Guy’s Greetings
As I relax in my seat at a cruising speed of 560mph and 34,110 ft above the eastern coast of the United States I am reminded how cold it has been in Florida this winter. With lows in the low 20s and highs no higher than 60 for the past few weeks, even sunny South Florida was not immune to old man winter this year. As I traveled the state I could see the damage to Florida’s tropical and subtropical plants, not to mention her majestic palms. Everywhere I went I saw the full effect of weeks of unseasonable weather. I look forward to coming home and seeing my garden, knowing all this snow is covering, insulating, and protecting my tender spring bulbs, perennials, and even my cold tolerant grasses. In a few short weeks we will be enjoying the rebirth of spring while Floridians are thawing out and starting over.
Guy
Mark the Date
Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 7:00 PM, general meeting at the Hagerman Fire Department, off Montauk Highway on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale. Our speaker will be Peter Priolo on tagging Monarch butterflies.
Dues will be accepted now until March 31, 2010. The board has voted on
a late fee of $5 after that date, which means a single membership will
be $20 and a couple will be $25.
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 7th Annual “Think Spring” luncheon and quilt exhibit, Mediterranean Manor, 303 E. Main Street, Patchogue. Guest speaker: Doug Steigerwald of Long Island Flower Garden and Florist. Raffles and door prizes. Doors open at 10:30 AM.
The luncheon Committee has been off and running since October. We have gathered 21 large quilts and several smaller quilts to be exhibited. Under the direction of Margaret Atkinson we have put together Scented Spice Mats for each person attending, and, by the way, Phyllis Mendelson has made a small quilt to be raffled. Catch our spirit and join us! Tickets are $35.00 per person. Reservations for the luncheon can be made at the February 23 meeting or by sending a check to Patchogue Garden Club, PO Box 3030, Patchogue NY 11772-0887.
For more information call Georgia at 631- 289-0867 or Arlene at 631-730-7572.
January Meeting in a Flash
Thursday, March 11th – Luncheon
Saturday, March 27 – St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Saturday, April 10th – Open the Garden; rain date Sunday, April 11th
Saturday, May 15th – Plant and Yard Sale; rain date Sunday, May 16th
Saturday, June 12th – Breakfast in the Garden
Saturday, July 10th – Garden Tour and Club dinner
TBA – Harvest Dinner
Saturday, November 13th – Close the Garden, possibly combined with decorating the gazebo for Christmas.
Sunday, December 12th – Christmas House Tour
Paula has several speakers for future meetings. If you have suggestions for speakers, get in touch with Paula.
Paperwork for the scholarship is being submitted. The amount is increased to $750.
Paula and June need information from members to complete the membership booklet.
Jo Miller is looking into trips that we could take as a club.
Carol T. has expense forms to be filled out for reimbursement; you must provide receipts along with the forms.
The Garden Conservancy 2010 New York Open Days
Bronx: June 13
Columbia County: May 23, June 12, July 11 & 18, September 11
Dutchess County: May 8 & 15, June 12, July 17, August 22, October 2
Suffolk County: May 1 & 15, June 26, July 10, September 11
Nassau County: May 16
Putnam County: May 23, September 26
Tompkins County: May 8, June 12, July 31
Ulster County: May 23, June 12, July 10
Westchester County: April 25, May 2, 8, 23, & 29, June 5, 6, &20, July 25, September 12, October 30
Check back for specific locations, date changes, and for other parts of the country at http://sn105w.snt105.mail.live.com/default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0
The Conservancy also presents:
President's Forum: An Evening with Henriette Suhr
6 p.m. Wednesday, March 10 The New School New York City
New School President Bob Kerrey will engage in an informal discussion with Henriette Suhr, renowned interior designer and creator of Rocky Hills (a leading private garden and a Conservancy Preservation Projects in Mt. Kisco NY).
Gardening on Earth: One Couple’s 46 Years on 7 Acres
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 10 the Central Park Arsenal, New York City
A MetroHort lecture with Dr. Richard Lighty, founding director of the Mt. Cuba Center and a member of the Board of the Garden Conservancy.
Guy would like everyone to know that the warning not to throw rice at weddings because it will cause
the little birdies to blow up is nothing more than an urban legend, probably started by churches who were sick
of cleaning up the mess. On the subject of rice, he has contributed the following article for publication.
Thanks, Guy! This is fab—Ed.
Edible Art
Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan. But this is no alien creation - the designs have
been cleverly planted. Farmers creating the huge displays use no ink or dye. Instead, different colors of
rice plants have been precisely and strategically arranged and grown in the paddy fields. As summer progresses and the plants shoot up, the detailed artwork begins to emerge.
