SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - By Barbara Henry

Our Garden club wrapped up the year with two very good meetings. Janice Taylor organized our wreath making workshop in early December where we made wreaths for many of the buildings in Northville and beyond Our members are very talented wreath makers. Doris Guyon led a committee to make baskets for our friends who are shut in at home over the holidays. And a few days later we enjoyed ourselves with a Christmas party which was held in the beautiful upstairs room at the Northville Library and since this more or less coincided with Michael’s birthday, we presented him with a cake and sang Happy Birthday – and we were in tune!


We will meet again in March when we will have a special presentation by Jim Hoffman of Sand Flat Orchards on the diseases and insects we are faced with in our veggie gardens.

Keep an eye on your houseplants at this time of year. You may get some yellowing and dropping of leaves. This is usually caused by too much water or insufficient light so back off on the watering and if you can, move your plant where it will get more light. Remember that the number one cause of dead houseplants is overwatering. You may see some browning of the leaves and this can be a result of low humidity now that our furnaces are cranking away. Grouping plants together can help and also putting plants on a pebble tray with a little water will be beneficial. Don’t let the roots sit in the water. Misting the plants is usually a waste of time. If you mist them and then walk back five minute later the plant and the air around them is dry. Browning leaves on a spider plant is often helped by adding calcium to the soil. When you boil an egg, let the water cool and then use that to water; it will make a difference. You can trim the leaves to improve the appearance of the plant. If you see yellow speckling on leaves, check very carefully for spider mites. These are tiny, tiny creatures that suck the life out of the leaves and you will find them on the underside of the leaf. Sometimes, if the infestation is heavy, you will see spider webbing on the plants. Take any infected plants to the shower and rinse them thoroughly and if need be use an insecticidal spray to cure the problem. A good way to use a spray is to get a large plastic bag and drape it around the plant and then spray into it. Leave the bag on the plant for half an hour or so before discarding.

An old remedy for white spots or rings on furniture left from overwatering your houseplants is to rub salt and a light weight oil into the area. It might take a lot of elbow grease if it is an old or deep stain. Another one people use is to rub the area very lightly with a drop of ammonia in water and then dry off carefully. .

You can also start some seeds at this time of year. If you start pansies now they will be happy and healthy and ready to plant out in March for a burst of spring color along with your spring flowering bulbs. They make a nice early show in containers too. Leeks, parsley, petunias and impatiens are also slow growers that you can start now. But don’t get carried away, remember that our frost free date is mid to late May.



As always if you are interested in joining us or have any gardening questions, you can reach us at POBox 675, Northville, NY 12134.

SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - By Barbara Henry

We had a wonderful luncheon at the Old Trail Inn in Hadley in November. The room was so festive and filled with members and guests. We’ll try and get some photos up on the visitsacandaga.com website so you can see how great it looked. The Inn put on a superb buffet and it truly was an event to be remembered. Carol Reutzel and Fran Varcoe and their committee made delightful favors for everyone and the centerpieces for the tables were raffled off at the end of the lunch. Thank you to the Old Trail Inn for making this such a great event and our thanks to Anna Johnson and Fran Varcoe for making it happen.




Our auctioneer, Linda Kessler did a magnificent job and it was a lot of fun to watch the items being bid on. Mary Hogan made a gorgeous quilt which was raffled off and we raised money for our community activities such as maintenance of the Northville Library gardens under the guidance of Margreet Monster and the Blue Star marker which was installed a couple of years ago under Michele Acquaro’s leadership. Many of our members have been involved in a landscaping project around the marker and I hope you have enjoyed it this year and watch for the bulbs to pop up next spring. Janice Taylor is leading our wreath making workshop in December to make wreaths for public buildings in Northville and members will also be making wreaths for their own use. Carol and her committee have also been making Christmas gifts for our friends who are not able to get out so much any more and Ginger Driscoll will be leading the effort to make gifts at Easter time.



