The Little Things

High Praise for New Wildflower Field at 123 and Parade Hill

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An avid tennis player at the New Canaan Field Club, town resident Suzanne Jonker drives up Route 123 all the time. Prior to this summer, nothing much caught Jonker’s eye as she passed the (harrowing) intersection at Parade Hill Road. That’s all changed, with the creation this year of a bright wildflower meadow that’s drawing high praise from locals. Here are a few photos that Terry took on Thursday, article continues below:

“It used to be all weeds, so it definitely caught my eye and I thought, ‘Wow, that is so nice,’ ” Jonker told NewCanaanite.com. “Really good work.

Around Town

Parks Officials Back New Canaan Garden Club’s Beautification Plan at Irwin

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Seeing a need to beautify Irwin Park, the New Canaan Park and Recreation Commission unanimously supported a plan presented by the Irwin Park Committee of the New Canaan Garden Club to update and improve the 36-acre park’s visual aesthetics at the main entrance on Weed Street. The plan, presented by committee chair Katie Stewart, calls for the removal of several unsightly, overgrown and dying trees on either side of the driveway, just past the entrance. This includes three pines on the left side of the driveway and a juniper, two oaks, a maple and several hemlocks on the right. In their place will be a 12-foot Copper beech as well as Stewartias and Kousa dogwoods that Stewart told the commission will complement the visual presentation of the park. “It will form a nice, gracious canopy in that area,” Stewart said.

Around Town

New Canaan Garden Club Launches Tree and Shrub Sale

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An organization whose first-ever civic project was the planting of two maple trees in front of Town Hall in 1909 has launched its annual sale raise money for projects in New Canaan. The New Canaan Garden Club for this year’s Spring Tree and Shrub Sale—held through April 20 (see the venerable group’s website here for order information)—is featuring two trees and two shrubs that it says appeal to a wide range of gardening interests: Stewartia pseudocamelia and American Pink dogwood (trees) and oakleaf hydrangea “snow queen” and viburnum dentatum “blue muffin” (shrubs). Asked to describe the level of interest in gardening here, club President Caroline Garrity said strong, “as evidenced by not only the different gardening groups, but by the many townspeople who love strolling through Waveny Walled Garden (which our club restored, plants and maintains) and by the many residents who use and admire the plantings at Irwin Park.” Any day now, we may see the 5,000 daffodils that the club planted there pop up through the ground—they’ll be visible from Weed Street, we’re told, on the crest of the hill in front of the main house. Other civic projects from the club include the garden at the New Canaan Historical Society—a fuller list of activities can be found here.

The Little Things

The Little Things: 5,000 Daffodils from the New Canaan Garden Club

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[Editor’s Note: In this feature, “The Little Things,” we record acts of consideration and kindness that make New Canaan special. It is meant to complement “REALLY?”—a feature where we record the opposite.]

Motorists traveling along Weed Street will have an entirely new and spectacular view come spring, thanks to some planning and work from the New Canaan Garden Club. The club saw to it that 5,000 daffodil bulbs were planted at the crest of a hill in front of the main house at Irwin Park, said Katie Stewart, a member of the group. The plantings include four different varieties of daffodils, she said. “It’s going to be a dramatic,” Stewart told NewCanaanite.com.

Government

Town Council to Vote on Flexi-Pave Trail Extension at Irwin [UPDATE in Comments]

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Town officials on Wednesday will vote on a proposal that would extend the Flexi-Pave path at Irwin Park around the circumference of the Weed Street property. The “sustainable porous pavement,” as it’s called, was installed about seven years ago along a long, popular loop at Irwin, running north of the entrance and then up along the Wahackme Road side and back toward the buildings at the park (occupied now by municipal bodies). Advocates for the project say the final 555-foot stretch across the “great lawn” would “complete the loop” at Irwin. Funds raised privately several years ago went toward what’s been laid down so far, and extra monies from that effort—long kept in a dedicated “Special Projects Account”—would be used to pay the approximately $53,000 needed for this final stretch. The Town Council, whose approval is required for capital projects on town land, is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the proposal.