New Jersey Gardening Club News: The Garden Club of Harrington (GCHP) will hold its first meeting of the 2019-2020 season on Thursday, September 5th at 7:30 pm upstairs in the Harrington Park Library, 10 Herring Street, Harrington Park, New Jersey. To kick off the GCHP’s 29th year, master gardener Mary Jo Sichak will present Indoor Gardening.
As the seasons begin to change, thoughts turn to ways to stay in touch with nature throughout the winter. Mary Jo will show how to enhance our lives and homes by bringing the green in. Topics covered include a brief history of indoor gardening, choosing and caring for the right plant, decorating with live plants, and the health benefits of having houseplants in your home.
Mary Jo has always loved nature and been fascinated by the creatures that you can find when you take a closer look. Mary Jo, originally from Chicago, is a born and raised city kid, where most of her wildlife encounters took place in a zoo. She was a volunteer educator at the Lincoln Park Zoo for 10 years, which afforded her the opportunity to work with a variety of animals ranging from hissing cockroaches to large mammals. Mary Jo enjoyed the privilege of working with the wildlife, and more importantly the opportunity to educate the public about them.
When Mary Jo moved to New Jersey 24 years ago, she volunteered at the Bergen County Zoo. She later realized that there was an abundance of wildlife much closer to home and she began volunteering as a teacher/naturalist at the Weis Ecology Center. Over time her interests grew to include flora and fauna, and in 2011 she became a certified master gardener through the Rutgers Program in Passaic County, learning how to apply that knowledge not only outdoors in the garden, but also indoors, through houseplants.
Throughout it all, Mary Jo has been interested in capturing what she sees through photography and says, “Not only does a photograph preserve the beauty of the moment, it also freezes a moment in time, allowing it to be thoroughly studied and shared with others. It is the combination of nature, art and education that have prompted me to create a series of slide shows focused largely on the natural beauty that exists here in northern New Jersey, allowing me to share it with various audiences”
The program will be followed by a “Q & A” session and refreshments. Irene Jackson and Beverly Murray will be the hostesses for the evening.
All gardeners, active or armchair from all towns, are welcome.
For more information, contact GCHP President Gerri Gibney at 201-768-2615 or visit www.gardenclubofharringtonpark.com/.
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