We had a spell of really nice weather in mid November and I was able to get my garden tucked up for the winter. I cleaned out everything but the radish and lettuce from the veggie garden and put a two inch layer of chopped leaves on it. After the first few frosts I planted my garlic and they will get a great start in the early spring, they love the short cool, spring days. It’s always better to buy potatoes and garlic starts rather than the supermarket where they may have been treated with a growth inhibiter but I must admit that I plant potatoes I have bought at the market and the same with garlic and mine do just fine. On the perennial beds I planted this year I have also put a two inch layer of leaves down and I have spread 5-10-5 fertilizer. I haven’t cut down all my flower stalks because they add interest in the winter and shelter the small insects. My ornamental grasses are standing tall with their plumes and they will wave at me all winter long through the snow. I have two types of tall grasses, some from Margreet Monster and some from Doris Guyon. Gardeners are wonderful, generous people and I love to have these plants in my garden, they remind me of my friends all year. I have some other smaller grasses and one, Prairie Dropseed, turns a lovely red in the fall. I am growing a few of them in my front garden, the one that used to be lawn and I gave up on the lawn and am growing a cottage/wildflower garden instead. The butterflies, bees and various flying creatures have loved it and I was thrilled to see so many Swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley that I planted for them. Parsley and dill are great host plants.



My Amaryllis bulbs are now in my garage going through dormancy and I will wake them up in late December so I can enjoy the blooms in January – January and February are when I tend to get a bit itchy from the winter so I love to have the amaryllis and hyacinth blooming. I bought the hyacinth bulbs in October and put them in the garage to get a cold treatment for about 12 weeks before bringing them gradually into the light and warmth. I have even put my seeds away for the year. I should have catalogued them but didn’t so what I have will be a nice surprise next year. They are in a cool, dark, dry place for the winter.



If you have new trees you might want to put some chicken wire or hardware cloth around the trunk to protect them from the rabbits and other critters that are looking for a snack in winter. I didn’t think I had rabbits near my garden but the other day I was throwing out some old tires and – whoa, there was a rabbit nicely curled up in one of the old tires. S/he jumped out and ran away to safety. Also watch any new plantings you may have made that are sheltered under the eaves. They will probably need to be watered over winter.



Our next meeting is on December 2 with Janice Taylor leading our workshop on making wreaths. We meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Bradt Building. We also have our Christmas party on December 9 at Noon at the Northville Library.



As always if you are interested in joining us or have any gardening questions, you can reach us at POBox 675, Northville, NY 12134.

SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB

We were delighted to see so many people come to our October meeting and enjoy John Rogers’ presentation on the eastern bluebird. John has a passion for his subject that spread to us all and many of us bought the bluebird kits he brought with him. Next year we hope to see many more bluebirds in our area with all the new nesting habitats we provide. Our thanks go out to Ruth Ralston, Ginger Driscoll and Jayne Hopper for the wonderful arrangements they brought to decorate the room and to the refreshments that we enjoyed afterwards.



Our next meeting is on November 4th at the Old Trail Inn when we have our annual luncheon and auction. This is a fun event and if you want to join us just drop me a line or contact the organizers, Fran Varcoe and Anna Johnson.



It’s time now to take a last walk around the garden to see what bare spots you have and what you might want to plant. In my garden I have some Japanese barberry bushes. Because these plants are invasive I plan to dig them out next year and put in Summer wine bark which is a native plant, hardy to our area and deer resistant. Maybe you too have some plants that have become invasive, now is a good time to take a look and plan replacements. Check the invasive plant listings for your area. They can take over habitat areas to the detriment of native pollinators. Purple loosestrife is showing up all over our wetlands displacing native species and offering nothing in return. Kudzu in the south is a rampant nuisance literally overgrowing everything in its path. Japanese honeysuckles have been widely planted yet the American honeysuckle attracts insects that the Japanese variety does not. Look for native plants wherever possible.



When you are tidying up your garden for the winter consider that leaf litter and unmowed grass provides welcome shelter for insects. Maybe there’s an area at the edge of your property that you can leave unmowed and brush and rock piles provide winter shelter for all kinds of small animals, spiders and other insects.



Before you set out your bird feeders make sure they are clean; wash them out with a weak solution of bleach to get rid of potential harmful bacteria from old seed. Let them air dry for an hour to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Check throughout the winter to see that you don’t have any mold growing from old wet seed. Also remember if you are using sunflower seeds, use them away from any plantings as they give off a substance that is harmful to plants.

