Better Building for Native Bees
Do bees need nurseries? Little bee houses? Cute hotels? The answer is yes.

You may have noticed them popping up in parks—a small structure that looks a bit like one of those little outdoor libraries. The shelves, however, are not filled with books. Rather, there are stacks of small hollow sticks—a bee nursery. Do bees need nurseries? Little bee houses? Cute hotels? The answer is yes.

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Litchfield Garden Club Celebrates Earth Day
A Tree-Planting Ceremony

The Litchfield Garden Club, Litchfield, CT, has a long history with Earth Day, an annual international event held on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. LGC celebrated the inaugural event in 1970 by planting a tree on North Street. Since that date, LGC members have organized various Earth Day events every year. One long-time member organized the first Earth Day parade in Litchfield and continues to show her passion for Earth Day by organizing various ceremonies and activities each year.

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Butterfly Survey
Planting Native Plants, Trees, and Shrubs

Since the spring of 2020, The Planters, a GCA member club in Bryn Mawr, PA, has worked with Stoneleigh Natural Garden on a butterfly survey. Results from the ongoing survey will help the garden planners have a better understanding about which native plants attract which species of butterflies and where best to plant the natives in the garden.

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Adopt-A-Spot Garden Flourishes Again
Historic Cemetery Now Helps Support Pollinators

Piscataqua Garden Club recently kicked off year two of its Adopt-A-Spot garden in Portsmouth, NH, by installing pollinator-friendly plants. Adopt-A-Spot is a city-wide volunteer program designed to create and maintain small gardens in public areas. Last year, in collaboration with the city’s arborists, PGC’s conservation and civic development committees worked together to design and care for a little garden in an overlooked area at the entrance to the historic Old North Cemetery. This year the spot will include food sources for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects, becoming part of an official Pollinator Pathway.

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GCA Scholar Thaisa Way
Designing for Diversity and Paying it Forward

In 2015, Dr. Thaisa Way received The Garden Club of America’s (GCA) prestigious Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture for her project entitled, “Drawing Histories of Landscape Architecture.” She is now paying it forward as the Resident Program Director for Garden and Landscape Studies (GLS) at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC, where her responsibilities include leading the residential fellowship program. Part of the program involves leading a Mellon Urban Humanities Initiative titled "Democracy and the Urban Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference," which brings young scholars from multiple disciplines together to explore how urban environments have emerged as we know them today, how we might reimagine them in the future, and what role landscape design might play.

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Garden Guild of Winnetka Maintains Butterfly Habitat
Educating and Demonstrating How to Conserve Butterflies.

It‘s no secret that pollinator numbers are in significant decline. One of the main contributors for this drop is habitat loss. In an effort to combat this growing problem, the Garden Guild of Winnetka, Winnetka, Illinois, established the Butterfly Garden in 1998 to help educate and demonstrate how to conserve butterflies. In 2018, GGW collaborated with the Winnetka Park District to redesign and refresh the 1,700 square foot garden located in Dwyer Park. The result is not only a beautiful landmark in the community, but also a crucial habitat for butterflies and bees.

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New Garden Honors Local Heroes
A New Garden Surrounding the Quiambaug Fire Company Sign

In early June, a group of new members from the Stonington Garden Club (SGC) gathered at the Quiambaug Fire and Rescue Department in Mystic, CT, to plant a new garden surrounding the Quiambaug Fire Company sign and memorial dedicated to all members of the fire department, past, present, and future. The new garden is the perfect way to thank the fire department for their continued support during the club’s triennial Gardens by the Sea tour, which will be held June 10-11, 2022.

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