Greetings from the President
Thank you to the approximately 25 members who gave their time to help “Open the Garden” a few weeks ago. This was the largest turn out ever, and we were able to finish around noon. Thanks to Guy for picking up the bagels and to Violet for the coffee. Thanks to Jack Heyer for repairing the shed door.
It’s finally time to plant, plant, plant! The last frost date for our area is May 15, so feel free to put in all those tender annuals and vegetables. When planting tomatoes, plant them deeply to get nice strong stems to hold up all those mouthwatering tomatoes, and don’t forget the cages or stakes. Check your hemlocks for wooly adelgid and use a horticultural oil to control them; left unchecked, your hemlock may be lost.
Don’t forget to put out water for the birds even if you don’t feed them; they always need a water source, especially during dry months. See you on the 27th!
Carol
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Mark the Date
Saturday, May 17, annual Plant and Yard Sale in the garden. Contact chairperson Carol Tvelia, sciencecat@optonline.net, for more information.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 6 PM, at the lovely home of Violet Mulligan, 899 Sipp Avenue, Patchogue, 758-1714. Turn south from Woodside Avenue just east of Hospital Road. Violet is a couple of blocks down on the left.
Saturday, June 7, 2008, 9:00 AM, Breakfast in the Garden; the club will provide bagels, coffee, tea, OJ. Bring a dish to share. Don't forget chairs!
The air is like a butterfly/ With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky/ And sings.
- Joyce Kilmer, Spring
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Plant of the Month: New Improved Syringa (Lilac)
Gardeners today have a splendid range of new Lilac species, selections, and hybrids for various uses. Much of the effort has been the breeding of smaller plants such as the very popular 3-4’ S. patula, ‘Miss Kim’ with ice blue flowers and 4-6’ S. meyeri ‘Palibin’ with mauve-purple flowers. Both have coppery russet fall foliage to boot. New cultivars are being seen in the trade now. One is S. vulgaris ‘Prairie Petite’, a four-footer with many big pink trusses of pink flowers. S.hyacinthiflora ‘Maiden’s Blush’ is 5’6’ with bright pinky-lilac flowers. ‘Ballin’ (aka ‘Thumbelina’) is 5-6’ with exceptionally clean foliage and a long bloom period of pink flowers. If you’re up for something bigger, look for S.pekinensis ‘Copper Curls’, just patented and introduced by North Dakota State University, Fargo ND. It is a 20-25’ single or multistemmed tree with showy coppery exfoliating bark, creamy flower trusses, and big long-lasting seed clusters. Lilacs like full sun and bloom on old wood, so should be pruned, if at all, right after flowering. Remember that cropping ends only reduces bloom. Remove the seed heads. If your bush is too tall for space, cut out the older branches near ground level.
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Recipe of the Month: Rhubarb Citrus Punch
Ingredients:
8 C. diced rhubarb, stems only
5 C. water
About 2 C. sugar
2 C. orange juice
3/4 C. lemon juice
1 Qt. chilled ginger ale
1 Qt. fresh strawberries (optional)
Rum or vodka (optional)
In pot, simmer rhubarb and water until rhubarb is mushy. Cool; strain through food mill. Add ¼ C. sugar for each cup of rhubarb, lemon and orange juice and return rhubarb only to the pot. Heat just to dissolve the sugar. Chill. Add the orange and lemon juices. Just before serving, add ginger ale and
strawberries, if desired. Pour over ice. Add rum or vodka if you’re that sort. Quantities for 2 ½ -3 gallons: 32 C. rhubarb, 20 C. water, 8 C. sugar, 12 Oz. lemon juice, 8 C. orange juice, 4 Qts. Ginger ale.