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If your soil is less than ideal, November is an excellent time to put down fertilizer. If you use organic fertilizers do read the label because many of these work best when the soil temperature is around 50 degrees F. You can lay down a synthetic fertilizer such as a 5-10-5. These numbers refer to nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. You need nitrogen (N) for the green stuff, phosphorus (P) for the blooms and fruits, and potassium (K) for the root structure. Putting down fertilizer now gives it time to reach down to the root level where it can be immediately taken up as the plants wake up in the spring. Now is also a very good time to get a soil test so you can see exactly what you need to do to get your soil into top shape for next year. Contact the Cooperative Extension Unit in Johnstown for instructions on how to take a soil sample for analysis. They can do a simple ph test or you can send the soil away for a more extensive testing.



Although I add lots or organic matter to my vegetable garden it is on the low end of the ph level so I have added lime. Lime takes several months before the ph values in the garden change. Lilacs like a higher ph and I added lime to both my lilac bushes to help them out.



You can still pop in a few more bulbs and those that you don’t manage to get in can always be potted up for indoor bloom.

SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - September 2010

Our Club reconvenes this month on September 9 for a picnic in the town park next to the Bradt Building. We will discuss our program for the year and talk about the upcoming projects our members can support.

Do make a note of our October meeting which will be Thursday, October 7 at 1:00 p.m. We invite you to come and join us in the upstairs meeting room of the Northville Library for a presentation on the life history and ecology of the Eastern Bluebird and other birds that nest in bluebird boxes. John Rogers is a recognized expert on the subject of bluebirds and his program on the natural history and nest box management of bluebirds will thrill you. He’s helped fledge over 11,000 bluebirds from over 250 nest boxes ranging over 50 miles of territory and as you will see he is passionate about his subject.



As we come into Fall this is a good time to plant many trees and shrubs. Prepare a good size hole and plant the new plant at the same depth it was growing in the nursery. Water the hole before you plant. You don’t need to amend the soil because you want the plant to stretch out its roots into the existing soil. If you make a nice rich soil mixture in the planting hole those roots are going to want to stay where they are. Make sure to tamp the soil down firmly so the plant doesn’t settle to a lower depth. Water the plant in and then go back tomorrow and water it again. Some plants such as Filipendula, penstemon, dianthus and gallardia really hate to have their crowns wet and can rot over the winter so raise those plants up a little and mix in some sand or gravel to ensure very good drainage. Wait until October when the soil has cooled and then lay down a mulch of leaves or hay for winter protection. The idea of the mulch is to keep the soil cool and prevent the heaving and thawing that happens as the soil warms up and then cools down again.

When the outside temperatures hover around 40 degrees F dig up your dahlias, gladioli, cannas and calla lilies. Cut off the foliage, let them dry for a day or so and pack them in peat moss or perlite in a cool place for the winter.



If you have had houseplants spending their summers outside, now is the time to bring them in. Take them to the shower and rinse them thoroughly to get rid of any insects that might have been using your plants as their summer camp and put your plants in bright windowsills. You will probably get some leaf drop as plants adjust to the lower light levels inside the house and also the lower humidity. If you fertilize now, change to a half strength fertilizer and stop feeding all together by October as most plants need the rest period as the days get shorter and our heating systems come on.

In the veggie garden, thin out your plantings of radish, carrots and lettuce. Watch for aphids and caterpillars on your broccoli and cauliflower, these you can treat with BT. Cover your frost sensitive plants if cold weather threatens; we often get two or three weeks of nice weather after the first frost. You can ripen green tomatoes by wrapping them in newspaper and leaving them in a dark place. Harvest your winter squash when the skins are hard and they have a deep overall color. Cut them so you have an inch or so of stem showing. If you take the stem off completely it leaves a soft opening for bacteria to come in and spoil all your growing efforts. As you get bare spots in your veggie garden from harvesting or clean up, put down a two inch mulch of leaves, grass clippings or any other organic matter. The worms and bacteria will work on it through the Fall and come spring it won’t be fully decomposed but you can plant right through it.

And lastly – bulbs. Still time to plant. Just think that a little effort now will repay you with gorgeous spring color. Buy some hyacinths and put them in a cool place for three months or so and then plant them up for indoor bloom. I do this every year and come January and February it is so nice to have those hyacinth in bloom and filling my house with that glorious fragrance.

August 2010

As I write this in mid July, the heat wave is just breaking and I have been able to go out into the garden without feeling as though I am smothered in a wet blanket. I’ve had to water my container plants every day and I’m keeping up with fertilizer for them. Now, though I see my first Japanese beetles and these adults are present until mid August. Then they will mate and the females will lay the eggs in the grass and they hatch into grubs later in the month. The grubs will feed on plant roots until the cold weather gradually drives them deeper into the soil for the winter. What this means to us is that from late August through the end of September is a very good time to put down grub control.

