I hope you’ve noticed the barrels of flowers at the library, fire station, post office, and town hall. They were designed by this year’s civic garden team leads Bill Weeks and Anke Clews who ordered the flowers from Jolly Farmer back in November.  On May 19th, they met up with their team and gave them the flowers and the designs to follow.  Volunteers Diane Cameron, Janie Clark, Mike Mulcahy, Martha Sweeney, and Susan Terwilliger were this years planters and the latest in a long line of volunteers stretching back 24 years.
 
One new idea that was tried out last year and worked well was asking businesses in town if they would be willing to fund the cost of the flowers which leaves more money for the scholarship and educational program funds.  If you do business with them, pleases thank them.   This year's generous sponsors are:  
Bar Harbor Bank
CG Shepherd Realty
Coldwell Banker Lifestyles
Lady Grantham Apiary
Willis Auto Repair
 
Now that the flowers have been planted, there’s a 19-week watering/deadheading schedule to fill with volunteers.  Our amazing webmaster Diane Cameron has prepared on-line sign up to make it easy to volunteer. I’m pleased to report that nine of the 19 weeks have been filled.  Please consider signing up for a week by going to "Sales & Signups."  
 
In researching the club’s archives for the June 7th celebration (you’re all invited!), I found the picture below of GGC members Janice Whitcomb and Debbie Pierce planting the Triangle Garden in 2000.   Imagine all the flowers that have decorated our beloved little town since the club began.  

What a week the Grantham Garden Club had with this year's plant sale involving hundreds of people and thousands of plants.  The sale took an amazing amount of volunteer time and began last November when Ray Miner and Pete Lepre, with the help of webmaster Diane Cameron’s nifty on-line sign up, collected all the plant orders from club members and the civic garden leads Bill Weeks and Anke Clews.  Kristina Cole and Claire Vogel had fun shopping using Jolly Farmer's on-line catalog for flowers they knew would be popular with the Public Plant Sale customers including Dragon Red Begonias, Tiktok Orange Calibrachoa, and Super Hero Mixed Marigolds. 
 
In March, Ray and Pete started growing vegetable plants from seeds to sell at the sale.  Unlike the flowers which the club purchases, Ray and Pete donated all the vegetable plants with 100% of the sales ($1,152!) going to the club’s scholarships and educational programs.
 
When Ray was alerted that the Jolly Farmer truck would arrive at 9 a.m. on May 16th, the word went out and 14 club members were poised to help unload. Then the truck was delayed to 1 p.m. when lots of those morning volunteers had commitments elsewhere. In true GGC fashion, a team of 16 people were soon on board for the 1:00 arrival. Then the truck was delayed again!  I was away for the truck's final arrival around 3:00 but was told that it was hectic at first but that it all came together with the hardworking crowd of volunteers. I hated to miss this wonderful photo op, but Diane Cameron took over and her fantastic  pictures are included below. 
 
On Friday, the Town Hall was set up for the Public Plant Sale including the arrival of Ray and Pete’s healthy vegetable plants. Kristina Cole and Diane Cameron were in charge of arranging the table of flower plants, herbs, hanging baskets, and donated house plants.  With the help of Bob Munson, Ray, and Pete; they set it all up keeping the room’s feng shui in mind.   

On Saturday morning the 22 volunteers donned their GGC aprons and were ready for customers who started lining up at 8:30.  Promptly at 9 a.m. the shopping frenzy began with half the plants sold in the first 30 minutes and all but a few orphans sold by 10:30.  As they were packed up, some vegetable plants were sold from the back of Ray and Pete's car and the last hanging basket went to a late arriver who noticed it in Kristina's car. 
 
Volunteers Don and Joyce Blunt were assigned to sit under the awning outside to greet people and hand out tally sheets.  It was a little chilly out, and Don had on a short sleeve shirt.  I looked around to find an appropriate size jacket and saw that Pete’s fit the bill.  I knew Pete would give the shirt (or in this case jacket) off his back for the cause, and I was right!

I realized a little late in the game that the new Tally  procedure required lots pens and our supply was sadly lacking. VP Betsy Fowler headed to Bar Harbor Bank, explained our dilemma, and was back in no time with a bag of the bank's blue pens.  Bar Harbor Bank and all its Grantham office employees are so supportive of the club, including being a Civic Garden Sponsor again this year. 
 
