Horticultural Society

H/5/1991-3

May 7, 1991, Iris, page 3

Bettes Hartge needs apiarist Gordy Allen-Wardell's phone number to arrange bee hives to be put in at Riverside. Her second question regarded the optimum distance between bluebird houses. Some say 85 yards. Others say put lots of houses in and let the birds figure it out.

Ellen Hartge asked about gypsy moth traps. Yes they really work. However, the Extension Service doesn't reccommend because they attract and bring in moths from far away thus increasing your woes and diminishing your neighbor's.

Mo Chance has a neighbor with a 5-year old wisteria that has not blossomed. Wisteria said to take anywhere fro 5 to 10 years for wisteria to flower.

As mentioned several times earlier the hour was late and the assembly that wasn't dozing off was pawing to get home. We thanked the Hanels for their hospitality, bid them improved health, and congratulations on the approaching wedding of their daughter Selma. We agreed next to me at Rose Hill, home of the Rogers at which time Tom Canby will be the assigned reader.

with apologia for erata,

Peter Austin

Secretary/Treasurer

H/9/1990-1-

September 4, 1990, Quailhill, page 1

The Society assembled at Quaihill for their September meeting. The Secretary was inside carving the ham - previously known to the Society as Lord Jim, Elizabeth Thornton's Christmas present and unsuccessful solution to the garden's bindweed problem. The Secretary assumes that the dark underbelly of Quailhill's horticultural anarchy was not overtly noticeable. It was ironic that missing en mass were the proprietors of the Society's most magnificent gardens namely the Rogers, the Hanels, the Earps, the Chances, and Beth Bullard. Guest includedGordy and Christie Allen-Wardell, Dr. Thea Kappahn, Dana Dameron, and Dana Tietje.

The minutes from the previous meeting were corrected and passed.

There was no unfinished business.

Ellen Hartge read an article from the May 1990 issue of Horticulture entitled "Making Sense of Scent" by Roy Genders, an English plant specialist. The article summarizied the authors research in analyzing and categorizing the scents that plants generate. The author also connected the various scents ranging from the sweet to the stomach-turning to how these different smells help the plant survive.

Susan Canby alerted us to an up-coming National Geographic article that studied the decline of certain migratory birds and how it relates to global warming.

Elizabeth Thornton read the minutes from September 30, 1990.

Ellen Hartge delivered the Forethought. We were advised to plant spinach, lettuce, radishes and other late season crops. Beware of freak frosts toward the end of the month. Move houseplants indoors when night temperatures are below 60 degrees. Plant daffaodil bulbs. Water but don't fertilize trees and shrubs. Start Fall cleanup. If you have powdery mildew on lilacs, prune or space at a later date to encourage passage of air. Plant new grass seed. In conclusion, do everything now rather than waiting until spring.

Meteorologist Report John Hartge allowed that it had been a wet month. Riverside logged 8.1 inches of rain - National Airport measured 6.75 and reported it to be 2.35 inches over the norm. August didn't see many days between rainfalls. It is reported that we are 2.89 inches ahead for the year. We had a high temperature of 92 on August 1st, 2nd, 14th, and the 22nd. The low was 54 also on the 2nd. Average high was 84 and the average low was 63.

Bird Report Elizabeth Thornton related an incident that happened on the grounds of the Oak Grove Designs workshop and residence of the Handlers. A macaw had landed high up in one of their trees and the macaw authorities had been alerted. As the day edged toward evening the effort became feverish and two pronged - other macaws had been brought in from the surrounding area

H/9/1990-2-

September 4, 1990, Quailhill, page 2

and were stationed at ground level with their owners to entice the elevated bird to join them. That being largely unsuccessful a young fireman and macaw enthusiast climbed up to the stray bird and when the beast bit the offered finger, the man grabbed the bird's beak, tucked the feathered fiend under his arm and climbed to the ground one-handed.

There were no new committees.

