Guy’s Greetings
As we dry out from the recent deluge, we are reminded how quickly things grow after a rain, especially fungus, mold and diseases. For those of you with a vegetable garden, I hope these will not be an issue this year. I did not have issues with tomato blight last year, perhaps because my garden is a mass of raised beds. Four simple boards arranged in a square and filled with good draining soil--never mind it is 20 x 20, it still is raised. Now that we are past May 15th, traditionally the last frost date on Long Island, we can plant our gardens. I hope your corn is sweet, your beans are crisp, and your tomatoes are plump. Guy
Mark the Date
Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 6:30 PM, general meeting at Fantastic Gardens, 67 Avery Avenue, Patchogue NY, (631) 475-7118. Avery Avenue is east of Rte. 112 and north of Montauk Highway. Take a tour of Dave and Joan Tifford’s nursery with 10 greenhouses on 3 acres. Come prepared to marvel at the private cactus collection in bloom and the amazing unique succulent garden. Special Notes: No hostesses required and no chairs available. You can purchase plants after the meeting and get a 15% discount.
Saturday, June 12, 2010, 9:00 AM, Annual Breakfast in the Garden at South Ocean Avenue and Terry Street. Bring a dish to share and your favorite beverage. The club provides bagels, coffee, tea, and fixin’s.
Monday, June 21, 2010, group carpooling to Old Westbury Gardens (tours on the hour and ½ hour), leaving from Terry Street at 9:45 AM. If you don’t have a ride, call Jo Miller, and she will try to arrange it for you. There is an outdoor café that doesn’t operate in inclement weather and a picnic area for brown baggers. Large bags and backpacks are not permitted. Admission is $10, $8 seniors, and $5 children 7-12. Directions: Take the LIE (I-495) to Exit 39. Turn left onto Glen Cove Road (Garden City) at the end of the exit ramp, cross over the expressway and immediately turn left onto the service road. Follow the service road east for approximately 1.1 miles, turn right onto Old Westbury Road and continue 0.4 miles. The Gardens' gate is on the left. For more information, please visit http://www.oldwestburygardens.org/.
Saturday, July 10, 2010, Patchogue Garden Club’s 10th annual garden tour featuring art in the gardens. Pre-purchase tickets at $13 ($15 on the day of the tour). Gardens open at 10 AM and close at 3:00 PM. For more information, call Paula at 289-0234. The post-tour dinner will be at 6:00 PM the following day, Sunday, July 11, at the home of Paula Murphy, 6:00 PM, 125 Smith Street, Patchogue, NY.
April Meeting in a Flash
We started the evening with a delightfully entertaining speaker, Mr. Ray Lackey “Master Bee Keeper”. He spoke very knowledgeably for about 1 ½ hours and gladly answered all our questions. He brought different kinds of his excellent honey to sell. If you missed the meeting or if you want to buy more honey or other products, there is a self-serve sales stand on the porch at 1260 Walnut Avenue, Bohemia NY.
Thank you to Carol Tvelia and her crew for a great job putting on the Annual Plant and Yard Sale. The proceeds benefit our scholarship fund for a Patchogue-Medford High School senior planning to study horticulture, botany, or a related subject.
Road Trip: The New York Botanical Garden
Emily Dickinson’s Garden: The Poetry of Flowers
Co-presented with The Poetry Society of America
Friday, April 30–Sunday, June 13, 2010
Discover the gardener who became the poet.
Experience the life and works of one of America’s most treasured poets as never before.
•Her Garden: Tour her Victorian Homestead re-created in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with tulips, lilacs, lilies, and more.
•Her Poetry: Stroll along garden paths and read some of Dickinson’s most famous works near the flowers that inspired them.
•Her Life: Be immersed in an interactive perspective through photographs, watercolors and books in a Gallery exhibition.
Special Celebrations
Enjoy poetry readings, live theater, gardening demonstrations, and more.
For more information, visit http://www.nybg.org/.
Did you know?...
Excerpted from “The Poet as Gardener and Tiger Lily”
By HOLLAND COTTER
Emily Dickinson once called herself a “a Lunatic on Bulbs,” referring to her passion for daffodils, hyacinth and other spring perennials, which she raised indoors in winter in her family home in Amherst, Mass. And a lunatic she probably seemed to neighbors who spied her gardening by moonlight on summer evenings in the flower beds behind the house.
We now suspect that one reason Dickinson preferred night gardening was because of vision problems: for several years in her early middle age, sunlight stung her eyes. But no such explanations are needed to justify the indoor-outdoor format of “Emily Dickinson’s Garden: The Poetry of Flowers,” an ambitious, multipart show, opening Friday at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, that considers Dickinson equally as a horticulturalist and a poet, and forges links between the two….
…Dickinson the recluse might have found its public location disconcertingly exposed, but the lunatic in her would have liked it just fine.
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
“As We Ache and Age”
April 29, 2010 by JESSICA DAMIANO / jessica.damiano@newsday.com
Anyone can plant a vegetable garden, lay out a perennial border and harvest herbs from the bed by the kitchen door,right? Not exactly. Enthusiasm, dedication and spare time notwithstanding, there are many among us who yearn to garden but simply can't. Or simply can't like we used to.
It starts with a sore back after hours of weeding, which can afflict even the most fit among us. But when arthritis, endurance and strength issues - common among our more experienced gardeners - devolve to the point where the once-enjoyable pastime becomes an insurmountable chore, many simply hang up their hoes for good. Before resorting to such drastic measures, it would serve you well to consider your options: There are plenty of specialized gardening methods, ergonomic tools and creative approaches that can help keep your inner gardener working.
Paint tool handles a bright color to make them easy to find if dropped among plants. Be sure to wear well-fitting clothing, comfortable shoes and a straw hat, and avoid gardening between noon and 4 p.m., when the sun is at its strongest. Wear sunscreen and gloves. Keep a water bottle with you and drink more frequently than you think necessary, avoiding alcoholic beverages.
Before doing any gardening, it's prudent to take a few minutes to stretch. Gardening is exercise, after all, and even minimal digging and lifting can strain muscles. Always keep your feet shoulder width apart to maximize balance, and check with your doctor before trying any new stretches or exercises.
The Arthritis Foundation recommends standing with your arms extended in front of you and reaching as far forward as you are able. Then, if you can, grab your right wrist with your left hand. Holding the position, slowly elevate your arms over your head and then gently pull your right arm over your head with your left hand. Hold for a few seconds. Repeat on the other side, stretching your left arm.
Depend on your strongest assets. For instance, instead of carrying a filled container in your hands, wrap your arms around it and hold it close to your body. Lift objects with the palms of your hands instead of your fingers, and keep your back straight whenever possible, always taking care to bend at the knees, not at the waist.
Planting and harvesting herbs and vegetables needn't require any bending if you use containers. Set window boxes or planters between waist and knee height, either on sawhorses, tables or makeshift stands. Be sure to drill drainage holes in the bottom of containers and set them into place while they're empty and lightweight. Then fill with potting mix and any amendments necessary for what you'll be growing. If you have room for such a setup outside your kitchen door, all the better. And if you have difficulty lifting a filled watering can, use a garden hose or, if logistics permit, a hose that attaches to your kitchen faucet. If neither is easily accessible, keep a filled water bucket nearby and use it to fill smaller containers that you can use to water plants. A chair or bench placed in a shady spot will be welcomed both as a timeout while working and as a place from which to admire your handiwork at the end of the day.
Herbs like basil, parsley and chives lend themselves very nicely to shallow, 8-inch deep containers, as do lettuces, spinach and chards. If you want to plant broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, peppers or eggplants, go with a container that's 12-14 inches deep. Beans, cucumbers, squashes and potatoes require a depth of about 18 inches. You can even plant cherry tomatoes in window boxes. Annuals and perennials can be grown in raised beds, too. But remember: Container-grown plants will need more frequent watering and fertilizing than their in-ground counterparts, so plan accordingly.
If you're going to plant in garden beds and borders, consider investing in perennials instead of annuals. They cost a bit more at the outset, but once they're in the ground, you won't have to replace them annually; they just keep coming back. Be sure to mulch all garden areas to retain soil moisture, which cuts down on watering, and to choke out weeds.
Above all, keep the pace leisurely; home wasn't built in a day.
Special Request for the 10th Anniversary of the Annual Garden Tour
The committee plans to hang lattice on the chain link construction fence in the Community Garden to display art work. Members, friends, relatives, and complete strangers are invited to submit work.
Call to Artists
The Patchogue Garden Club
10th Annual Garden Tour
“Art in the Gardens”
10 July 2010
We invite you to submit works of art to be displayed
In the Community Garden at South Ocean Avenue
And Terry Street, Patchogue Village
Submit any medium that can be hung, subjects
to include flowers, trees, gardens, nature, etc.
Work must be framed and wired ready to hang on lattice.
Drop off at Community Garden: 8:30 AM
Pick up at Community Garden: 2:00 PM
Yes, there will be security for the day
Yes, you can drop off early:
Yes, we will have provisions to protect from rain
No, there is no fee to submit work
No, we will not sell your work
No, there is no commission to us if you do
We will provide a list of work available for sale
to patrons of the tour. To be included on the list,
please provide us with your name and contact information
and the title, medium, and price of the work by July 1, 2010
Other concerns, questions? Please RSVP your participation to
Karen 758-2671 or Mary Ann 289-8122
GOD AND ST. FRANCIS DISCUSSING LAWNS [Thanks, Mary Ann!]
GOD: Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there? What
happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance
garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar
from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a
vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.
ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers
"weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs
and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that
grass growing there?
ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin
each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.
GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the
Suburbanites happy.
ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.
GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?
ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
ST. FRANCIS: No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut
it off and pay to throw it away?
ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.
GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up
the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.
ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag
out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do
say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the
autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect
the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle
of life.
ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the
leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.
GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist
and loose?
ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch.
They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.
GOD: And where do they get this mulch?
ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.
GOD: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts.
What movie have they scheduled for us tonight?"
ST. CATHERINE: "Dumb and Dumber", Lord. It's a really stupid movie about.....
GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.
Timely Tips for June
Remove old flowers, but not foliage from spring-flowering bulbs.
Prune shrubs that have just finished flowering, including weigela, philadelphus, and deutzia.
Propagate many shrubs from softwood cutting taken mid-June through early July.
Last chance to fertilize trees and shrubs.
If tomato blossom-end rot was a problem last year, try watering on a regular schedule to avoid wet-dry fluctuations.
Bring houseplants and most greenhouse plants outdoors and set in a shady area.
Many gardeners will agree that hand-weeding is not the terrible drudgery that it is often made out to be. Some people find in it a kind of soothing monotony. It leaves their minds free to develop the plot for their next novel or to perfect the brilliant repartee with which they should have encountered a relative's latest example of unreasonableness. ~Christopher Lloyd, The Well-Tempered Garden, 1973
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Friday, June 19, 2009
June Newsletter
See Page 4 for Web site information
“All the dirt you need to know . . . and a whole lot more!
Guy’s Greetings
In the doom and gloom of the weather these past few weeks, Mother Nature, in conjunction with the weatherman, managed to give us a beautiful morning for our “Breakfast in the Garden” last weekend. I want to thank all who attended and brought something to nibble on. We had some very tasty treats to savor, and I don’t think anyone who attended left wanting anything we didn’t have. I also want to thank our historian, Jo Miller, for bringing some club memorabilia to share. It really shows how the Patchogue Garden Club, our garden, our members, and our community have grown over the years. I look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting and at the 9th Annual Garden Tour coming up in July. Guy
Mark the Date
Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 6:00 PM, general meeting at the Long Island Flower Garden (courtesy of Doug Steigerwald, one of the original Patchogue Garden Club members) on South Country Road between Hedges and Orchard Streets. Bring your own chairs. Sandra Franco is hosting the July meeting, and Guy Vitale is hosting the August meeting.
Saturday, July 11, 2009, Patchogue Garden Club’s 9th annual garden tour. Pre-purchase tickets at $13 ($15 on the day of the tour). Gardens open at 10 AM and close at 3:00 PM. For more information, call Paula at 289-0234. The post-tour dinner will be on the same day as the tour at the home of Paula Murphy, 6:00 PM, 125 Smith Street, Patchogue, NY. Sorry, no fireworks this year. Bring your own bottle and an appetizer or dessert (the club provides the protein) and a seat if you want to be assured of having one. There is a performance at the band shell, so parking will be at a premium. It is best to arrive from the east.
Garden Gazette Page 2
May Meeting in a Flash
Carol Tvelia reported that we made $850 at the Plant and Yard Sale to support the Scholarship Fund. Josephine Miller had donated time to the Boys and Girls Club raffle for 2½ years resulting in a $200 donation.
Josephine asked members if anyone was having trouble with their boxwoods. There have been quite a few reports of them suddenly turning brown and dying.
Mary Ann said she has four houses for the Christmas tour on December 13, but would like two additional houses. The houses do not have to be members’ houses, just interesting ones, nicely decorated for the season.
The Memorial Plaque will be moved to the other side of the new barberry shrubs after they are planted. The plaque was loose, so Guy has it for safe keeping.
Caretakers of sections of the Community Garden should discuss what they want to change/plant with Diane from the Design Committee.
Georgia spoke with an elderly gentleman in the Community Garden requesting more benches in the shade. It will be looked into.
