Centennial Tree Project TRD 3/17
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The Real Dirt Centennial Tree Project Updates Special Issue March 2017 The Garden Club of America Page 1 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 Table of Contents Message from the Chairman 3 Message from the Editors 5 Zone I 6 Zone II 14 Zone III 29 Zone IV 29 Zone V 33 Zone VI 33 Zone VII 35 Zone VIII 41 Zone IX 52 Zone X 57 Zone XI 61 Zone XII 70 Cover Drawing: Centennial Map by Angela Overy The Garden Club of America Horticulture Committee does not endorse any of the products, resources or sources mentioned in this newsletter. We offer simple recommendations based on the experiences of individual writers. The Garden Club of America Page 2 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 Message from the Chairman Centennial Tree Project Updates Preserving the Past, Growing our Future: Trees, our Living Legacy Barbara Tuffli Chairman The Centennial Tree Project was a five-year-long project undertaken by all 200 GCA member clubs in celebration of The Garden Club of America Centennial. Spanning the terms of three Horticulture Chairmen, it started under Linda Paine, continued under Ellen Petersen, and culminated in 2013 under the leadership of Phyllis Lee, with numerous fascinating projects and over 23,000 trees planted across the United States. In early 2013, inspired by what the members of all of those clubs were doing, Angela Overy, an English-trained botanical artist serving as her Garden Club of Denver’s Centennial Tree Project Chairman, offered to create a painting of those trees. The result, her magnificent watercolor map of the United States, with a tree, leaf, flower or fruit from each of the species of trees planted, was her centennial gift to The Garden Club of America. It hangs at GCA Headquarters in celebration of what our clubs accomplished, planting thousands of trees, and educating our communities. In addition, Horticulture Committee members created a commemorative leather-bound book, containing the reports of all 200 projects, spreadsheets listing the genus and species of each of the trees, and a reproduction of the Centennial Tree Map. For each GCA Zone, it printed copies of the Zone’s projects and created beautiful Centennial Tree note cards to share with members of clubs across the country what GCA as an organization had accomplished. It was an honor to join the Horticulture Committee as the Zone XII Horticulture Representative just as these projects were reaching their conclusion and documentation was in its final stages. Today the Horticulture Committee page of the GCA website contains all of the project details. Click here to read the full history of this extraordinary GCA project and Click here to read the original reports from all of the clubs, including yours! These reports contain a treasure trove of ideas for community projects. In the spring of 2016, the Horticulture Committee, through its Zone Representatives, reached out to the Horticulture Chairs of all 200 GCA clubs asking for updates on their projects. We were thrilled by the magnitude of the response. Some sent pictures of trees that are growing strong, some projects were learning experiences, and some have inspired further action by clubs that want to make a difference in their community. To date we have received updates from over 100 clubs! This special issue of The Real Dirt contains those we have received so far, but it is not too late for every club to participate. We will happily add updates to each project on the website. To add your club’s update, please email it to [email protected]. As Horticulture Committee Chairman, I have had the opportunity to visit some of the projects. One of my favorite moments was when, in conjunction with our Zone XII meeting in Colorado Springs, I unexpectedly had the chance to visit the Broadmoor Garden Club’s Rock Ledge Ranch project, meet Vicki Kipp, who had been in charge of it, and actually see “Old Rosy”, the apple tree with a hole all the way through the trunk that was memorialized by watercolorist Shirley Kircher. The image, featured below, is one I could never forget. The Garden Club of America Page 3 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 Malus ‘Old Rosy’ painted by Shirley Kirsher From left to right: Betty Irvine, Karen Gilhuly, Vicky Kipp, Phyllis Lee and Barbara Tuffli The Garden Club of America Page 4 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 Message from the Editors Catherine Allan Jenny Wyatt Editor Assistant Editor Requesting updated reports on the Centennial Tree Projects actually began a year ago, under the direction of Editor, Tootsie Crutchfield. A few reports trickled in last May with a few more over the summer. However, once a deadline was in place last fall, we were bombarded! The response was so overwhelming