Controlling the grubs in your yard doesn’t mean you won’t have any next year. Japanese beetles are good fliers and can travel ten miles or more from where they emerge but if you have had problems with great numbers of beetles then putting down grub control will help, especially if you can persuade your neighbors to do the same. Milky spore is a bacterial control but it prefers soil that is moist with soil temperatures in the 70s for an extended time to work most effectively so in our area it is helpful but perhaps not as effective as some other grub controls on the market.

There are sprays that will kill the beetles such as carbaryl (Sevin) but most of these sprays are toxic to good and bag bugs alike and picking them off by hand is just as effective. It’s best to do this early in the morning when the beetles are sluggish and you can drop them into a can of water as you wander around your garden in the morning with your coffee.

Grackels, cardinals and meadowlarks feed on the beetles so if you plant trees, shrubs and flowers to attract birds to your garden they will help you. Some insects also attack the beetles so protect these natural enemies by avoiding pesticides.

Be careful if you use the beetle traps because they attract beetles from several miles away to your garden. If you do use them place them downwind at the edge of your property.

Some other things to think about this month: take cuttings from plants such as impatiens, coleus, geraniums and wax begonias so you can overwinter them indoors as potted plants. Root the cuttings in perlite or potting soil.

 Mid August though late September is an excellent time to seed a new lawn or treat bare spots on established lawns. Remember to water, the ground should be kept moist both before and after the seedlings emerge. The seedlings will appreciate the cooler weather going into Fall. Don’t do any fertilizing in your garden now, we don’t want to encourage new growth. We want the plants to start their shut down process for the winter. If you see the tent caterpillars starting their tents, prune out the infected branches and destroy them. Often the tents are high up in the trees but fortunately they don’t defoliate enough of the trees to cause permanent damage.

In your veggie garden, direct seed carrots, beets and later in the month plant more lettuce, spinach and green onions. Harvest potatoes and onions after the tops yellow and die and leave them out to cure before storage.

Bulbs – as you know by now, I love spring bulbs. I have my catalogs and I will be adding more daffodils all around my yard. I use the full size daffies in my front yard and the smaller, multi stemmed ones in the garden beds where they look tidier than the big ones. I’ll be planting the smaller daffodils in our planting at the Blue Star marker Chionodoxa is a minor bulb looking somewhat like a small hyacinth, I will add more of these bulbs to the planting I started last year. More crocus, much more crocus! Plant them in your lawn, the leaves will mature just about the time you do your first mowing in the spring. Naturalize bulbs everywhere, in the early spring the insects need the pollen they provide when there is not much else in bloom.

The Garden Club will reconvene on September 9 with a picnic in the town park next to the Bradt Building. If you would like to join us just drop me a line at POBox 675 Northville NY 12134.
http://www.visitsacandaga.com/sacandaga_garden_club.htm

July 2010

In June we took a trip to the Shades of Green Nursery in Charlton. This is a private home whose owner has such a love of gardening that as she refurbished the shady woods where the house is located, she opened it up to the public and now sells many shade plants. It is truly a delightful place and one I would recommend to you all. It was a lovely way to finish our 2009/2010 year and now we take a couple of months off to enjoy the summer.

Still there are a few tasks that need to be done in the garden. We need to make sure our veggie gardens get an inch of water a week and keep them weeded. A two inch layer of mulch is an excellent idea now. You can use compost, leaves or grass clippings. You can also leave the grass clippings on the lawn – if you do this it provides nutrients to the soil and cuts down on the need for fertilizers. It does not promote thatch to leave the clippings. Though if you have very tall grass – such as cutting down a previously unmowed field, you would probably want to rake up the clippings. They would be too heavy and can smother the grass after it is cut. Try to maintain an even cut length of three inches during the year. This helps shade out weeds and encourages the plants to grow longer roots.

Continue to dead head annuals to encourage blooming. Deadhead perennials too, in some plants you will get new blooms and for those that don’t rebloom you will stop the plant wasting energy going into seed the slight bulge at the base of the flower and when all the flowers are gone from a particular stalk (called a scape) cut the scape down.

You should give your last pinch to chrysanthemums and asters by mid July, let them continue to branch and you will have a great show later on. Iris can be divided towards the end of the month or just cut the fans down to about six inches to neaten them up.



