The Portsmouth Garden Club
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Activities: Civic Beautification
Fall 2025 Oct, 27
Fall Clean up at Legion Park
Bulb planting at Legion Park today.
done by Jane, Nancy, Janet, MaryPat and Christine.
Thank you to Newport in Bloom for 125 of the 300 tulip bulbs!
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Fall through spring 2024 to 2025- Pollinator garden for our 90th anniversary
Oct 2024 -The Mary and George Pollinator Garden, planted by Portsmouth Garden at the Portsmouth Turnpike Ave. is completed. The 4 Hearts Playground where it is located is being dedicated.
A Community grant awarded in May 2024 of $500 from the RI Federation of Garden Clubs was used. It is dedicated to the memory of member Mary Mendonca and her husband, honorary club supervisor, George Mendonca who died on February 1 and2, 2011. Additional funds for plants and the bird bath were donated by the family of past president Dorothy Morris Backman, and by current members.
It is to be turned over for to the 4 Hearts Foundation, the playground foundation founded to build it and the town for ongoing maintenance. A formal dedication and thank you to the committee, under the guidance of Mary Pat Komm, will be held at a future date.
The first set of photos taken in mid-summer.
Spring 2023 Portsmouth Free Public Library Garden planting
April 11, 2023 The Marilyn (past president) and Ken Brockway memorial garden at their church. Photos showi it's spring blooms
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June 2019 Water Line arrives at Legion Park through efforts of the Garden Club June 14, 15
Digging the line. June 14.
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Memorial Day and Flag Day 2019
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November 2018
The Portsmouth Garden Club has completed a refurbish and replanting of Legion Park begun two year ago. The Portsmouth Town Hall overlooks a triangular park of land which was set aside after World War II, as a memorial to our fallen soldiers. Originally laid out by the American Legion Post with an anchor from an old British frigate and cedar trees, in June 1948 the Portsmouth Garden Club obtained permission from the town council to develop that garden plot more fully. Since that time the club has added and expanded flower beds, added a Liberty tree, helped the historical society place a cannon at the front, decorated for Christmas and placed flags on appropriate Veteran’s days.
Shade, overhanging branches, a decaying cannon carrier, tired looking plants and
poor soil created recent issues beyond merely planting and watering the flowers.
With grants over the two years from the Aquidneck Land Trust, a legislative grant via Senator James Seveney,
funds from the R.I. Federation of Garden clubs and our local Portsmouth club’s civic beautifications funds the work was done to beautify and identify the park.
First the cannon was repainted and the carrier rebuilt by volunteer, Manuel Sousa , the Liberty tree was trimmed and reshaped to allowed better sight of town hall and the road, the soil under the tree was amended, some beds closed and a very large round bed planted with blue flowers and ferns. Then the beds around the obelisk were expanded and red roses and daylilies planted, augmented with colorful annual flowers. The bed around the cannon was refurbished with more cedar plans than had be planted to celebrate the club’s 75the anniversary nearly 15 years ago. Red impatients were also added there.
This fall nearly
over 50 donated and purchased hostas were planted framing the circle under the tree and numbers ground cover plants were planted closer to the trunk. The hope is that in the spring a the
display will be attractive.
Lastly the club requested
permission of the council to place a club conceived, designed and fully paid for sign naming the triangle LEGION PARK. That was placed last week in time this Veterans Day, the
100th anniversary of the armistice of WWI.
Roberta Stevens, present President and Marilyn Brockway past President would like to thank the town administrator and town council for their encouragement, Brian Woodhead of the Public Works Department, all the financial sponsors, Island Garden Shop and Liptak Design on behalf of the club members for their contributions. Instrumental in volunteering with the hard work of planting are the current term civic beautification chair people Carrol Goetzinger, Mary Di Bara and Brenda Sisson.
The club will celebrate it’s 85 anniversary year next year and continues to work on civic beautification and other community goals. New members wishing to join are encouraged to send a note to view or website, https://www.portsmouthgardenclub.com/, mail to P.O. Box 826 or call our membership chairperson, Eileen.
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July 2018
Planting hostas under the tree at Legion Park. We receive a donation of a variety of 18 hostas from Brenda's garden and 4 from Bobbie's garden. They were planted on July 3 by Brenda, Rich, Bobbie and Shane. The complimented the flags for the fourth and the annuals and perennials the other club members had planted and watered earlier in the week.
Photos by Bobbie
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April 30, 2018
What do 1,500 bulbs look like? A sea of blue.
The Portsmouth Garden Club planted 1, 500 Scilla Siberica" Spring Beauty" bulbs last spring and they are blooming at Legion Park in a sea of blue. The area needed a new plan so the circle was enlarged; some beds that were too shady were closed. Hostas, ferns and other deep shade loving leafy plants were additionally planted. The re-design is not completed yet but the club would like to thank- Senator James Seveney for a Legislative grant, Aquidneck Land Trust and our own club’s Civic beautification fundraising efforts at the Island Garden Shop plant sales.
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Work last summer, June 2017
photos by Sue and Bobbie
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Annual
January : Remove Town Christmas Decorations
January : Place Ribbons (Project Purple at Legion Park)
May:
Planting Legion Park and the Portsmouth
Free Public Library
May-September: Plantings at Legion Park, Public Library
Water/Deadhead Town plantings
December Create wreaths for town buildings for
Christmas season
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PORTSMOUTH FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY Town Garden Work Summer 2017
2017 Planted Moonflower vine at Public Library
The Moon flower is related to morning glory but is white and blooms at night or depending on darkness -early evening or late AM. It then droops and will fall off. It booms every nite. They are about 5 inches in diameter and can grow to 20 plus feet with propping. Originally the flower grew in sub-tropical environments and can grow in Florida as a perennial. In colder climes they are annuals.. They adapted to color white as they attract a certain kind of moth. They do not need much care. Very suitable for a white garden and in the south people propagate them next to front door for interest and later in the season when blooming have a wonderful scent when a person walks thru the door. The plant or seeds can be bought and grown locally. - Provided by Jan Gump
2017-2018 Major Re-landscape of Legion Park
As of Sept 13, 2017
As of Sept 9, 2017
ON May 27. 2017
