Sacandaga Garden Club News

The year 2014 ended on a high note for the Sacandaga Garden Club.  The month of December saw a flurry of activity beginning on December 4th in the basement of the Northville Presbyterian Church.  There skilled hands and nimble fingers rivaled those of Santa's elves as members created holiday wreaths and door swags as well as decorated Christmas mugs with fresh balsam branches and festive trinkets and bows.  All of these items were then delivered to local governmental offices, shut-ins, and nursing homes in the area.  This yearly activity is one of the many ways the Garden Club looks to share its talents with our neighbors and to lend beauty to our community. 

Photo by Deborah's Gem's

On Thursday, December 11th the Garden Club members literally traveled through a winter wonderland to the Northville Public Library.  This time members gathered in the upstairs meeting room for their annual Christmas party.  Each member contributed a delicious homemade finger food or a tasty dessert item that were placed on beautifully decorated tables with floral holiday centerpieces.  After indulging in these gourmet offerings, those gathered participated in a Yankee Swap of beautifully wrapped presents.  Everyone left with a full stomach and a gift, along with a memory of a good time shared with good friends!

The Garden Club will take a break from meeting during the winter months.  However, members will be busy at their homes cultivating house plants for their plant sale on May 2nd.  The next official meeting will take place on Thursday, March 5, 2015 in the meeting room of the Northville Public Library.  The entire community is invited to attend and the topic of the meeting is one that should appeal to many people.  A presentation by Mr. Fred Breglia, Director of Horticulture and Operations at the Landis Arboretum in Esperance, NY will be offered.  Mr. Breglia's topic will be "How to Prune Properly".  Even if you are not an avid gardener, this topic should appeal to anyone who wants the plants inside and outside of their homes to remain healthy and look good too.  So mark your calendars and join us for what should be a very informative session.  Until then - stay safe and warm everyone! 

November/December Sacandaga Garden Club

The beauty of the Great Sacandaga Lake provided the dramatic background for the Sacandaga Garden Club's annual Luncheon and Auction at Lanzi's Restaurant on Thursday, November 13th. 

Members and their guests gathered in the main dining room and enjoyed a tasty meal and libations along with cheerful conversations.  Following the meal the guest auctioneer, Mr. John Ferguson, took over and with great style and lots of good humor, got the bidding going on a wide variety of items that had been donated by the members. 

A 50/50 cash prize and a raffle for a beautiful quilt designed and crafted by Ruth Ralston were offered as well.  All of the proceeds realized at the event will be used by the club to fund their various activities and to sponsor a young person at a summer nature camp.  Many of the organization members assisted the Luncheon's chairwomen, Gale McGowan, and provided all those gathered with a memorable experience.

The month of December promises to be a busy time for the Garden Club.  Members will meet on December 4th in the Northville Presbyterian Church basement for a wreath making workshop and a business meeting.  Be on the lookout for some of their amazing creations throughout the community!  

A week later, on December 11th, the Garden Club members will gather at the Northville Public Library for a holiday party.  

After a brief winter hiatus, club meetings will resume on Thursday, March 5th in the Northville Public Library.  Mr. Fred Breglia, Director of Horticulture and Operations at Landis Arboretum in Esperance, NY will be the guest speaker.  His presentation will be "How to Prune Properly" and is open to the public.  

Sacandaga Garden Club Annual Luncheon, Nov.13, 2014 and Lanzi's on the Lake.

We have an auction of items the members bring to help finance sending an 11 year old child to the DEC week long camping experience, our floral creations for the local people who are not able to get out and about, our July 4th parade entry, holidays wreaths for the Northville, other local projects, and our monthly meeting special topic presenters.

11-13, 2014 non-juried Flower Show in the Northville Library

The theme of the flower show was "Broadway Shows".

What do a woman's high heel dress shoe, a piece of driftwood, and assorted gears and pulleys have in common?

What do a woman's high heel dress shoe, a piece of driftwood, and assorted gears and pulleys have in common?  Most people would probably answer, "nothing at all".  However, for those gathered in the Northville Presbyterian Church basement for the October meeting of the Sacandaga Garden Club the response would be different.  

Members were treated to an amazing presentation by Carol and Steve Brown and their eyes were opened to unusual and creative ways to display flowers.  Mr. Brown, who is the NYS Federated Garden Club District V Judge's Council Chairman, offered a demonstration using items that one would not normally consider vessels for floral arrangements.  