The largest and finest work is grown in the Aomori village of Inakadate, 600 miles north of Toyko. The village has now earned a reputation for its agricultural artistry and this year the enormous pictures of Napoleon and a Sengoku-period warrior, both on horseback, are visible in a pair of fields adjacent to the town hall.
More than 150,000 visitors come to Inakadate, where just 8,700 people live, every summer to see the extraordinary murals. Each year hundreds of volunteers and villagers plant four different varieties of rice in late May across huge swathes of paddy fields.
According to an August 2009 article published on Telegraph.co.uk, the rice field art tradition began in the Japanese village of Inakadate in 1993 but has now spread to other areas of Japan. Villagers and volunteers help plant four varieties of rice that grow in different colors. The farmers use computers to plan their art
before planting so that they know exactly where to place the different colored rice plants in order to create the giant images. Planting generally takes place in May and the images look their best by September. The
article notes: Each year a different design is on show, and more than 15,000 visitors travel to see the creation. Images that have adorned the village fields include a giant frog and a butterfly. Another famous paddy art venue is Yonezawa in northern Japan; this year's design shows fictional 16th-century samurai
warrior Naoe Kanetsugu and his wife Osen.
The farmers create the murals by planting purple and yellow-leafed kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed tsugaru roman variety.
Watch a time-lapse video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztF8xQpjQgA
More video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEr3FLAxmHU&feature=fvw
Our own Master Gardener Betty Baran announces that the 28th Annual Spring Gardening School of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County will be held at The Academy of St. Joseph in Brentwood on April 10, 2010, Bellport High School on April 17, 2010, and Riverhead Middle School on April 24, 2010, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. This day includes your choice of classes from four different sessions, with information for every level of gardener from beginner to advanced. Topics include:
• Fundamentals of gardening
• Pruning
• Floral design
• Home Composting
• Water-wise gardening
• Gardening with children
• Vegetable gardening
• Houseplants, dahlias, hydrangeas, bulbs, roses, and many more!
All classes are taught by Master Gardeners and Extension Educators. Included in your fee are free soil pH testing, plant diagnostic clinic, plant sale from some of the finest nurseries, continental breakfast, delicious boxed lunch, and door prizes. The fee is $55 per person, early bird registration is $50 before March 5, 2010.
The registration form with a full schedule of classes and their descriptions is available for download at www.ccesuffolk.org or contact Caroline Kiang at 631-727-7850, ext. 337 or 345.
Ed. Note: To avoid disappointment, please be sure to consult the catalog of sessions since not all sessions are offered at each location. Pre-registration is required.
What's In A Name? Author Tells Stories Behind Trees
NPR: “All Things Considered” January 7, 2010
Listen to broadcast at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=122294877&m=122325777
Author Diana Wells says one of her favorite trees is the Stewartia, a 20-foot-tall tree in her garden that has "lovely white flowers" and a flaky bark. In her book Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History [available at PM Library—Ed.], author Diana Wells explores people's relationship with about 100 trees and the stories behind their names. They're arranged in alphabetical order from acacia to Wollemi Pine. "They're so much part of our lives, both in ways we know and ways we don't know," Wells tells NPR's Michele Norris. "Whether it be a cup of coffee or a Kleenex or your rubber tires on your automobile, they are very much bound in our life, and these days, of course, we know that they're essential to our planet."
Wells says one of her favorites is the Stewartia, which comes from Japan but was named for the 18th century Scottish Earl of Bute John Stuart. Wells likes the juxtaposition of cultures in the tree's history, she says. The 20-foot-tall tree that is in Wells' garden has "lovely white flowers" and a flaky bark, and she looked at it as she wrote the book. The Japanese cedar speaks to Wells because of a tradition that surrounds it — called forest bathing. "You go into the forest and soak yourself in the trees," she says. "I live where there are woods and I will [do that] quite often and let the trees feel as if I'm part of the forest. It's very, very soothing — it's beautiful."
Wells says she hopes the book will inspire readers to discover the trees around them. "It would help us if we were more familiar with trees," she says. "I think if we did that, it would cement the bond, and it would help all of us. We need the trees and they need us."
Timely Tips for March
If you haven’t cleaned, repaired, oiled, and sharpened your tools and machines yet, do it now.
Get cold frames ready, turn over soil, and spade in a balanced fertilizer.
Apply horticultural oil sprays to trees and shrubs any time after the danger of freezing nights has passed but before buds begin to open
Sow radish and lettuce seeds as early as the ground can be worked.
Begin moving/transplanting trees and shrubs; do not fertilize at planting.
For perennials already up a few inches, spread a ring of fertilizer around them and water in. If they are summer or fall blooming, divide them now. Gradually uncover, prune, and feed established roses.
Did you know? The leaves of Beautyberry (Callicarpa) contain two compounds that repel mosquitoes as effectively as DEET. The USDA also reports these extracts repel ticks and fire ants for one to several hours.
