I've belonged to the New Paltz Garden Club for several years now and it is a really wonderful group. We do a lot of civic gardening including the lovely seasonal planters at the Thruway Exit 18 tollbooths, the garden behind the bench at Main & Chestnut, a perennial garden on Huguenot Street & another garden outside Deyo Hall. We work in teams to do all the planting, watering and weeding of those gardens. It's a lot of organizing and work but it really helps brighten New Paltz. We have meetings, lectures, garden tours, swaps (I organize that!) and some more traditional garden club events like a "Table Carousel" which is a kind of table decoration tea party fundraising event. This fall we hosted a judged district standard flower show. Our club has several dozen members with a wide variety of gardening knowledge, skills and styles. We have organic gardeners, master gardeners, rank amateurs such as myself, and some incredibly creative artists in our group. One of our members, Barbara Campbell, has been president of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State for the past two years. Anyone is welcome to attend our meetings, they are usually listed in the paper's Almanac section and we get great speakers and have interesting programs. We are 99% female (landscaper and all-around good guy Mark Masseo is our sole male member at this point in time - he really helps us when we need some heavy lifting or equipment!) but all are welcome to attend. And did I mention we have killer homebaked desserts at the end of every meeting. : ) If you are interested in learning more about New Paltz Garden Club drop me an email or leave a message at (845) 255-7800. Celeste Cleary

Sorry I didn't post this earlier in the season, but the Garden Conservancy still has a few New Jersey "Open Days" scheduled - June 13/Bergen County, July 6/Union County, July 13/Bergen County, and Sept. 6/Essex County. You do NOT have to be a member to attend these "Open Days" - admission is a standard $5. per garden, payable as you enter. Check out the complete listings on their website (below), and if you're not afraid to cross state lines, I highly recommend any of the gardens in New York's Hudson Valley (Westchester, Putnam, Duchess and Columbia) - also, the gardens in Litchfield County, Connecticut (many of these are well-known designers personal gardens) - and while you're there include a visit to White Flower Farm, an amazing garden unto itself! Carl Here is a link that might be useful: Open Days Program of The Garden Conservancy

Plymouth Area Garden Tour 2014 report: this was sponsored by the Plymouth Area Democrats Campaign Office Fund. My husband and I decided that we would see all 8 gardens before having a late lunch in Moultonborough so we started with the Rumney area gardens, then one in Plymouth and then 3 in Holderness. I should have gotten clear directions to the Rumney area since driving directions were based on starting at a different point. Fortunately, my husband was somewhat familiar with the area and guessed better than I did. Gardens were mostly homeowner planned, planted and maintained but one was professionally done and included an impressive slope (facing the house) and also wonderful stonework that replaced a scraggly lawn area due to shade. Another garden had over 350 labeled day lilies. Another dealt with a very steep lot and experience with zone 5-6 plants that didn't survive the first winter in zone 3/maybe 4. Another steep, hilly garden provided walking sticks and had whimsical treatments throughout planting areas including a shed with a hanging bed. This gardener successfully grew a blue lace cap hydrangea usually not hardy in that area, against the foundation of the house/sunroom. Actually, steep slopes/hillside gardens seemed to be the theme this year and all were well done. My husband was intrigued by a large area of exposed ledge that had planting areas terraced by rocks. A lot of gardens had maidenhair ferns which I don't remember seeing so much of. I much admired the gardener who ended up with a sunny, long roadside border that was thriving. She said lots of bark mulch kept weeds down. The gardener who had to learn what shrubs and perennials would survive in his area (formerly gardened on coast of Maine) recommended a Sandwich Nursery that only sells plants hardy for that area. I remember on a tour several years ago visiting this nursery and meeting a gardener who said she had 22 fewer growing days than at her former home in Nashua. I would do this tour again. It is held every two years so next date is July 16, 2016.

Thanks to all who came out to see the gardens on our tour today. It seems we had a real good turnout. It started out cool and warmed up by the afternoon - a real nice day to look at gardens.