One of my favorite moments of the sale happened when I helped a young grandmother and her two adorable grandchildren carry their vegetable plants to their car.  I told the tots to keep an eye on those plants because they are magic. 
 
Another highlight was when Sharon Parker arrived. Sharon has been a club member for 17 years and epitomizes all that’s wonderful about the GGC. She wasn’t on Saturday’s volunteer list but showed up anyway, grabbed a broom, and started sweeping.  The club prides itself on leaving the room in tiptop shape.  Thank you to Melissa White and Mary Ann Crandall who are our liaisons at Town Hall and graciously lets us use the downstairs room for presentations, meetings, and sales.  We couldn’t run the club as professionally at any other venue.

The movers and shakers of this year's sale have decided that for the 2025 plant sale, members will not order their plants in advance.  A team of experts will pick out and order all the Jolly Farmer flowers, hanging baskets, and herbs.  After the plants arrive next May, the club will hold a Member Only Sale a day or two before the Public Plant Sale.  First dibs will go to the civic garden leads and the team who did the ordering.  I'll be looking for volunteers in September so stay tuned. Members who purchase plants at the Member Only Sale will get a 10% discount off the bottom line. 
 
There's one more piece of the Jolly Farmer flower story--the civic gardens--which I'll write about and post next week. 

​The Grantham Garden Club under the continued enthusiastic leadership of Diane Bilotta organized the 4th annual Grantham clean up day on May the 4th which resulted in at least 75 bags hauled to the Transfer Station.  The weather was cool which helped with the squatting exercise needed to pick up the debris.  Some volunteers were wise enough to bring those grabber sticks.  The club may purchase some for future years.  The black flies even held off for a while.
 
As I glanced around the area where I was cleaning, it reminded me of an Easter egg hunt for toddlers.  Instead of colorful eggs hiding in plain site, there were lots of beer cans and fast food bags.  Also like Easter eggs hunts, our bags filled up quickly. 
 
There were a few unusual finds this year such as a tv set and a room heater. Maryellen and Len DeJong hauled off an old Christmas tree.  Claire Cofer, who joined Martha Arnold and Betsy Fowler for the clean up, found a $100 bill which she immediately donated to the club’s scholarship fund.  Wow!
 
A picture is worth a thousand words so I’m going to let these photos tell more of the story of the fantastic volunteers.  I only wish I had pictures of all 50 of them. Thank you guys!

​When I heard that Lionel Chute and Dode Gladders were going to be part of a group leading a walk, I immediately jumped on board without any idea where we were going or why.  Lionel is the Director of Sullivan County Conservation District and Dode Gladders is the Forestry Field Specialist for UNH Extension, and both have given talks to the Grantham Garden Club so I knew I was in for a treat.  
 
Our group of carpoolers from Grantham met up with Lionel and Dode in the Sullivan County owned Stowell Forest in Unity, New Hampshire.  During the first bit of the walk, I didn’t like to see so many stumps and cut trees, but when as I understood the rationale behind it, I became a convert of forest management. 
 
If Sullivan County had been interested in making a fast million, they could have hired loggers to clear cut the 98 acres of trees.  In contrast, this involved thoughtful planning by many experts who walked the land, made decisions about each area, and put the health of the forest first before cutting a single tree.  Key players in this transformation were Jeremy Turner and Laura French of the Meadowsend Consulting Company (a forest management company) who explained what was done and why as we walked through the site together.  I was struck by how passionate they are about their work.  Lionel worked closely with Jeremy and Laura during the planning and execution stages, and all are justifiably proud of what they have accomplished.
 
Initially we waked by a mostly cleared area where a few dozen impressive white pines stood.  The plan here was to leave the best white pines as seed trees. Each year, these pine trees will produce thousands of pine cones that will each release hundreds of seeds.  Since most of the trees in the area were removed, these seeds will have a better chance to germinate in the productive soil with the benefit of much less competition and lots of sunshine (which Laura called ‘reallocating the sun’). The successful seeds will inherit superior genes from their hardy parents. The land will not solely be populated by white pines. Other species of trees plus shrubs and plants will also take advantage of this opportunity to take root which will help maintain the diversity that is crucial to a healthy forest.
 
As we walked, we occasionally saw large white pine trees the had been girdled to gradually kill them. The standing dead trees will encourage birds such as pileated woodpeckers to create holes to feast on the insects they can hear beneath the bark.  The holes created by pileated woodpeckers can benefit more than 35 species of animals and birds.  In approximately 40 years, the girdled trees will fall and again help the local floral and fauna, not to mention the soil. It’s all part of the plan.
 
