MAY 2026 UPDATES & EVENTS Concord Garden Club
- Jenny Robson - Communications
- May 4
- 6 min read
Back to the Garden
And just like that, the gardening season is back in full swing. Whether you're potting up dahlias, plotting your vegetable garden, or sitting back and enjoying the fruits of your labors, we hope you'll find information in this newsletter that entertains and informs you.
President's Message
As we head towards summer and the end of the Garden Club’s programming year, I want to remind everyone about the Club’s Annual Meeting for Active Members which will be held on June 4 at 9:30 at the Woman’s Club. This will once again be a breakfast meeting with coffee, tea and breakfast items provided; invitations have been mailed and include a dues invoice for 2026/2027 (Associate Members have received their dues invoice alone). As always, we will have a brief, but very important, business meeting for Active Members to elect the new slate of officers and introduce committee chairs, and to review our finances and the work of our committees over the past year. I am very excited to share our new slate with you; running Garden Club is a lot of fun and we have a great group.
Don’t forget to check around your house and yard for garden themed items to bring to our “Give and Get” table! Cuttings, seeds, divided plants, pots, books, garden themed items are all welcome.
Over the summer we will be working on refreshing our website, which has been up and running for almost five years now. If you have trouble using the website, if you notice information that needs to be changed, if you have suggestions, or if you would be interested in being part of our website team, please get in touch with me or Jenny Robson. Thanks.
Gena
May Meeting
Bedrock Gardens Art Tour
This tour will focus on the garden's artwork by Jill Nooney.
Thursday, May 21st
11:00am
Bedrock Gardens
19 High Road
Lee, NH
If you would like to carpool, meet at 10am at the parking lot on the East side of Everett Arena (where the Christmas Trees are sold).
Side note, if you have a Bedrock Gardens membership, not only does the Garden Club not have to pay your entrance fee for the tour, your tax-deductible membership is also good for entrance at over 380 gardens throughout North America through the American Horticultural Society reciprocal benefits program including Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, Tower Hill, and others. Memberships may be purchased here.
Program Chair - Johane Telgener
RSVP here please!
June - Annual Meeting:
Morning Coffee & Garden Items Swap
Thursday, June 4, 2026
9:30-11:00am
Woman's Club of Concord
44 Pleasant Street
Watch your mail for an invitation (including a dues reminder for '26-'27 CGC membership) to RSVP and attend our Annual Meeting to elect new officers and committee chairs and conduct the Club's business.
Coffee and pastries will be provided.
We will also have a plant and garden items exchange, so please bring garden related items from home: cuttings, extra pots, seeds, books, and other gardening items you no longer need - and be prepared to take a few "new to you" things home with you!
Program Chair: Gena Cohen Moses
Thank you!
Gardening in MAY
From UNH Extension:
Spring in New Hampshire can sometimes feel like whiplash, right? We get teased with a few warm days making us think we’re past the cold weather and then -BOOM- it’s snowing again. As we head into May, the likelihood of snow is very low, but we could easily see one or more frosts, especially in higher elevations and in the northern part of the state.
Typically, our last frost date falls somewhere in mid- to late-May depending on where you are in the state, so resist the temptation to plant your summer vegetables until the 10-day forecast looks clear of temperatures in the low 30s and your soil temperature has warmed to 50 degrees F or higher. If you find that you planted a little too early and a late frost is in the forecast, you can always give your plants a fighting chance with some row cover or individual garden cloches. To be extra safe, especially if you live in central or northern New Hampshire, we often recommend waiting until Memorial Day weekend to plant your summer crops or heat-loving annuals.
If you’re brand new to gardening, or beginning a new garden plot this year, there is much to do in May! Head over to our “Getting Started with Gardening" page for everything you need to know to have a successful first year and good luck!
Remember, whether you’re brand new to gardening or you’re a seasoned vet, you can always ask the dedicated volunteers at the UNH Extension Yard and Garden Infoline your pressing questions. Web form-extension.unh.edu/ask or call 877-398-4769.
SAVE THE DATE
June 6, 10am-5pm at the McLane Center in Concord
(rain date June 7)
Bagley Pond Perennials and Pam's Plants will be offering a wide selection of native plants and shrubs for purchase. At the craft fair, explore a wide variety of quality, handmade crafts by local artisans. Visit our ambassador animals, explore the pollintor gardens, win raffle prizes, enjoy food from food trucks, and more!
