Many of you might not know that the Ashland Garden Club plants and maintains six in-ground gardens around Town: the Library gardens, the Clock Tower garden, the Memorial, the Post Office garden, Winter St. Island, and the Community Center garden. We also plant and maintain the large Fountain planter across from the Library, the planters at the Town Hall, the planters at the Post Office, and the planters at the Community Center. Each of these sites has its own history. I am choosing to focus on the Clock Tower garden this month. This garden is directly across from Stone’s and includes the clock tower, which features a functioning clock symbolizing the Town’s history.

I don’t remember much about this site before the late Lois Bennett, AGC President and Master Gardener, designed the placement and type of plants you see in this garden today. She chose red knock-out roses as the focal point, with nepeta (member of the catmint family) planted along each side of the five knock-out roses. Both the roses and the nepeta bloom from spring until late fall. The contrast of the bright blue of the nepeta on either side of the bright red of the roses is striking. Lois chose false cedar, a mounding shrub with golden foliage, to be planted at one end of the garden and various colored sedums to be planted under the clock tower at the other end.

I am including a photo of AGC members Chris Hall, Gretchen Bravacos, Lois Bennett, and David Foster, a founding member of AGC, taken on the day we planted the Clock Tower Garden in the Spring of 2015. You can see the roses and the nepeta in the photo. This site is currently planted and maintained by Chris Gatti, Master Gardener, Allison Burba Hogan, both members of the AGC Leadership Team, and Margy Gassel (not pictured). In addition to maintaining the site, this team also adds interest to the garden by planting seasonal annuals.

The Ashland Garden Club meets on the second Saturday of each month, September through June, and all meetings are open to the public. On Saturday, June 27, 1-2 p.m., the Library is co-sponsoring with AGC “Growing Food from Scraps,” a workshop for children and their caregiver. The workshop will be held in the Library's large meeting room. Watch the Library’s website for information about registering for this event.

Article and photos submitted by Gretchen Bravacos.