“All the dirt you need to know . . . and a whole lot more!
Guy’s Greetings
And summer at last! We’ve waited a long time for fine weather, and we got it in spades for the 9th Annual Garden Tour. The gardens and their gardeners were terrific and much appreciated by the visitors. The party following the tour was also a great success with plenty of camaraderie, yummy food and drink. And the music was even free.
Many thanks for a job well done to Paula Murphy and her committee: Karen Ferb, Jo Miller, Judy Zuck, Ann Rubbo, Mary Ann Tchinnis, Georgia Dulmovits, Arlene Lamberti, and Susan Toplitz. Thanks also to the garden sitters: Pauline Carleton, Rosalie Coleman, Georgia and John Dulmovits, Arlene Lamberti, Ruth Szuminskyj, Jo Miller, Carol Tvelia, Ann Rubbo, John and Barbara Gustafson, Millie Zimmerman, Barbara Bestafka, and Mark Jeffers. And last but not least, our crew of generous gardeners: Brian and Stephanie Anderson, Gail and Chris Hohwald, Frank Quatrale, and our own Angelo and June Petruccelli and Rocco and Camille Ida.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting at Sandra’s.
Enjoy your summer, Guy
Mark the Date
Tuesday, July 28, 2009, 6:00 PM, general meeting at the home and garden of club member Sandra Franco, 42 Bailey Avenue, Patchogue. Guy Vitale will be hosting the August meeting.
Garden Gazette Page 2
June Meeting in a Flash
Jo Miller introduced our host, Doug Steigerwald, proprietor of Long Island Flower Garden and Designscapes Landscaping on South Country Road, and a co-founder of our club. Doug helped to get the community garden started. Both he and Jo gave us a brief history of its beginnings. Another part of the reason for holding the meeting at this location was so that members could see the evergreen plantings, the remains of an old glass house entwined with wisteria, and the model conservatory room that are at the far end of the property that most people don’t know are there. http://www.liflowergarden.com/
The Plant and Yard Sale proceeds went to this year’s scholarship recipient Cady Bilski . She responded quickly with a nice thank you note.
We were all looking forward to the 9th Annual Garden Tour and party.
Garden Gazette Page 3
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Irish famine disease hits N.Y. gardens
Bill Cary: wcary@lohud.com
Home gardeners need to be on the lookout for a highly destructive and infectious fungal disease, late blight, that's destroying tomato and potato plants across the state and much of the Northeast--the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s….Farmers are blaming the cool, wet June weather.
"This particular bout of late blight is definitely the worst I've ever seen," Algiere said. "And all the other farmers I've talked to are saying the same thing."
The fungus, Phytophthora infestans, is highly contagious because it spreads on airborne spores that can travel for miles.
"It's everywhere," said Dianne Olsen, horticultural educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam, which has a plot in the community garden run by the county parks department. "All of our tomatoes have been lost: totally, completely gone. They die in a week - it's just horrible. Once the leaves turn yellow, they're goners.
"I've heard that those folks who bought tomato seedlings in big-box stores and those giant nurseries are having the biggest problems," she said yesterday. Earlier this month, Bonnie Plants, a plant wholesaler based in Alabama, recalled about $1 million worth of possibly infected tomato plants from the stores it supplies, which include Wal-Mart, Lowe's and The Home Depot. People who grew tomatoes from seed seem to have escaped late blight problems so far, Olsen said.
"Not every variety has been affected in the same way," Algiere said. Some of the older heirloom varieties have shown surprisingly strong resistance to late blight, while newer varieties that he expected to be tougher have gone under.
Late blight symptoms on tomato leaves, stems or fruits are fairly dramatic and easy to spot. Look for nickel- to quarter-sized lesions that are olive-green or brown and look wet. Leaf or lesion edges may appear yellowish. When the lesions dry out, they may appear lime green or beige. The edge of the water-soaked lesion will be covered with white fungal growth that contains the contagious spores.
