The Nauset Garden Club of Cape Cod, MA
The Nauset Garden Club is a founding member of the Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod. We joined with nine Cape organizations. The goal is to spread the pathway to all of the towns on Cape Cod
to create a contiguous pathway.
The Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC)
The Chatham Conservation Foundation
Master Gardeners Association of Cape Cod
Orleans Improvement Association (OIA)
Garden Club of Harwich
Orleans Conservation Trust
Orleans Pond Coalition
The Town of Orleans
Nauset Garden Club
Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod
THE CONCEPT OF POLLINATOR PATHWAYS
The purpose of Pollinator Pathways is to stem the heavy loss of pollinators (insects, birds, and animals) by means of creating connected corridors or pathways that support their habitat. The fragmentation of the natural environment through urbanization and suburbanization is now recognized as a major factor in the great decline of many of these pollinators.
Creating a Pollinator Pathway will allow us all to make a difference in one of the most important ecological issues of our time. Pollinator Pathways can be a happy mix of pollinator plants and traditional plants.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
o ADD a few more natives – trees, shrubs, and flowers
o Add perennials or annuals and extend your bloom season
o SUBTRACT a little lawn – reduce the size and mow less often
o Consider adding more garden beds, allow a natural lawn to grow
o AVOID chemical fertilizers and pesticides
o Lawn and garden pesticides and chemical fertilizers
are not healthy for pollinators, our waters, or us
o LEAVE the leaves – go easy on the Fall clean-up of beds
o Pollinators overwinter in the leaves
PPCC Website
Register your Garden
New England
Plants for Pollinators
Sprucing up the gardens at the Orleans Village Green
A taste of the history of the Orleans Village Green rhododendron display garden
The Orleans Village Green is 1.2 acres but appears larger because the Snow Library, which abuts it, sits on 2.1 acres of connected landscaped lawns. Orleans is situated in climate USDA Zone 7a. Although the Green is not on the water the winds do sweep across it. Additional soil and manure were added to the sandy Cape Cod soil to prepare the site. Superphosphate and peat moss were added during planting.
The first section of the garden was planted in the fall of 1989 and spring of 1990. The garden was dedicated in May of 1991. A sign was installed, a band played music, an Orleans selectman was present and there were refreshments for all. THIS IS JUST AN EXCERPT. WHO KNEW THERE WERE TWO PHASES? VIEW THE SITE PLAN AND A LIST OF PLANTS.
Thanks to the American Rhododendron Society Cape Cod Chapter
HOW IT GOT STARTED
Many years ago after a trip to Bar Harbor Maine, and viewing the Maine Club’s Wildflower Garden, the six original women of the Nauset Garden Club decided that they would like to create a wildflower garden. It was 1984-1985
Eleanor Ode Seaman and Lyn Peabody envisioned one just like the one they saw in Maine. There were up land areas and dry areas. Each area was cared for by different women of the club.
It took two years for them to clear the briers and poison ivy, making the ground ready for planting.
Members of the Nauset Garden Club spend Tuesday mornings from Spring through the Fall with gloves, rakes, and pruners taking care of the area with love and laughter, weather permitting.
GARDEN GUIDE
The NGC printed a Guide to the garden in 2011 with artwork done by Devon Foley a very talented artist and member of the club. These guidebooks are for sale at the gift shop in the museum. As of the printing there were over 120 plants, and now they have identification tags.
The guide has illustrations of each plant along with information about each plant.
Lyn Peabody Wildflower Gardens
VIEWING THE GARDENS
The Garden is open to all when the Museum is open. Enter through the Museum (Route 6A Brewster) and exit into the garden for viewing.
Describe your image
In 2019 the Club was pleased to add a special garden area in memory of Ann Craviso, an original long-time member of the club
THE CRAVISO GARDEN
GARDEN MEMORIALS
There is a rock wall named for Eleanor Seaman, a red bud tree named for Ann Bennett, a scotch broom for Cindy Henson, and Lynn Farber has a beach plum named in her memory. A birdbath was placed in memory of Ann Craviso and a bench was placed in Louis Jaquinet’s name.
The Nauset Garden Club's Outreach Committee
If you are interested in joining the Nauset Garden Club's Outreach Committee, to participate in the Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod, contact one of the committee members below.
Many thanks to Peggy Sheehan ~ Club Historian