Millie Zimmerman opened up her yard to the Garden Club Members to visit on Sunday May 31st between 1PM and 5PM. [Ed. note: It was a lovely day for a change. Millie put out a nice variety of food and drink. Many members came and enjoyed the history of her place and the company.
Carol Tvelia reported that we made $850 at the Plant and Yard Sale to support the Scholarship Fund. Josephine Miller had donated time to the Boys and Girls Club raffle for 2½ years resulting in a $200 donation.
Josephine asked members if anyone was having trouble with their boxwoods. There have been quite a few reports of them suddenly turning brown and dying.
Mary Ann said she has four houses for the Christmas tour on December 13, but would like two additional houses. The houses do not have to be members’ houses, just interesting ones, nicely decorated for the season.
The Memorial Plaque will be moved to the other side of the new barberry shrubs after they are planted. The plaque was loose, so Guy has it for safe keeping.
Caretakers of sections of the Community Garden should discuss what they want to change/plant with Diane from the Design Committee.
Georgia spoke with an elderly gentleman in the Community Garden requesting more benches in the shade. It will be looked into.
Millie Zimmerman opened up her yard to the Garden Club Members to visit on Sunday May 31st between 1PM and 5PM. [Ed. note: It was a lovely day for a change. Millie put out a nice variety of food and drink. Many members came and enjoyed the history of her place and the company.
What? A Paper Birch Resistant to Bronze Birch Borer?
And not only that, but with great stress tolerance too. Introduced by North Dakota State University in Fargo ND, Betula papyrifera ‘Prairie Dream” has been tested for 30 years. With snow-white exfoliating bark it is Zone 3 hardy.
Always wanted a smoketree, but didn’t have enough room?
Now available from Holland is the dwarf smoketree, Cotinus coggygria ‘Young Lady”. It grows only 4-6’ tall and can be ordered from RareFind Nursery, 957 Patterson Rd., Jackson, NJ 08527.
How about a double-flowered gaillardia?
‘Dakota’ stands 15” tall by 18” wide at maturity. Its blooms are yellow with a red throat, and it has the usual gaillardia virtues of long bloom and great drought tolerance. Shown here, Gaillardia grandiflora Dakota ‘Reveille’ is a double-flowering type with trumpet-shaped petals throughout. The tight center buds are lime green with red tips before opening. The trumpets flare out larger as the plant ages. Removing the spent blooms will fuel the flowering performance to continue into early fall. Outstanding cut flower.
‘Dakota’ stands 15” tall by 18” wide at maturity. Its blooms are yellow with a red throat, and it has the usual gaillardia virtues of long bloom and great drought tolerance. Shown here, Gaillardia grandiflora Dakota ‘Reveille’ is a double-flowering type with trumpet-shaped petals throughout. The tight center buds are lime green with red tips before opening. The trumpets flare out larger as the plant ages. Removing the spent blooms will fuel the flowering performance to continue into early fall. Outstanding cut flower.
Garden Gazette Page 3
Serious Dirt from Paula Murphy [Richard is on leave this month]
Maple-seeded Madness
By Kendra Meinert at greenbaypressgazette.com
Someday I'd like to start a support group for homeowners with old maple trees. I say someday, because as the owner of three of the towering, helicopter-spewing beasts, who has time for support groups? Not this week anyway. But if I did …I'd call it MOA: Maple Owners Anonymous. The fact that you can put an "n'' on the end of MOA and get "moan'' is just a happy coincidence because that's exactly what we do when they start littering the yard with seeds this time of year. Our meetings could be held under the shade of — what else? — a maple tree. But not one of those silver maples that seemingly every homeowner on every street in our neighborhoods planted in the 1950s. No, no — much too messy, not to mention counterproductive. We'd commiserate instead beneath a nice, new, well-behaved variety of maple, perhaps a lovely "Autumn Blaze.' We would be identifiable by the stray helicopter hiding in our hair or sticking out from the hood of our sweatshirt. Fellow members would know better than to laugh, because they've all experienced the embarrassment of being caught out in public with their seeds showing. Sessions would start something like this, "Hi, I'm Kendra. I have three maple trees. I've been cleaning up after them for seven years now.'' Applause.
Rookies would find strength in the resilience of the veterans, like a neighbor who has been raking up seeds for more than a half-century from trees he planted himself for $1.50 each. Members like that would earn a Golden Helicopter Badge, akin to the 10-gallon pins the American Red Cross gives to its blood donors. Mostly what we would do at meetings is openly complain — without apology or guilt — about how something as simple as little yellow seeds the size of our pinky make us hate our yards for about two weeks every year in early June. How they find their way absolutely everywhere — in between the slats in the deck, the cracks in the sidewalk, the shingles of the roof and the rocks of garden borders. How they congregate in the center of hosta leaves and on top of Asiatic lilies. How they plant themselves in pots. How they turn perfectly nice spring garden beds into chaos. How they make a freshly mowed lawn look like somebody shot a confetti cannon over it. How they clog gutters — and then add insult to injury by starting to sprout if we don't get to them soon enough. How they have an uncanny knack for transforming an otherwise clean birdbath into a disgusting bowl of helicopter booyah. Knowing it was a futile effort, we would then engage in a lively exchange of the best ways to clean them up. Don't bother with a broom unless it's a push one. Those suckers are so streamlined that they don't sweep worth a darn. Blowers? Good luck corralling them into something that resembles a pile without blowing your garden beds clean of mulch in the process. Rake? Sure, so long as you've got hours to kill. Shop-Vac? Don't laugh. If we haven't tried it ourselves, we've seen a neighbor do it. At the end of the session, we would open it up for parting thoughts. Things like who could top whom with how many bags of seeds they've hauled so far to the yard waste site, or how we could dream up a way to turn helicopters into an alternative source of energy. Then we'd pat each other on the back as a sign of fellowship, politely point out that stray seed in our fellow MOA member's hair and recite a little prayer that next year is "a good year'' — a relative term in the world of us maple tree owners.
Someday I'd like to start a support group for homeowners with old maple trees. I say someday, because as the owner of three of the towering, helicopter-spewing beasts, who has time for support groups? Not this week anyway. But if I did …I'd call it MOA: Maple Owners Anonymous. The fact that you can put an "n'' on the end of MOA and get "moan'' is just a happy coincidence because that's exactly what we do when they start littering the yard with seeds this time of year. Our meetings could be held under the shade of — what else? — a maple tree. But not one of those silver maples that seemingly every homeowner on every street in our neighborhoods planted in the 1950s. No, no — much too messy, not to mention counterproductive. We'd commiserate instead beneath a nice, new, well-behaved variety of maple, perhaps a lovely "Autumn Blaze.' We would be identifiable by the stray helicopter hiding in our hair or sticking out from the hood of our sweatshirt. Fellow members would know better than to laugh, because they've all experienced the embarrassment of being caught out in public with their seeds showing. Sessions would start something like this, "Hi, I'm Kendra. I have three maple trees. I've been cleaning up after them for seven years now.'' Applause.
Rookies would find strength in the resilience of the veterans, like a neighbor who has been raking up seeds for more than a half-century from trees he planted himself for $1.50 each. Members like that would earn a Golden Helicopter Badge, akin to the 10-gallon pins the American Red Cross gives to its blood donors. Mostly what we would do at meetings is openly complain — without apology or guilt — about how something as simple as little yellow seeds the size of our pinky make us hate our yards for about two weeks every year in early June. How they find their way absolutely everywhere — in between the slats in the deck, the cracks in the sidewalk, the shingles of the roof and the rocks of garden borders. How they congregate in the center of hosta leaves and on top of Asiatic lilies. How they plant themselves in pots. How they turn perfectly nice spring garden beds into chaos. How they make a freshly mowed lawn look like somebody shot a confetti cannon over it. How they clog gutters — and then add insult to injury by starting to sprout if we don't get to them soon enough. How they have an uncanny knack for transforming an otherwise clean birdbath into a disgusting bowl of helicopter booyah. Knowing it was a futile effort, we would then engage in a lively exchange of the best ways to clean them up. Don't bother with a broom unless it's a push one. Those suckers are so streamlined that they don't sweep worth a darn. Blowers? Good luck corralling them into something that resembles a pile without blowing your garden beds clean of mulch in the process. Rake? Sure, so long as you've got hours to kill. Shop-Vac? Don't laugh. If we haven't tried it ourselves, we've seen a neighbor do it. At the end of the session, we would open it up for parting thoughts. Things like who could top whom with how many bags of seeds they've hauled so far to the yard waste site, or how we could dream up a way to turn helicopters into an alternative source of energy. Then we'd pat each other on the back as a sign of fellowship, politely point out that stray seed in our fellow MOA member's hair and recite a little prayer that next year is "a good year'' — a relative term in the world of us maple tree owners.
Garden Gazette
Page 4
ROAD TRIP
For more details, see
http://www.nybg.org/edible_garden/?xsc=eml_soe_2008_06_15_evt
http://www.nybg.org/edible_garden/?xsc=eml_soe_2008_06_15_evt
GardenGazette Page 5
Timely Tips for July
Young crucifers should be transplanted from the seed bed by mid-month.
Put a summer mulch on roses to conserve soil moisture and control weeds.
Deadhead spent blossoms to promote continuous flowering.
Prune climbing roses after flowering to promote new growth.
Divide and transplant Oriental poppies if necessary.
Mulch shrub and flower borders and beds if not done already.
Sow seeds of English daisy, forget-me-not, and pansy now.
Don’t use lawn weed killer in 75+ heat or damage to ornamentals will result.
Put a summer mulch on roses to conserve soil moisture and control weeds.
Deadhead spent blossoms to promote continuous flowering.
Prune climbing roses after flowering to promote new growth.
Divide and transplant Oriental poppies if necessary.
Mulch shrub and flower borders and beds if not done already.
Sow seeds of English daisy, forget-me-not, and pansy now.
Don’t use lawn weed killer in 75+ heat or damage to ornamentals will result.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
May Newsletter
Guy’s Greetings
A thank you is owed to Carol Tvelia, who once again chaired the plant and yard sale this year, and all the members who donated there time and “stuff”. We made $815.00 this year. Remember, the proceeds from this event go to our Scholarship for a graduating Patchogue-Medford High School senior.
As we prepare for Memorial Day, please take a moment and remember those who gave their all, so we can enjoy the freedoms we have.
It’s finally time to plant, plant, plant!!!
Mark the Date
Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 7:00 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department, on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale.
Saturday, June 6, 2009, 9:00 AM, Breakfast in the garden. Bring a dish to share and your favorite beverage. The club provides bagels, coffee, tea, and fixin’s.
Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, 2009, Neighbors and Gardeners of Bayport and Blue Point will be having a garden tour on the 6th, 1:00-5:00 PM, and a plant sale on the 6th and 7th, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM at 63 Gillette Avenue, Bayport. For more information: P.O. Box 525, Bayport, NY 11705. Get tickets at 472-1898; more info: Maureen at 363-8913 or 806-7640.
Saturday, July 11, 2009, Patchogue Garden Club’s 9th annual garden tour. Pre-purchase tickets at $13 ($15 on the day of the tour). Gardens open at 10 AM and close at 3:00 PM. For more information, call Paula at 289-0234. The post-tour dinner will be on the same day as the tour at the home of Paula Murphy, 6:00 PM, 125 Smith Street, Patchogue, NY. Sorry, no fireworks this year.
April Meeting in a Flash
Lee Ann Sealy representing Natural Gardening the Organic way through Neudorff gave a very informative talk. She also had a variety of products for the members to look at and information to take home. There was a lively question and answer session. The information was much appreciated.
Guy spoke about meeting with Village representatives regarding the feasibility of renovating the Winona Cottage. We still don’t know the answer to if and how the cottage can be utilized.
The Design Committee reported on adding and replacing plants in the Community Garden and on working on getting it named a National Wildlife Federation's Certified Wildlife Habitat™ (see below).
Bring Life to Your Backyard
Saturday, June 6, 2009, 9:00 AM, Breakfast in the garden. Bring a dish to share and your favorite beverage. The club provides bagels, coffee, tea, and fixin’s.
Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, 2009, Neighbors and Gardeners of Bayport and Blue Point will be having a garden tour on the 6th, 1:00-5:00 PM, and a plant sale on the 6th and 7th, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM at 63 Gillette Avenue, Bayport. For more information: P.O. Box 525, Bayport, NY 11705. Get tickets at 472-1898; more info: Maureen at 363-8913 or 806-7640.
Saturday, July 11, 2009, Patchogue Garden Club’s 9th annual garden tour. Pre-purchase tickets at $13 ($15 on the day of the tour). Gardens open at 10 AM and close at 3:00 PM. For more information, call Paula at 289-0234. The post-tour dinner will be on the same day as the tour at the home of Paula Murphy, 6:00 PM, 125 Smith Street, Patchogue, NY. Sorry, no fireworks this year.
April Meeting in a Flash
Lee Ann Sealy representing Natural Gardening the Organic way through Neudorff gave a very informative talk. She also had a variety of products for the members to look at and information to take home. There was a lively question and answer session. The information was much appreciated.
Guy spoke about meeting with Village representatives regarding the feasibility of renovating the Winona Cottage. We still don’t know the answer to if and how the cottage can be utilized.
The Design Committee reported on adding and replacing plants in the Community Garden and on working on getting it named a National Wildlife Federation's Certified Wildlife Habitat™ (see below).