The Redundancy Committee reported that 2 1/2 megabytes of Redundancy Committee data had with no explanation or permission vanished. Fortunately it had all been backed up on floppy discs so nothing was lost except explicit faith in the security of hard drive memories.

New Business

Jim Bullard mentioned that this community dates back 300 years and there will be a celebration sanctioned by the Sandy Spring Museum on October 4th at Norbeck Country Club. It will be an occasion to picnic and gather and all are encouraged to attend.

Exhibits

Lydia Haviland brought a magnificient sunflower referred to as only a volunteer, in addition to some exquisite little yellow and red tomatoes. Riverton offered flocks, corriopsis, ironweed, cardinal flowers, algeratum, and moonbeam corriopsis. There were other samples of the season's abundance but the Secretary misplaced the list and didn't have the courage to conjure up a false representation.

Questions

Dana Tietje has August-September blooming clematis that looks poorly. It was said that if the Chances were here they'd know what the problem was.

Tim Eller wants to know if crepe myrtles do well in this area. Yes but sustained below zero temps will kill the plant back to its roots.

Thea Kappahn has an indoore Eucalypsus plant that is doing poorly. It was said that if the Hanels were here, they'd know what the problem was.

Ari Preuss was on the Shenandoah where 4 bald headed eagles were spotted. 4 are nesting in the Blackwater Refuge and it would appear that their numbers are slowly coming back.

Nancy Preuss recommended a book entitled "Beautiful Food Garden".

Gordy Allen-Wardell commended the society for its bee hives. He said that last year Maryland lost 50% of its domesticated colonies to trachial mites, veroa mites, and bad climate. He said that the importance of bees to agriculture cannot be underemphasized and the bees need all the help they can get to keep their overall numbers up.

H/9/1990-3-

September 4, 1990, Quailhill, page 3

Elizabeth Thornton asked where scraping corn was available. Todd Greenstone and the Stablers were two possible sources. She also bemoaned a large harvest of Georgia Jet sweet potatoes that were big and tasteless.

Susan Canby has powdery mildew on lilacs - should she prune them now? No, the mildew won't kill - it just weakens. Prune later.

Sally Eller inquired about japanese lotus. It was said that if the Earps were here they'd know.

John Hartge asked what favorite scents the group could come up with. Honey suckle, bridal veil, lilac, Viburnum, basil, lemon balm, wild artemesia, and mint were among those offered.

In the wake of Gordy Allen-Wardell's eloquent proponency of bee keeping, Bettes Hartge offered that a Bee Report might make a good addition to our meetings. There were nods of agreement but no movement was formally addressed.

Sherry Fletcher is looking for a stand of milkweed. Behind soccer field at SSFS suggested. She is interested in Monarch Butterfly eggs whose numbers have suffered considerably because of gypsy moth spraying. The Ellers have lots of milkweed but no monarch eggs. West Virginia Monarch count is way down.

Ted Fletcher has an adult Japanese Maple that is doing poorly. Brookside gardens has the same problem and if the missing members of the society were in attendance, they'd probably know what was wrong. Also what would be the advantage to being polluted at night? Less competition.

Ellis Manning watched a cicada killer in action. He made it sound like being next to a military proving ground crossed with roller derby and professional wrestling. Gordy Allen-Wardell related an instance when he was manning the Extension Service telephone when a concerned individual asked how he could keep his child from being attacked by a cicada killer. Gordy recommended never, never dress the child up as a cicada. Christie added that his tenure at the phones is not guaranteed.

We at some point appologized to our guests about the absence of our brain trust and agreed that in the future those members should not be given permission to slim our ranks so completely as they did that evening.

The hosts were grateful for those who did attend and congratulated themselves for passing themselves off as grownups. We concluded the meeting and agreed to next meet at Roslyn, home of the Hussmans when Harold Earp would be the assigned reader.

Humbly, Peter Austin sec/treas.