Did you scour your bird feeders after winter? A mix of one part bleach to nine parts water will sanitize them. Leave them out in the air for an hour to let the chlorine dissipate.

Your bird baths should be cleaned on a regular basis during the summer. If you have a bath set aside for the butterflies and other insects these can be left alone. They thrive on a mixture of wet manure and rotted fruit. I use a shallow basin in which I put several large flat stones. Then I dissolve part of a mineral block in water to give the insects the salts they need and add in any old pieces of fruit I find.

As the fruit rots down, the insects just love it. Japanese beetles are back. At this time of year the best control is to hand pick them and put them in a bucket of water. I’ll talk more about this pest next month.

Now is the time to start thinking about your fall veggies. Start cole crops such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage that you can plant out around the first week of August so that they will mature just as we get the first frosts. All these plants do well in the cooler weather and actually taste better after a frost. You can get another harvest of green beans if you plant a row in July and continue to seed lettuce and radish for
later harvests.



If you lucky enough to have rich healthy soil you won’t need to fertilize, however, if not, you can give your tomato plants a dose of 5-10-5 to help them throughout the season. Remember that it is the middle number that encourages good fruit production.



So far we have seen no signs of late blight in New York State though it has been seen in northern Pennsylvania. Cornell University is watching this situation closely and will issue advisories if/when they recommend using a fungicide preventatively. I have seen some early blight so do keep a close eye on these plants. Home grown tomatoes are fantastic but sometimes they can be difficult plants to raise!



Call the Master Gardener hotline to keep abreast of the latest alerts from Cornell U.

The Garden Club will meet again in September.



If you would like to join us or have a question, please drop us a line at PO Box 675, Northville, NY 12134.
http://www.visitsacandaga.com/sacandaga_garden_club.htm

June 2010

Our meeting in May featured a presentation by Master Gardener Phyllis Minich. She taught us all about selecting containers, how to prepare the soil and the design elements that go into a successful container. It was a very informative presentation and lots of fun as well.



The garden club had our annual plant sale during the village wide garage sale. It was a great success and we also raffled off two baskets that our members had created. The winners were Margaret Furco and Lorrie Intrabartola. Congratulations to them both.



We will have houseplants for sale during the Northville Public Library book sale on July 3 and 4th so be sure to stop by and buy some books and a plant as well.

National Garden Week happens June 6 – 12 and to celebrate, the club is having a non juried flower show at the Library. It is called Flower Arrangements by the books and will feature four arrangements each describing a different book: Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Thankful Blossoms by Brete Hart, Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, Around the Word in 80 days by Jules Verne and The Joy of Cooking by Irma Bombauer.

All the arrangements will be in place June 9, 10 and 11. Michele Acquaro and Doris Guyon are coordinating. Please stop by and see what our members have created and leave your comments in our guest register.



One of the goals of our garden club is to study the art of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants in the garden and another, related goal is the study of floral design. We strive to grow beautiful plant material and we learn how to present that material. Each meeting our hostesses create a design according to a theme for the month and we discuss them and learn how they were created so we can follow the design parameters for arrangements we create in our own home. Many garden clubs put on a full scale garden show where the entries are judged by State or National judges.

The Kingsboro Garden Club hosts such a flower show at the Fonda Fair each year. Our show at the Library is a non juried show in that the entries are not judged and no ribbons are awarded. Our members do it for our enjoyment and yours so please let us know what you think.

The Fulton and Montgomery County Master Gardeners are sponsoring a giant pumpkin and sunflower contest for youths in our area aged 8 to 18. Seed packets are available at the Co-op Extension offices at 55 East Main Street. Pumpkins will be weighed and sunflowers measured just before the opening of the Fonda Fair so join in the fun and grow some giant pumpkins and sunflowers.

We salute Amber King who won a third place award citation for her entry in the Smokey Bear-Woodsy Owl Poster contest sponsored by the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State, Inc. Congratulations Amber. We will be displaying her poster during the flower show at the library in July.

Look for our float in the Fourth of July parade. Terry Moeller is coordinating and we look forward to having lots of plants and garden items decorating it and of course some of our members will be riding on the float and are happy to answer any gardening questions you might have.



We were saddened to lose one of our long time members recently. Phyllis Smith will be remembered for her unfailing good nature and willingness to help the club in any way she could. She was our treasurer for many years and we lost a good friend when she died. We will be planting a lilac bush by the Blue Star marker in her memory.



