Noteworthy: a Blog for the Society and our Members

Saturday, June 12, 2021 is Connecticut Open House Day! From 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM (EST), the Cheshire Historical Society will be providing “A Blast from the Past: Colonial Gadgets and Tools” at the Hitchcock-Phillips House.

Admission to the Hitchcock-Phillips House (Cheshire Historical Society) museum is free. During Connecticut Open House Day, we will be providing outdoor colonial woodworking demonstrations by James Vibert and Eric Nelson’s matchless fire starting among other natural history displays.

Then, come inside for a tour of the well-preserved Federal-style Hitchcock-Phillips House, built in 1785. See our colonial era kitchen gadgets! and be entertained with our spice guessing game; make your own colonial whirligig yo-yo; as well as canning, crochet and embroidery discussions.

Author Ron Gagliardi will also be on hand to sign copies of his book "Images of America: Cheshire."

by Elizabeth Holmstrom

It was my pleasure to donate and plant a row of Daylily plants behind the shed in the Lucile D. Williams Memorial Garden at the Cheshire Historical Society.

Daylilies are the perfect perennial; hardy, sun-loving, colorful with easy care. They can range in size from one-to-six feet tall and originated in Japan, Korea, China in orange and yellow colors. The blooms are in shades of red, orange, purple, pink and yellow (except in the colors of white and blue). They are edible, so you can add petals to eggs or in a salad, same as rose petals.

Elizabeth Holmstrom planted these daylilies

My Love of Flower Gardening: The Early Years

Working in the garden and creating different designs is something I have always enjoyed. Some of my favorite flowers are the Dianthus, Phlox, Pansies, Impatiens, Petunias, and Daylilies. My mother, Frances Holmstrom, introduced me as a young child to the Cheshire Garden Club where I learned Ikebana Japanese and flower arranging, and the care of both indoor and outside plants. At home, my garden was in an old sunken rock garden, near a Cherry tree.

After years of making flower arrangements and potting plants, another Junior CGC member and I won the coveted National Award of Junior Achievement of the Federated Garden Clubs at a flower Show.

The History of Daylilies: a Family Connection

Most daylilies originated from my aunt: Mae McCabe, who was born in 1895. She was also a Branford Garden Club President, a lecturer on gardening, and a gifted horticulturist who hybridized hundreds of Daylilies. The McCabe Daylily Memorial Garden is memorialized on the Branford, CT green.

According to the Branford Garden Club website, "[o]n the Branford Green, the McCabe Daylily Garden is tucked away behind the Town Hall. Mae McCabe, a past Branford Garden Club president and gifted horticulturist, hybridized many daylilies which still grow in this garden. Committee members tidy, edge and water this spot as needed. Daffodils supply early spring color and a few mums are planted to brighten this garden in the fall."

I remember walking through her rectangle-raised daylily gardens with row after row of plants, a wide variety of blooms, with a name given to each one. From the front to the back of her Branford house, there were flower gardens everywhere. She explained many details of her plants and their bloom variations to me, which I thought was unique that each plant had a name tag. In 1950, she joined the American Hemerocallis Society.

My Childhood Home with its Gardens and Fruit Trees

I grew up on the corner of South Meriden Road, (Rt. 70) and Country Club Road (previously known as Power House Highway). My childhood home at 600 Country Club Road was built in the 1920s. It is still there: a 1920s two-story Cape Cod house with hardwood floors, large picture windows, and an original fieldstone fireplace.

There was a large, sunken garden and wall near the house and a large, two-story barn with a loft and three garage doors as well as a small shed (which once served as one of Cheshire’s first gas stations). Apple trees, Peach, a Seckel Sugar Pear tree and a Quince tree were spread all over three-and-a-half acres. A photo of large rock boulders, located across Country Club Road from our driveway, appears as the first photo in the 2003 book, " Images of America - Cheshire". Does anyone know, or remember, Country Club Road being called, "Poor Farms Road"? According to land records, the property was originally owned by Nicholas Casertano and Jared Bishop (of Bishop Farms, established in the early 1800s).

My First Gardening Job: Casertano's Greenhouses and Farms

At 11 years old, I began my first job at Joseph Casertano's Greenhouses and Farms, just down the street from my home, transplanting flower annuals and vegetable plants into packs. I was trained by his wife, Helen Casertano, and earned ten cents for each flat I completed.

A Bit of Casertano Family History

John Casertano shared a bit of his family history with me. He said, “The Casertano Family immigrated to the United States in 1906 through Ellis Island. Shortly after that, around 1910, the family moved to 300 South Meriden Road. Nicholas and Filomena (my great grandparents) raised 12 children in that house. Joseph and his wife, Helen, farmed and raised greenhouse crops on Country Club Road. In 1929, Louis, my grandfather, bought and farmed at 1030 South Meriden Road, where I live and work at Casertano's Greenhouses and Farms. The original 'Casertano house' is beautifully maintained as part of Michael's Greenhouses property. After over 100 years in this town it means a great deal to me when I say Cheshire is home.”

John Casertano kindly shared family photographs for us to enjoy:

300 South Meriden Road, 1910 House of Nicholas and Filomena Casertano