Rutgers-Camden Alumni Garden Club

A group of energetic, outdoor-oriented Alumni have recently formed the Rutgers-Camden Alumni Garden Club. They are starting to catalogue our campus' trees, shrubs, and other plants and -along with Bernie DelGuidice- a group of garden club members have designed a small Alumni garden on campus. They also organized the following events for our alumni with "green thumbs" or maybe just alumni with a weakness for lovely flowers and beautiful gardens.

Dates	Time	Place
Saturday, June 17, 2006	10 am	Trip to the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania (Morris Arboretum website) The Rutgers University Camden Alumni Garden Club visited the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill for a private guided tour by one of the arboretum’s docents.  After the tour, we enjoyed lunch at the café that offers outdoor seating.  Alumni were welcome to bring their own lunch or purchase their lunch from the café. Cost: $ 20.00, incl. transportation
Tuesday, September 12, 2006	6:00 pm	Trip to the Camden Children's Garden All Rutgers alumni and garden enthusiasts are invited to a private tour of the Camden Children's Garden with Director Mike Devlin who is a Rutgers Law graduate. Gardening, his hobby, became his career 20 some years ago.  As an award winning gardener, he organizes a Camden Children's Garden exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show. Mike will share his gardening tips.  Cost:  free
Children's Garden website
Monday, October 16, 2006	6:00 pm	Gardening for Birds George Fore, a Rutgers-Camden alum, and his wife Chris will hosted a talk at their store (near the former Ellisburg Circle) from 6 until 8 pm.  George, an expert gardener, gave a wonderful presentation about attracting birds into your garden. He had given slideshows on the same theme at the 2006 Philadelphia Flower Show.  Coffee and refreshments were served. Cost:  free Location: 1619 N. Kings Hwy., Cherry Hill
Wild Birds Unlimited
Visit the WBU Store
TBA		Check back here for information about the next Garden Club meeting In the meantime, please contact Margo Silk at alumni@camden.rutgers.edu. Thank you!

	The Gardens at Duke Farms The Gardens at Duke Farms is an enchanted acre of land on the Duke Somerville estate for public visitation. On the site of growing houses built near the turn of the century for household use on her father's estate, Miss Duke developed the exotic display gardens in his honor. >>> more
	The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society The timeless enjoyment of gardening awaits you at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1827. As producer of the Philadelphia Flower Show, PHS annually hosts thousands of visitors and gardening enthusiasts. >>> more
	Greater Philadelphia Gardens The Greater Philadelphia area is rich in public gardens, arboreta & historic houses with gardens. This site is your resource for learning about the 28 gardens, events or planning a weekend getaway. >>> more
	Grounds for Sculpture This 35-acre sculpture park and museum is located in Hamilton, NJ. The organization's mission is to promote an understanding of and appreciation for contemporary sculpture by organizing exhibitions, publishing catalogues, and offering a variety of educational programs and special community events. >>> more
	Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania The Rutgers University Camden Alumni Garden Club visited the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill for a private guided tour by one of the arboretum’s docents. >>> visit the Morris Arboretum website
Local Gardening Groups
	Horticultural Society of South Jersey The PURPOSE of the Horticultural Society of South Jersey is to further the horticultural knowledge and interests of its members and the public. To learn more about about programs and meeting dates, >>> visit the website of the Horticultural Society of S.J.
	Wild Birds Unlimited The Garden Club visited Wild Birds Unlimited on Oct 16th, where George and Chris Fore, RU-Camden alumns, gave us ideas on how to attract a wide variety of birds in our backyard by gardening "for the birds." >>> Visit the Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop in Cherry Hill
	Rutgers Cooperative Extension and Research New Jersey Master Gardeners are trained volunteers who assist Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension in its mission to deliver horticulture programs and information to the general public. Anyone with an interest in gardening and a commitment to volunteer service can become a Master Gardener. No previous education or training in horticulture is required. >>> For more information, please visit the Rutgers Master Gardener Program website
	Plant-a-Patch at Barclay Farmstead Calling all green thumbs! For more than 25 years, Cherry Hill Township has sponsored Plant-A-Patch, a community gardening program at the Barclay Farmstead.  Each season (April - October), more than 100 gardeners maintain and harvest their own garden plots on original farm fields.  The program also features a free lecture series and the annual Harvest Dinner, held each August.  >>> For more info, call Barclay Farms 856-795-6225 or check the Plant-a-Patch website
	Delaware Valley Water Garden Society The Delaware Valley Water Garden Society is an organization of volunteers dedicated to water gardening and pond keeping. Our members range from novices to commercial professionals from southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. >>> more

10/16/06
Theo Haines updated us on the progress of the Rutgers-Camden campus plant cataloging project. She has received a list from Bernie of the newly planted and previously existing plants on campus. They now need to be catalogued and plotted on a campus map. Any volunteers to help with the project, please contact Theo Haynes, reference librarian, Rutgers-Camden Robeson Library.