Bring Life to Your Backyard
Join more than 118,000 folks who have already created havens for wildlife through National Wildlife Federation's Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program. You'll get great benefits, too! Get started at http://www.nwf.org/index.cfm
When you certify with your application fee of $20, you'll receive all these great benefits: a personalized certificate that recognizes your NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat™; a free NWF membership which includes a full year's subscription to the award-winning National Wildlife® magazine and 10% off all NWF catalog purchases; a free subscription to the quarterly e-newsletter, Habitats, full of insightful tips and information on gardening and attracting wildlife year after year; and your name listed in NWF's National registry of certified habitats...to recognize all you've done for wildlife. And, once you complete your application, you'll be eligible to purchase the "wildly" popular Certified Wildlife Habitat™ yard sign that shows your commitment to conserving wildlife. All you need to do is provide elements from each of the following areas: food and water sources, places for cover, places to raise young, and sustainable gardening.
Long Island Natives
The use of native plants in landscaping and restoration activities on Long Island are being increasingly encouraged by local government, environmental organizations, and scientists, as the impacts of invasive species and development on biodiversity are understood. The all-volunteer Long Island Native Grass Initiative (LINGI) is one of the efforts to provide native plant material to the public. Species currently available at LINGI’s first annual sale are Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), Little Bluestem (Schizachryium scoparium), Big Blue Stem (Andropogon gerardii), Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Purple Top (Tridens flavus) and various forbs. The sale is June 12, 13, 26, and 27 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Suffolk Community College Eastern Campus Greenhouse. For more details contact Polly L. Weigand, 757-2315 Ext. 3, or polly.weigand@suffolkcounty.ny.gov .
Soil District Technician & LINGI Coordinator
Suffolk County Soil and Water Conservation District
423 Griffing Ave. Suite 110
Riverhead, NY 11901
(631) 727-2315x3
(631) 727-3160 (fax)
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
So You Think YOU Have a Bug Problem?
24 April 2009, Wall Street Journal by JIM CARLTON
TUSCARORA, Nev. -- The residents of this tiny town, anticipating an imminent attack, will be ready with a perimeter defense. They'll position their best weapons at regular intervals, faced out toward the desert to repel the assault. Then they'll turn up the volume. Rock music blaring from boom boxes has proved one of the best defenses against an annual invasion of Mormon crickets. The huge flightless insects are a fearsome sight as they advance across the desert in armies of millions that march over, under or into anything in their way. The 2-inch-long blooded, ravenous insects often carpet the arid landscape in the spring and summer, devouring vegetation and driving residents to distraction.
But the crickets don't much fancy Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones, the townspeople figured out three years ago. So next month, Tuscarorans are preparing once again to get out their extension cords, array their stereos in a quarter-circle and tune them to rock station KHIX, full blast, from dawn to dusk. "It is part of our arsenal," says Laura Moore, an unemployed college professor and one of the town's 13 residents.
They march in columns that in peak years can be two miles long and a mile across, swarms move across the badlands in search of food. Starting in about May, they march through August or so, before stopping to lay eggs for next year and die. In between, they make an awful mess. They destroy crops and lots of the other leafy vegetation. They crawl all over houses, and some get inside. "You'll wake up and there'll be one sitting on your forehead, looking at you," says Ms. Moore. They swarm on roads, where cars turn them into slicks that can cause accidents. So many dead ones piled up on a highway last year that Elko County, Nev., called in snowplows to scrape them off. Squashed and dying crickets give off a sickening smell. "For us, it's mostly the yuck factor," says Ron Arthaud, a painter here.
Many springs, the infestation is negligible. But every few years, far bigger swarms hatch. From 2003 to 2006, armies of crickets went forth. They smothered the county seat, Elko, causing pandemonium as residents fled indoors. Realtor Jim Winer couldn't, because he had to show homes. "I carried a little broom in my car," he says, "and when I got out, I would sweep a path through the bugs to the house."
Every half-century or so, plague like numbers hatch. The critters got their name in the 19th century after a throng of them ravaged the crops of a Mormon settlement. But "I don't think they care about Mormons or Baptists," says Lynn Forsberg, who runs Elko County's public-works program. "I don't think they care about anything."
Including one another. Mormon crickets are programmed to march. Any cricket that falls by the wayside is eaten by others, ensuring that at least some cross the hot, barren stretches well-fed.
Charm to Cricket Menace"Taking the gong and a club, she faced the army of crickets and beat hard." Read the 1934 article from the Elko Free Press.
.
Following an unseasonably warm winter, some in Elko County fear a big crop this year of Mormon crickets, known more precisely as shield-backed katydids, or Anabrus simplex. State entomologist Jeff Knight is using computer models to document when the crickets will hatch, and "once they have hatched, we will start going in and mapping where all the crickets are," he says.
Towns in their path aren't waiting to find out. Elko County officials have stored tons of poison bait, which they'll soon start handing out. Placed properly, it can help. In 2003, which was a bad year, residents organized a bucket brigade to lay poison bait in the countryside, luring many bugs to their doom.
But last year Diana Bunitsky sprinkled the bait too close -- right outside the rural diner she runs, Lone Mountain Station -- and crickets swarmed onto her property to gobble it. Ms. Bunitsky ran outside and sprayed them with a garden hose, "but when I looked back, they had gone around and were all over my walls," she says.
Some people use chalk dust to try to smother crickets. Lori Roa, a job counselor in Elko, swears by Lemon Joy. She sprinkles the detergent over her shrubbery. In Jarbidge, Nev., Rey Nystrom, proprietor of the Jarbidge Trading Post, says a neighbor uses a squirt bottle loaded with soapy water. "But you're squirting one at a time, so it's spitting against the wind, so to speak," he says.
Here in Tuscarora, signs are worrisome this spring. Numerous cricket nymphs in the sandy soil are beginning to wiggle, says Elaine Parks, a local artist.
Tuscarora began as a gold-mining town in the late 19th century, and by 1878 had a population of 5,000. But the ore mostly petered out by 1900, and the town has been dwindling ever since, to its current size of just over a dozen. ("But in summer we get up to 20," says postmaster Julie Parks.)
What to do with all that Rhubarb: Rhubarb Almond Bars
These simple tangy rhubarb bars with an almond shortbread crust have all the sweet-tart flavors of rhubarb pie without the fussiness of pie crust—and you can still serve them topped with ice cream and/or whipped cream. The bars can be made through step 2 up to a day ahead of time.
Total Time: 2 hrs 40 minutes. Makes: 24 bars.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) frozen unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
2/3 cup whole unsalted almonds, toasted
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine rhubarb and 1 cup of the sugar in a medium nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, stir to combine, and cook until rhubarb releases some juices, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is soft and just starting to fall apart, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove to a bowl and let cool.
2. Combine flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Grate butter on the large holes of a box grater, add to flour mixture, and rub between your fingertips until ingredients just hold together when squeezed, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and combine until dough forms large, fist-size chunks when squeezed, about 1 minute (the dough will be crumbly). Shape dough into a flat disk, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coarsely chop the almonds and set aside.
4. Evenly crumble chilled dough over the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish, then firmly press it into the dish using your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup. Sprinkle almonds over top and press lightly into the dough. Using a slotted spoon, evenly spread cooled rhubarb over the base. If you have any remaining syrup, pour up to 1/3 cup over the top. Bake until dough is brown and rhubarb mixture is bubbly around the edges, about 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting. –Ed.
“Come Hither, Bumblebee, and Pollinate”
In the New York Times, April 30, Anne Raver wrote about research showing that native species are more attractive to pollinators than non-native species. A thousand different plants were surveyed, only 50 of which were native, but 80% of them attracted pollinators. Of the 950 non-native species, only 10% were. While the European honeybee population has dwindled, there are many other pollinators to take its place, e.g., native bumblebees, large and tiny wasps and flies, beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, and solitary native bees. Many of our native bees are better than the European honeybee at pollinating because they can vibrate the flower, causing the pollen to fall from the stamens to the stigma where it fertilizes the ovules. The more habitat we provide and desirable species we plant, the more we will attract pollinators and increase their numbers. No one suggests giving up your lavender, catmint, oregano or rosemary; just pack in more natives, perennials such as black-eyed Susans, coneflower, giant hyssop, coreopsis, larkspur, Joe-pye weed, blanketflower, sunflower, lupine, evening primrose, poppy, penstemon, salvia, goldenrod, asters, and sedum. Annuals and biennials to plant include milkweed, cosmos, poppy, mullein, daisy, and verbena. Attractive shrubs include wild roses, blueberries, berry brambles, elderberry, and sumac. –Thanks to Paula Murphy
Timely Tips for June
Remove old flowers, not foliage, from spring-flowering bulbs & perennials.
Prune shrubs that just flowered—weigela, philadelphus, deutzia, etc.
Many shrubs can be propagated from softwood cuttings thru early July.
Sow seeds of fast-growing annuals for late bloom—marigolds, zinnia, cosmos.
Last chance to fertilize trees and shrubs!
Remove faded flowers from rhodies and azaleas.
Establish regular watering schedule for tomatoes to avert blossom-end rot.
Give house and greenhouse plants a vacation outdoors in a shady area.
Remove old flowers, not foliage, from spring-flowering bulbs & perennials.
Prune shrubs that just flowered—weigela, philadelphus, deutzia, etc.
Many shrubs can be propagated from softwood cuttings thru early July.
Sow seeds of fast-growing annuals for late bloom—marigolds, zinnia, cosmos.
Last chance to fertilize trees and shrubs!
Remove faded flowers from rhodies and azaleas.
Establish regular watering schedule for tomatoes to avert blossom-end rot.
Give house and greenhouse plants a vacation outdoors in a shady area.
Thought for Memorial Day
Our battle-fields, safe in the keeping
Of Nature's kind, fostering care,
Are blooming, - our heroes are sleeping, -
And peace broods perennial there.
~John H. Jewett
Our battle-fields, safe in the keeping
Of Nature's kind, fostering care,
Are blooming, - our heroes are sleeping, -
And peace broods perennial there.
~John H. Jewett
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
April 2009
President Guy R. Vitale, Babette Bishop, Charlie & Carol Reitz-Butler
Guy’s Greetings
“April showers bring May flowers”, so the saying goes.
If this is true, don’t be blue: The showers will subside,
The flowers will arrive, and May will take away your blues….By Guy R. Vitale
I‘d like to thank Richard & Babette Bishop, Charlie & Carol Reitz-Butler, Paula Murphy, and Mark Jeffers for their participation in building and marching with our float last Sunday in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It was truly the first beautiful spring day this season. Thanks to Kelleen Guyer and June Petruccelli for cheering us on from the side lines.
I hope to see everyone at our spring garden clean up. Remember, the more the merrier and we’ll get done that much faster.
Mark the Date
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 7:00 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department, on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale. Our speaker will be LeeAnn Seeley. She will talk about organic gardening and products.
Saturday, April 25, 2009, opening of the Terry Street garden; rain date Sunday, April 26. Both days begin at 9:00 AM. Bring gloves, tools, and plenty of energy. The club will provide bagels, tea, and coffee to keep you going.
Saturday, May 16, 2009, 9 AM-4 PM, Annual Plant & Yard Sale. Clean out your attic and garage, pot up extra plants, and bring them to the garden with prices attached (Carol has stickers) at 8:00 AM. Workers needed; please contact Carol Tvelia. Rain date is Sunday, May 17, same time, same place.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 10:00 AM, Sayville Garden Club Luncheon and Raffle Boutique. Lands End, 80 Browns River Road, Sayville. Reserve by May 5, $40, payable to the Sayville Garden Club. Send to Pat Osarchuk, 144 Handsome Avenue, Sayville, NY 11782. Speaker: Floral designer Joan Smith.
March Meeting in a Flash
Joy Kaminski, self-proclaimed tree-hugger and proud of it, gave a very interesting and informative talk and slide presentation about the Bayard Cutting Arboretum. The club plans to apply for National Wildlife Habitat Certification from the NWF (nwf.org) for the Community Garden. Sandra Franco talked about HOG, the Hamlet Organic Garden, a Community Supported Agriculture farm located in Brookhaven Hamlet on Beaverdam Road. There are still shares available at the farm for pickup on Monday or Friday and in Bayshore. Visit http://hamletorganicgarden.org/ for details. Members Kathy McMahon, Ellen and Mike Scammon, and Arlene Lamberti all won tickets to the Patchogue Theatre that the club received through its membership in the Chamber of Commerce.
Thanks to all the club members who have signed on to care for the Community Garden this season: Fred & Bonnie Bossert, Peg & Frank Densing, Margaret Atkinson, June & Angelo Petruccelli, Babette Bishop, Carol & Charlie Butler, Carla Steward, Bert Voland, Lynn Kane, Sandra Franco, Carol Tvelia, Guy Vitale, Carolyn Savastano, Arlene Lamberti, Jo Miller, Karen Ferb, and John & Georgia Dulmovits.
Danger to Dogs of Cocoa Bean Mulch
If you’ve heard "Don't give your dog, chocolate it will kill him", you're probably wondering if it’s true. Yes, chocolate contains theobromine, toxic to dogs in sufficient quantities. Cocoa bean mulch is pretty and smells great, but may have toxic concentrations of theobromine. Home Depot only sells a "cleaned" version of cocoa mulch (look for "pet safe" on any brand you buy; 2 are Mirana and Cocoa Mulch). If you suspect your pet has ingested chocolate contact your Vet immediately! They can help you determine the proper treatment for your pet. (Thanks, Guy)
Where’s the Beet?
