News 2016

Our policy is to cancel Hudson Garden Club events if weather conditions dictate the cancellation of Hudson Public Schools. We also post cancellation notices on our Facebook page. Tonight’s December general meeting is cancelled due to the weather.

Members Connie Chakford, Barb Earnhardt, Kathy Foley, Mary Gallo, Nancy Ginsberg, and Ginny Kelleher decorated HGC’s 10 foot frasier fir for the Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Holiday event, GLOW, using dried botanical, hand-crafted, and donated materials. In addition to the members noted above, Faye Duber, Lois James, Nancy Kolodgy, and Carole Smith helped create the various stars we made to compliment the theme “Sparkle.” Origami and Polish stars were made from metallic wrapping papers, Sputnik stars were made from sweetgum seed pods and toothpicks (and spray paint), and natural stars were made from 2 types of Alliums (donated by Martha Cailor). The giant Allium Schubertii generated many questions from other garden clubs who were decorating at the same time! We suggest a visit to the CBG to enjoy all the (nearly 40) creative trees, masses of live seasonal flowers, gingerbread houses, live music, outdoor lights, holiday shopping, and perhaps a train ride on the Garden Express! GLOW will be open to the public thru Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016 during regular CBG visiting hours. For details and admission pricing, visit cbgarden.org. Our decorating group is pictured with Kevin Borowiak, Affiliate Council coordinator for the GLOW Christmas trees

Using live and dry materials, members Alice Caniglia, Faye Duber, Barb Earnhardt, Ann Ingling, and Carol Lasko beautified the historic farmhouse for the Holiday House event and the season. Case Barlow Farm and Hudson Heritage Association representatives were pleased and thankful for our Club’s support of their event, and we did receive publicity in the Akron Beacon Journal and Hub. A wonderful variety of material – grapevine, red twig, holly, white birch and pine branches, dried flowers, fruit and seed heads, and pinecones – were given and arranged on the back porch and side porch of the farmhouse. Daniela Baloi’s purple beauty berries branches, once stripped off leaves, became a garland on a potted spruce tree. Grapevine was wrapped around the porch posts and railing. A child’s potty chair was decorated with holly and placed near the public restroom doorway. Crocks and barrels belonging to CBF were filled with red twig dogwood, dried limelight hydrangeas, pine branches, tall sedum seed heads. A wreath was hung on the back door and a swag graced the side door’s porch. A hanging basket was filled with greenery and hung on coat pegs in the house.

More than 75 dahlias were used in our club’s entry in the Fall edition of Inspiration in Bloom at Stan Hywet Hall on October 6-9 during Ohio Mart. Three flower arrangements graced the dining rooms tables, and another large design in a silver champagne bucket was placed on the buffet. Designers Fern MacMillan, Jane Harrison, and Barb Earnhardt vied with local area florists for the People’s Choice award. Julie Frey, Director of Museum Services/Curator at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, said thousands of visitors to the Manor House placed ballots, and although HGC’s designs did not win the top spot, we did place within the top three. In addition to the luminous dahlias from friends Mark and Brenda Depew (hosts of our Garden Gathering a few years ago) and Paul and Mary Ellen Ryerson, we gathered other plant material from our gardens. The other designers at Inspiration in Bloom order their material from wholesalers. We use as much of our own gathered material as possible, just as we do for our Home & Garden Tour. This time we gathered purple Beautyberry branches, sword ferns, castor beans flowers, zinnias, pachysandra, clematis paniculata tendrils, crabapple branches and bittersweet. We did use a few apples and pears and one annual called Alternanthera ‘Brazilian Red Hots’ because of its purple stems and leaves Thanks to member Judy Maupin for sharing a 3” castor bean sprout which grew into a 7 foot tall tropical wonder and produced the most interesting and bright flower heads! We used these in the sideboard design..

Our page on Facebook is now titled The Hudson Garden Club – Ohio. There are quite a few Hudson Garden Clubs, so we wanted to make sure people knew which one they were reading about. Like our page to be notified of new posts there and to spread the word about our club. We welcome your input on our social media efforts.

One of the benefits of being a dues-paying member is our monthly newsletter. Read this month’s issue and learn about our many upcoming activities. We welcome new members year-round and our meetings are free and open to the public. We encourage you to come join us!

Members Jackie and Al Seremak welcomed the club to their Northfield Center garden in May. They have been tending and adding to their lush, cottage style garden for 40 years. It is a patchwork of trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, groundcovers, and vegetable plots connected by winding paths. A pond is a focal point and is home to minks and ducks. A variety of country style structures, hardscaping and specimen trees keep the garden interesting even during the winter months. Refreshments and a guided tour made for a delightful morning.!

This fundraiser is held following the Hudson Home and Garden Tour. This year, Tracy and Tom Corpus and their family were our gracious hosts and shared their lovely home and grounds. Guests enjoyed delicious hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer, and a wine pull event. Catering was provided by Nosh Eatery, with beverages by Colonial Wine & Beverage. Valet parking was provided by Great Lakes Valet. Floral arrangements were provided by the Hudson Garden Club. Many thanks to Lois James and Karen Kelly for organizing a successful event!

Starting May 26, advance tickets that include the complete program and map are available for purchase at Hudson’s Acme Fresh Market and Learned Owl Bookshop. The price, $20, is a $5 savings over tickets purchased on Tour days. Ticket sales are by check or cash only. Advance tickets will be available through June 15.

Four students were awarded scholarships this year. They were introduced to the club members at a reception in their honor. The local newspaper covered the event. Click here for the photo and article.

The April gathering of the garden club’s Herb Group was a crafting session to make herbal eye masks. Chair Sherry Beam gathered the materials needed. Nancy Kolodgy did the cutting of the fabric and machine sewed it beforehand. The group then filled them with a mixture of lavender and flax seed and sewed the small opening closed by hand. Herbal eye masks are used to help induce deep relaxation. All club members are welcome to attend Herb Group events. Contact Sherry Beam for more info.

We chose the dining room of the Manor House for this event. Our designs featured verdigris birdcages from Gayle Kadlec, curly willow from Jane Harrison, hellebore from Carole Smith, daffodils and pachysandra from local gardens. Using a supply of roses, carnations, snapdragons, asters, and gerberas in spring colors, Fern MacMillan, Jane Harrison, and Barb Earnhardt created seven arrangements. Gayle Kadlec made napkins folded into a rose for each place setting to compliment the design and add a pretty finishing touch. Our club and other participants are listed on the Stan Hywet website, www.stanhywet.org. There is also a direct link to our own website, a nice bonus for HGC! We hope our participation in Inspiration in Bloom encourages people to attend our Home and Garden Tour where there are wonderfully creative floral designs in addition to homes and gardens to enjoy.