10/02/05
The Rutgers-Camden Alumni Garden Club met on Sunday afternoon to enjoy a walking tour of the Camden Campus. Margo Silk, Alumni Relations, greeted Club members at the Alumni Office and shared the Alumni Management group's focus to enhance our campus, working with Facilities Maintenance, through gardening. Margo and Bernie Del Guidice, Director of the Rutgers-Camden Facilities Maintenance Service, provided Club members with an overview for the tour and the campus walk began. Along the way, topics of discussion and interest were generated.

The ground plot at the left side of the Alumni Office, in the breezeway/walking path, between 407 and 411 Cooper Street, is available for beautification. The Club immediately adopted the plot and named it "Alumni Garden". Another suggestion was to name and dedicate the complete breezeway/walking path between the two buildings, "Alumni Walk". This would take University approval. An instant benefit of the dedicated area would be the creation of an Alumni identity at Camden and an identified area where university, including Alumni, outdoor activities could be initiated and displayed. The Club decided the ground plot would be our first project and focus point. Ideas were advanced. Margo suggested a bird bath as a focus point and Karen Reynolds suggested some form of Alumni identification, perhaps a small sign, along with a boarder trim of plants -daylilies- black mulch and some kind of fall flower, with red coloring, to fill the space and create the Rutgers colors of red and black. With this done, the Club would have time to consider long-term, more permanent landscaping, in particular, for the Spring 2006 Reunion.

The Business School now has its own outdoor seating plaza, at the point of land where Penn and Friend Streets dead-end, between the Business School and the Student Residence parking area. The area now has red umbrellas, tables and chair sets. This area will also have three large cement planting urns that will be strategically placed as anchors on the plaza, to be filled with perennials not needing constant care. It was suggested the Club could help identify and design the plantings for the urns. Once again, the ideas of the University's colors, red and black were put forward as an attractive visual.

The Club also took note of the slopes on either side of the entrance to the Business School. The South face and grade of the slope and open exposure to the weather has restricted the natural grow and sustenance of the two slopes. It was mentioned that research into plantings that can grow and sustain themselves in this environment and soil could be conducted by the Garden Club to help the current situation and, quite possibly over a longer period of time, eliminate the problem. The area needs attention but is not critical.

As our tour continued, the area between the side of the Paul Robeson Library and across the way from the Law School and the Admissions Office, 406 Penn, became highlighted in several conversations. A number of alumni pointed out that this long strip of bald earth and scrub grass plots, bordering on 5th Street and leading toward the Quadrangle at the center of the campus, currently is in serious need of help, and detracting from one of the University's gateway entrances. The Club members felt there was a significant opportunity for University identity and creation in this area, in light of the Law School building expansion and enhancement project. A Knot Garden was suggested, utilizing Liriope to ensure growth, color and an attractive contrast to the cement pavement all around it. This and the other garden plots, in this area, should be planted in Spring 2006 so they will be self-sustaining and mature by Summer '06.

The Club then expanded their focus in this area to include the sculpture, "Emerge", which anchors the area toward the Quadrangle, the Law School bridge over the grassy area and the semi-circular cement area that edges right up on the 5th Street pavement. Club members felt that a dedicated patio area with outdoor furniture similar to the new outdoor seating area at the Business School, located on the cement, directly under the Law School bridge would provide a relaxed oasis for thought and meditation, particularly with the Knot Garden plots on the side of it. Karen suggested a landscape and hardscape design right at the 5th Street pavement to give the area a look and feel of unity right through the whole area from 5^th Street through to the Quadrangle, and at the same time be individual, intimate garden vignettes. The Rutgers-Camden identity should be made obvious with a hardscape "R" emblazoned in the cement right at the 5th Street semi circle and low lying daylilies and flowering perennials, Liriope or Impatiens, surrounding the "R". The group felt this was an area where a major University identity could be made heralding the Rutgers-Camden campus and providing an attractive eye-catching gateway to the main part of the campus.

The Club observed the lovely garden beside the Admissions Building. Bernie shared with the group that in our research and design for different projects around the campus, we should consider perennials and hardy plantings that can survive on their own with a minimum of attention. The campus is large and the Facilities Maintenance staff has many responsibilities. They can only allocate so much time to any project. The Club recognized that the Spring 2006 Open House preparation will require a considerable amount of time by members and staff at Rutgers-Camden. Of interest, Rutgers-Camden acquires some of their plants from Princeton Nurseries, Allentown, NJ. A few members thought a trip to Princeton Nurseries and perhaps one or two of the other nurseries Rutgers-Camden uses may be helpful identifying and understanding the many plants on campus.

The walking tour concluded at the Alumni Office with Margo recapping the Club's focus:

Identify projects we want to work on, prioritize the projects, identify critical university dates and create project timeframes. Margo also felt we should have elected/chosen/volunteer officers and establish subcommittees to work on the many aspects of a successful Alumni Garden Club. Theo Haines and Karen Reynolds volunteered to categorize and record as many of the Rutgers-Camden plantings as can be identified and plot them on a University map. Bernie offered to provide information on the Rutgers-Camden site layout. Margo will advise members of the date, time and place, each month, by email or other means. The meeting concluded.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen M. Reynolds

For more information about Rutgers-Camden Alumni Garden Club,
please contact Margo Silk at alumni@camden.rutgers.edu. Thank you!