Our meeting in June will be a visit to the Shades of Green nursery in Charlton. We will have lunch in the picnic area and install our officers for the coming year;



President –Barbara Henry

1st Vice President – Anna Johnson,

2nd vice President – Fran Varcoe,

Treasurer – Ginger Conover

Secretary – Bonnie Desfosse

Club Advisor – Doris Guyon.



If anyone wants to know more about our club; be a guest at one of meetings or to join us, please drop us a line at PO Box 675, Northville, NY 12134

Sacandaga Garden Club At Visit Sacandaga.com

April 2010

Our April meeting featured Jo Jones and Steven Brown who demonstrated the mechanics needed to build flower arrangements. Jo is a Flower Show judge for District 5 of the Federated Garden Clubs and Steven is the President of District 5 and is an accomplished flower arranger having many blue ribbons to his credit. Steven and Joe built several arrangements coaching us both on the principles of design and the techniques to make it happen. Many of our members will be putting the lessons learned to
good use in our flower show at the Northville Public Library in June.

Our thanks to our hostesses, Ann Veltry, Ginger Driscoll and Linda Kessler who provided refreshments and delightful table arrangements for us to enjoy. Towards the middle and end of the month we can look forward to moving our transplants outside into their permanent homes. They do need to be hardened off otherwise the shock of the outside can kill them.

Allow yourself ten days to two weeks before you plan to plant your seedlings outdoors. The first day move them outside to a sheltered spot, away from direct sun for about two hours and then bring them back
inside. At this stage the plant leaves are very tender and just like our skin when we get the first sun of the summer, they burn easily.

Do this for a couple of days and then increase it to a half a day for two days and you can give them some direct sun. If you see any white spots on the leaves that is a sign of sun or wind burn and you should move them to a more sheltered spot to recover.

Continue to water the seedlings though you want to keep them a little
bit more on the dry side. Every couple of days increase the amount of time they spend outside and in the sun but do bring them back inside at night. Our night time temperatures are still too cold and we can get frosts all the way through the end of the month.

After about ten days of this gradual exposure to the sun and wind they should be strong enough to be planted outside. If you are growing plants for containers you can plant them out earlier because if bad weather threatens you can always rush the container inside.

Our last frost date is around the last week of May but wait until your soil temperatures have warmed up before you plant your tomatoes. Don’t worry if you don’t plant them until the first week of June, they will catch up very quickly. Peppers and impatiens hate cold soil and will sulk if planted out too soon.
My raised beds warm up quicker than the other garden beds and to warm them some more I take a black garbage bag and open it up and spread it across the bed. I do this about the same time as I start hardening off my seedlings and if you do this you will be surprised just how warm that soil is when you dig down.

Now that the frost is thawing out from most of my garden beds I am continuing clean up. I have areas of ground cover that are covered with pine needles and leaves blown in over the winter. I take either a hand cultivator or a small rake and gently fluff up these plants. Not too hard because I don’t want to disturb the roots from continuing to spread. Just enough to get all the debris off them and give them good air circulation.

My Bee Balm is coming up and is spreading as Bee Balm will. Now is a great time to move it into other places in the garden, it will take light shade to full sun. I have also potted up some for our plant sale in May. I haven’t touched my buddleia or sage yet. I prefer to leave these woody perennials until I see some sign of new growth. They are not really hardy in our area unless we have very good snow cover so when I see new growth then I can judge better where to prune them.

After you’ve enjoyed your spring bulbs cut off the flower stalk but leave the foliage. The plant needs the foliage to produce food for the bulb for next year. You can also sprinkle fertilizer over the bulbs beds to help them. If you forced any bulbs go ahead and plant hyacinths and daffodils outside, they may not bloom next year but I have success with them in subsequent years and you may too. Tulips do not do well after being forced and are better being put in the compost pile.
Look for our plant sale opposite Stewarts on Main Street during the village wide garage sale on Saturday, May 1. We’ll have houseplants, perennials and a variety of garden items for sale.

Also on May 15, the Master Gardeners of Fulton and Montgomery Counties are holding their annual plant sale in the parking lot of the old Johnstown Hotel, where the Cooperative Extension offices are located. They will have annuals, perennials and herbs so be sure to check it out.

