For the annual luncheon, we're putting together a slideshow of members doing everything that they do. We want to include everyone, so if you have some great pictures — close-ups, groups — showing people planting, laughing, learning, celebrating, please email Sue Young and she'll set up a place where you can easily download your best shots. Preferably current, but they can be from any time, anywhere, like this one from the 2021 Holiday Party, taken by Susan Yu. But they MUST be as big as possible. Small pix cannot be blown up on a big screen: large pix can always be made smaller.

June 26, 1925- March 9, 2023 Elizabeth Skinner Smith (Liz), 97, passed away on March 9, 2023. Born June 26, 1925 in St. Louis, MO to Celeste MacMillan and Walter Rumsey Skinner, she was a longtime resident of Montclair, NJ and lived in Maplewood, NJ at the time of her death. Liz attended Mary Institute in St. Louis (1943), Pine Manor Junior College in Boston (1945) and Washington University in St. Louis (1947). After college she married Wyot David Woods and moved to Montclair, NJ where she lovingly raised three children. In 1973, Liz married John Heyward Smith. An accomplished gardener, Liz attended the New York Botanical Garden for Landscape Design from 1975-1978 and started a successful business, Landscape Concepts, with two Montclair friends. She retired after 21 years in 1999. Liz was also active in many volunteer activities late into life: She was on the board of The Garden Club of Montclair and theJunior League of Montclair-Newark as well as President of St. Luke’s Church Women. She headed the Buildings and Grounds Committee at St. Luke’s, which she served on for 25 years. Likewise, she headed the Resident Buildings and Grounds Committee and served on the Resident Executive Committee of Winchester Gardens, where she lived the past 20 years. Liz was also proud to be a founding and longtime member of Futures Ltd., a prosperous investment group of women in Montclair. Her interests included competitive tennis and paddle tennis with several club championships to her credit, bridge, needlepoint, and reading. She adored her family and friends and had a warm contagious laugh. Liz is predeceased by her beloved husband of 40 years, John Smith. She is also predeceased by her first husband, Wyot Woods, her daughter Cynthia Woods, and her stepdaughter, Patricia Karamanos. She is survived by her son and daughter, David Woods of Stamford, CT, and Susan Woods Day of Chapel Hill, NC and two stepsons, Garrett Smith of New York City and Douglas Smith of Portland, OR as well as seven grandchildren, Wyot, Nicholas and Jack Woods of Greenwich, CT, Andrew Day of Chapel Hill, NC, Katharine Day of Washington, DC,John and Benjamin Karamanos of Portland, OR and four great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on April 29 at St. Luke’s Church, 73 S. Fullerton Ave, Montclair, NJ. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be given to the Winchester Gardens Scholarship Fund (333 Elmwood Ave, Maplewood, NJ 07040) or to the St. Luke’s Memorial Trust Fund (73 S. Fullerton Ave, Montclair, NJ, 07042).

Garden Club provisional Déja Santana has kindly offered to provide some gentle yoga sessions — for members only — in Avis on May 7 at 1:30pm (raindate May 13 at 10am) and May 21 at 5:00pm (raindate June 3 at 10 am). Her invitation to us reads: "Join D (aka Déja, RYT-200) in Avis Campbell for Gentle Spring Yoga Flows this May! The intentional flows will focus on grounding, breath, and flower bathing." Please note that since this is not an official Garden Club event, you will need to sign a waiver before participating. There is no cost, but limited spaces, so sign up soon! Bring your own mat and be at one with the garden. Any questions, please email Déja.

Not necessarily news, because it happens every year, but Wendy Stahl took these pictures of Avis yesterday.

Close to 70 members and friends attended this month's program meeting at Union Congregational Church today, where Sydney LeBlanc showed photos of the eclectic, artistic, and surprising gardens of Santa Fe. And, as always, our members displayed some breathtaking designs, covering the gamut of floral design, horticultural spring flowers and branches and exquisite entries in the new botanical arts categories. Winners will be shown in a later post, as will the winners from the March competitions. We all gathered for tea and many delicious goodies made by our members at the end of the lecture, and the picture below shows Susan Dumont's charming centerpiece on the groaning board. Truly we met our goals of education, beautification, and fellowship today.

