As report by by John McKenna | Jun 19, 2021 | The Litchfield Garden Club held its first in-person monthly meeting in 15 months on Thursday.
Club members gathered in the Tapping Reeve Meadow behind the Litchfield Law School for their meeting and for a presentation by writer, photographer and organic farmer Matthew Benson, who operates an organic farm in New York’s Hudson Valley and is the author of “Life in the Garden.”

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As reported BY JOHN MCKENNA, LitchfieldBZ April 22, 2021: LITCHFIELD — Cold, wind and snow flurries didn’t stop the Litchfield Garden Club from recognizing Earth Day on Thursday.

The club marked its partnership with the Litchfield Historical Society by dedicating the four crabapple trees it planted in the meadow at the Tapping Reeve House and Law School. The planting effort was led by the club’s conservation committee and its chairman, Grace Yagtug.

The meadow, used as an educational tool by the historical society, has become one of the focal points of the garden club’s town-wide beautification effort.
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Historical Society Executive Director Cathy Fields thanked the garden club for its contribution and said the historical society looks forward to a future of collaboration with the club.  Read more

Litchfield Garden Club held two years’ worth of Earth Day celebrations Thursday in the meadow at Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School.
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Last year’s celebration, designed to be the final event in a year of activities the club sponsored to raise awareness about the importance of being good to the Earth, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The club, however, remained determined to carry out its plan.

On an unseasonably cold morning with a snow squall passing through, club members gathered in the meadow to dedicate four crabapple trees planted in recognition of Earth Day. One was planted to mark 2020’s canceled event, a second was planted for this year, a third honors garden club supporters who died in the past year and a fourth was planted in tribute to first responders who have served dutifully during the pandemic.

Cathy Fields, executive director of Litchfield Historical Society, which owns and maintains the meadow, thanked the club for its work to beautify the property. “We truly value the work of the garden club and we admire your mission because it aligns with ours,” Fields said. “The meadow is a place we can all come together and I’m thrilled that you have such a strong interest in it.”

​The planting project was headed by the club’s conservation committee and its chairwoman, Grace Yagtug. She and other committee members picked up shovels and applied dirt around the bases of the recently planted trees.

As reported by Litchfield.bz, 1/31/21: Sylvia Abbott joined the Litchfield Garden Club 48 years ago to share her interest in gardening and horticulture and be part of an organization that has done so much to enhance the beauty of Litchfield.

Winning awards for pursuing her hobby was about the last thing Abbott was thinking about at the time.

“This is work I’ve loved doing, so I’ve never looked for recognition,” she said Saturday.

Through the nearly five decades of her tenure with the Litchfield Garden Club, however, awards have come Abbott’s way. The latest was the Katharine Thomas Cary Medal from the Garden Club of America. The medal was one of several national medals the GCA has awarded for 2021 to honor GCA members for distinguished achievements.  Read the full article

Matha Tuttle, long time member of the LGC, reports that to protect windswept wetland, tall oaks, and an active herring run, the Tuttle family donated their 7-acre Oak Island Bog to the Harwich Conservation Trust this May after their family stewarded the land for 132 years. LGC is proud to showcase the Tuttle family donation of the estuary and salt marsh, which flows from Skinequit Pond into Nantucket Sound on Cape Cod. It includes an important run and spawning ground for herring each spring as well as being a feeding and nesting site for innumerable shore birds. Read more from the HCT.  Learn more about the history of the property and the Tuttle family.

As reported by John McKenna, Litchfield.bz | Jun 19, 2020 | News: For decades, members of The Litchfield Garden Club have placed seasonal plantings in Litchfield’s three over-sized concrete planters.
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In late May, the club’s projects and civic beautification committee co-chaired by Lynne Sherman and Dale Ryan began filling the containers. The urn at the intersection of Norfolk Road and North Street boasts an Alberta spruce spiral as its focal point surrounded by hidcote lavender and multi-color trailing nasturtiums. The planter on the corner of Meadow Street and West Street contains a mini Alberta spruce, victory purple vinca and portulacas in sundial white. Read the full article.

As reported by the Republican American, March 16, 2020. The Litchfield Garden Club sponsored an Open Conservation Meeting on Thursday March 12, 2020 at 12:00 noon at the Litchfield Community Center. The speaker was Megan Parker, co-Founder and Director of Research for Working Dogs for Conservation, the world’s leading conservation detection dog organization. The title of the presentation was New Frontiers for Conservation Detection Dogs. The event was free and open to the public.

Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C) has traveled to five different continents to consult, collaborate, and build capacity to make conservation happen. WD4C’s trained dogs have found Chinese bush clover in Iowa, yellow star thistle in Colorado, rosy wolf snails in Hawaii, and brown tree snakes in Guam. Their dogs have become an invaluable tool for protecting pristine habitats and eradicating invasive species.
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As reported by Happening in the Hills, March 12, 2020. The Litchfield Garden Club will sponsor an Open Conservation Meeting on Thursday March 12, 2020 at 12:00 noon at the Litchfield Community Center. The speaker will be Megan Parker, co-Founder and Director of Research for Working Dogs for Conservation, the world’s leading conservation detection dog organization.
Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C) has traveled to five different continents to consult, collaborate, and build capacity to make conservation happen. WD4C’s trained dogs have found Chinese bush clover in Iowa, yellow star thistle in Colorado, rosy wolf snails in Hawaii, and brown tree snakes in Guam. Their dogs have become an invaluable tool for protecting pristine habitats and eradicating invasive species.
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Standing L-R: Meredith Penfield, Nan Skeie, Annie Borzilleri (LGC President), Sara Gault and Rose Brooks. Contributed/Litchfield Garden Club

As reported - Republican American, March 5, 2020. The 39th annual Connecticut Flower & Garden Show was recently held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The show is one of the largest and most prestigious flower shows in all of New England with over 300 booths overflowing with fresh flowers, plants, herbs, bulbs, seeds, gardening books and garden equipment.
 
The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut (FGCCT) presented a National Garden Club Standard Flower Show. The booth covered over 12,000 square feet of “Spring into Connecticut” design, horticulture, botanical arts and photography classes with more than 500 entries from garden club members across the state. The Litchfield Garden Club (LGC) was well represented with eight members entered in the design, horticulture and photography classes. Read more