As reported by John McKenna of Litchfield.bz. Litchfield Garden Club President Sara Gault, right, and Marie Kennedy, chairman of the club's conservation committee, with guest speaker Trevor Smith. The Litchfield Garden Club welcomed Trevor Smith, design and education manager at Weston Nurseries in Weston, Mass., as its guest speaker Thursday at the Litchfield Community Center. Read more

As reported by John McKenna of the Republican-American. A lively presentation on spring planting ushered in the new season for the Litchfield Garden Club on March 21, 2024.

The club’s guest presenter was celebrity gardener Kent Russell, who is known nationally as the Garden Guru and as making his second appearance in Litchfield. Russell drew a large crowd to the Litchfield Community Center than included not only the members of the Litchfield Garden Club but also representatives of several other garden clubs in the area.

After an introduction by Litchfield Garden Club President Sara Gault, the energetic and quick-witted Russell dove into ideas for spring container planting using early spring perennials he brought with him and sold after the presentation.

The garden club is gearing up for its next event that is open to the public, an April 18 presentation on the importance and benefits of native plants by horticulturist Trevor Smith. It will be held at the community center at 2 p.m. 

Smith is a landscape designer who focuses on gardening in New England using ecologically-sound practices. 

​Since the earliest times, flowers have lifted the human spirit with their delicate fragrances, infinite color palette, and ability to decorate and sustain life. This spring, their allure and versatility will take the spotlight at the Litchfield flower show, which will commemorate not only the beauty of blooms, but the Litchfield Garden Club’s 110th anniversary. 

From striking Delphinium to elegant irises and roses, the show entitled “A Tapestry of Nature” will live up to its name, capturing the forms, colors, textures, and patterns woven to create nature’s tapestry. 

Sponsored by The Garden Club of America, it will feature exhibits categorized in three divisions: floral design, horticulture, and photography and conservation. Each will capture passion and expertise, inspiring visitors by displaying standards of artistic and horticulture excellence and broadening knowledge of horticulture.

Using fresh and dried materials, floral designs will reflect inspiration drawn from paintings by artists influenced by nature—such as Georgia O’Keefe and John Singer Sargent—and natural wonders like bird migration, forest bathing, climate zones, and even nature’s “tiny gems”: ladybugs, grasshoppers, and monarch butterflies.

“Gardening brings such pleasure and joy, and the flower show will be both empowering and inspiring, helping visitors see what they can create with plant materials growing in their own gardens,” notes Drew Harlow, a LGC member serving on the flower show committee.

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As reported in the in the Republican American by Karen Montini | March 18, 2022 | The Litchfield Garden Club held its membership meeting at the Litchfield Community Center recently where award winning floral artist Claire Won Kang gave a live floral design presentation.
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Throughout her career as a floral artist, Claire Won Kang has achieved the highest accolades in her endless pursuit of artistic expression. Her last thirty years are marked by exceptional and lasting contributions to the floral design industry. Claire signed copies of her book, Wonness, stunningly illustrated with breathtaking photographs of her creations that “…reflect a way of approaching our lives as a symphony of colors, textures, shapes and stories that express our infinite sense of wonder, possibilities and oneness.” Clair, who emigrated from Korea, donated her speaker fee and proceeds from her book sales to help the Ukrainian war effort.

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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