Is there anyone out there who hasn’t heard the brou-ha-ha over the beet-free White House Garden? First it was Bush and broccoli, now Obama and beets. Our own Sandra Franco disliked beets until she had fresh ones prepared properly from Hamlet Organic Garden last year. Could Sandra be our emissary to the White House to show the prez the tasty nutritional powerhouse he’s missing?
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Pinching Pennies?
Have you turned over the sofa cushions to look for loose change? As gardeners we know how to stretch a dollar by dividing perennials, but now the Wall Street Journal’s 'Cheapskate' column (April 16, 2009) agrees that growing a vegetable garden could help stretch the family food budget. A study sponsored by Scotts Miracle-Gro found that an average family could spend $70 yearly on seeds and supplies and reap about $600 worth of vegetables. Now that is an impressive return on investment! Of course, missing from the $70 tab is the initial outlay of any fencing, irrigation, soil amendments, etc., and nowhere is there any accounting for labor - how well we know about that! Weeding, insect control, and staying off the lounge chair with a cool drink in the hot summer sun until the garden is tended to are things we know all too well. But once we taste the difference in the vegetables grown in our own back yard compared to some of the wax coated supermarket replicas, we know that growing a garden is more than just a way to save money.
Anne Frank Saplings May be Planted in 10 US Cities
NEW YORK — Saplings from the tree Anne Frank used to measure the seasons while hiding from the Nazis could be planted in 10 cities around the United States. The Anne Frank Center USA wants to plant the trees in 10 U.S. cities to symbolize the growth of tolerance. The saplings would come from an ailing horse chestnut tree in Amsterdam. (New York Times, April 17, 2009)
Amsterdam had to cut down the 170-year-old chestnut tree that Anne Frank mentioned in her diary while she was in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Holland because it was attacked by an aggressive fungus and a leaf miner.
Amsterdam had to cut down the 170-year-old chestnut tree that Anne Frank mentioned in her diary while she was in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Holland because it was attacked by an aggressive fungus and a leaf miner.
In “The Diary of Anne Frank”, the teenager looks at the tree through an attic window of the apartment, concealed in her father's factory, where she and her family hid from the Germans for more than two years. The factory and apartment where they hid, on the Prinsengracht canal, is preserved as a tribute to Anne Frank and to her book, which has been read by 25 million people worldwide.
"Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs," Anne wrote on Feb. 23, 1944. "From my favourite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind..."As long as this exists, I thought, and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts I cannot be unhappy."
The tree was in an inner courtyard and one of the few green living things visible at a time when windows had to be blacked out to prevent neighbours seeing people moving through the apartment.
Anne died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, spring, 1945.
Members Pages
Members Pages
Submit your pictures, stories, recipes, or other items of interest. Swap or sell. Whatever.
Peanut Butter Pie from the kitchen of June Petruccelli
15 minutes prep time, serves 8
4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 package whipped topping mix
½ cup milk (skim or 2%)
1 graham cracker crust (9”)
¼ cup chopped nuts (optional)
Whip cream cheese until light and fluffy, beat in sugar and peanut butter. Prepare whipped topping with milk according to package instructions. Fold topping into peanut butter mixture, taking care not to break down topping. Pour into pie shell, top with chopped nuts. Chill until firm.
(Ed. note: If you are a diehard peanut butter cup fan—okay, I confess—decorate the top of this with chocolate sauce or chocolate curls. You could even chop up peanut butter cups and sprinkle on the top.)
thanks for sending the PGC site......if there is a spot for "old member news", I can report that I have joined the local Saturday New Baltimore Farmers' Market (www.newbaltimorefarmersmarket.com) & the Thursday Selkirk / New Bethlehem Farmers' Market & happily grow & sell herbicide- & pesticide-free veggies, berries, & fresh herbs up here near Albany from spring to fall...was always looking to have a road-side stand, even in Patchogue, but didn't have enough property to grow for sale.....here, all I have to do is remove all the rocks on these mineral-rich 3 acres, incorporate with truck-loads of compost & manure, mulch with hay/straw & I can plant what I want....picked my 1st 105 Red Haven & Belle of Georgia peaches last year & expect more this year, along with assorted plums & pears....specialty varieties are my aim so as to minimize competition at the markets....I miss my friends in Patchogue, but I now have exactly what I have been looking for....Love to all, Lynn G.
See the astonishing work of Frances Pelzman Liscio at http://www.punksandroses.com/. Originally a photographer of punk and country musicians, she has turned her lens towards no less romantic (but much prettier) subjects, photographing carefully-arranged and brilliantly-colored botanical collages. “I photographed the punks as if they were rare botanicals, and I photograph my botanicals as if they were vulnerable icons. What I attempt to underscore in both treatments is the fragile beauty that transcends our mortality—and the mortality that makes such beauty even more precious.” (Thanks to Carol Reitz-Butler)
Timely Tips for May
Plant dahlias, glads, cannas, and daylilies through the end of the month.
All annual flowers can be safely planted outdoors after mid-May.
Fertilize roses every 2-3 weeks and spray weekly with an all-purpose spray.
Stake perennial plants that may be damaged by wind before they’re too tall.
Prune spring-flowering shrubs immediately after blooming.
Apply summer mulches to perennial borders and beds.
Plant tuberous begonias and caladiums out in a shady protected area.
Sow beans, corn, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cukes, and squash outdoors.
My Mother's Garden
By Alice E. Allen
(Thanks to June Petruccelli)
Her heart is like her garden,
old-fashioned, quaint and sweet,
with here a wreath of blossoms,
and there a still retreat.
Forget-Me-Nots there linger,
to full perfection brought,
and there bloom purple Pansies,
in many a tender thought.
And in the quiet garden-
the garden of her heart-
song birds are always singing
their songs of cheer apart.
And from it floats forever,
o'ercoming sin and strife,
sweet as the breath of roses blown,
the fragrance of her life.
Peanut Butter Pie from the kitchen of June Petruccelli
15 minutes prep time, serves 8
4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 package whipped topping mix
½ cup milk (skim or 2%)
1 graham cracker crust (9”)
¼ cup chopped nuts (optional)
Whip cream cheese until light and fluffy, beat in sugar and peanut butter. Prepare whipped topping with milk according to package instructions. Fold topping into peanut butter mixture, taking care not to break down topping. Pour into pie shell, top with chopped nuts. Chill until firm.
(Ed. note: If you are a diehard peanut butter cup fan—okay, I confess—decorate the top of this with chocolate sauce or chocolate curls. You could even chop up peanut butter cups and sprinkle on the top.)
thanks for sending the PGC site......if there is a spot for "old member news", I can report that I have joined the local Saturday New Baltimore Farmers' Market (www.newbaltimorefarmersmarket.com) & the Thursday Selkirk / New Bethlehem Farmers' Market & happily grow & sell herbicide- & pesticide-free veggies, berries, & fresh herbs up here near Albany from spring to fall...was always looking to have a road-side stand, even in Patchogue, but didn't have enough property to grow for sale.....here, all I have to do is remove all the rocks on these mineral-rich 3 acres, incorporate with truck-loads of compost & manure, mulch with hay/straw & I can plant what I want....picked my 1st 105 Red Haven & Belle of Georgia peaches last year & expect more this year, along with assorted plums & pears....specialty varieties are my aim so as to minimize competition at the markets....I miss my friends in Patchogue, but I now have exactly what I have been looking for....Love to all, Lynn G.
See the astonishing work of Frances Pelzman Liscio at http://www.punksandroses.com/. Originally a photographer of punk and country musicians, she has turned her lens towards no less romantic (but much prettier) subjects, photographing carefully-arranged and brilliantly-colored botanical collages. “I photographed the punks as if they were rare botanicals, and I photograph my botanicals as if they were vulnerable icons. What I attempt to underscore in both treatments is the fragile beauty that transcends our mortality—and the mortality that makes such beauty even more precious.” (Thanks to Carol Reitz-Butler)
Timely Tips for May
Plant dahlias, glads, cannas, and daylilies through the end of the month.
All annual flowers can be safely planted outdoors after mid-May.
Fertilize roses every 2-3 weeks and spray weekly with an all-purpose spray.
Stake perennial plants that may be damaged by wind before they’re too tall.
Prune spring-flowering shrubs immediately after blooming.
Apply summer mulches to perennial borders and beds.
Plant tuberous begonias and caladiums out in a shady protected area.
Sow beans, corn, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cukes, and squash outdoors.
My Mother's Garden
By Alice E. Allen
(Thanks to June Petruccelli)
Her heart is like her garden,
old-fashioned, quaint and sweet,
with here a wreath of blossoms,
and there a still retreat.
Forget-Me-Nots there linger,
to full perfection brought,
and there bloom purple Pansies,
in many a tender thought.
And in the quiet garden-
the garden of her heart-
song birds are always singing
their songs of cheer apart.
And from it floats forever,
o'ercoming sin and strife,
sweet as the breath of roses blown,
the fragrance of her life.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
March 2009
Guy’s Greetings
Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! The Patchogue Garden Club hosted our 6th successful “Think Spring” luncheon. Congratulations and thank you to Georgia Dulmovits, Arlene Lamberti, and all the wonderful members on the committee for your tireless dedication to the luncheon’s success. In our shaky economy you managed make the luncheon grow in both attendees and the beautifully crafted baskets. Again, the accolades have been many, but the success is all yours.
St. Patrick’s Day was Tuesday, March 17th, and Patchogue’s parade is Sunday, March 29th at 1:00 pm. We start on Rider Avenue and finish with corned beef, cabbage, and a beer or two at the BrickHouse Brewery. Let’s show the village what makes the Patchogue Garden Club such a great service organization: our community involvement.
Historically, the average spring temperature in late March is in the mid 50’s, perfect weather for a Sunday stroll down Main Street and to get the blood flowing for another gardening season.
Mark the Date
Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 7:00 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department, on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale Avenue. The speaker will be Joy Kaminsky from Bayard Cutting Arboretum. The topic will be the history of arboretums, including cemetery arboretums, which will tie in with the idea of creating an arboretum cemetery on West Main Street where the cemetery restoration project is taking place. THIS IS NOT A GARDEN CLUB PROJECT!!!! Some members of the club are advisors.
Sunday, March 29, 1:00 PM, Patchogue St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Rider Ave.
Final dues closing date is March 31.
If anyone is interested in having a summer club meeting in your garden, please contact Paula. This invitation is offered to members' friends as well and does not have to be in Patchogue. Gardens are needed for June, July, and August.
April 4, 3:00-8:00 PM, Hagerman Fire House Spaghetti Supper fundraiser for Michael Vignato. See www.HagermanFD.com for details or call 654-2790 Ext. 200.
Saturday, April 25, 2009, opening of the Terry Street garden; rain date Sunday, April 26. Both days begin at 9:00 AM.
February Meeting in a Flash
Erik Meneses, Asian garden specialist, of Blue Monkey Asian Design and President of Eastern Suffolk Bonsai, made a presentation about bonsai which included a slide show and raffling off of the maple bonsai specimen he demonstrated. Marie Magnano was the happy winner. Eric also brought a beautiful specimen of azalea in flower. For further information about Eastern Suffolk Bonsai, email www.EasternSuffolkBonsai.org or call 363-6490.
Garden Conservancy Open Days: Plan Ahead!
More than 300 gardens participating in the Conservancy’s Open Days program will be open in 2009. You are invited to explore first-hand examples of outstanding design and horticultural practice that are growing in America’s gardens. The 2009 Open Days Directory is now available. The Suffolk County Open Days for May 2 are listed here. For details and directions, other dates, or if you happen to be traveling during the garden season, checks out the other gardens on the schedule at http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/events.pl. For general information about the Conservancy, visit http://www.gardenconservancy.org/.
Abby Jane Brody. 44 Glade Road, East Hampton This is primarily a woodland garden in which the native oaks are the upper story. I am an inveterate plant collector with a special interest in rare or unusual flowering trees and shrubs as well as herbaceous plants. The half-acre site has something in flower, preferably fragrant, almost every day of the year. In early May, the last of the camellias and hellebores may be in bloom, as well as daphne, epimediums, and hundreds of other woodland plants.
Biercuk/Luckey Garden 18 Sayres Path, Wainscott. Our four-season woodland garden under a high oak canopy shelters a collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, kalmia, pieris, understory trees, perennials, bulbs, and tropicals in season. A mostly sunny rear corner contains a pool designed as a pond with a waterfall and is surrounded with plantings which peak mid-July through October. Winding paths and stone walls enhance a sense of depth and elevation change on a mostly flat acre. There is something in bloom every season.
Margaret Kerr. The garden, designed by Kerr, surrounds the house and studios on two acres that extend down to the wetlands of Accabonack Harbor. Kerr’s brick rug sculptures, inspired by tribal Middle Eastern carpets, are placed throughout the garden. One, a brick prayer rug, lies in a contemplative glade below her studio. Kerr collects plants grown in the Middle Ages in a courtyard around a fountain and lily pool highlighted with espaliered pear trees. In the spring, drifts of thousands of daffodils bloom in the fields around the house and are left unmown until late fall. Native grasses and wildflowers make islands of meadow during the summer.