Twenty-one acres were left intact.  We bushwhacked into one of the Natural Areas to visit a specimen white pine.  We quietly stood together and admired the 150-year-old tree with many folks touching its bark—there was even some tree hugging.  The goal of the Stowell transformation project, in addition to making a healthier forest; is to encourage people to enjoy this land: to hike, bird watch, ride trail bikes and picnic.  Personally, I plan to go back and hike there often and watch what happens.  

New Hampshire Fish and Game wants YOU to photograph butterflies, identify them through iNaturalist, and SHARE those observations so that they can be counted in the State’s second year of Butterfly Monitoring. You don’t have to know the name of a single butterfly to contribute to this effort!  Just shoot and send in the pix. However, if you do want to be involved in an actual Butterfly Count or just learn more about the butterflies in your garden or local park, there is a growing statewide Citizen Scientist program dedicated to learning about butterflies . 

How would you like your training? In person? You can join the Sunapee Butterfly Club’s weekly meeting with leader Amy Highstrom ([email protected]), held every third Thursday night in Andover at the HUB, 157 Main Street. (See you there!)
Lake Sunapee Region Butterfly Club - Monthly Adult Learning Series | Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust
ausbonsargent.org

Maybe you prefer your training outdoors — at an actual field count. There is one held somewhere in New Hampshire most every weekend in June and July, and no experience is necessary to attend. The Sunapee Butterfly Club will have a Spring Count with training on May 19th, again, led by Amy Highstrom. (See you there as well!)
Find a Count nhbutterflies.org

Maybe you would just like to thumb through a good field guide. Preferred by counters is the Swift Guide by Glassberg, but there are many others available — maybe there is an old favorite just sitting on your shelf! Each has its own virtues, and it is important to enjoy your field guide. Visit the nature collection of your local bookstore to see several. Here is a good starting list: 
Butterfly Field Guides nhbutterflies.org

Finally, there are (of course!) some great on-line species-specific training modules available now, and all of this winter’s Wednesday night formal ZOOM presentations are being added next month at https://www.nhbutterflies.org.

Here is another short list of the many resources on the Web. Each is likely to lead to many other interesting links, and you could just google forever. But, remember, the Mourning Cloaks, Commas, and Question Marks have already left their winter hibernation spots and are fluttering out and about.  You can start your butterfly observations now!

• NH Butterfly Monitoring Network website
• NH Butterfly Monitoring Network iNaturalist Project
• Butterfly ID Videos for some of New Hampshire’s butterfly species
• List of NH butterfly species

New Hampshire’s Butterfly Monitoring Project has made it easier than ever to learn about butterflies, so enjoy!

The daffodils at the post office demonstrated amazing recuperative powers after surviving not one, but two major snow storms recently. When the March 23rd storm brought two feet of snow, I worried about them but, at least their flowers hadn't bloomed.  That wasn't the case on April 3rd when a foot of heavy snow landed on them.  I thought for sure they were goners.  What a delight to see them rebound in all their yellow glory less than a week later. 
 
Planting the bulbs last fall took a lot of hard prep work ("Project Post Office"). They were planted deep and expected to remain safely in their beds until late April, but instead they broke the surface in mid-February.  What were they thinking! 

​Here in Grantham, snow was practically non-existent until late March, so they were probably confused in their warm, sunny spot beside the post office. Staying alive through snow, rain, frost, sleet, and all manner of weather; these daffodils showed their mettle.  You could almost say that it's a miracle--but what else would you expect-- after all Garden Angels were involved.  

Many have read Shel Silverstein’s book The Giving Tree about that altruistic tree that gave and gave to a selfish, little boy until there was nothing left to give.  I think of that sad tale sometimes when walking in the forest and see a very different story with a more satisfying ending.  Rather than sacrificing themselves for others, trees are doing their best to survive and flourish.  Luckily, byproducts of their efforts benefit animals, birds, insects, plants, fungi, humans, and  even one another. 

Sometimes when two trees grow into one another, the bark is worn away exposing the cambium layer.  When they heal, the two trees are fused together in what is known as inosculation (from Latin ‘osculari’ for ‘kiss').   We could learn a lot from these kissing trees about facing adversity and getting along.
 
