The Olde Ripton Garden Club welcomes spring with a film from Martha Stewart at their next meeting on April 1.  The Club will be showing a film with topics including early spring fertilizer, dividing hellebores, new herb gardens, planting primroses and arranging seasonal alliums and tulips.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will show “Martha’s Spring Gardening” on Monday, April 1 at Plumb Memorial Library, 10 am in the Community Room (downstairs), 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  Members are free; visitor fee is $5 and refreshments will be served.

The Club will also host a talk by horticulture chair Joyce Fedorko on projects for April in the Garden.  Members will display flowers and arrangements from their homes and gardens of the season.

A member drive is currently underway for the Club and new members are encouraged to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener! Projects include working on community gardens around town, holiday decorating at public buildings in Shelton, a garden therapy program with seniors, and youth gardening in Shelton schools.

Annual dues for membership are $35 for monthly meetings (except January & February). Meetings include speakers, a light lunch, great conversation and friendly activities.   Interested parties are invited to attend this meeting to see if they want to join.  Like Us on Facebook at:  facebook.com/SheltonORGC.

We kicked off our 2019 membership year with a presentation from member Renee Marsh on xeriscaping:  landscaping and gardening that reduces the need for supplemental water.  It’s an important topic to start the gardening season, as changes made now can have a big impact as we head into the drier, hotter months of summer. Continue reading →

IMPORTANT NOTICE: MONDAY, MARCH 4TH MEETING OF THE OLDE RIPTON GARDEN CLUB HAS BEEN MOVED TO TUESDAY, MARCH 5 DUE TO PENDING SNOWSTORM.  The rescheduled meeting will be at the Plumb Memorial Library at 10 am.  Hope to see you there.

Gardeners and Volunteers Wanted

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will launch its 2019 gardening season at its first meeting of the calendar year.  Area gardeners and enthusiasts are asked to consider joining the Club and assist with its mission of beautifying streets, highways and grounds around public buildings in Shelton. The Club provides education and knowledge of horticulture and preservation of the environment. 

Area residents can join no matter what level of gardening they are at – from beginner to master gardener! Projects include working on community gardens around town, holiday decorating at public buildings in Shelton, a garden therapy program with seniors, and youth gardening in Shelton schools.  Getting involved with activities of the Club is a good way to get to know neighbors and be active in projects related to gardening, house plants, horticulture classes, trips, landscape design, and programs focusing on pollinators, birds and conservation.

Meetings include speakers, a light lunch, great conversation and friendly activities.   Interested parties are invited to attend a meeting to see if they want to join.

The first meeting will be held on Monday, March 4^th at Plumb Memorial Library, 10 am in the Community Room (downstairs), 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  A nominal visitor fee of $5 is requested and helps defray costs of program, lunch, and refreshments.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club is a non-profit organization.  For more information visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SheltonORGC and Like Us on our page.

Rich with history, symbolism, and aesthetic beauty, the wreath is a favorite decoration year-round.  The beginning of December welcomes boughs of fir, spruce, and holly to the wreath form — since ancient times, evergreens have served as symbols of life and strength against the bitter cold, snow, and ice. 

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Each holiday season, The Museum is transformed into a holiday showcase by area garden clubs. Experience the unique beauty created by 10 talented garden clubs with gorgeous decorations created for this year’s theme: “Storybook Holiday”. The Olde Ripton Garden Club and their decorating committee present “Jack and the Beanstalk”. You will not believe the magical vision created by our group!

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will offer a demonstration of how to make seasonal Door Swags and Table Centerpieces at their Nov. 5^th meeting at 10 a.m..

Rob Flader of Benedicts Home and Garden in Monroe heads up their design center and will be on deck for the program.  Rob studied Public Health and Environmental Science at Southern CT University and is an accredited Nursery Professional by the CT Nursery and Landscape Association. 

The program will be held at the Plumb Library, 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  The event is open to the public and non-members are asked to pay a $5.00 visitor fee which covers the program, lunch, and refreshments.

The Club invites perspective new members to its meeting if they are interested in assisting the Club with its mission of beautifying streets, highways and grounds around public buildings in Shelton. Area residents are encouraged to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener — to learn about all facets of horticulture and preservation of the environment.

Annual dues for those who want to join will be $35.oo.  A brief business meeting, horticulture discussion and displays and refreshments will be served in addition to the speaker program.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club is a non-profit organization.