Mrs. Donald J. Bruckmann. This seaside location emphasizes traditional and informal plantings of herbaceous borders, woodland, meadow, and rose gardens. Two ponds are surrounded by iris, asters, and other sun-loving plants. An ocean terrace and adjacent dune combine beach vegetation with bright annuals for an interesting contrast of the cultivated and naturalistic.
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Roberto Burle Marx
At the New York Botanical Garden until April 12th is the Orchid Show featuring an exhibit designed by the landscape designer Raymond Jungles. He has used influences the well-known Brazilian landscape architect, painter, ecologist and naturalist Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994). Jungles met Marx when attending a lecture while a student at the University of Florida; he subsequently made many trips to Brazil to view Marx’ design work. Landscape architects have been influenced by Marx through his many lectures and writings.
Marx was born in Sao Paulo, but it was in Germany as a student of painting that he became interested in Brazil’s native flora while visiting a local botanical garden. When he returned to Brazil in 1930 he began his extensive collection of native plants and two years later had his first commission for a landscape at a private residence. Years later his collection of native plants grew to be housed in a large estate outside of Rio de Janeiro that had been donated to the Brazilian government in 1985. The use of native species within his designs was very important in order to show off each plant’s characteristics. The use of water and pavements is also something that can be found in many of his designs such as in the Copacabana promenade.
If Roberto Burle Marx found influences in his work at a trip to a botanical garden, isn’t it time you venture out to the New York Botanical Garden yourself?
Economics 101
This is the garden club newsletter, not the Wall Street Journal, so I am not about to write about the current state of the economy. But I am reminded of Econ 10, reading about the cost of tulips and the havoc caused in the Netherlands back in the 1600's. A book written in 1841, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”, claims that investors in tulip bulbs were ruined in the dramatic rise and fall of bulb prices, with tulip contracts selling for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman at that time. Historians now disagree with author using with the term 'tulipomania' as it refers to an economic bubble. Tulips were introduced to the Netherlands from the Ottoman Empire in the mid-16th century. Within a short time tulips became status symbols. Previous thinking had the entire population speculating, causing the cost of tulip bulbs to rise. People felt this could last forever and had visions of wealth for all. In 1637 the traders weren’t able to get new buyers willing and able to pay the highly inflated prices, so the demand for tulips fell along with the price, and the bubble burst. Tulip speculators were now asking for aid from the government in declaring that contracts could now be voided by paying a 10% fee. According to the author, those who now held the tulip bulbs were left without any enforcement of their contracts since the judicial courts considered this gambling. Now it is thought that the tulipomaniacs were really just a small group of people, not the entire Netherlands as originally believed. Recent findings show trading in tulips was only by merchants and wealthy craftsmen, making the bubble very limited. During 1636-1637 there was a dramatic rise and fall in the cost of tulip bulbs, but not as dramatic a bubble as originally thought. Since the original book was highly popular and widely cited by other writers and economists (even up till the 1980's) the use of the term 'tulipomania' has remained. What will they say about today’s economic climate years from now? I just hope they keep the plant world out of it!
The 6th Annual “Think Spring” luncheon was a grand success, and a good time was had by all who attended. The Mediterranean Manor, as always, did not disappoint, and in fact was better than ever.
Many club members made donations for the raffle baskets. Those marked with an * were members of the committee who gave generously of their time as well. Those marked with & also participated in the Members’ Art Show, a first for the luncheon and a big hit. Let’s have a round of applause for all of these members!
Special thanks to co-chairs Georgia Dulmovits and Arlene Lamberti for a bang-up job yet again! In no particular order: Margaret Atkinson*, Babette Bishop*, Barbara Bruce*&, Rosalie Coleman&, Sandra Franco, June Petruccelli*, Carolyn Savastano*&, Diane and Bert Voland, Judy Zuck, Jo Miller, Fred and Bonnie Bossert, Peg and Frank Densing, Jim Tooher, Barbara Aragon*, Guy R. Vitale and Mark Jeffers, Joan Delaney, Ann Rubbo*, Marie Magnano*, Carolyn Young*, Ruth Szuminskyj*, Paula Murphy, Millie Zimmerman*, Donna Mujic&, Karen Ferb*&, Violet Mulligan*, Janet Heyer*, Carol Tvelia, Gladys Heimburger*, Joanna Drake, Marita Morello*, Joan Kattau, Mary Ann Tchinnis. Other members of the committee were Barbara Bestafka, Pauline Carleton, Carla Steward, Ellen Brandt, and Joan Tifford. Other members in the Art Show were Kathy Barthman, Carol Reitz-Butler, Kathy McMahon, and Tony Wenderoth. If I left anyone out, please let me know and accept my apologies. Ed.
Many businesses and organizations gave their generous support to our 2009 luncheon. We are ever grateful:
Jim Tooher Three Village Music Bayport Flower Houses
Friends of the Patchogue-Medford Library The Fish Store
Trendsetters Hair and Skin Care Blum’s
Town of Brookhaven Highway Dept. Nino’s Pizza
Long Island Statuary J&R Steak House
Waitress to Go Casino Clam
Fantastic Gardens Country Kitchen Restaurant
New York New Wave Hair Salon The Curry Club
Petite Pets Day Care and Boarding Swiftway Wine & Liquor
Finest Fitness Health and Sports Club The Pilates Studio at Bayport
Signs and Advertising Associate Prime Meat Market
Karl Ehmer Pork Store Advance Auto Parts
Time On My Hands Bissett Nursery
Bobbique Swan Cleaners
King Kullen Grocery Gallo Tropical Restaurant
BrickHouse Brewery and Restaurant The Good Steer Restaurant
Pura Vida Burrito Company Carvel
Panera Bread Painter’s
SunWave Liquors Alchemy Design
Tricia’s Hair Galleria Home Depot
Head Cutters Long Island Flower Garden & Florist
Quench Wine & Spirits Forever Young National Display Garden
Timely Tips for April
Prune forsythia soon after it finishes flowering for next year’s flowers.
Plant trees and shrubs. Plant new roses before growth begins.
The months of March, April and May are ideal for pruning evergreens. Remove all dead, diseased, and undesirable wood. However, do not prune back into the bare wood of the plant.
Plant summer flowering bulbs, but take care to wait until last frost for tender ones.
April is a great time to select and plant fruit trees and berry plants. Fruits and berries do best in full sun.
On Arbor Day, attend a ceremony and plant a tree.
If you ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it…
But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.
~Frank Lloyd Wright
Thanks to Diane Riviello-Voland for the quote.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! The Patchogue Garden Club hosted our 6th successful “Think Spring” luncheon. Congratulations and thank you to Georgia Dulmovits, Arlene Lamberti, and all the wonderful members on the committee for your tireless dedication to the luncheon’s success. In our shaky economy you managed make the luncheon grow in both attendees and the beautifully crafted baskets. Again, the accolades have been many, but the success is all yours.
St. Patrick’s Day was Tuesday, March 17th, and Patchogue’s parade is Sunday, March 29th at 1:00 pm. We start on Rider Avenue and finish with corned beef, cabbage, and a beer or two at the BrickHouse Brewery. Let’s show the village what makes the Patchogue Garden Club such a great service organization: our community involvement.
Historically, the average spring temperature in late March is in the mid 50’s, perfect weather for a Sunday stroll down Main Street and to get the blood flowing for another gardening season.
Mark the Date
Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 7:00 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department, on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale Avenue. The speaker will be Joy Kaminsky from Bayard Cutting Arboretum. The topic will be the history of arboretums, including cemetery arboretums, which will tie in with the idea of creating an arboretum cemetery on West Main Street where the cemetery restoration project is taking place. THIS IS NOT A GARDEN CLUB PROJECT!!!! Some members of the club are advisors.
Sunday, March 29, 1:00 PM, Patchogue St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Rider Ave.
Final dues closing date is March 31.
If anyone is interested in having a summer club meeting in your garden, please contact Paula. This invitation is offered to members' friends as well and does not have to be in Patchogue. Gardens are needed for June, July, and August.
April 4, 3:00-8:00 PM, Hagerman Fire House Spaghetti Supper fundraiser for Michael Vignato. See www.HagermanFD.com for details or call 654-2790 Ext. 200.
Saturday, April 25, 2009, opening of the Terry Street garden; rain date Sunday, April 26. Both days begin at 9:00 AM.
February Meeting in a Flash
Erik Meneses, Asian garden specialist, of Blue Monkey Asian Design and President of Eastern Suffolk Bonsai, made a presentation about bonsai which included a slide show and raffling off of the maple bonsai specimen he demonstrated. Marie Magnano was the happy winner. Eric also brought a beautiful specimen of azalea in flower. For further information about Eastern Suffolk Bonsai, email www.EasternSuffolkBonsai.org or call 363-6490.
Garden Conservancy Open Days: Plan Ahead!
More than 300 gardens participating in the Conservancy’s Open Days program will be open in 2009. You are invited to explore first-hand examples of outstanding design and horticultural practice that are growing in America’s gardens. The 2009 Open Days Directory is now available. The Suffolk County Open Days for May 2 are listed here. For details and directions, other dates, or if you happen to be traveling during the garden season, checks out the other gardens on the schedule at http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/events.pl. For general information about the Conservancy, visit http://www.gardenconservancy.org/.
Abby Jane Brody. 44 Glade Road, East Hampton This is primarily a woodland garden in which the native oaks are the upper story. I am an inveterate plant collector with a special interest in rare or unusual flowering trees and shrubs as well as herbaceous plants. The half-acre site has something in flower, preferably fragrant, almost every day of the year. In early May, the last of the camellias and hellebores may be in bloom, as well as daphne, epimediums, and hundreds of other woodland plants.
Biercuk/Luckey Garden 18 Sayres Path, Wainscott. Our four-season woodland garden under a high oak canopy shelters a collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, kalmia, pieris, understory trees, perennials, bulbs, and tropicals in season. A mostly sunny rear corner contains a pool designed as a pond with a waterfall and is surrounded with plantings which peak mid-July through October. Winding paths and stone walls enhance a sense of depth and elevation change on a mostly flat acre. There is something in bloom every season.
Margaret Kerr. The garden, designed by Kerr, surrounds the house and studios on two acres that extend down to the wetlands of Accabonack Harbor. Kerr’s brick rug sculptures, inspired by tribal Middle Eastern carpets, are placed throughout the garden. One, a brick prayer rug, lies in a contemplative glade below her studio. Kerr collects plants grown in the Middle Ages in a courtyard around a fountain and lily pool highlighted with espaliered pear trees. In the spring, drifts of thousands of daffodils bloom in the fields around the house and are left unmown until late fall. Native grasses and wildflowers make islands of meadow during the summer.
Mrs. Donald J. Bruckmann. This seaside location emphasizes traditional and informal plantings of herbaceous borders, woodland, meadow, and rose gardens. Two ponds are surrounded by iris, asters, and other sun-loving plants. An ocean terrace and adjacent dune combine beach vegetation with bright annuals for an interesting contrast of the cultivated and naturalistic.
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Roberto Burle Marx
At the New York Botanical Garden until April 12th is the Orchid Show featuring an exhibit designed by the landscape designer Raymond Jungles. He has used influences the well-known Brazilian landscape architect, painter, ecologist and naturalist Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994). Jungles met Marx when attending a lecture while a student at the University of Florida; he subsequently made many trips to Brazil to view Marx’ design work. Landscape architects have been influenced by Marx through his many lectures and writings.
Marx was born in Sao Paulo, but it was in Germany as a student of painting that he became interested in Brazil’s native flora while visiting a local botanical garden. When he returned to Brazil in 1930 he began his extensive collection of native plants and two years later had his first commission for a landscape at a private residence. Years later his collection of native plants grew to be housed in a large estate outside of Rio de Janeiro that had been donated to the Brazilian government in 1985. The use of native species within his designs was very important in order to show off each plant’s characteristics. The use of water and pavements is also something that can be found in many of his designs such as in the Copacabana promenade.
If Roberto Burle Marx found influences in his work at a trip to a botanical garden, isn’t it time you venture out to the New York Botanical Garden yourself?
Economics 101
This is the garden club newsletter, not the Wall Street Journal, so I am not about to write about the current state of the economy. But I am reminded of Econ 10, reading about the cost of tulips and the havoc caused in the Netherlands back in the 1600's. A book written in 1841, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”, claims that investors in tulip bulbs were ruined in the dramatic rise and fall of bulb prices, with tulip contracts selling for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman at that time. Historians now disagree with author using with the term 'tulipomania' as it refers to an economic bubble. Tulips were introduced to the Netherlands from the Ottoman Empire in the mid-16th century. Within a short time tulips became status symbols. Previous thinking had the entire population speculating, causing the cost of tulip bulbs to rise. People felt this could last forever and had visions of wealth for all. In 1637 the traders weren’t able to get new buyers willing and able to pay the highly inflated prices, so the demand for tulips fell along with the price, and the bubble burst. Tulip speculators were now asking for aid from the government in declaring that contracts could now be voided by paying a 10% fee. According to the author, those who now held the tulip bulbs were left without any enforcement of their contracts since the judicial courts considered this gambling. Now it is thought that the tulipomaniacs were really just a small group of people, not the entire Netherlands as originally believed. Recent findings show trading in tulips was only by merchants and wealthy craftsmen, making the bubble very limited. During 1636-1637 there was a dramatic rise and fall in the cost of tulip bulbs, but not as dramatic a bubble as originally thought. Since the original book was highly popular and widely cited by other writers and economists (even up till the 1980's) the use of the term 'tulipomania' has remained. What will they say about today’s economic climate years from now? I just hope they keep the plant world out of it!