In potatoes, the disease destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant. The Irish Potato Famine was the worst in Europe in the 19th century. About 1 million people died of related diseases and up to 1.5 million more left Ireland.
Petunias are closely related to tomatoes and potatoes and may be infected, too, with similar symptoms. It's important for homeowners with infected plants to destroy them quickly to avoid affecting commercial growers. The best way to stop the spread of late blight would be two weeks of dry weather with temperatures above 80 degrees, Algiere said. "Every time it rains or we have humidity above 50 percent, the incubation process happens quickly."
Those with infected plants can take steps in August to avoid problems next year, Olsen said.
"Cover the area with black plastic and let it bake in the August sun," she said. "This will help kill some of the organisms in the soil that were left over from the tomato plant roots.
"Next year, plant something else other than tomatoes or potatoes in the spot where you grew this year," she said.
Garden Gazette Page 4
Member’s Page
The Evolution of the Garden Gnome
By: Kelly Laffey [Thanks to Susan Toplitz via aol.com]
While gnomes have long adorned the lawns of avid gardeners, their reputation is more kitschy than cool. Can they have a resurgence? The traditional garden gnome is depicted as a tiny, bearded man who dons a colorful hat. According to folklore, gnomes come alive to tend to the gardens when no one is watching. For people who lack a green thumb, gnomes ensure the fertility of the land and vitality of the vegetation. Various sources attribute the first crafted garden gnomes, made by hand from terracotta clay, to ceramicists in Gräfenroda, Germany in the early-1800s. Gnomes spread quickly through Europe. Sir Charles Isham first brought the figurines to Great Britain in the 1840s. One of his original 21, affectionately called Lampy, still guards the gardens of the Isham estate in Northamptonshire. In 1997, Lampy was insured for 1 million pounds (about $1.6 million). Supply shortages during World War II briefly halted gnome production. When manufacturing resumed after the war, gnomes were more frequently made from plastic and resin than the traditional terracotta. More recently, some garden enthusiasts have snubbed the kitschy plastic creatures. The Royal Horticultural Society banned them years ago from the elite Chelsea Garden Show, though one high-profile RHS member managed to sneak her gnome in earlier this year. Although gnomes are still welcome in some gardens, their presence is further compromised by tongue-in-cheek organizations that pledge to free the gnomes from their punishing fates. According to the "Chief Liberator" of one such group, Free the Gnomes, who answered questions by email, "We find that peaceful negotiation is not always effective when facing pure unadulterated belligerent oppression... Many times citizens simply overlook the mistakes of their ways because they have been duped by a society that systemically tolerates and promoted gnome captivity." Uhhh, okay. Another organization, the Gnome Liberation Front, periodically carries out "mass liberations." The police, however, are quick to correct the movement’s choice of words and have arrested many "liberators" on counts of robbery.
"Gnoming," or the traveling gnome prank, involves removing a gnome from its leafy lair, bringing it on a trip, and photographing it in front of various landmarks. The pictures are then sent to the unfortunate gardener, whose prized floral arrangements have undoubtedly suffered in the gnome’s absence. Despite its origins as a garden laborer, today's gnome is also used as a symbol for carefree vacationing. Traveling gnomes have gained international attention as the commercial mascot [photo above left] of Travelocity and the underlying story in the Oscar-nominated film Amélie. With a more cosmopolitan view of the world, gnomes have updated their conventional hobbies of fishing and napping. Today they are commonly depicted pursuing a variety of activities, from sight-seeing to dancing.
Timely Tips for August
Don’t prune or fertilize trees or shrubs now; new growth will not be winter hardy
Continue watering lawns thoroughly once a week during dry spells
Cut out berry canes that have just fruited
Begin planting fall crops: Beans, peas, beets, lettuce, spinach, chard
Perennials that have finished flowering shouldn’t be cut back all the way
Transplant and divide peonies, phlox, and daylilies
Cut and dry flowers that are suitable for winter bouquets
If you have bare lawn spots, spot seed between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15
"In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue, and by their weight again bent down and broke their tender limbs."- Henry David Thoreau