At our September 10, 2018 meeting, the featured speaker was Barb Scala, Certified Master Gardner.  She is a regular contributor on Good Morning CT, providing recipes and lifestyle tips.  Her presentation, Garden to Table — Edible Gardens & More, covered the top 10 healthiest, nutrient-dense edibles to grow. Continue reading →

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will present a program titled “What’s Up with Fall” which will explore topics such as what makes for the ideal fall foliage season, what happens to all those fallen leaves, why there are so many acorns one year and none the next, what garden plants have the best fall colors and much more.

Margery Winter will present a free public program called “What’s Up with Fall”, on  Oct. 1 in Shelton. 

Margery Winters, Assistant Director at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton will be presenting on October 1 at 10 am at the Olde Ripton Garden Club meeting. Margery is a Master Landscape Design Consultant and serves as Chairman on Simsbury Inland Wetland/Conservation commission and is vice president of the Simsbury Land Trust.

The program will be held at the Plumb Library, 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  The event is open to the public and non-members are asked to pay a $5.00 visitor fee which covers the program, lunch, and refreshments.

The Club invites perspective new members to its meeting if they are interested in assisting the Club with its mission of beautifying streets, highways and grounds around public buildings in Shelton. Area residents are encouraged to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener — to learn about all facets of horticulture and preservation of the environment.

Annual dues for those who want to join will be $35.oo.  A brief business meeting, horticulture discussion and displays and refreshments will be served in addition to the speaker program.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club is a non-profit organization. For more information visit www.olderiptongardenclub.org or Like Us on Facebook at:  facebook.com/SheltonORGC.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will hold a Spring Bulb Fundraiser on Saturday, October 13 at 2 pm at the Congregational Church on the Green in Huntington.  All proceeds support the Clubs projects in the community of Shelton. 

Top quality bulbs, shipped direct from the Netherlands at attractive pricing will be available.  Christopher Harley, of Colorblends in Bridgeport will also be giving a lecture on planting, design and caring for your spring bulbs.  Colorblends brings decades of experience to the event and they have been suppliers to the trade for more than 50 years.  Mr. Harley will answer questions attendees may have regarding spring bulbs and their care. There will be a $5.00 pp admission that is applicable to the purchase of bulbs that day.

For more information or for updates check with the Olde Ripton Garden Club Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/SheltonORGC.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will present a program on Garden Edibles that will cover the 10 top healthiest nutrient dense edibles to grow, edible flowers and weeds, edible landscaping and organic gardens.

Barb Scala, Certified Master Gardener, takes a refreshing approach to living and eating well. Her talk centers on how to take control of our total well-being and create a balanced life focusing on fresh and healthy foods.  She is a regular contributor on Good Morning CT providing recipes and lifestyle tips.

The program will be held on September 10th at 10 am at the Plumb Library, 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  The event is open to the public and non-members are asked to pay a $5.00 visitor fee which covers the program, lunch, and refreshments.

The Club will also launch its 2018-2019 membership drive at this meeting. Members assist the Club with its mission of beautifying streets, highways and grounds around public buildings in Shelton. Residents are encouraged to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener — to learn about all facets of horticulture and preservation of the environment.

Annual dues for those who want to join will be $35.00.  The Olde Ripton Garden Club is a non-profit organization. For more information visit www.olderiptongardenclub.org or Like Us on Facebook at:  facebook.com/SheltonORGC.

Photo Credit: Linda Tura

The Olde Ripton Garden Club’s summer meetings focused primarily on civic and business topics, but we still took advantage of the peak growing season to share the color and beauty through horticulture displays. Continue reading →

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will be presenting an important program at their next meeting on limiting exposure to toxins around your home & garden.  Gary Ginsberg, a toxicologist at Yale & UConn will be presenting.  He is also the co-author of “What’s Toxic, What’s Not”.  

Toxics chemicals exist in many consumer items and this program describes the most important steps to decreasing exposure to risky chemicals and contaminants such as mold and radon. This will be a highly interactive presentation in which all your questions will be answered.

The Olde Ripton Garden Club will present this program at their Monday, August 6 meeting.  The program is open to the public and will be held at Plumb Memorial Library at 10 am in the Community Room (downstairs), 65 Wooster Street, Shelton.  Visitor fee is $5 and includes lunch.

A member drive is currently underway for the Club.  The Olde Ripton Garden Club is open for new members to join at any level of gardening – from beginner to master gardener! Projects include working on community gardens around town, holiday decorating at public buildings in Shelton, a garden therapy program with seniors, and youth gardening in Shelton schools.  Annual dues for membership will be collected in September and are $35 for the year. (no meeting January & February). Meetings include speakers, a light lunch, great conversation and friendly activities.   Interested parties are invited to attend a meeting to see if they want to join.  For more information visit www.olderiptongardenclub.org.