He spoke about linear, tubular, and construction designs and then enthralled members as he turned PVC tubing, driftwood, and various odds and ends into beautiful containers for cut flowers.  Mrs. Brown shared a fashionable high heeled shoe that she adorned with preserved flowers that took first place in the recent NYS Fair.  

Mr. Brown then gave an instructive and valuable critique of floral arrangements that were provided by the hostesses of the meeting.  The Brown's challenged members to "think outside of the box" and opened their eyes to the endless possibilities of creative design.

The Garden Club's next gathering will take place on Thursday, November 13th at Lanzi's On The Lake.  The group will hold their annual Luncheon and Auction.  This event is eagerly anticipated by members and their guests.  It promises to be fun for all.  If you are interested in attending, you must contact a member for further information.

SACANDAGA GARDEN CLUB By Barbara Henry

We would like to invite everyone to our next meeting which is on Thursday, May 1 at the Northville Public Library when Sue Pezzola presents a program on the British point of view of gardening.  Sue is the Community Educator for Horticulture with the Cornell Cooperative Extension for Albany County and is in charge of their Master Gardener program.  She will discuss the historical perspective of English gardens as well as a practical one – providing tips and tricks for developing and maintaining English-style gardens.  We will have refreshments afterwards and lots of opportunities for everyone to meet and mingle. 

Although the sun is shining and most of the snow has gone from my yard and the

ice is retreating on the Great Sacandaga Lake, do be aware that our last average frost date doesn’t happen until the end of May and many plants do not like to go into cold soil.  I was out in my garden a few days ago and I could only dig down about a couple of inches before finding hard frost.  Don’t rush to put your annuals or your carefully tended seedlings in the ground.  Peppers and impatiens in particular tend to sulk and may never grow to their potential during the season.  Try covering the soil where you plan to plant your tomatoes and peppers with plastic for a couple of weeks before you plant to help the soil warm up.  Otherwise just hold the plants in their pots until the night time temperatures reach above 45 degrees F.  Also don’t mulch your plants yet, the mulch will help the soil stay cool so wait until mid June when it will have warmed up enough. 

If you didn’t do a pH test in the Fall, now is a good time to get one done. But remember that if your pH is low and you need lime it can take a few months for the lime to adjust the pH.   Get a jump start on weeds by taking your hoe and remove any emerging weeds.  Do this every couple of weeks until you can get a summer mulch down and you will have far fewer weed problems.  Check your lawn for any damaged areas and repair.  You can do over-seeding now and a spring feeding in late May will set your lawn nicely for the year.  Do make sure that your lawn mower blades are sharp and continue to sharpen those blades frequently during the season so the grass gets cut rather than torn.  

Besides not looking as good, ragged torn edges are an invitation to various bacteria to come and eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in your lawn.  If you didn’t feed in Fall a general 10-10-10 fertilizer on all your flower beds will be beneficial now as the fertilizer will work itself down to the roots and be available to the plants as they are actively growing in early summer.  Alternating thawing and freezing can heave your perennials right out of the soil.  If you see any plants that have heaved just push them back into the earth and tamp lightly with your foot.

Wait until you see some new growth emerging from your perennials before dividing them.  Look around and see what needs thinning or what you want to move. But don’t be in a hurry to discard plants you think have died.  Many plants such as Joe Pye weed, Rose of Sharon and hibiscus take a little longer than others to wake up.   Cut your ornamental grasses to the ground.  You can cut up the dried grass and use it as mulch in your vegetable bed in June.  Wait for new growth to appear on tender shrubs such as lavender and buddleias before pruning.  Prune the buddleias to about eight inches and prune the lavender to the shape you want.  Forsythia and lilacs should be pruned immediately after flowering; remove one fourth of the old growth each year to keep the bushes more compact and flowering well.  Remember to put in your plant supports for the peonies and delphiniums.  The new growth will hide the supports and protect the plants during our spring thunderstorms. 

Come check out our plant sale during the village wide garage sale on May 3.  We are located on Main Street across from Stewarts.  We thank Ginger Driscoll for allowing us use of her property for the sale.  Gale McGowan has been working hard to make sure we have plenty of plants for you to check out so come and talk to us, we love to chat. 

On May 17^th the Master Gardener’s will having their plant sale at Udderly Delicious on Route 30.  If the weather is warm enough several of the Master Gardeners will be bringing plants from their own gardens.

As always you can contact us at POBox 675, Northville NY 12134.