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.