Our next meeting is on Thursday, May 6 when Phyllis Minich will teach us how to select containers, prepare the soil and discuss plant combinations we can use for our outdoor containers. Joan Genovese, Janice Winney and Doris Fordyce will be our hostesses.

December 2008 Armchair Gardening

SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - by Barbara Henry

Our annual luncheon and auction was a huge success and enjoyed by everyone. Thank you, Anna Johnson and Fran Varcoe for arranging the event. It was so nice to see all the many visitors who came to join us. The Sport Island Pub provided a delightful buffet lunch and afterwards Doris Fordyce ran the auction. There were so many different items that everyone was interested in something and thanks to Doris the bidding was spirited and she made it fun and profitable for the club’s activities. I’ll let you know
more on this next month.



In her introductory remarks Mary Hogan announced that, at a recent District meeting of the Federated Garden Clubs, Carol Reutzel has been
awarded the President’s Perfect Pedestal Award. This is to honor her contributions to the club over and above her normal membership activities. She gives her time and energy unselfishly to the club and to the community and she shares her knowledge generously with everyone. Congratulations, Carol, you are a wonderful example to us all.

December is traditionally Armchair Gardening month. This is the time when we review any records we made during the year and make plans for next
year’s gardens. I have just finished mulching up my veggie beds for the winter.



I put a two to three inch layer of composted material down and topped it with a couple of inches of leaves. Now the beds can lay warm and snug throughout the cold months and provide shelter and food for any worms that wander by and my beds will be ready for my first spring plantings. I love
worms, they are sooo good for the soil and good soil is the key to garden success.

Inside we need to pay attention to houseplants now that the days are shorter. It’s a good idea to take your plants to the sink once a month and rinse them off gently with tepid water. This will remove the dust build up and allow the plant to take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide as it should. A good rinse especially on the under side of the leaves also removes anylingering aphids. There are several plants that are really good in removing indoor air pollution; philodendrons, spider plants and golden pothos to name just a few. And especially nice at this time of year are a couple of the flowering plants such as chrysanthemums and gerbera daisies, so as you are enjoying the flowers you can feel good that they are helping with the air inside your home.

Rotating your plants is also good so that all sides get the same amount of light. As the nights get cold, you should move them away from the windows so they don’t get too cold. However, as I learnt from our Club’s Horticulturist, Margreet Monster, the Hoya plant does not like to be moved at all. So put a Do Not Disturb sign by that one.



Plants are entering a dormant phase now so stop fertilizing until spring time. Doesn’t mean though that we have no blooms at this time of year. If your Christmas cactus has been chilled – yes this is one that likes to get cold, it will bloom. And after bloom if you put it in an area where it is about 45-50 degrees F at night, and dark, it will set buds again.

Some folks are able to bring their Christmas cactus back into bloom three of four times a year. Kalanchoe, poinsettias and amaryllis are examples of other plants that provide welcome blossoms in the winter. Not to mention the bulbs that you forced earlier
……
Here’s a tip from the garden club to preserve your Christmas tree:


Mix ¼ cup horticultural iron (Green Garden or micronized horticultural iron) with one gallon hot water, two cups light corn syrup and four teaspoons of chlorinated household beach. Stand the tree in the formula for 24 hours outdoors. Bring the tree in and fill the tree stand with the formula.


We will be meeting on December 4 at the Bradt building for a wreath making workshop along with our regular club meeting. Carol Pagano, Phylis Smith and
Virginia Conover will be our hostesses. After the meeting we will be making seasonal baskets for those members of our community who are not able to get out
and enjoy the festivities as they would like

October 2008 Forcing Bulbs

SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - by Barbara Henry

You can still find bulbs at the stores but rather than planting them why not force some bulbs for some much needed winter cheer. Try the shorter bulbs such as hyacinths, crocus and the petite daffodils. These will stand tall in the indoor low light conditions rather than flop over. To force bulbs you’ll need between 13 and 17 weeks of chilling in a dark cold area.



Tulips take the longest at 17 weeks while daffodils and crocus take about 15 weeks and hyacinths around 13 weeks.

Pot your bulbs up in a soil based mix, this gives a better weight to support the bulbs and the soilless mixes that contain peat tend to hold too much water and can rot the bulbs. Plant them close but try not to get them touching. If you use tulips, put the flat side of the bulb toward the pot rim because that’s where the largest leaves will come from and they will flop over and hide some of the pot’s rim.