The 6th Annual “Think Spring” luncheon was a grand success, and a good time was had by all who attended. The Mediterranean Manor, as always, did not disappoint, and in fact was better than ever.
Many club members made donations for the raffle baskets. Those marked with an * were members of the committee who gave generously of their time as well. Those marked with & also participated in the Members’ Art Show, a first for the luncheon and a big hit. Let’s have a round of applause for all of these members!
Special thanks to co-chairs Georgia Dulmovits and Arlene Lamberti for a bang-up job yet again! In no particular order: Margaret Atkinson*, Babette Bishop*, Barbara Bruce*&, Rosalie Coleman&, Sandra Franco, June Petruccelli*, Carolyn Savastano*&, Diane and Bert Voland, Judy Zuck, Jo Miller, Fred and Bonnie Bossert, Peg and Frank Densing, Jim Tooher, Barbara Aragon*, Guy R. Vitale and Mark Jeffers, Joan Delaney, Ann Rubbo*, Marie Magnano*, Carolyn Young*, Ruth Szuminskyj*, Paula Murphy, Millie Zimmerman*, Donna Mujic&, Karen Ferb*&, Violet Mulligan*, Janet Heyer*, Carol Tvelia, Gladys Heimburger*, Joanna Drake, Marita Morello*, Joan Kattau, Mary Ann Tchinnis. Other members of the committee were Barbara Bestafka, Pauline Carleton, Carla Steward, Ellen Brandt, and Joan Tifford. Other members in the Art Show were Kathy Barthman, Carol Reitz-Butler, Kathy McMahon, and Tony Wenderoth. If I left anyone out, please let me know and accept my apologies. Ed.
Many businesses and organizations gave their generous support to our 2009 luncheon. We are ever grateful:
Jim Tooher Three Village Music Bayport Flower Houses
Friends of the Patchogue-Medford Library The Fish Store
Trendsetters Hair and Skin Care Blum’s
Town of Brookhaven Highway Dept. Nino’s Pizza
Long Island Statuary J&R Steak House
Waitress to Go Casino Clam
Fantastic Gardens Country Kitchen Restaurant
New York New Wave Hair Salon The Curry Club
Petite Pets Day Care and Boarding Swiftway Wine & Liquor
Finest Fitness Health and Sports Club The Pilates Studio at Bayport
Signs and Advertising Associate Prime Meat Market
Karl Ehmer Pork Store Advance Auto Parts
Time On My Hands Bissett Nursery
Bobbique Swan Cleaners
King Kullen Grocery Gallo Tropical Restaurant
BrickHouse Brewery and Restaurant The Good Steer Restaurant
Pura Vida Burrito Company Carvel
Panera Bread Painter’s
SunWave Liquors Alchemy Design
Tricia’s Hair Galleria Home Depot
Head Cutters Long Island Flower Garden & Florist
Quench Wine & Spirits Forever Young National Display Garden
Timely Tips for April
Prune forsythia soon after it finishes flowering for next year’s flowers.
Plant trees and shrubs. Plant new roses before growth begins.
The months of March, April and May are ideal for pruning evergreens. Remove all dead, diseased, and undesirable wood. However, do not prune back into the bare wood of the plant.
Plant summer flowering bulbs, but take care to wait until last frost for tender ones.
April is a great time to select and plant fruit trees and berry plants. Fruits and berries do best in full sun.
On Arbor Day, attend a ceremony and plant a tree.
If you ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it…
But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.
~Frank Lloyd Wright
Thanks to Diane Riviello-Voland for the quote.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
February 2009
Guy’s Greetings
It’s February, and the holidays are over! Christmas, the New Year, and Groundhog Day, yes, Groundhog Day! On February 2nd the groundhogs told us we have six more weeks of winter. How can this be? We have seed packets in the stores, our daylight hours are growing longer, and the daffodils have broken ground. Mother Nature has even given us a peek (just a peek) of things to come with 60 degree weather. But the calendar is never wrong; it is still February. For me, when I see robins, I know winter is coming to an end and spring is around the corner.
As we look forward to the renewal of our gardens, our adventures, and our lives, we have to keep in mind how we got here and where we are going. The Patchogue Garden Club has grown over the years and evolved into an organization we can all be proud of. The accolades are many, but the success is yours. Remember our motto, “Come grow with us”. I invite everyone to join a committee, pull a weed, or share a story. But most of all, become involved, and we will become a stronger service organization
Thanks, Guy
Please Note: The policy of the Patchogue Garden Club is to use member contact information only for club business.
Mark the Date
Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 7 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department. Guest speaker: Erik Meneses of the Eastern Bonsai Society on "The Art of Bonsai". Please bring your luncheon baskets and other contributions to this meeting if you haven’t already done so. You may also drop them at Georgia’s house, 168 E. Lakewood, Patchogue. Reservations will also be taken; bring check for $32 payable to Patchogue Garden Club or cash. Karen Ferb is collecting payment. Please also pay your dues, $15 for an individual, $20 for a family.
Thursday, March 12, 2009, 10:30 AM, annual “Think Spring” speaker, luncheon and raffle. Mediterranean Manor, tickets $32.00 For more information, call Georgia Dulmovits (289-0867) or Arlene Lamberti (289-3667). If you have a dietary problem, please let me know so I can talk with the Manor and get back to you. I wish to thank you all for your help in donating baskets, other prizes, and gift certificates. This year we have 24 members on our committee, and they have been working really hard. Great group! To all our members, thank you for your continued support. I hope to see you at the luncheon and the meeting.
Georgia
January Meeting in a Flash
Our new president, Guy R. Vitale, thanked the outgoing officers for all the hard work during the past year. He is pleased and proud to have been elected to serve.
Club members voted with great community spirit to again participate in the March 29 Patchogue St. Patrick’s Day Parade for which we have won trophies in the past. So far, the members who have signed up are Guy R. Vitale, Mark Jeffers, Diane Riviello-Voland, Sandra Franco, Bonnie and Fred Bossert, JoMiller, Georgia Dulmovits, Carla Steward, Arlene Lamberti, Mary Ann Tchinnis, and Karen Ferb. Join the ranks and end the parade with the corned beef and cabbage at the BrickHouse Brewery and Restaurant on Main Street!
Calendar of Events for 2009:
Annual Think Spring Luncheon, Thursday, March 12, 2009,Opening of the Terry Street garden, 9 AM Saturday, April 25, 2009; rain date Sunday, April 26, 2009 Annual Plant and Yard sale, 9 AM to 4 PM, Saturday, May 16; rain date, Sunday, May 17, 2009 Breakfast in the Garden, 9 AM, Saturday, June 6, 2009 Annual Garden Tour, Saturday, July 11, 2009, Harvest dinner, 3 PM, Sunday, October 18, 2009, Closing of the Terry Street garden, 9 AM Saturday, November 7, 2009; rain date Sunday, November 8, 2009, Annual Christmas House Tour, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009
Who’s on first? Want to join a committee?
Contact the chairman.Newsletter, Karen Ferb; Web site, Kelleen Guyer & Karen Ferb; Design Committee for the Terry Street garden, Diane Riviello-Voland; Maintenance for the Terry Street Garden, Georgia Dulmovits; History and PR, Josephine Miller; Host/Hostess Committee, Arlene Lamberti; Nominating Committee, rotates yearly; Scholarship Committee, Guy R. Vitale; Membership, June Petruccelli; ‘Think Spring’ Luncheon Committee, co-chairmen Georgia Dulmovits and Arlene Lamberti; Plant and Yard Sale, Carol Tvelia; Breakfast in the Garden, Diane Riviello-Voland; Annual Garden Tour, Paula Murphy; Harvest Dinner, Guy R. Vitale; Christmas House Tour: Mary Ann Tchinnis; Summer Meetings in members’ or their friends’ gardens, please volunteer in advance for June, July, and August to Guy. Sign up at meetings or see the club membership list for contact info.
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Saving ForestsHere on the northeast coast of the United States we have in the last few decades witnessed the disappearance of various tree species (e.g., Eastern Hemlock forests were wiped out by the wooly adelgid insect). Currently U.S. and Canadian researchers have noted trees in the western United States and Canada are dying quicker than in the past 30 years due to the rise in the average temperature in these areas. With an increase of little more than one degree, warmer temperatures are causing forests to be susceptible to attacks by pine beetles and other destructive organisms. Thinner and weaker forests are more vulnerable to wild fires and are stressed with prolonged droughts that hasten their demise. Various tree species at different elevations are dying faster than ever before.
Rather than just reporting on these new discoveries, scientists are now in the process of coming up with land use policies and are suggesting regulations to help forests survive. Reducing development in or near wild forest areas that are prone to fire risk will help these forests survive.
Are You Bats!?!
Ugh! I can't stand 'em. BATS! See? You too! There is something about them that makes you shiver and put your hands on your head and duck for cover. No love lost here. And what do they have to do with gardening, you ask? Just consider how many mosquitoes and other insects swarming in your backyard would increase to if it wasn’t for the bat’s voracious appetite. Along with bees and other beneficial insects, bats aid in the pollination of many plants. But now scientists are discovering that there is a deadly white nose syndrome that has spread in six northeast states (New York included) that has affected the bat population. The fungus that causes this syndrome makes the bat go through its body fat storage before spring while in hibernation, with the result that it leaves to search for food when the insect population is too low. A count of the dead bat population has been estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Researchers are considering a fungicide or a fungus killing bacteria that could spread from bat to bat to counteract this deadly problem. And who would have thought that you might feel sorry for a bat?!?
Right in Our Own Back Yard!
Following six months of research, nominations, and extensive voting by readers of the Long Island Press, Old Westbury Gardens has been named the winner in the Best Public Garden category in the Best of Long Island 2009 program. The garden was also named one of the world’s most beautiful by ForbesTraveler.com, “incredibly beautifully maintained and impeccably manicured”. Plan a visit after the April opening to celebrate their 50th anniversary. See more at http://www.oldwestburygardens.org. Take note too of the astoundingly gorgeous interior.
Members Page. Contribute anything you feel of interest. Want to swap? Want to buy? Want to sell? Share? Giveaway? Carpool? Here’s your soapbox, fire away!
From Betty Baran: The 27th Annual Spring Gardening School of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County will be held at Riverhead Middle School on April 4, 2009, Ward Melville High School on April 18, 2009, and Bellport High School on April 25, 2009, 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• Low maintenance shade gardening• Floral design• Home composting• Low-water gardening• Gardening with children• Vegetable gardening• Herbs, 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 6, 2009. The registration form with a full schedule of classes and their descriptions is available for download at www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk or contact Caroline Kiang at 631-727-7850, ext. 337 or 345.From Ellen Scammon: Is anyone was interested in playing Mah Jong during the day? Call me at 447-9027 or as emailescammon@yahoo.com.
From Josephine Miller and Paula Murphy, by popular demand, the recipe for the Pine Nut Cookies with Rosemary they baked for the Christmas House Tour Hospitality spread two years running:
Ingredients
• 3 1/2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted, plus more for topping cookies
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 large egg
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Finely chop rosemary in a food processor. Add pine nuts; pulse until coarsely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. Whisk in 2 cups flour, the baking soda, ginger, and salt; set aside.
2. Put butter and granulated sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in oil. Reduce speed to low. Mix in flour mixture. Add cream; mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg, then remaining 1/4 cup flour.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls, and space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with fingers, and top each with a pine nut. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
4. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, about 13 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on sheets on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 3 days. They freeze well too.
From Guy R. Vitale:
Two free websites that have great gardening information along with email only coupons are www.homedepot.com/gardenclub and www.learn2grow.com from Lowes. I think this is information worth sharing to get free gardening coupons. We all can all use some help saving money!
Timely Tip
Do you know that February is National Wild Bird Feeding Month? Celebrate by offering up tasty options for your feathered friends. If you're not sure which types of birds will be visiting your yard, your best bets are black-oil sunflower seed and suet, high-calorie energy sources for a variety of species. Cheaperversions contain large percentages of milo and rape seeds that most backyard birds don't like. Buy a somewhat pricier mix that contains plenty of sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn. Birds won't discard as much, your feeder won't empty as quickly, and you'll save money in the long run.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 24, 7:00 p.m., at the Hagerman Fire Department
"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream."
- Barbara Winkler
It’s February, and the holidays are over! Christmas, the New Year, and Groundhog Day, yes, Groundhog Day! On February 2nd the groundhogs told us we have six more weeks of winter. How can this be? We have seed packets in the stores, our daylight hours are growing longer, and the daffodils have broken ground. Mother Nature has even given us a peek (just a peek) of things to come with 60 degree weather. But the calendar is never wrong; it is still February. For me, when I see robins, I know winter is coming to an end and spring is around the corner.