that we decided to create a special edition for the updated Centennial Tree Projects, five years after the original reports in 2013. Phyllis Lee, Horticulture Committee Chairman at that time along with her Horticulture Committee compiled a leather-bound book that remains at Headquarters with reports from all two hundred clubs. It has been an interesting study reading each one, to see the incredible growth in some, tornado damage in one, death by neglect in others, deer demolished trees in several areas; yet the positive impact on human involvement as well as the return of pollinators resulted in many cases. Updates were even submitted as Hurricane Mathew wreaked havoc in the Southeast last fall! Mother Nature prevails! The significance of the Centennial Tree Project has undoubtedly made an enormous impact throughout the country since its inception. This successful effort fulfilled the mission of the Garden Club of America: to preserve America’s beauty and natural heritage for future generations through environmental education; to protect endangered species; to promote biodiversity and to encourage the responsible use of our public lands for the benefit of all citizens through civic improvement. We are proud to be part of this all-encompassing project, one club at a time. Angela Overy’s work continues to inspire us in this special edition. Her Centennial Map of all the tree projects graces the cover. The images selected for this issue are to give the reader an appreciation of the detail in Angela’s work. We are truly grateful for Barbara’s expertise in adding these special touches throughout this issue. The Garden Club of America Page 5 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 Zone I Beacon Hill Garden Club The first of the Beacon Hill Garden Club Centennial Tree Projects was to replace aging willow trees planted along the historic Charles River Esplanade in the 1930’s by Arthur Shurcliffe with ten Salix alba, White Willows. This project was undertaken in partnership with The Esplanade Association. Since the planting in April 2011, the trees have thrived and true to their reputation, are steadily growing toward stately size. Generous yearly donations to The Esplanade Association contribute to the ongoing maintenance of these trees. Salix alba Beacon Hill Garden Club Remembrance Grove Secondly, the 11 Homestead Elms, Ulmus ‘Homestead,’ that our club paid for and helped to plant around the Brewer Fountain along the Liberty Mall and the Freedom Trail in the Boston Common in partnership with The Friends of the Public Garden have adapted very well and are thriving in this prominent location. The Friends of the Public Garden are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of this park, including “our” Beacon Hill Remembrance Grove trees. The Beacon Hill Garden Club has committed to a sizable yearly contribution to the carefully planned and executed program. BHGC plaque in Boston Common Ulmus in Boston Common by Trudy Fondren, Civic Beautification Chair The Garden Club of America Page 6 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 Bennington Garden Club Our Sugar Maples have grown considerably since their picture was taken in 2013 with Co-Presidents Ann Jackson and Nancy Edwards. They are well rooted in their Bennington Museum location, are healthy and about 4' tall. We will continue to watch their growth. by Polly S. Jones, President Cambridge Garden Club Update: I am happy to report that the living legacy of the Longfellow Linden not only lives on, it is growing. In 2014 two of the clonal cuttings that had been in a nursery at Laura Nash’s house were successfully transplanted to two historic sites in Cambridge: a newly planned landscape area at the Cooper-Frost Austin house (the oldest surviving house in Cambridge, owned by Historic New England) and on a sloping area at the foot of Indian Ridge in Mount Auburn Cemetery, just beneath Longfellow’s grave. On May 22, 2014, CPGC members and the directors of these sites participated in a sequential dedication at each site to celebrate the gifts and mark the establishment of a metaphorical “green necklace” between historic sites in Cambridge through the common linage of these Lindens.The new trees “took,” and the one at Mt. Auburn begins to take on the same eccentric branching of its original This spring a tree plaque will be added, thanks to a gift of a new label maker to the cemetery, to join seven other historic trees on the 174 acres including three Jefferson Elms, the Prince-of-Wales Beech, Newton’s Apple Tree, Asa Gray’s Yellowwood. by Laura Nash, former President and Chairman of the Centennial Tree Project. Tilia cordata The Garden Club of America Page 7 14 East 60th St., New York, NY 10022 The Chestnut Hill Garden Club chose the American Chestnut tree, Castanea dentata, as its Centennial Tree Project in 2013.