The first speaker in our return to the 60 South Fullerton auditorium on October 14 was the wonderful Yuliya Bellinger, Glen Ridge resident, landscape designer, Co-Chair of Brookdale Park Conservancy, and host of the popular YouTube channel Y Garden . Yuliya shared her sense of joy and wonder at the natural world as she discussed how to achieve a wild, yet aesthetically pleasing garden that supports biodiversity.  She doesn’t consider herself to be a native purist, but she does incorporate many native plants into her own gardens as well as showing us some photos of her with her family in Russia. See her presentation here with names of all the hundreds of plants she discussed and recommended.

THE TRIP AND LUNCH ARE BOOKED UP!!! But if you would like to be put on the waiting list, please contact Karen Kadus by text or phone at 201-207-8792 or email her at kkadus@yahoo.com by November 30. Come along on December 5 as we visit a different garden center and restaurant this year!  Join us for a fun day of shopping at The Farm at Green Village in Chatham . Buy holiday greens, plants and gifts with 20% off all purchases (excluding custom decorated wreaths). Afterwards, enjoy a fabulous lunch at the Huntley Tavern in Summit . We will depart for the Farm about 9:45 am, then have lunch at noon and return home by 2:30 pm. Any questions? Contact Karen Kadus by text or phone 201-207-8792 or email at kkadus@yahoo.com  by November 30.

Once again, the astonishing creation of Marilyn Zaret and her dedicated helpers won first prize in the nonprofit category of the annual Scarecrow competition at Van Vleck. A prize of $500 was presented to the Garden Club of Montclair on November 2. Congratulations to the team, who worked on Mother Nature for weeks, and watch out for photographs of the event in the Montclair Local !

A monarch visits the gomphrena in Debbie Moran’s bed at Avis.

Our entry to the scarecrow exhibition at Van Vleck this year can hardly be described as a deterrant to crows. Marilyn Zaret and her team of (in alphabetical order) Barbara Baletti, Olga and Alfredo Bequillard, Karen De Luca, Marie Donnelly, Tova Narrett, Sheila Oakes, Sarah Olson, and Susan Yu with the clean-up guy Peter Zaret have spent weeks creating this magnificent Mother Nature. They have lived with her at Van Vleck for the last three days! Don't forget to go and visit this gorgeous lady and the other wonderful exhibits at Van Vleck and VOTE for Mother Nature by CLICKING HERE .

Once again, in a workshop on October 16, our experts Debbie Moran and Florence Leyssène patiently explained to our members how to work towards a perfect flower design that would delight any judge. They led the ― sometimes over-eager ― participants step-by-step through the process of creating a a vertical or triangular design. Everyone used the same plant material in a variety of pots to create their own vision (with a lot of help from more experienced members). You can see the variety of creativity in the results, below. See if you can spot our leaders' designs! Thanks to Barbara Baletti for the action shots.

Dedicated Mom & Loyal Friend, Relaxed With Tennis, Gardening, Terri Breen, formerly of Essex Fells, NJ, and later of West Orange, passed away on October 14th, 2024. Born Mary Theresa Faleskie on December 12, 1960, at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, HI, Terri graduated from Hawaii Baptist Academy and earned her BA from Pennsylvania State University, State College. After college, Terri moved to New York City, beginning her career in advertising at Doyle Dane Bernbach and later at Women's Day Magazine. She left her career to focus on what she considered her most important job of all-raising her beloved sons, Conor and Liam. Devoted to their growth, Terri was always present at their sports, school, music and theatrical events. She recognized the individuality of each of her sons, and supported the direction their lives took them. She was the former wife of Ken Breen, having "resigned" from that position in 2013. Terri was an active volunteer in the Essex Fells PTA, PAMKA, St. Cassian's, and Oratory Prep, where her children attended these schools. She took immense pride in maintaining her home and beautiful garden, having spent many years devising ways to fend off deer and other critters, often with the help of her dogs, Dalbert, Pumpkin, and Topher. A lover of nature, Terri served on the boards of the Garden Club of Montclair and the Presby Iris Gardens. Over the years, Terri's extracurricular fun was playing tennis on the women's tennis and paddle teams at Montclair Golf Club, Bradford Bath and Tennis, and Glen Ridge Town Team, where she also served as team captain for several years. Terri was known for her great devotion and loyalty to those she cared about. Quietly helping others was one of her defining traits. She was a ferocious grudge holder to those who wronged her friends and children; her well-known motto being "Don't f**k with my kids." Terri enjoyed off-leash hikes with her dogs, spending time with her friends, gardening, traveling, fine dining, Broadway shows, crime documentaries, sweets, and a great cup of coffee. An amateur genealogist, she proudly traced her Italian lineage back to the 1740s, teaching herself to transcribe Italian Civil and Ecclesiastical records. Above all else, Terri's greatest passion in life was her children. Funeral services will be Thursday, October 24th, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Cassian Roman Catholic Church, 187 Bellevue Ave, Montclair, NJ. In Terri's memory, donations can be made to the Garden Club of Montclair ( www.gardenclubofmontclair.org ) or the Oratory Prep School, 425 Morris Avenue, Summit NJ 07901 ( www.oratoryprep.org ) . To plant trees in memory, please visit the  Sympathy Store . Published by The Star-Ledger from Oct. 16 to Oct. 17, 2024.