May Chores for Flower Gardens
SHOP IN YOUR OWN BEDS: Before things get too far along, practice "use what you've got" gardening, dividing mature plants and plucking out seedlings and other “extra goodies” from cracks and crevices, edges of beds, the driveway, and moving them into better homes where they will make more impact. Free!
TAKE ADVANTAGE of any bouts of cooler, moister weather to divide and move perennials. Water in well, and keep an eye out all season to watch that they don’t stress.
PREPARE NEW BEDS by smothering grass or weeds with layers of recycled corrugated cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top.
ONCE EXISTING BEDS ARE CLEANED UP, topdress according to label directions with an all-natural organic fertilizer if needed (a soil test can tell you), but more important, a layer of finished compost.
WHEN WORKING IN BEDS and borders, be careful not to clean up too roughly: desirable emerging self-sown annuals and biennials (larkspur, nicotiana, clary sage, Verbena bonariensis, perilla, Angelica gigas, etc.) can be disturbed unless you pay attention.
PLANT ANNUAL VINES, which make hummingbirds and butterflies happy in high
summer-to-fall.
SPEAKING OF ANNUALS…Just as with many vegetables, a single sowing won’t take you from early season to late fall. Plan for succession plantings.
DEADHEAD SPRING BULBS as blooms fade, but leave foliage intact to wither and ripen the bulbs naturally. Deadhead spring-flowering perennials unless they have showy seedheads, or you want to collect seed later (non-hybrids only, unless you’re feeling daring and want to see what parental traits the offspring revert to).
TENDER BULBS started indoors last month for a headstart (like cannas) can go into the ground after frost danger passes. If you didn’t get dahlias, cannas, caladiums and such going indoors, plant now, inserting support stakes (if needed, as with dahlias) at planting time to avoid piercing bulbs later.
SOAK NASTURTIUM and morning glory seeds overnight, then sow. Zinnias and marigolds and other familiar summery annuals can be direct sown now, or start in cellpacks and set them out after a month to six weeks. Calendula is another good annual -- edible, beautiful, and popular with beneficial insects.
EDGE BEDS to make a clean line and define them. A clean edge makes a real difference, along with an inch and a half or two of good, fine- to medium-textured organic mulch.
And this helpful info from UNH Extension about garden cleanup and supporting pollinators:
Community Information & Volunteer Corner
Kimball Jenkins
Thanks for community volunteer Joanne Davis, Kimball Jenkins is planning to renew their outdoor ceremony space. Joanne has created a wish list of flowers and shrubs needed for this project (see below). If you are able to help, donations can be dropped off at Kimball Jenkins office, M-F 10-5, through May 29.
Donations can be divisions from your own garden, or you may purchase an item from our wish list through Black Forest Nursery at this link. If you order online through Black Forest, they will contact Joanne directly and she will pick up the item for you.
Wishlist:
Shrubs - Sweetspire
Mountain Laurel
Gold Mop Cypress
Gold Blue Spruce
Boxwood
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Sweet Azalea
Dwarf Andromeda
Dwarf Japanese Garden Juniper
Siberian Cypress
Japanese Maple
Perennials:
Astilbe
Bleeding Heart
Hosta (small, medium, large)
Brunnera
Lungwort
Solomon's Seal
Fern (medium, tall)
Japanese Painted Fern
Foam Flower
Coral Bells (Heuchera)
Sweet Woodruff
Primrose
Hellebore
Wild Ginger
If you are interested in adopting a Kimball Jenkins garden space to restore, please contact our office at 603.225.3932
Personal Request
Finally, we received this email, which provides an opportunity to volunteer in a more personal way:
Hello!
My mom is 87 years old and has always been an avid gardener. She lives on South Street in Concord. I was wondering if there are any members within the garden club who are interested in volunteer to do work in gardens. My mom is still able to garden but could use assistance in heaview duty tasks (heavy duty for an 87 year old, not for most people). Her happy place is in the garden and I am trying to find a way she can spend a lot of time there. Thanks so much.
Beran Black
If you are interested in helping Beran's mom, please contact Beran directly at abcdinbow@comcast.net
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