As we look forward to the renewal of our gardens, our adventures, and our lives, we have to keep in mind how we got here and where we are going. The Patchogue Garden Club has grown over the years and evolved into an organization we can all be proud of. The accolades are many, but the success is yours. Remember our motto, “Come grow with us”. I invite everyone to join a committee, pull a weed, or share a story. But most of all, become involved, and we will become a stronger service organization
Thanks, Guy
Please Note: The policy of the Patchogue Garden Club is to use member contact information only for club business.
Mark the Date
Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 7 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department. Guest speaker: Erik Meneses of the Eastern Bonsai Society on "The Art of Bonsai". Please bring your luncheon baskets and other contributions to this meeting if you haven’t already done so. You may also drop them at Georgia’s house, 168 E. Lakewood, Patchogue. Reservations will also be taken; bring check for $32 payable to Patchogue Garden Club or cash. Karen Ferb is collecting payment. Please also pay your dues, $15 for an individual, $20 for a family.
Thursday, March 12, 2009, 10:30 AM, annual “Think Spring” speaker, luncheon and raffle. Mediterranean Manor, tickets $32.00 For more information, call Georgia Dulmovits (289-0867) or Arlene Lamberti (289-3667). If you have a dietary problem, please let me know so I can talk with the Manor and get back to you. I wish to thank you all for your help in donating baskets, other prizes, and gift certificates. This year we have 24 members on our committee, and they have been working really hard. Great group! To all our members, thank you for your continued support. I hope to see you at the luncheon and the meeting.
Georgia
January Meeting in a Flash
Our new president, Guy R. Vitale, thanked the outgoing officers for all the hard work during the past year. He is pleased and proud to have been elected to serve.
Club members voted with great community spirit to again participate in the March 29 Patchogue St. Patrick’s Day Parade for which we have won trophies in the past. So far, the members who have signed up are Guy R. Vitale, Mark Jeffers, Diane Riviello-Voland, Sandra Franco, Bonnie and Fred Bossert, JoMiller, Georgia Dulmovits, Carla Steward, Arlene Lamberti, Mary Ann Tchinnis, and Karen Ferb. Join the ranks and end the parade with the corned beef and cabbage at the BrickHouse Brewery and Restaurant on Main Street!
Calendar of Events for 2009:
Annual Think Spring Luncheon, Thursday, March 12, 2009,Opening of the Terry Street garden, 9 AM Saturday, April 25, 2009; rain date Sunday, April 26, 2009 Annual Plant and Yard sale, 9 AM to 4 PM, Saturday, May 16; rain date, Sunday, May 17, 2009 Breakfast in the Garden, 9 AM, Saturday, June 6, 2009 Annual Garden Tour, Saturday, July 11, 2009, Harvest dinner, 3 PM, Sunday, October 18, 2009, Closing of the Terry Street garden, 9 AM Saturday, November 7, 2009; rain date Sunday, November 8, 2009, Annual Christmas House Tour, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009
Who’s on first? Want to join a committee?
Contact the chairman.Newsletter, Karen Ferb; Web site, Kelleen Guyer & Karen Ferb; Design Committee for the Terry Street garden, Diane Riviello-Voland; Maintenance for the Terry Street Garden, Georgia Dulmovits; History and PR, Josephine Miller; Host/Hostess Committee, Arlene Lamberti; Nominating Committee, rotates yearly; Scholarship Committee, Guy R. Vitale; Membership, June Petruccelli; ‘Think Spring’ Luncheon Committee, co-chairmen Georgia Dulmovits and Arlene Lamberti; Plant and Yard Sale, Carol Tvelia; Breakfast in the Garden, Diane Riviello-Voland; Annual Garden Tour, Paula Murphy; Harvest Dinner, Guy R. Vitale; Christmas House Tour: Mary Ann Tchinnis; Summer Meetings in members’ or their friends’ gardens, please volunteer in advance for June, July, and August to Guy. Sign up at meetings or see the club membership list for contact info.
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Saving ForestsHere on the northeast coast of the United States we have in the last few decades witnessed the disappearance of various tree species (e.g., Eastern Hemlock forests were wiped out by the wooly adelgid insect). Currently U.S. and Canadian researchers have noted trees in the western United States and Canada are dying quicker than in the past 30 years due to the rise in the average temperature in these areas. With an increase of little more than one degree, warmer temperatures are causing forests to be susceptible to attacks by pine beetles and other destructive organisms. Thinner and weaker forests are more vulnerable to wild fires and are stressed with prolonged droughts that hasten their demise. Various tree species at different elevations are dying faster than ever before.
Rather than just reporting on these new discoveries, scientists are now in the process of coming up with land use policies and are suggesting regulations to help forests survive. Reducing development in or near wild forest areas that are prone to fire risk will help these forests survive.
Are You Bats!?!
Ugh! I can't stand 'em. BATS! See? You too! There is something about them that makes you shiver and put your hands on your head and duck for cover. No love lost here. And what do they have to do with gardening, you ask? Just consider how many mosquitoes and other insects swarming in your backyard would increase to if it wasn’t for the bat’s voracious appetite. Along with bees and other beneficial insects, bats aid in the pollination of many plants. But now scientists are discovering that there is a deadly white nose syndrome that has spread in six northeast states (New York included) that has affected the bat population. The fungus that causes this syndrome makes the bat go through its body fat storage before spring while in hibernation, with the result that it leaves to search for food when the insect population is too low. A count of the dead bat population has been estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Researchers are considering a fungicide or a fungus killing bacteria that could spread from bat to bat to counteract this deadly problem. And who would have thought that you might feel sorry for a bat?!?
Right in Our Own Back Yard!
Following six months of research, nominations, and extensive voting by readers of the Long Island Press, Old Westbury Gardens has been named the winner in the Best Public Garden category in the Best of Long Island 2009 program. The garden was also named one of the world’s most beautiful by ForbesTraveler.com, “incredibly beautifully maintained and impeccably manicured”. Plan a visit after the April opening to celebrate their 50th anniversary. See more at http://www.oldwestburygardens.org. Take note too of the astoundingly gorgeous interior.
Members Page. Contribute anything you feel of interest. Want to swap? Want to buy? Want to sell? Share? Giveaway? Carpool? Here’s your soapbox, fire away!
From Betty Baran: The 27th Annual Spring Gardening School of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County will be held at Riverhead Middle School on April 4, 2009, Ward Melville High School on April 18, 2009, and Bellport High School on April 25, 2009, 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• Low maintenance shade gardening• Floral design• Home composting• Low-water gardening• Gardening with children• Vegetable gardening• Herbs, 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 6, 2009. The registration form with a full schedule of classes and their descriptions is available for download at www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk or contact Caroline Kiang at 631-727-7850, ext. 337 or 345.From Ellen Scammon: Is anyone was interested in playing Mah Jong during the day? Call me at 447-9027 or as emailescammon@yahoo.com.
From Josephine Miller and Paula Murphy, by popular demand, the recipe for the Pine Nut Cookies with Rosemary they baked for the Christmas House Tour Hospitality spread two years running:
Ingredients
• 3 1/2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted, plus more for topping cookies
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 large egg
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Finely chop rosemary in a food processor. Add pine nuts; pulse until coarsely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. Whisk in 2 cups flour, the baking soda, ginger, and salt; set aside.
2. Put butter and granulated sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in oil. Reduce speed to low. Mix in flour mixture. Add cream; mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg, then remaining 1/4 cup flour.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls, and space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with fingers, and top each with a pine nut. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
4. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, about 13 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on sheets on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 3 days. They freeze well too.
From Guy R. Vitale:
Two free websites that have great gardening information along with email only coupons are www.homedepot.com/gardenclub and www.learn2grow.com from Lowes. I think this is information worth sharing to get free gardening coupons. We all can all use some help saving money!
Timely Tip
Do you know that February is National Wild Bird Feeding Month? Celebrate by offering up tasty options for your feathered friends. If you're not sure which types of birds will be visiting your yard, your best bets are black-oil sunflower seed and suet, high-calorie energy sources for a variety of species. Cheaperversions contain large percentages of milo and rape seeds that most backyard birds don't like. Buy a somewhat pricier mix that contains plenty of sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn. Birds won't discard as much, your feeder won't empty as quickly, and you'll save money in the long run.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 24, 7:00 p.m., at the Hagerman Fire Department
"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream."
- Barbara Winkler
Saturday, February 7, 2009
PRESS RELEASE - The 27th Annual Spring Gardening School
The 27th Annual Spring Gardening School of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County will be held at Riverhead Middle School on April 4, 2009, Ward Melville High School on April 18, 2009, and Bellport High School on April 25, 2009, 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
· Low Maintenance Shade gardening
· Floral design
· Home Composting
· Low-water gardening
· Gardening with children
· Vegetable gardening
· Herbs, 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 6, 2009.
The registration form with a full schedule of classes and their descriptions is available for download at www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk or contact Caroline Kiang at 631-727-7850, ext. 337 or 345.
· Fundamentals of gardening
· Low Maintenance Shade gardening
· Floral design
· Home Composting
· Low-water gardening
· Gardening with children
· Vegetable gardening
· Herbs, 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 6, 2009.
The registration form with a full schedule of classes and their descriptions is available for download at www.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk or contact Caroline Kiang at 631-727-7850, ext. 337 or 345.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Update Before Jan. 09 General Meeting
Hi Everyone,
1. If anyone has their luncheon basket completed, please bring it to the general meeting Tuesday evening. We will wrap it for you. You can also drop it off at my home... 168 East Lakewood St. Patchogue. Call for more info 289-08672. If anyone has a donation that we can use to put in our baskets it would be appreciated.
2. Karen will be taking reservations for the luncheon at the meeting.
3. Reminder that dues can be paid at that time.... $15 for one....$20 for family. If you can not attend, please send them to Patchogue Garden Club P.O. Box 3030 Patchogue, NY 11772......Before March 31
Many thanks...Georgia
1. If anyone has their luncheon basket completed, please bring it to the general meeting Tuesday evening. We will wrap it for you. You can also drop it off at my home... 168 East Lakewood St. Patchogue. Call for more info 289-08672. If anyone has a donation that we can use to put in our baskets it would be appreciated.
2. Karen will be taking reservations for the luncheon at the meeting.
3. Reminder that dues can be paid at that time.... $15 for one....$20 for family. If you can not attend, please send them to Patchogue Garden Club P.O. Box 3030 Patchogue, NY 11772......Before March 31
Many thanks...Georgia
Thursday, January 15, 2009
January 2009
Guy’s Greetings Happy New Year!
I want to take this time to say thank you for your trust in me to be president of the Patchogue Garden Club and to welcome our new board members. They are Diane Voland, 1st Vice President; June Petruccelli, 2nd Vice President; Carol Tvelia, Treasurer; Babette Bishop, Recording Secretary; Carolyn Savastano, Corresponding Secretary; and Maryann Tchinnis, Parliamentarian.
I would be remiss not to thank Jo Miller for her continuing efforts in collecting, organizing, and maintaining the history of the Patchogue Garden Club and Carol Tvelia and her entire board for their guidance for the past two years.
As we look forward to the beginning of a new gardening season, we also look forward to the renewal of our government and the call of service. We are an organization of gardeners, but also of our community. I ask that we all become involved, no matter how small task. We can not do it alone. I look forward to serving the Patchogue Garden Club, but most of all, to bringing service to our community.
Mark the Date
Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 7 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department, on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale Avenue. Please bring your Chinese Auction baskets and other contributions to this meeting. You may also drop them at Georgia Dulmovits’ house, 168 E. Lakewood, Patchogue. Reservations will also be taken; bring check for $32 payable to Patchogue Garden Club or cash. Karen Ferb is collecting payment.
Thursday, March 12, 2009, 10:30 AM, annual “Think Spring” speaker, luncheon and raffle. Mediterranean Manor, tickets $32.00 For more information, call Georgia Dulmovits (289-0867) or Arlene Lamberti (289-3667). If you have a dietary problem, please let me know so I can talk with the Manor and get back to you. I wish to thank you all for your help in donating baskets, other prizes, and gift certificates. This year we have 24 members on our committee, and they worked really hard. Great group! To all our members, thank you for your continued support. I hope to see you at the luncheon and the meeting. Georgia
October Meeting in a Flash
At the October meeting, Dick Richardson spoke very informatively about his hobby, Purple Martins, one of America’s best known and most desired birds. They are treasured for their graceful flight, social antics, gurgling song, and insect-eating habits. Purple Martins are a unique part of our natural history, managed by humans longer than any other species of songbird. They depend on human-supplied housing for nesting. For further information, see the Web site of the Purple Martin Conservation Association, www.purplemartin.org. We have a Purple Martin house, courtesy of the Rothsteins, to put up at the Winona Cottage when the time comes.
Gardening Accomplishments of 2008The gardening season of 2008 was a busy one for our Terry Street Community Garden. Beginning with the opening of the garden on April 26 and ending with the closing on November 1, our members continued to work on completing the garden extension and on making needed repairs to our lighting, missing bench, and shed as well as on maintaining the existing garden. Work on the extension included mulching, metal edging, sod installation, and replacing the shed door with an exterior version as well as performing ongoing maintenance.
Christmas House Tour 2008 Since the last newsletter we had our second Christmas house tour, which was very successful. The Historical Society participated by opening and decorating the Swan River School House, 150 years old in 2008. We have received a lovely acknowledgement from Anita Timm: “Once again the Garden Club has hit a homerun! The Christmas House Tour was wonderful again. The hosts were all so gracious, and each house beautifully and uniquely decorated. It is very exciting hat Patchogue has so many lovely homes and such nice people willing to share with us. I’m looking forward to the spring luncheon and then the summer garden tour. Congratulations on a job well done again, and best wishes for success in all your coming events. Hope you have your yard sale again.” Thanks, Anita!