Chill them in a dark cold area such as an unheated garage. Don’t use frost free
refrigerators because it will dry the bulbs out too much.

After the chilling time, slide the bulbs out of the pot and make sure they have a good root system going. If they do, bring them in to a bright sunny area about 65 degrees. You may have bulbs emerging from the soil at this point. If you do, keep them out of the sunlight for a few days so the new shoots can acclimate to the light.



After blooming you can move daffodils and crocus outdoors where they will recover and bloom again next year. Hyacinths are not reliable rebloomers but I have had some success and you may too. Just let the foliage mature in the pots before you plant them outside. Snowdrops are one of the few bulbs that appreciate being transplanted when they are still green and growing. Tulips are better off being put right in the compost pile.

A couple of points to remember: don’t store your bulbs where there is fruit, the ethylene gas given off by the fruit (especially apples) withers the bulb foliage and flower. Don’t rush to bring the bulbs in before they’ve had enough chillingand don’t bring them directly into a warm room. This will cause blasting where the foliage still looks good but the flower will just dry up. Be sure you have a good root system before waking them up otherwise the roots cannot support the emerging foliage and lastly, don’t over water them.

The 2008/2009-year for the Garden Club started out with a great picnic at Anna Johnson’s beautiful home. Michelle Acquaro and Mary Hogan, our co-presidents announced our theme for the year of ‘Enjoying your Garden’.

There are many ways to enjoy a garden. The gardener receives satisfaction from designing and planting the garden. He or she receives pleasure from viewing the garden’s beauty and sharing the fruits of their labor with friends. We garden club members seek the same delight in planting, growing and harvesting.’

We discussed the upcoming program events, which were put together by our program chairpersons, Anna Johnson and Fran Varcoe. They have compiled an interesting mix of informative and fun meetings during the year including creative designs, wreath making and workshops on growing vegetables and herbs.

We also discussed installing a Blue Star Marker in Northville. The Blue Star Memorial Marker Program of the National Garden Clubs,Inc. began in 1945 to honor the men and women serving in the Armed Forces during World War II. The name was chosen for the star on flags displayed in homes and businesses denoting a family member serving.

Garden clubs pictured a ribbon of living memorial plantings traversing every state. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, October 2 when we will have an autumn design workshop.

September 2008 - planting bulbs

SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB - by Barbara Henry

Have you noticed some blank spots in your garden or some areas where you think a splash of color would be nice? September is a good month for planting spring flowering bulbs. You can make plantings that will give you color from March through June when the perennials and annualsbegin to take over.

Since we all struggle with squirrels, deer and other creatures munching on our newly planted beds, I’m going to give you some suggestions for some favorite bulbs that are critter-resistant.




Think about an under planting of snowdrops with your daffodils. Grape hyacinths are also charming with daffodils with the added benefit that their foliage reappears in the fall so you know where your clumps of daffodils are. Use the blue or pink Glory of the Snow (chionodoxa) as a lead in to hyacinths, think how nice this will be in a bed close to your front door.

Try naturalizing winter aconite (eranthis) in lawn or woodland areas.This small yellow bulb is one of the earliest and loves to multiply.



Fritallarias are big showy bulbs that come up mid spring but be careful where you plant them as they hate to be transplanted.

There’s enough sun for your bulbs before the trees leaf out so don’t be shy about planting them. Take a handful of bulbs and toss them down and plant where they fall for a more natural look. Don’t overlook the miniature daffodils some of which
have multiple stems, which give you more bang for your buck. Plant bulbs in drifts for a bold statement in your garden, if you have a small area
plant them in groups of three, five or seven. Even numbers in planting tend to look unbalanced.

Plant all bulbs to a depth of about three times their size and remember the pointy end goes up. If you plant tulips, they do benefit from a deeper
planting in cold areas. Try planting them down eight to ten inches. Some 5-10-5 fertilizer at planting time will give the fertilizer time to get to the root base as the bulbs wake up and fertilizing at flowering time will take care of them for years to come. Our local stores and garden centers have a great supply so let’s get out there and start digging.

The next meeting of the Garden Club will be held on September 11th. Please note this is a change from the previously published date of September 4. It will be a picnic held at the home of Anna Johnson where we can celebrate our summer success and look forward to fall plants and our winter program. Michelle Acquaro, Janice Taylor and Anna Johnson will be our hostesses.