East Windsor Garden Club

11/03/2026

Alyssum is a versatile, no fuss annual and it is going strong in early November. It is low growing and can have tiny white, pink, or purple,flowers. It is widely used as a border, ground cover, or container filler. Or tuck it in anywhere. Full sun, to part shade, drought, tolerant. 

10/29/2026

Gardeners will get this! 😀

Read Frazz—a comic strip by creator Jef Mallett—for today, October 25, 2026, and check out other great comics, too!

10/28/2026

Now that the frost has killed the annuals, we cleaned out the planter at the Town Hall. Look at the size of the tubers we dug up from the sweet potato vine! (Claw tool for size reference). And so bright red! Although technically you can eat them, they are too tough to be enjoyable. However it is possible to store them over the winter like other tubers, and plant them in the spring. But they should be dug before a killing frost. They also can be kept as a houseplant or a vine cutting.

06/26/2026

It's National Pollinator Week! We hope everyone who loves to garden
will make an effort to help the pollinators. Even as small an area as a window box will help!

It is National Pollinator Week! This year to celebrate Pollinator Week, the National Pollinator Pathway is partnering with the Xerces Society to publicize their new Bring Back the Pollinators campaign.

While many of the pollinators we rely on are in decline, the good news is that it takes just four simple steps to support pollinators in any location, whether you
tend an urban patio or a suburban yard, work in a city park or on a farm.

To Help Pollinators, Follow These Four Steps

1. Grow Pollinator-Friendly Flowers. Growing the right flowers, shrubs, and trees with
overlapping bloom times will provide pollinators with pollen and nectar from spring
through fall.

2. Provide Nest Sites. It is important to support all pollinator life stages, including eggs
and larvae! For bees, leave patches of bare ground and brush piles, have plants and
shrubs with hollow or pithy stems, or install nesting blocks. For butterflies and moths,
plant their caterpillar host plants.

3. Avoid Pesticides. Pesticides, especially insecticides, are harmful to pollinators. There
are safer ways to manage issues!

4. Spread the Word. You can share information about pollinators on social media, talk with
your neighbors, or spread the word with a pollinator habitat sign or pesticide-free sign.

Together, we can transform our neighborhoods and create healthier landscapes that will benefit us as well as pollinators. Find everything you need to get started at http://bringbackthepollinators.org/. (Link also in our bio and Linktree.)

05/29/2026

The plantings around the sign at the East Windsor Park don’t look very exciting right now, but stay tuned as it will look beautiful shortly. 

05/28/2026

4 Garden Club members, 25 bags of mulch and 2 hours of weeding and pruning and the Memorial Garden in Windsorville is looking beautiful!

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day in the Garden.
~The world is bigger than all of us.
A mere blue dot in outer space.
Yet, even Atlas struggled to carry the weight of the world.
There is a lightness that comes from tending our little patch of earth.
Mother Earth wants us to unshoulder the burden.
Like any good mother, she loves to reciprocate.
Knowing my mother as I do, she would be grateful to have us do what we can close to home. ..to get on in our habitat like good siblings around the table.
She would be proud if our good deeds could go out as far as a farm, a school garden, a watershed, a green corridor, or an environmental stewardship movement
But she would be just as grateful and proud to have us start right here at home.
Earth's bouquet is ours to enjoy and share.
Earth, Air and Water - our gift to sustain for all of her grandchildren.
- John Forti

03/21/2026

**WHEN SHOULD YOU START YOUR SPRING GARDEN CLEANUP TO PROTECT POLLINATORS?**

Discover the pollinator-friendly way to refresh your garden this spring! 🐝🦋🌸

Many beneficial insects like bees, butterflies, ladybugs, and other native pollinators overwinter in fallen leaves, dry stems, hollow plant stalks, and garden debris. Cleaning up too early can disturb or destroy their winter shelters before they emerge—harming our essential pollinators and the ecosystem they support.

This educational illustration shows exactly **when to delay spring cleanup** so happy pollinators thrive:

- Wait until you're no longer bundled in winter layers (mittens and wool socks gone? Still too soon!)
- Hold off if there's any risk of snow or frost
- Don't rush like planting tomatoes—wait for evening temps reliably in the 50s°F
- Delay mowing until grass is tall enough for regular cuts and most pollinators have emerged
- Mid-to-late April is often the earliest safe time in many areas to cut back perennials and clear debris
- Postpone until apple and pear trees finish blooming
- When pruning woody perennials or shrubs, cut hollow stems to 12-15" from the ground and leave them attached for at least 2 years to provide nesting homes

By postponing cleanup, you're giving bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects the time they need to wake up, forage, and contribute to a healthier garden and planet. Less work for you = more habitat for them!

Perfect for eco-conscious gardeners who love sustainable practices, native plants, and creating wildlife-friendly yards.



What’s your go-to sign that it’s finally safe to tidy up? Drop a comment below—love hearing your local tips! 👇🌿

12/18/2025

The East Windsor Garden Club had our annual Christmas party on Tuesday. It was a lovely time with the fun of socializing, lots of amazing food, a fun gift exchange, the monthly raffle, and some nice craft items made by Members to give to all attending.  The Club takes a break now for a couple of months and will start meeting again in March.
Follow our page for updates about events and speakers. 

09/21/2025

Most likely is the Fall Super Generation of monarchs born in late summer which are a distinct "super generation" that does not reproduce. Instead, they are physiologically different and are programmed to migrate. So amazing this one will probably travel up to 3,000 miles to the overwintering grounds in Mexico! She’s still finding some nectar from some late blooming flowers. There is so much wonder in nature!