Home - New Canaan Beautification League

New Canaan’s Most
Beautiful Nonprofit

New Canaan’s Most Beautiful Nonprofit

Programs

Our diverse, fun, and informative monthly programs are free, and open to members and their guests.

Membership

We’re a fun-loving group of volunteers, and membership is open to all—no green thumb required.

Donations

Your tax-deductible donation to us helps support year-round, volunteer-led civic beautification.

Give Now

Everyone is Welcome to Join!

The New Canaan Beautification League is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the beauty of our town. Our hardworking volunteers fill New Canaan’s shared spaces with beautiful and beneficial plantings, and promote horticultural education for all of New Canaan.

Years of Service

We’ve been making New Canaan beautiful since 1939

Hanging Baskets

In our showstopping
summer displays

Traffic Triangles

Planted and maintained
by NCBL volunteers

Handmade Wreaths

Adorn the town each
holiday season

Unique Species

Of azaleas and rhododendrons bloom each May at Lee Garden

Volunteer Hours

Spent annually making New Canaan a more gorgeous town

2024 In Review

We are proud to release this showcase of some of the projects the Beautification League worked on in 2024 to make New Canaan beautiful!

ncbeautificationleague

🌻One great perk to membership in the NCBL is th

🌻One great perk to membership in the NCBL is that our summers are made special with inspiring monthly tours of our members’ home gardens. On recent tours, folks got to check out dazzling displays of blooms at some of the town’s top gardeners’ homes, as well as pick up pro growing tips and inspiration for next year. It’s a special community, and we thank this year’s many participants, and steadfast organizers, Pam Yee and Lally Jurcik, wholeheartedly, as well as our star photographers, Peter Hanson and Barbara O’Shea. 🧑‍🌾🌹🌸💐🌺🌷🍀

An unforgettable tribute to our friend and past pr

An unforgettable tribute to our friend and past president, Carol West Seldin.

“I shall go into my last room and from there into the garden. Yes, that is how it will be. I shall stride into the sunset. And then...then I shall become light, and then I can be everywhere.” Nina George, The Little Paris Bookshop

Can you even with this gorgeousness? The Town Hal

Can you even with this gorgeousness?

The Town Hall planters were created by @faithkerchoff and @kathy.kwiatkowski.16 and captured by @susannbergen 🌸🌺🌷

In New Canaan, some of the best moments of our sum

In New Canaan, some of the best moments of our summers take place beneath the NCBL’s beautiful hanging baskets downtown. Our basket committee spends winter working out what color combinations, growth cycles, and drought and heat tolerance will work for the sunny and shady sides of our downtown streets. This year, Jessica Havens and Pam Yee led the charge, and they nailed it!

Says Havens, “our team tries to switch it up every year and keep it interesting. Also, we choose plants that will hold up from Memorial Day until October. And we coordinate the sun and shade baskets to keep it in the same color family.”

This year, you’ll find Pelargonium ‘Caldera Pink’, Pelargonium ‘Cascade White’, and Hedera Algerian Ivy in the sun. In the shade, look for Begonia ‘Baby Wing Pink’, Begonia ‘Groovy White’, and Hedera Algerian Ivy.

📷: the ever-gracious Peter Hanson

🌼🌸 Happy hanging baskets season to all who c

🌼🌸 Happy hanging baskets season to all who celebrate! 🌸🌼

We’re kicking it off today.

The NCBL provides over 220 hanging baskets to the town to hang along Elm, Main, and Forest streets. This beloved annual tradition is part of what creates our sense of place in New Canaan’s warmer months; a pop of color on every light post and a smile for every person who passes by. This year, led by consummate plant geniuses Jessica Blades Havens and Pam Yee, our team chose vibrant pinks and whites to bloom all season long, and worked with our friends at the New Canaan Department of Public Works to get each basket hung in the right spot. Different choices are made for full sun and partial sun locations, because a happy basket is a blooming basket.

The DPW crew also takes on the immense task of watering these babies in the hot summer heat. We couldn’t do it without them!

Shout-outs to a time-honored partnership and a wonderful working relationship. In addition to our town’s indispensable DPW lead, Tiger Mann, our early morning hanging crew is: Zach Vitti, Duke Courte, Rich Mercado, Teddy Yarrow, Jessica Havens, Pam Yee, Walt Jaykus, and Tony Zallo.

And @barbaraosheaphotography took the great photos.
See you under the baskets sometime soon?

Have you visited Lee Garden yet this season? It’

Have you visited Lee Garden yet this season? It’s absolutely dazzling! The hard work of our all-volunteer garden geniuses makes Lee a magnet for landscape lovers in town and beyond. And it’s work we could NEVER be able do without the generous contributions of folks like you.

Please consider a gift to the NCBL Annual Appeal (link in bio) this year. All donations are tax-deductible and give you major bragging rights when you take your friends and family to see Lee: you can say “I helped make this happen!”

Board member Claude Colabella snapped this view of

Board member Claude Colabella snapped this view of the Town Hall planters the other day, and look at the color on those beautiful tulips!!! We like to plant our tulip bulbs under the holiday display, so that by the time spring comes around, they’ll be ready to go!

Thanks to our all-around queen of civic beautification @faithkerchoff for sharing this photo.

Please join us at Waveny House on April 10th for t

Please join us at Waveny House on April 10th for this FREE event, open to all NCBL members!

The New Canaan Garden Club has organized a wonderful joint program for April that promises to inspire us with gorgeous pictures of Stonegate Farm and new ideas for our own summer gardens. Matthew Benson, author, photographer, organic farmer and member of The Garden Club of America, will share his experiences and successes transforming Stonegate Farm into a sustainable and nourishing farm that is as beautiful as it is functional.