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Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Andre LeNotre, 1613-1700
You don’t have to fly to France (not that I would mind!—would you?) and walk through the gardens (translation: jardin, if you have already booked that trip and haven’t bought the Berlitz book yet) to understand the influence of a landscape architect who worked for King Louis XIV from 1645-1700. French landscape architecture in a simplified manner could be summed up to designs found in the garden layouts of this time. Formal gardens with an emphasis on geometry and perspective can be found in the landscape at Versailles. The city plan at Versailles also incorporates these design influences with its radiating boulevards that include the largest avenue in all of Europe, the Avenue de Paris. LeNotre came from a family where his father and grandfather were both responsible for the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. His schooling included mathematics, painting, and architecture which shows in the work he did for the gardens at Chateau Fontainebleau, Chantilly, Vaux le Vicomte, and even St. James Park in London. So the next time you find yourself strolling along the Champs Elysee smoking a Gauloise and eating a croissant, remember to thank Andre LeNotre for his design.
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Take a Hike : Hofstra University Arboretum
When you need a suggestion for just the right tree, shrub, or perennial for that spot in your garden, do you pick up a plant catalog or book with closeup photographs that don’t show what the entire plant will look like once well established? Or do you go to the local nursery and hope they have more than the standard rows of azaleas and rhododendrons? You might want to consider a trip to Hofstra University in Hempstead, not to sit in a classroom but to walk the grounds of their beautiful campus that is also one of 430 arboreta in the US with 240 acres consisting of 625 different species and varieties of plant material. Also within the grounds is a two acre bird sanctuary with a clear walking path through this reclaimed site. Go to the Hofstra University website to see photographs of what is currently in bloom (www.Hofstra.edu) or call 516-463-6623 for additional information on self-guided tours.
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Members Page
New! Please Contribute Your Ideas, Suggestions, and Special Information. Name may be held by request.
Very Important Message!
Thank you for signing up to help at the Plant and Yard Sale. The sale is this Saturday from 9:00 AM—3:00 PM. We will need people to stagger their attendance if you cannot stay the entire time. We will begin setting up at 8:00 AM.
The Village is loaning us tables, but they must be picked up at the Beach Club, so if someone has a truck we can use, please be at the garden at 7:45 AM so we can meet Lori Devlin at the Beach club by 8:00 AM.
We will also need people at the end of the day to clean up and transport "leftovers" to the Salvation Army and/or Good Will in East Patchogue. Again, a truck would be helpful.
If you have never participated before, the day is basically helping customers and organizing the merchandise. Knowledge of perennials and their care is a bonus when people ask us for horticultural tips. Please e-mail me at sciencecat@optonline.net and let me know the times you can help.
The club will provide bagels and coffee for the workers. Thanks for making this annual event a success! Carol
Reminders: Farmingdale State College Garden Festival on May 31st and June 1st from 10 AM to 5 PM 2008, the Great Brookhaven Cleanup April 5 to May 31 and the Maynard garden June 1. See the April issue of the newsletter for details.
Sayville Garden Club Spring Luncheon and Raffle Boutique
May 19, 2008 at 10 AM Speaker: Mr. Art Wolk, “Garden Lunacy: A Growing Concern”, program and book signing Land's End, 80 Browns Rd., Sayville, NY 11782 Tickets: $40. Call Anne Wolstencroft at 589-1713.
Help Wanted!
One of our members, Heather Georgiou needs a recommendation for a landscaper to help her with her own garden clean up. If you know someone reliable, please e-mail her at markella12@aol.com.
Free Iris: Frances Barlow from the Bellport Spring Gardening School has Iris to give away. All you have to do is dig them up. Call her at 286-9151 after 4:00 PM to arrange a time. She lives in East Patchogue.
Dress Up Your Dirt
Violet Mulligan tells us if you don't find a good way to cover the ground, Mother Nature will, and you may not always like the results. She refers us to HDTV’s site for gracious groundcovers, including the beauty below. Thanks, Violet!
Verbena ‘Homestead Purple’
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_groundcovers/article/0,1785,HGTV_3608_5850064,00.html?nl=HGG_v082_5
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Timely Tips for June
Pinch back any plants getting leggy, chrysanthemums every 6” or so. Divide spring flowering perennials, sow perennial seed, buy a few new. Check roses for black spot, mildew, & aphids and correct immediately. Deadhead annuals to keep them flowering all summer. Prune spring flowering shrubs right after they bloom. Divide and move old clusters of daffodils if bloom has fallen off.
