CHAPPAQUA
gARDEN CLUB

“Oh! It’s so beautiful!”  “Thank you so much for doing this!”  “What’s the name of that plant? Could I have it in my garden?”  These are some of the comments and questions that we hear from passersby on Thursday mornings when we work each week in the Pocket Park. What has the Park come to mean to Chappaqua?  It’s a place where early in the morning an Asian woman faces the garden to meditate while, in a corner, another woman is eating her breakfast and reviewing her notes for the day.  It’s a stopover for moms and their stroller-borne toddlers to wander among the flowers and, with the help of one of us, learn how velvety soft are the leaves of Lamb’s Ears.  It’s a place where “family pictures” are taken around the holidays when everyone is together.  It’s a background for Tik-Tok performances. It’s a destination to which other local garden clubs have sent their members to take inspiration from it. It has even been the site for a wedding!

Here we practice sound horticultural and ecological practices.  We have rid the garden of the invasive ivy and porcelain berry that are destroying local habitats.  Our plants are pollinator- friendly.  One can find early bees in March buzzing around the Winter Aconites.  In the summer, the flowers of the Roses and Salvia draw one’s eye.  Continuing the circle of the year, in the early fall the Monarch Butterflies cover the blooms of the Buddleias while the Goldfinches, before they migrate, gorge on the seedheads of the Echinacea. Just for beauty’s sake, one can admire the Hydrangeas and Rhododendrons and the annuals that are there for season-long color.  People come to just sit and admire and rest throughout the day.

How does this “little Eden”, as it has been called, exist in such perfection?  It is maintained by a very dedicated group of volunteers from the Chappaqua Garden Club.  The group is not exclusive nor is it compulsory.  They come and work in the 90-degree weather of the summer as well as the chill of the spring and autumn because they want to be there.  They weed, they prune, they tie up, they deadhead, they thin and transplant. They will each say how much they have learned about gardening techniques working in the Park.  But there is more to it than that.  There is a strong feeling of community and inclusiveness that gives rise to the cacophony of laughter that is always present. And there are the gasps of gratitude to Chappaqua Cleaners who bring us bottled water during the dog days of summer.

The Pocket Park has become an integral part of downtown Chappaqua.  We are proud to be a part of that.

Judy Leheny - 2025

Submitted by Karen Bazik

Submitted by Judy Leheny

NOW!  a tip for preserving Hydrangea flowers: Cut the stem, strip off any leaves, place in about two inches of the following solution: 2T lemon juice , 1T sugar, 1/4 T Chlorox dissolved in 1 quart warm water. Leave it alone out of direct sun.  The flowers will slowly dry and you will have a bouquet for the winter.

Keep watering your pots and keep fertilizing them every two weeks.  The way the weather is going, they will probably bloom till mid-November.  The job of the annuals is to set-seed for next year so keep cutting those flowers and frustrating the plant’s attempts to set seed.

Don’t do any major pruning now - it’s too late and the shrub/tree will produce new wood  that hasn’t had a chance to “harden” off therefore leading to death of the new growth.  Wait till after bloom time in the spring.

Beware when ordering plants online!  My daughter bought me two hybrid Heucheras from Plant Delights Nursery in North Carolina. They were not inexpensive . Package shipped Monday, supposed to arrive Tuesday but didn’t arrive till Wednesday.  One plant was dead, the other was very badly wilted.  Daughter complained to the Nursery and they agreed to ship a replacement for the dead plant.  Which arrived, again, nearly dead.  I complained and was told that the bushy plants were shipped in their 3” nursery pots filled with a non-organic medium and were watered daily in the nursery.  When I pointed out that their business was shipping plants online and should have been shipped in a moisture retentive medium because they were not going to be watered by Federal Express, the woman shrugged it off. So if you do order online (and I have done so before) take care to unwrap the plant immediately and re-hydrate it in a bucket of water overnight.

We had lots of fun planting at the Chappaqua Library with the juniors program. This project helped to fulfill our mission of enlarging a pollinator garden that is funded in part by a Plant America Grant.

We saw many beautiful wild flowers and plants on our Wildflower Island trip, guided by the amazing Mathew McDowell. Thank you Nancy Chung for the photos!

Submitted by Gwinne Porter

Our Spring Plant Sale has been an even bigger success than last year, thanks to selective offerings and enthusiastic sales! Thank you to all who came out and helped!

Submitted by Judy Leheny

There has been a glorious display of Daffodils this year.  To keep them healthy for next year, de-bud them as they fade.  Not hard - Using your thumb and index finger, simply snap off the heads behind the swollen seed pod and throw them in the dirt.  The leaves will then divert their energy to building up the bulb instead of the seed. Prune your roses to an outward-facing bud to facilitate an open plant. The rule on roses: “Feed ‘em like hogs and water ‘em like elephants!"  Weed and mulch. Now you can see where you will plant the annuals and perennials that you will just have to have from the Plant Sale.  If you think a plant is over-crowded separate it and donate the off-shoot to the Plant Sale. Then take time to sit and admire the results off your hard work!

On the subject of compost/mulch.  There are lots and lots of ways to make compost.  Herewith, the lazy man’s way:  Take a pile of leaves about 4 feet high and wide, throw some dirt and a little grass clippings on it, empty about three buckets of compost from the dump (think of it as a sour dough starter) and water it well. Once or twice a year turn it over  (stir it).  In a year or two you’ll have delicious soil for your plants.

Submitted by Judy Leheny

New faces have joined our merry group and they have reported that they have had a great time.  Some members are not able to make it each week but that’s the whole point of the “schedule.” We meet every Thursday at 10 - if life intervenes, so be it.  Come next week.  We look forward to seeing you -  and catching up.  Positive feedback from the passersby make it all worthwhile.

Congratulations Mary Lynn McRee for receiving People's Choice Award - 3rd place - at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art 40th Annual Fine Arts and Flowers.