Even in the middle of a busy week, I feel like I'm on vacation when I take a walk in the woods. Every step there is something different to see in the diversity of an unplanned forest where only the laws of nature apply.  Trees continue to give throughout their lives and long after they have died eventually becoming part of the soil itself.  

These photos show some of the ways that trees are benefiting their neighbors.

Joey Holmes is the beloved matriarch of Grantham and will be celebrating her 90th birthday on February 27th. I'm encouraging everyone who reads this to send Joey a birthday card.  She is living with her daughter Cindy Dyer at 141 Miller Pond Road in Grantham.  

I interviewed Joey during the pandemic summer of 2020 and the following was posted on August 21, 2020:

​This is about a well loved local legend who has a unique history with our small town of Grantham.  Her name is Joey Dunbar Holmes and here's her story:

In 1900, Joey’s great uncle Lorenzo donated money for a library in memory of his wife Ellen.  The library was named The Dunbar Free Library.  Eighty years later when Linda Moore was the librarian, Joey would check out books for patrons while Linda ran the story hour. Her volunteer work led to Joey’s being hired as an assistant librarian where she worked for forty years before retiring as Assistant Director of Inter-Library Loans.

Joey grew up in a house next to the library where the parking lot sits today.  After her mother passed away, the home was sold and eventually acquired by the library.  A much needed addition to the library was planned in 2009 which would mean that the homestead would have to go. The original plan called for clear cutting the lot with demolition of the house, barn, and outbuildings, and all the shrubs and trees.

Enter a Knight in Shining Armor--Andy Gelston.  Andy is Joey’s fellow library staffer who “didn’t want Joey, the town matriarch, to have to witness her childhood home being smashed with an excavator and hauled off in dumpsters.”  Rather than tearing them down, it took Andy and another local hero Otis TenHaken three months to dismantled the buildings.  All the reusable wood was sold with the proceeds going to insurance (in case Andy or Otis fell off the roof) and to the library’s construction fund.  Many people took advantage of the wood sale.  Joey enjoyed speaking with the people who came in to the library to pay for their materials.  To be honest, there were a few midnight requisitions.  (I hope those thieves got splinters.)   

I like to think of the wood from Joey’s well loved home being embedded in rooms and sheds all around town.  Grantham Garden Club member Janie Clark wrote “We too are enjoying part of it.....  The huge rocks in the rock garden here are from the foundation of Joey's house.  Matt Gallien moved them from the cellar hole to our garden." 

The original clear cutting plan also included destroying the flowering crab apple tree that Joey had planted for her mother as a tiny sapling on Mother's Day in 1957.  Despite his not being a restoration expert, Andy changed the plans to save the tree.  The tree that sits in the island outside the library to this day and is pictured below.

Like many of the gardener club gardeners’ homes I have visited, there are keepsakes and transplants to remind them of their earlier lives.  When I interviewed Joey at her home off Rte. 10, she pointed out the granite slab entrance to her house that once was the entrance to her old home next to the library.  Growing outside her window are the roses that bloomed outside her mother’s.  Her favorite tree flourishes by the town library for her, and for all of us, to enjoy.  

Thank you, Joey, for all you have done for the library and the town!

Photograph of the crab apple tree in all its Spring glory was taken by Sir Andy Gelston.  

Janie Clark's garden with her rock garden on the right.  

Seven years ago Renee Gustafson was looking for a project to complete her master gardener certification and liked the recommendation by Grantham Conservation Commission member Dennis Ryan to create a pollinator garden in Brookside Park.  Renee chose the site of the old apple orchard in the park and invited Kristina Burgard and Patty Eaves, who were also in the master gardener program, to join her.  Renee, Kristina, and Patty engaged with other people and organizations in and around Grantham to help them including:
 
- Eastman Charitable Foundation funded the purchase of trees, bushes, seeds, daffodil bulbs, and soil (lot and lots of soil).

- Dunbar Free Library loaned them a sun plotting gizmo. 

- Hortons Farm donated horse manure. 

-  Dunkin Donuts donated bags of coffee grounds. People dropped off coffee grounds at a pail located at the park entrance.

-Dennis Ryan and fellow Conservation Commission member Dave Wood cut down four white pine trees and pruned some of the apple trees.

- Dick Hocker, another Conservation Commission member and Renee's husband, erected a kiosk at the orchard area which Renee populated with information.
 