Open Garden of Tova and Zach Narrett 2:00 to 5:00, THIS Sunday, April 16. (See Tova's address) Our Daffodil Girl has transformed the front yard within a year of her move to Lloyd Road. Moss rolls over the terraced stones surrounded by sweeps of scarlet leucothoe and a thousand daffodils. Check out the back yard where the NYC skyline made this home a dream for this former fashion designer. Families and friends are welcome. (Contact Marilyn if you want to host an Open Garden.)

For the first time in three years, we will host our annual awards meeting and luncheon on May 24 at the Montclair Golf Club. Click here to buy tickets and donate, and to get full information.

Getting excited about preparing your necklace for the competition on April 17? If you attended Florence Leyssene's workshop, refresh your technique by watching Floss O'Sullivan's video of the class. Or check it out even if you did not attend! Members can watch this video as well as many others by clicking here to visit our video page.

As Montclair bursts into bloom, don't forget the Horticultural Exhibition on April 17. See details of the requirements for flowering bulbs on the Horticultural page on the website. There's so much opportunity to display your beautiful flowers and tree branches, most of which, it must be said, came up without too much assistance from their garden owners. Note that there is only one opening left for the Botanical Artistic Crafts necklace. Contact Fran Ackerly immediately. Deadline this Thursday, April 13.

The last program of the year — on April 17, 2023 at 1:30pm at Union Congregational Church — features Sydney LeBlanc, who discusses the world of the gardens hidden behind adobe walls in Santa Fe: an amazing mix of exuberant flowers, austere native plants, hand-painted containers, water features, art, perhaps a touch of spirituality, and scents of sage and piñon in the air. Her book "Secret Gardens of Santa Fe" shows how Santa Fe’s gardeners confront some of nature’s most challenging climatic extremes with a horticultural tradition spanning 400 years. The gardens are an evocative blend of Hispanic, Native American, European and contemporary ideas. Sydney LeBlanc lives in New York City, where she was a long-time member of The City Gardens Club of New York City and co-chair of the Club’s annual house and garden tour on the Upper East Side.

Once again, we had a packed program meeting on Monday, March 20 at Union Congregational Church. Amy South, GCM member and owner of Moss & More — Montclair's premier plant store — led us through the do's and don't's of creating a healthy and happy indoor garden. Her love and care for the plants she sells and cares for in her own home shone through as she explained how to figure out when to water, what kind of soil to use, why plants in the home please and protect you, and how to recognize the beasts and diseases that stalk our babies. She even releases clouds of ladybugs in the store to keep them safe. And thank you, Amy, for the wonderful gifts you donated for the raffle, including a ferocious looking stag fern and the exquisite little terrarium that now lives in this writer's kitchen. Thanks, as always, to the Hospitality Committee of Michelle Quinn and Betty Murphy who spent the entire very long day taking care of judges and members. And also to Christine James who created the beautiful centerpiece shown on this page. Stay tuned for a new post about the winners of the many awards shown at this meeting.

Don't forget! You need to pay your annual dues online or mail your form and check to Cheryl Slutzky by March 31!

First of all, note that this is an evening meeting! Union Congregational Church Monday, March 20, 2023 6:00pm reception and viewing of the exciting exhibits (see Horticulture and Flower Design pages for details); 7:00pm meeting GCM member, Amy South owns the beautiful local shop Moss & More, in Upper Montclair. The store is the result of Amy's 10-year-long dream to design a space inspired by nature, love of home, and creativity while connecting people with common interests — plants and passion for home spaces! She will discuss houseplants — their needs and care — and take us far beyond the reliable philodendron, to confidently try some more interesting and exotic plant species.

