Lois de Vries' Garden Views

The restored pool at Bamboo Brook The sixteen clubs that make up District 4 of The Garden Club of New Jersey have collaborated on a period flower show scheduled for Friday, September 16th from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, and Saturday, September 17th  from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Floral design entries will be on display in the Stone Barn at Willowwood Arboretum; horticultural submissions can be seen in the Music Room next door at Bamboo Brook. Children’s and special entries are located in the Summer Playhouse at Bamboo Brook. The Show’s theme, “In the Spirit of the Garden” honors Martha Brooks Huthcinson, America’s first female landscape architect, who designed Bamboo Brook. Hutchinson was a founding (1914) member of the Somerset Hills Garden Club. For more details, click http://bit.ly/pbDmB3

Connect with Nature from inside the house as well as from outside of it! Every gardener fails at something It goes with the territory. Even the best of us have plants beset by insects, fungi, bacteria and other pests that are difficult to control and can wipe out an entire growing season’s work. Then there is the weather – early snows, late ice storms, drought, floods, etc., all take a toll. Gardeners learn that they have to be flexible and roll with the punches. That ability is also important when others, particularly loved ones, don’t share our opinion about the importance of gardening in the big picture of national or global upheaval. And if you can’t show perfect results in a hurry, some folks may be inclined to suggest that you aren’t very good at gardening. Are you intimidated by the gardens you see in books and magazines? Do you feel that, if your garden doesn’t measure up to some ideal, it isn’t worth having? Do you feel pressured to