After months of hard work including lugging an enormous amount of soil and planting trees, bushes, seeds, and bulbs; Renee, Kristina, and Patty had created a garden area they could be proud of.  I happened upon it in June of 2021 and was so impressed that I wrote a blog post called The Secret Garden.  I never knew who was responsible for the sweet garden until recently.  (Picture of flowers are the last one in the collage below.)

A few years ago, Marty Gearhart moved to Grantham and joined the Grantham Conservation Commission where she has worked with them on a number of projects including making Grantham a Pollinator Pathway.  One link in the pathway chain that needed some more work was that well loved land in Brookside Park where Renee, Kristina, and Patty had made such a difference.  Marty formed a team with Renee and Amelia Lantz that I'm calling Phase II.  They went to the property together to discuss  what was doing well since Phase I, what needed work, and how they could help the aged apples trees. They invited three environmentalists to visit the area to help them make decisions about what to keep, what to cut, and what to plant.  Those three remarkable environmentalists  are pictured below. 
 
Recently, I overheard that the team was going to work on the site and asked if I could tag along.  When Amelia and Renee showed up with their chain saws, I knew this was going to be cool.  Marty brought her own tools and recruited Kathy Houghton who came with her pole cutter and Sierra Keat who was visiting from DC and looking for volunteer opportunities to fulfill her AmeriCorps requirements. With the team of five women in place, the sawdust was soon flying.  Amelia, Renee, and Kathy pruned while Marty and Sierra hauled away the cuttings to a large brush pile for animals which Dode Gladders calls "rabbitat." 

More advisers were brought in before major cuts were made to the trees. Jeff and Susan Figley who own King Blossom Farm on Dunbar Hill Road spent almost two hours answering questions about the trees and making everyone more optimistic about the future of these historic apple trees.  Janie Clark, who grew up near her Dad's 156-acre orchard in the Hudson Valley, also came out to help.  On February 2nd, I was there to take some pictures of Dave Wood pruning high in the apple trees to give the them more sunshine, more breathing space and less wood to help them use their energy to flower.  

​This year's pruning is done but the work isn't over yet.  In the spring,  I will send out volunteer requests to the Grantham Garden Club to help Marty, Renee, and Amelia plant flowers which will give people the opportunity to contribute to this fun project.
 
I admire  Renee, Kristina, Patty, Marty, Amelia, Kathy, Sierra, Lionel Chute, Dode Gladders, Gail McWilliam Jellie, Jeff, Susan,  Janie, Dave, and the Grantham Conversation Commission members  who have dedicated so much of their time, energy, and talent to making Grantham a better place for pollinators, trees, and flowers, and for us ordinary people to enjoy.  

​I read a sign near the Capilano Suspension bridge in British Columbia last April which read: Lichens are one of the most bizarre forms of life because each lichen is actually composted of two, possibly even three, distinct species of organisms. Lichens are a partnership between fungus and algae that grow on rocks, tree branches and the bare ground. Lichens are considered living fossil plants since they are directly linked to the original plant life that first inhabited the Earth. 

Ever since I happened upon that sign, I've been on a quest to take pictures of as many lichen and lichen-lookalikes that I could find.  Luckily my PictureThis plant identifier app can differentiate lichen from just plain fungus and algae.  PictureThis often identifies them as ‘lichenized.’
 
Lichens have no roots, stems, flowers, or leaves.  They get their nutrients from the air and from rainwater.  They are often grow in dark places where nothing else will.  They can be found from the arctic to the tropics and some even survived a two week experimental stint in outer space. They contribute 80% of the nitrogen needed in a forest and are extremely sensitive to air pollution so are like the canary in the coal mine.  Where there's lots of lichens, the air quality is better.  Studies have shown that lichens growing on headstones in rural cemeteries are much more abundant and diverse than those in urban ones.  When I google “lichens and cemeteries,” ads for detergents to kill lichen were the  most numerous hits.  Sounds like a bad idea to me. 

Here’s a crazy bit of info for you—if it wasn’t for lichens and their friends the mosses and bacteria, the Great Wall of China might be a 13,000 mile long pile of rubble.  Scientists studied the 'biocrust' made up on lichen, algae, and bacteria that grew there.  They theorize that this living skin strengthens the wall and shields it from moisture and temperature fluctuations.

If in your travels near and far you should spot an interesting lichen-like plant or perhaps some growing on a famous tombstone or, better yet, on the Great Wall of China; please send me a picture.  I’ll add it to this collection of lichen photos.