Saturday, October 25, 2008

October 25 2008

Greetings from the President
Thank you to everyone who helped to make the Harvest Dinner such a success. We had over 30 attendees and lots of wonderful entrees, desserts, and libations. It was certainly one of our most successful dinners. The Patchogue Beach Club was a perfect location; as we ate we were treated to a beautiful fall sunset. We will be voting for a new executive board at this month's meeting. Thank you to Georgia and Jo Miller for organizing the nominating and election committee.We have received a request from the Patchogue Historical Society to take over the maintenance of the grounds of the Swan River Schoolhouse on Roe Avenue in East Patchogue. We will discuss this at this month's meeting. The warm temperatures have delayed the turning of the leaves and the falling of the leaves, which means many of us will be raking well into December again this year. As long as the layer is not too deep, and if you run them over first with the lawn mower, leaves make a terrific mulch. Just don't pile on the large maple leaves, as they form a heavy layer when wet, slowing decomposition and in extreme cases causing root rot of perennials.
Carol

Mark the Date

Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 7 PM, membership meeting at the Hagerman Fire Department on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale Avenue in East Patchogue. The speaker will be Dick Richardson on purple martins.

Saturday, November 1, 2008 (rain date November 2), 9 AM-?, putting the community garden at South Ocean Ave. and Terry St to bed. Workers needed! Bring gloves, tools, plastic bags and energy! Any amount of time you can give will help. Many hands make light work, so bring friends too! The club will provide bagels and coffee.

Drop off evergreen and berry cuttings for centerpieces for the Christmas House Tour on Nov. 29 and 30 at Karen’s, 270 West Ave. Wednesday, December 3, 10:00 AM, the tour centerpieces will be made at Karen’s. All who wish to participate are welcome. Let Mary Ann know.

Sunday, December 7, 2008, our 2nd Annual Christmas House Tour from 2:00 PM to 6 PM. Please sign up to house sit at this meeting and sell tickets to your friends. Details are in the enclosed flyer.

Plant of the Month:
An Unsung Jewel, O. arboreumOxydendron arboreum, sourwood, is one of our most unappreciated native trees, a deciduous, medium tall tree that grows to heights of 30-60’. It has a slender pyramid form, often with a curved or leaning trunk. The bark is rustybrown and smooth when young, later becoming rough and furrowed. The leaves are simple oblong, up to 10”long that are rich green and glossy on top and held alternately on the stems and, like the sap, have an acid taste. Sourwood is brilliant in fall when the leaves turn red and scarlet and some-times almost purple. In spring and early summer white blossoms are born on long drooping racemes that are 8-10” in length. The small white flowers are about 1/3” long and shaped like urns held upside down along the length of the raceme. The blossoms are fragrant and resemble those of its cousin, the blueberry, another member of the family Ericaceae. At the tip of each branch, several racemes are held in groups called panicles that droop toward the ground and impart a graceful aspect to this fine little tree. Due to the similarity of the flowers and its fragrance, this tree is also commonly called the lily-of-the-valley tree. Sourwood likes fertile, acidic woodland soils but is adaptable; moist, well drained soil is best. It will grow in part shade, but the best fall color requiresmore sun. It is hardy in USDA Zones 5-9. Seeds are sown in autumn. Root semi-ripe cuttings in summer, treat with rooting hormone powder for best results.
Book Review: “In Defense of Food”By Michael Pollan, this book is a brilliant and thorough expose of the food processing industry which attempts to add “nutrition” to its denatured products and shows how a return to the organic-local-slow food diet of our ancestors can restore real pleasure to eating as well as counter the current rise in obesity, diabetes and heart disease. At the library, so get growing!

Bayshore Garden Club Luncheon
Thursday, December 11, at Southward Ho. Boutique at 10:00 AM, program at 11:00 AM, luncheon to follow talk. The speaker is Jeffrey Miklos (Floral designer from New Jersey). The cost is $42. Choice of Chicken, Beef, Salmon or Veggie. Send reservations to Betty DeNinno, 81 Adelaide Lane, East Islip 11730-2203.

First Patchogue Christmas House Tour in Newsday Look for photos from our last year’s Christmas House Tour in Newsday the day after Thanksgiving. Members, Please Take Note! There will be a meeting on November 25 ONLY if officers are not elected in October because Thanksgiving is on November 28. There will be no newsletters in November or December. The first meeting of 2009 will be January 27 at Hagerman Fire Department. Please pay your dues early, $15 individual, $20 family, to save time for our treasurer. Thanks!

Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
You don’t need your trowel, and put down the spade. All the while, unbeknownst to you, you have been planting seeds by just walking. No digging, no aching sore muscles, just with the mud on your shoes. Scientists in England from the Center for Ecology and Hydrology at Wallingford concluded from research that seeds mixed with the mud on your shoes and hiking boots have been dispersed in distances over 5 kilometers although a majority had dropped off within the first 10 to 20 meters (1 meter = 3' 3"). We all know of the typical dispersal of seeds through wind action (just think of dandelions), but now we can understand why some invasive plant species have been relocated to regions unexpected, all due to the soles of our shoes. Grounds for Knowledge is an engaging and knowledgeable guide to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s buildings both historic and new and to the 150 species of trees that surround them. The superb color photography and detailed maps invite exploration of the newly designated Bungtown Botanical Garden. Buildings. Landscapes of nearby lab campuses in Woodbury, Lloyd Harbor, and Cold Spring Harbor are covered as well. Ms. Watson, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, graduated from Radcliffe College and has earned two master’s degrees, one in Historic Preservation, from the Columbia University School of Architecture and Planning (1983) and another in Library and Information Science from the Palmer School of Long Island University (1997). She also holds honorary doctorates from the College of Charleston and Illinois Wesleyan University, where she has lectured on the preservation of historic landscapes. Author of Houses for Science (a centennial history of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1991), she also drafted the nomination papers that led to placement of the laboratory’s main campus (along Bungtown Road) on the National Register of Historic Places, 1994. In addition, she authored A Limner’s View (asailor’s view of world architecture, with “limner” Faith H. McCurdy, 1993) and contributed to The Mansions of Long Island, 1860-1940 (1997). A devoted trustee of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA), Ms. Watson has also served on the boards of the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum and the Heckscher Museum of Art and as a member of the Huntington Historic Preservation Commission. She was appointed in 2001 to the New York State Board for Historic Preservation and currently serves on the boards of the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation and the Archives of American Art. See also Irene Virag’s story about Ms. Watson in the October 12th Newsday at http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/lilife/nylfvirag125877400oct12,0,3759473.column.

NOVEMBER GARDENING TIPS By Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor and Dr. Vern Grubinger, ExtensionAssociate Professor, University of VermontYou don't need to watch the nightly weather forecast on your local television station to know that there is a chill in the air. Plants feel it, too, and like people, need to bundle up for the winter. Mulching is one of the best lines of defense for perennial plants against chilling temperatures. Mulching also can prevent the repeated freezing and thawing of soil that causes plants to "heave" out of the ground. But the trick is not to mulch too soon. Mulching needs to be done after the ground starts to freeze but before the first significant snowfall of the year. If you mulch sooner, mice and other rodents may nest in the mulch, and plants may not be completely dormant. In general, the end of November is a good time to apply mulch in Vermont although if an early snowstorm is predicted, you may want to apply mulch before it hits. You can use pine needles, straw, leaves, or shredded bark. Straw is the best mulch because it is hollow and that provides good insulation. If you use leaves, make sure they are finely chopped to prevent them from matting down. Apply a layer at least three to four inches thick around each plant. After you've laid it down, gently pull it away from the trunks and stems to give plants room to breathe. This helps prevent disease problems. Deeper mulching may benecessary in especially cold or windy sites. To protect evergreens from cold, biting winter winds, build a windbreak. Place posts in the ground on the sides most prone to seasonal winds (usually north and west), and wrap with old feed sacks or burlap. Avoid plastic as this will heat up, causing the plants to burn on sunny days. Winter sun can scald newly planted trees. Protect them by wrapping the trunks with special tree wrapping tape, which you can buy at most garden centers. Add four to six inches of shredded bark, wood chips, or leaves around the base of the tree. After applying, gently pull mulch away from the base. Wrapping also provides some protection against hungry mice. In the garden, there's still time to finish fall clean up, removing stakes, string, and plastic as well as fibrous vines and stems and rotting vegetables. This is also a good time to have your soil tested, so you'll be all set to go next spring. Soil test kits, with complete instructions for sampling soil, are available from the [Cornell Cooperative Extension] The basic test costs $15 for 1-4 samples. See http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:cauxFdNi7ygJ:www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/grownet/diagnosticforms/soiltest.pdf+cornell+cooperative+extension+bayard+cutting&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us for details. Late fall is not a good time to add fertilizer to the garden. That's because nutrients would be lost through leaching or erosion before plants can use them next spring. However, you could get your composted manure delivered for next season. Be sure to cover it with plastic to keep nutrients from leaching out over the winter. Like ornamental plants, strawberries benefit from mulch protection, especially when snow cover is shallow or nonexistent during winter. Clean straw is superior to hay as mulch because it doesn't add weed seeds to the garden. Apply three to five inches after a hard frost and the strawberry leaves are lying flat on the ground, usually mid to late November, to protect crowns and roots against cold injury and drying out.

Slate of Candidates for Officers of the Patchogue Garden Club
2009 President: Guy Vitale Unopposed
First Vice President: Diane Voland Unopposed
Second Vice President: Sandra Franco or June Petruccelli
Recording Secretary: Babette Bishop Unopposed
Corresponding Secretary: Carolyn Savastano Unopposed
Treasurer: Carol Tvelia Unopposed
Parliamentarian: Mary Ann Tchinnis Unopposed
Anyone who cannot attend the meeting may designate a proxy.
Please notify Jo Miller of your proxy before the meeting.
Patchogue Garden Club
P.O. Box 3030,
Patchogue, NY 11772-0887
“Come grow with us” Founded 1996