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Krulwich on Science by Robert KrulwichWho knew that NASA, charged with looking deep into space, also looks backward at us? For years, NASA satellites have been snapping photos of our oceans, mountains and forests and sharing them with ecologists and biologists.As a result, says ecology professor Nalini Nadkarni of The Evergreen State College in Washington, "Some of the finest forest ecology studies being carried out today are the result of NASA-funded multidisciplinary collaborations." For example, because of NASA, we can calculate roughly how many trees we have on Earth. Trees, both leafy and otherwise, reflect sunshine in very particular patterns, making it possible for satellites to map and computers to count strips of land where trees are. Biologists can then sample those places, assume a tree density, multiply by acre or hectare, and calculate that in 2005 there were ~ 400,246,300,201 trees on our globe. It's a cool question and easy to calculate. Nadkarni looked up the world'shuman population as of Dec. 31 and found that on that day we numbered 6,456,789,877. She figured that the world supports 61 trees per person. When we talked, she was thrilled. "Hooray!" she said, "I get more than one tree!" Apparently, before she'd done the numbers, she had assumed that with people waxing and trees waning, the count would have been slimmer. "I severely hoped that there was more than one tree [per] person," she says, "but I feared and thought that there would be fewer." But when Nadkarni sat down with her husband, Jack, a microbiologist at Evergreen State, to tell him the good news, he was less impressed with the ratio of trees to people. "He looked at me in his quiet, slow sort of way and said, 'Well, you know, I don't know. We use that much in a couple of seasons in our wood stove and the amount of paper that comes off the printer and the lumber that made our home — so maybe it's not so many." This got Nadkarniwondering: How much of our 61-tree allotment does an American use in a lifetime? All of it? Some of it? More than 61? She didn't know. So she asked her graduate students to make a list of tree-based products — and they came up with a list so long, it almost never stops. Here's some of what they found: baseball bats, barrels, books, blocks, benches, crutches, coffee filters, guitars, grocery bags, pencils, pine oil, beds, billboards, buttons, candy wrappers, buttons, chewing gum, cork, crayons, egg cartons, fruit pie filling, kites, linoleum, luggage, paper, pingpong balls, chopsticks, rubber, tambourines, telephone books, tires, toilet paper, turpentine, xylophones and yo-yos. For the moment it is impossible to figure out how much woody stuff is found in our products. It is obvious that Americans gobble up more wood than Indians or Africans, but how much more is hard to say. Still, Nadkarni cautions that thinking about wood consumption is not like thinking about oil consumption. This is not necessarily a sad story. "I don't want people to feel guilty about their relationships with trees. After all, trees are not like oil. They are renewable. If you think we are using up more than our 61-each allotment (and that is her guess, based on the gradual reduction of forest acreage), you can always plant a few more. We may be falling behind in our tree count, but it's not only possible, it's deeply appealing, to go out with seed and shovel and repair the damage.
Road Trip: NYBG The Orchid Show: Brazilian Modern February 28 – April 12, 2009Thousands of brilliantly colored orchids and the lush tropical setting of a contemporary Brazilian garden await visitors to this year’s Orchid Show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. This year’s exhibition, the 7th annual, is designed by noted Miami-based landscape architect Raymond Jungles. In creating the display he has drawn on his years of work with renowned Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. Fountains, pools, and colorful mosaics are combined with graceful palms, delicate orchids, bromeliads, and other native plants of Brazil, which are also highlighted throughout the Conservatory. Stay tuned to http://www.nybg.org/ for details. See also www.raymondjungles.com/ and www.maria-brazil.org/sitio_roberto_burle_marx.htm.
NYBG EducationSpecial Lecture Series American Gardening 2009 The New York Botanical Garden presents its tenth annual Thursday morning lecture series this winter. A wellrounded garden includes diverse plants: native and exotic, woody and herbaceous, temperate and tropical. In this series, accomplished plant breeders, explorers, and horticulturists introduce you to their favorite plants, providing something for every niche in your garden. www.nybg.org or call 718-817-8747.
BBG Winter Classes for Adults Browse the many classes offered for winter and spring by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden at http://www.bbg.org/edu/adult/. You will be amazed at the breadth of the offerings, from urban garden design to painting and pastels to bird watching, bonsai, and botany.Road Trip: Plan Ahead The 2009 Philadelphia Flower Show, “Bella Italia”, is scheduled for March 1 through March 8 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. See http://www.theflowershow.com/showinfo/index.html for details, tickets, and reservations.
Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening and even the most experienced gardeners can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them." - Vincent A. Simeone
Timely Tips for January
- Rework your garden design and order from catalogs
- Clean and sharpen your tools
- Review last year's journal and start a new one for this year by recording your seed/plant orders- Check your stored bulbs and veggies and start cool season crops
- Check plants for heaving
- Recycle your Christmas tree as garden mulch or a bird feeder
- Feed the birds and provide them with some unfrozen water
I want to take this time to say thank you for your trust in me to be president of the Patchogue Garden Club and to welcome our new board members. They are Diane Voland, 1st Vice President; June Petruccelli, 2nd Vice President; Carol Tvelia, Treasurer; Babette Bishop, Recording Secretary; Carolyn Savastano, Corresponding Secretary; and Maryann Tchinnis, Parliamentarian.
I would be remiss not to thank Jo Miller for her continuing efforts in collecting, organizing, and maintaining the history of the Patchogue Garden Club and Carol Tvelia and her entire board for their guidance for the past two years.
As we look forward to the beginning of a new gardening season, we also look forward to the renewal of our government and the call of service. We are an organization of gardeners, but also of our community. I ask that we all become involved, no matter how small task. We can not do it alone. I look forward to serving the Patchogue Garden Club, but most of all, to bringing service to our community.
Mark the Date
Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 7 PM, general meeting at Hagerman Fire Department, on the corner of Dunton Avenue and Oakdale Avenue. Please bring your Chinese Auction baskets and other contributions to this meeting. You may also drop them at Georgia Dulmovits’ house, 168 E. Lakewood, Patchogue. Reservations will also be taken; bring check for $32 payable to Patchogue Garden Club or cash. Karen Ferb is collecting payment.
Thursday, March 12, 2009, 10:30 AM, annual “Think Spring” speaker, luncheon and raffle. Mediterranean Manor, tickets $32.00 For more information, call Georgia Dulmovits (289-0867) or Arlene Lamberti (289-3667). If you have a dietary problem, please let me know so I can talk with the Manor and get back to you. I wish to thank you all for your help in donating baskets, other prizes, and gift certificates. This year we have 24 members on our committee, and they worked really hard. Great group! To all our members, thank you for your continued support. I hope to see you at the luncheon and the meeting. Georgia
October Meeting in a Flash
At the October meeting, Dick Richardson spoke very informatively about his hobby, Purple Martins, one of America’s best known and most desired birds. They are treasured for their graceful flight, social antics, gurgling song, and insect-eating habits. Purple Martins are a unique part of our natural history, managed by humans longer than any other species of songbird. They depend on human-supplied housing for nesting. For further information, see the Web site of the Purple Martin Conservation Association, www.purplemartin.org. We have a Purple Martin house, courtesy of the Rothsteins, to put up at the Winona Cottage when the time comes.
Gardening Accomplishments of 2008The gardening season of 2008 was a busy one for our Terry Street Community Garden. Beginning with the opening of the garden on April 26 and ending with the closing on November 1, our members continued to work on completing the garden extension and on making needed repairs to our lighting, missing bench, and shed as well as on maintaining the existing garden. Work on the extension included mulching, metal edging, sod installation, and replacing the shed door with an exterior version as well as performing ongoing maintenance.
Christmas House Tour 2008 Since the last newsletter we had our second Christmas house tour, which was very successful. The Historical Society participated by opening and decorating the Swan River School House, 150 years old in 2008. We have received a lovely acknowledgement from Anita Timm: “Once again the Garden Club has hit a homerun! The Christmas House Tour was wonderful again. The hosts were all so gracious, and each house beautifully and uniquely decorated. It is very exciting hat Patchogue has so many lovely homes and such nice people willing to share with us. I’m looking forward to the spring luncheon and then the summer garden tour. Congratulations on a job well done again, and best wishes for success in all your coming events. Hope you have your yard sale again.” Thanks, Anita!
Serious Dirt from Richard Waldman
Krulwich on Science by Robert KrulwichWho knew that NASA, charged with looking deep into space, also looks backward at us? For years, NASA satellites have been snapping photos of our oceans, mountains and forests and sharing them with ecologists and biologists.As a result, says ecology professor Nalini Nadkarni of The Evergreen State College in Washington, "Some of the finest forest ecology studies being carried out today are the result of NASA-funded multidisciplinary collaborations." For example, because of NASA, we can calculate roughly how many trees we have on Earth. Trees, both leafy and otherwise, reflect sunshine in very particular patterns, making it possible for satellites to map and computers to count strips of land where trees are. Biologists can then sample those places, assume a tree density, multiply by acre or hectare, and calculate that in 2005 there were ~ 400,246,300,201 trees on our globe. It's a cool question and easy to calculate. Nadkarni looked up the world'shuman population as of Dec. 31 and found that on that day we numbered 6,456,789,877. She figured that the world supports 61 trees per person. When we talked, she was thrilled. "Hooray!" she said, "I get more than one tree!" Apparently, before she'd done the numbers, she had assumed that with people waxing and trees waning, the count would have been slimmer. "I severely hoped that there was more than one tree [per] person," she says, "but I feared and thought that there would be fewer." But when Nadkarni sat down with her husband, Jack, a microbiologist at Evergreen State, to tell him the good news, he was less impressed with the ratio of trees to people. "He looked at me in his quiet, slow sort of way and said, 'Well, you know, I don't know. We use that much in a couple of seasons in our wood stove and the amount of paper that comes off the printer and the lumber that made our home — so maybe it's not so many." This got Nadkarniwondering: How much of our 61-tree allotment does an American use in a lifetime? All of it? Some of it? More than 61? She didn't know. So she asked her graduate students to make a list of tree-based products — and they came up with a list so long, it almost never stops. Here's some of what they found: baseball bats, barrels, books, blocks, benches, crutches, coffee filters, guitars, grocery bags, pencils, pine oil, beds, billboards, buttons, candy wrappers, buttons, chewing gum, cork, crayons, egg cartons, fruit pie filling, kites, linoleum, luggage, paper, pingpong balls, chopsticks, rubber, tambourines, telephone books, tires, toilet paper, turpentine, xylophones and yo-yos. For the moment it is impossible to figure out how much woody stuff is found in our products. It is obvious that Americans gobble up more wood than Indians or Africans, but how much more is hard to say. Still, Nadkarni cautions that thinking about wood consumption is not like thinking about oil consumption. This is not necessarily a sad story. "I don't want people to feel guilty about their relationships with trees. After all, trees are not like oil. They are renewable. If you think we are using up more than our 61-each allotment (and that is her guess, based on the gradual reduction of forest acreage), you can always plant a few more. We may be falling behind in our tree count, but it's not only possible, it's deeply appealing, to go out with seed and shovel and repair the damage.
Road Trip: NYBG The Orchid Show: Brazilian Modern February 28 – April 12, 2009Thousands of brilliantly colored orchids and the lush tropical setting of a contemporary Brazilian garden await visitors to this year’s Orchid Show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. This year’s exhibition, the 7th annual, is designed by noted Miami-based landscape architect Raymond Jungles. In creating the display he has drawn on his years of work with renowned Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. Fountains, pools, and colorful mosaics are combined with graceful palms, delicate orchids, bromeliads, and other native plants of Brazil, which are also highlighted throughout the Conservatory. Stay tuned to http://www.nybg.org/ for details. See also www.raymondjungles.com/ and www.maria-brazil.org/sitio_roberto_burle_marx.htm.
NYBG EducationSpecial Lecture Series American Gardening 2009 The New York Botanical Garden presents its tenth annual Thursday morning lecture series this winter. A wellrounded garden includes diverse plants: native and exotic, woody and herbaceous, temperate and tropical. In this series, accomplished plant breeders, explorers, and horticulturists introduce you to their favorite plants, providing something for every niche in your garden. www.nybg.org or call 718-817-8747.
BBG Winter Classes for Adults Browse the many classes offered for winter and spring by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden at http://www.bbg.org/edu/adult/. You will be amazed at the breadth of the offerings, from urban garden design to painting and pastels to bird watching, bonsai, and botany.Road Trip: Plan Ahead The 2009 Philadelphia Flower Show, “Bella Italia”, is scheduled for March 1 through March 8 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. See http://www.theflowershow.com/showinfo/index.html for details, tickets, and reservations.
Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening and even the most experienced gardeners can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them." - Vincent A. Simeone
Timely Tips for January
- Rework your garden design and order from catalogs
- Clean and sharpen your tools
- Review last year's journal and start a new one for this year by recording your seed/plant orders- Check your stored bulbs and veggies and start cool season crops
- Check plants for heaving
- Recycle your Christmas tree as garden mulch or a bird feeder
- Feed the birds and provide them with some unfrozen water
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
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
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