This Saturday, October 19th the Environment Committee will again be participating in the Upper Montclair Clean-up.  Deb, our fearless leader, is out of town for this event but we plan to carry on and do her proud this Saturday.   Please plan to meet at "Moss & More" at 10am to pick up the vests and garage bags that you will need  for the clean up. The weather forecast promises to be beautiful and a bit cooler. The session will end at noon, so you can plan your day accordingly. We welcome any and all help that you can muster, I hope to enlist a few grandchildren to help out.  If you have middle school or high school students, this is the perfect opportunity to participate and earn some community service credit. There will be some snacks and beverages available to fuel our workers. I understand we are all busy during this crisp fall weekends, please let Michele Trevenen know if you plan to attend so that we can plan accordingly. Thanks so much.

A kindly reminder that if you want to enter a photograph for the October 21 competition, you must pre-register with    florenceleyssene@gmail.com   at the latest Saturday 10/12  and   you must drop your photograph off on Thursday 17 at the garden club room between 10 am - 2 pm . Debbie and Florence will be there to accept your entry. We have this great opportunity to have our photographs judged by Barry DiBernardo, renowned and talented photographer, but I need to know in advance how many people are going to participate so Barry does not come for 2 or 3 entries. Thank you for your understanding.   Theme: A Color Photograph of Fall Foliage. Must be 8” x 10", matted in white, with a maximum size of 11” x 14” including the mat provided by exhibitor. Staged on a black metal grid provided by committee.   Technical Guidelines from Barry Minor digital enhancements like cropping, color/contrast adjustments, and sharpening are usually allowed. Significant digital alterations or combining of images is typically not permitted. Techniques used should enhance understanding of the plant content   florence leyssene florenceleyssene@gmail.com cell: 201 310 1971

Just a reminder: Kate Khachachurian's funeral will be held tomorrow, Oct. 7 at 10:00AM at Union Congregational Church, 176 Cooper Avenue.

Here are some photos from the Basics of Flower Design Workshop on Sept. 9 starring the dynamic duo of Florence Leyssène and Debbie Moran. If you missed it, don't despair! You have another chance on Thursday, October 17 at the American Traditional Mass Design Workshop, Step-by-Step workshop. Click here for details and the sign up link. But you need to hurry! Not only is space limited to 20 participants, but you need to get a $20 check or cash to Karen Fricke by October 14 to cover the cost of the specially selected floral material. You can either hand it to her, contact her for her Venmo address, or mail it to her at her address in the directory (just put her name in the Search Box.) The fee MUST arrive by October 14 in order to purchase the material.

The Daffodil Workshop scheduled for Monday, October 7 has been rescheduled one week later to Monday, October 14, 10:00-11:30AM CLICK HERE to go to the Workshop page for all the exciting details and to sign up. And, while you're there, don't forget to sign up for the American Traditional Mass Design Workshop three days later as well. Details also on the Workshop page .