✅ teapot florals ✅ warm smiles ✅ deviled egg

✅ teapot florals
✅ warm smiles
✅ deviled eggs
✅ annual spring fun!

It’s that time of year again! We’re pulling on

It’s that time of year again! We’re pulling on our gardening gloves and asking for your generous support of the work we do in town! Donated funds help us do the year-round work of making New Canaan a gorgeous place to live, from the Gold Star Walk at Mead Park to 33 traffic circles throughout town and a whole lot more. Every dollar makes something bloom! Donate at link in bio.

Big👏 News 👏!!! Headed up by @faithkerchoff a

Big👏 News 👏!!! Headed up by @faithkerchoff and @tytandesigns , our work planning, planting, and renovating the New Canaan Train Station garden is nearly wrapped and we can’t wait to share the new landscaping, hardscaping, and dedicated benches with the town this spring and summer. The team have done an incredible job reimagining a beautiful focal centerpiece for the Next Station to Heaven, and, not to overpromise, but it really lives up to its name. Thank you to a massive crew of NCBL volunteers and @newcanaandpw folks who made a vision into reality. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements of an upcoming dedication ceremony. And high-five your nearest civic gardener—they’re the best. ❤️

#newcanaan #nexstationtoheaven #newcanaanrealestate #newcanaanmoms #civicgardens #community #volunteer

Have you registered yet for our March program? Bec

Have you registered yet for our March program? Because it sounds fascinating. Janette Monear pivoted from a career in advertising and promotion for a large bank to become a pioneer in urban forestry. Trees bring enormous quality of life and health benefits to our urban spaces, and, as Janette says, “economic development in the absence of environmental integrity is not sustainable.”

We couldn’t agree more. Please visit the “programs” tab on our site to register for this Zoom-based program coming up on Wednesday. 🌳🌲🌴🌳🏢🌳🌲🌴

Free to public! Sponsored by New Canaan Beautific

Free to public! Sponsored by New Canaan Beautification League among many other organizations around town. This promises to be a fascinating presentation! Spots are limited, so sign up ASAP!
https://www.newcanaanlibrary.org/.../toward-more-walkable...
#newcanaanmoms #newcanaannewcomers #newcanaanite #newcanaansentinel

Event Details
National planning expert Jeff Speck has spent his career studying what makes cities thrive and has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. From economists, epidemiologists, and environmentalists to preservationists, planners, and parents, all agree that walkable communities are better in just about every way. Speck explains why walking is useful, particularly regarding land-use, zoning, transit, and parking, and then focuses on how, by sharing examples of places where walking is safe, comfortable, and interesting.

Jeff Speck is an award-winning planner who co-authored Suburban Nation (Wall Street Journal calls it "the urbanist's bible”), and wrote Walkable City, the best-selling city-planning title of the past decade, translated into eight languages. His TED talks and YouTube videos have been viewed six million+ times. Speck has been named a fellow of both the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Congress for New Urbanism. In a recent Planetizenpoll, he was voted one of the ten “most influential urbanists of all time.” Mr. Speck was the 2022 recipient of the Seaside Prize, whose former awardees include Jane Jacobs and Christopher Alexander.

This program is co-sponsored by a coalition of community partners: Planet New Canaan, the New Canaan Conservation Commission, New Canaan Community Foundation, New Canaan Library, the New Canaan Garden Club, New Canaan Land Trust, the Glass House, New Canaan Beautification League, and Grace Farms.

Please join us via Zoom February 7th 9:30 AM - 11:

Please join us via Zoom February 7th 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM. We will be joined by Deborah Chud who will speak about New Perennials! #newcanaanmoms #newcanaannewcomers #newcanaanite
www.newcanaanbeautification.org/programs

A warm coffee thank you to our New Canaan Departme

A warm coffee thank you to our New Canaan Department of Public Works. They do so much to support our organization and the town. Warm up guys, these freezing temps are leaving any time soon! #newcanaanmoms #newcanaannewcomers

Our 2024 programs kick off January 3rd with a Zoom

Our 2024 programs kick off January 3rd with a Zoom event open to all! Register @ www.newcanaanbeautifucation.org

#newcanaanmoms
#newcanaannewcomers

New Canaan Beautification League continues to deck

New Canaan Beautification League continues to deck our town's streets with holiday cheer! The bandstand was decorated for Christmas Eve Caroling with green roping and red bows. New Canaan Beautification Chairs of the Holiday Greens, Robert Strong and Barbara O'Shea with their dog, Jack, on the right side, were joined by Dan Eng and Faith Kerchoff, on the left.
Missing from the photo were co-chairs Kathleen and Peter Murphy.

New Canaan Beautification League's own Faith Kerch

New Canaan Beautification League's own Faith Kerchoff along with New Canaan Slobs created more gnomes for the planters outside the high school. You'll want to pay attention around town, these critters are popping up all over!🎄

New planters for Schoolhouse Apts. Soil transferr

New planters for Schoolhouse Apts.
Soil transferred, daffodils placed in the soil. Then greens on top for the holidays.

Town hall planters with their red mushrooms and huge sugar pinecones.

Thanks to Kathy Lapolla, Kathy Kwiatkowski, Yvonne Hunkeler, Fanny Moran and Faith Kerchoff.

#newcanaanite #newcanaansentinel#newcanaanmoms #ne

#newcanaanite #newcanaansentinel#newcanaanmoms #newcanaannewcomers

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