope for the future, indeed, of our planet. As Doug Tallamy says, “Garden as if your life depends on it.”

Will these newbies purchase and plant invasives, or, in their ignorance, use herbicides and insecticides indiscriminately?

Our Theme for the next two years will be

We Grow Gardens & Gardeners

Be their guides. Think before you snap an answer. Use the life lesson our judges use. Make your first comment positive. Make your suggestions constructive. Save the vinegar for the weeds on the driveway.

Please take photographs of your club’s activities. Forward them to Kelle Ruden, social@ctgardenclub.org, to share on Social Media and with Shelley Hedberg, techadmin1@ctgardenclubs.org, to post in the Club Corner. I celebrate you and what you do. I encourage you to learn and grow and to share what you learn and grow.