Minimal/Maximal is the theme of this month's competitions on October 21, so feel free to unfetter your creativity. You need to email the committee representatives by October 16 if you wish to enter. Specific schedules, as well as links to the Rules and the NGC’s Handbook for Flower Design. are laid out on the website pages for Botanical Arts , Flower Design and Horticulture , found on the website under the heading "What We Do" in the navigation bar at the top of this page. Scroll down each page for details of this and later months. BOTANICAL ARTS See the schedule on the Botanical Arts page HERE , and contact Florence Leyssène by October 16 to enter. Remember, only one entry per section, meaning one mask and one photograph.r. Barry DiBernardo, Heidi Muschick’s husband, an expert and talented  photographer agreed to come and judge our competition. But he can’t do it on Monday so he offered to judge on Sunday afternoon, October 20 at 4 pm. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn more about photography. You must bring your photograph to the garden club room on Thursday, Oct. 17 between noon and 2PM. Debbie and Florence will be there. The photos will be judged by Barry on Sunday, October 20th, results will be announced on Monday, October 21st at the Program meeting. FLOWER DESIGN See the schedule on the Flower Design page HERE , and contact Barbara Ba letti by October 16 to enter. October designs are eligible to win the  Kay MacLane Van Deusen Rose Award.   Designer's choice of plant material. No green or black floral foam can be used in any designs but AgraWool or TerraBrick is permitted. The competition will take place in our space at 60 South Fullerton Ave,, Montclair. HORTICULTURE See the schedule on the Horticulture Page HERE and contact Susan Straten by October 16 to enter.

With great sadness we share that our member, Kate Khachaturian died suddenly Wednesday, October 2 while she and Armen were on a trip with friends. The photo above was taken October 1 at a joyful gathering with those friends.  Kate has been a member of Union Congregational Church since 1981, and The Garden Club of Montclair since 1985, gracing our common life with faithfulness, care, love and wisdom. She loved reading, gardening, traveling, swimming, singing, and treasured her family and friends.  We especially hold her husband Armen, her children Sara and Adam, grandchildren, and many close friends in our prayers.  There will be a visitation Sunday, October 6, 1-4pm at Caggiano Funeral Home 62 Grove Street Montclair, and a Memorial Service on Monday, October 7, 10am at Union Congregational Church 176 Cooper Avenue Upper Montclair.  We know many of you will want to reach out to Armen. The family asks that you do so via cards and email at this time.

CLICK HERE for the October issue of Potpourri.

Basics of Flower Design Workshop for Provisionals and Novices Tuesday, October 1, 5-6:30PM 60 South Fullerton Avenue in the Club Room This demonstration will provide a solid foundation to kick off your first (or second) year of Floral Design competitions. Join Debbie Moran and Florence Leyssène, NGC accredited Master Flower Show Judges, as they demonstrate and explain the basics for creating show-worthy arrangements. This is a great refresher for any level of membership.  Open to all levels. Sign up HERE .

Daffodil Workshop Monday, October 7, 10-11:30AM 60 South Fullerton Avenue in the Club Room Heidi Muschick, NGC accredited Master Flower Show Judge and Instructor, and American Daffodil Society Judge, will show us everything we need to know about planting, growing, and caring for daffodils.  She’ll discuss the many varieties available, and share her knowledge about selecting and grooming daffodils for competition.  Heidi will walk us through the steps of choosing and purchasing early blooming daffodils to enter into the March Horticulture competition, which will include a special class: A collection of five different daffodils, qualifying for the Estelle Leibrecht Horticulture Award.  Open to all levels. Sign up HERE . Photo: courtesy Jim Evans, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Open Garden of Florence Sinofsky & Bob Chapman, see address Sunday, September 29, 2024, 3:00-6:00PM Seven years ago, Bob Chapman joined our club so he could host an Open Garden. Consequently, we were blessed with this stunning outdoor museum that showcased his DIY talents and he was blessed with Florence Sinofsky who was among the dozens of guests that summer day. This will be the fourth Open Garden given by our favorite couple. Friends are welcome. Marilyn Zaret ( marzaret@comcast.net )

Due to the weather forecast, Bob Chapman's and Florence Sinovsky's Open Garden will be held this SUNDAY SEPT 29 and not Saturday as advertised. It will still be from 3-6PM. Don't miss this gorgeous garden! See all details by clicking here.