Yet another well-attended workshop for members proves again how lucky we are to have such talented instructors in Florence Leyssène and Debbie Moran (shown here creating a Hogarth curve design).. These nationally regarded women are not just extraordinary and engaging teachers, but are unable to put two pieces of floral material together without creating an exquisite and apparently effortless work of art. Just look at the designs on this page that they created during the workshop. Florence took us through the ups and downs of underwater design. Did you know, for example, that distilled water does not create unacceptable bubbles around leaves and flowers in the glass containers, unlike tap water? Or that a container not filled to the very top creates an unwanted and distracting second line that will be sternly marked down in competition? Members can see the handout Florence prepared for the class by clicking here and the full workshop video, taped and edited by Floss O’Sullivan, by clicking here. As well as creating the elegant curves in the perfect crescent and Hogarth curve designs shown here, Debbie explained how to be gentle with your branches, to understand their inner structure so that your design will keep its harmonious shape through a multiple-day exhibition. She showed us how a well-made crescent design leads the eye to create a perfect circle. And what, you ask, is a Boa Bulge? It’s when the central flower section of a crescent or Hogarth curve design doesn’t flow effortlessly into its long curved outside lines, but reminds the judges of the rather startling sight of a well-fed boa constrictor’s middle section instead of its normal sleek beauty. Members can see Debbie's notes by clicking here, and we will soon have a video showing more of the workshop.

Watch the video, and join Barbara Meyer, past President of the Garden Club and long-time rosarian, for the annual Rose Revival Workshop as we kick off the 2023 gardening season at Avis Campbell Gardens (ACG). Barbara will discuss rose cultivars and culture, along with best tools and practices to get roses off to a good start. Wear your garden gear, sturdy gloves, and bring your pruning tools (bypass pruners, please, but if you don’t have them, we’ll have a few extra). All members and provisionals are welcome and encouraged to attend. This Sunday, March 19th, 1pm-3pm, Avis Campbell Gardens at 60 S. Fullerton Ave. Rain Date: March 26th. RSVP to Celia Radek.

Take advantage of winter's last gasp this weekend! The horrible weather forecast for the next few days offers members many options for our new Botanical Arts photo competition with its "Winter Interest" theme. Registration is open now. The Horticulture Committee requests that participants follow the instructions provided here and in this month's Potpourri: Photos must be 8"x10" and must be matted. Photos may be in color or black and white. Photos must be labeled on the back with the exhibitor's name and indicate the top where necessary. And don't forget the regular horticulture classes: narcissi (daffodils/jonquils); muscari (grape hyacinths); hellebores; any other flowering bulbs, corms, or tubers; and flowering branches. See the Horticulture page on this website for details. Contact Karen Whitehaus to pre-register all of your hort entries by Thursday, March 16.

Check out the Garden Club of Montclair instructional videos on this website made by and for our members. (You must be an approved member of the Club to see these videos.) Topics vary from new botanical arts tips and tricks delightfully displayed by NGC judge Florence Leyssène, to various traditional flower design types and horticultural videos where our NGC judge Debbie Moran details how to prepare exhibits or create a terrarium. You can also watch our peaceful "Botanical Journeys," a 21-minute musical reflection on floral beauty created by our own photographers and stitched together by Floss O'Sullivan.

The clock is ticking! Remember that your annual dues for 2023-2024 should be paid by March 31. Active members and provisionals $100. Associate members $125. Pay dues and select at least two committees for 2023-2024 in one of two ways: Either online or by printing out the form and mailing it with a check to Cheryl Slutsky.

Starting as a simple Garden Therapy idea a couple of years ago — create an arrangement for the nurses at Mountainside — this monthly thank-you has turned into a fun event where provisionals and members can get to know one another in the friendly spaces of our homes. And, as you can see in the photo, the number of vases seems to have multiplied.

Join Florence Leyssène at a workshop where you'll learn key points and techniques that contribute to a successful design. Through demonstration and a discussion of mechanics, containers, and plant material selection, Florence will address the Creative and Traditional flower design types featured in upcoming monthly competitions. Open to all levels. Wednesday, March 15, 10am-12:30pm in the Garden Room at 60 South Fullerton Ave.. RSVP to Celia Radek.