Horticultural Society

Forethought started the advice to trim evergreen candles to make the growth thicker...to block out the visual scourge of encroaching housing developments, for instance. We were told that nothing is dormant and that when transplanting, prune to balance root system and foliage. Don't cut bulb greens. Divide and replant spring blooming perennials. Spray peonies if necessary. Prune spiria drastically after blooming and prune magnolia sparingly. May is a good time to layer plants. Rhododendrons need a shot of holytone and need pruning after blossoming. Sendyour house plants out and cut your grass high. Be on the lookout for the Holly leaf miner - apply sevin or diazanon now and orthene in June. All veggies should be seeded or otherwise ensconced in the garden in May.

The forethought was followed by Peter Conlon's meteorological report. It was mentioned that on the Sweetbriar compound in Ashton the high for the Month was 79 degrees - 63 being the average high. The low was 30 degrees - 39 being the average low. April's rainfall was 3.04 inches. Peter also brought graphs detailing rain and snow fall as well as temperatures throughout the 1987-88 season. These will be entered with the minutes.

The exhibits came next: The Lawrences brough bellwort, juge, sweer woodruff, white and yellow violets, phlox, lunaria, sweetbria, dog wood, lilac, red bud, and apple blossoms. From Clifton came 2 kinds of forgetmenots (snowflake and lucage), columbine, lilac, pulmonaria (lungwort), lillies of the valley, bishop's cap, armeria, phlox dicaricata, and an unkown bulb flower. The Earps brought lilac, jack in the pulpit, primrose, scilla, wisteria, jacob's ladder, azalia, wood hyacinth, iris, daffodil, and lungwort. From Amersley came lilacs, tulips and azalea. The Chance's brought lilacs, tulips, bleeding hearts, clematis, daffodils, viburnum, dog-toothed violet, and virginia bluebells. Rose Hill offered wisteria, lilac (white and purple), redbud, bleeding heart (white and pink), columbine, and iris. Jackpine brought azaleas, bleeding heart, tulip, and a mysterious array of flora called "et al" The Cedars brought azaleas, dogwood, candytuft, tulips, mint, strawberry blossoms, bleeding hearts, and pansies. Riverside brought lilacs, tulips, wisteria, candy tuft, azalea, kerria, columbine, springwort, and chhives.

The questions opened with an inquiry on gypsy moth control. For the month of May a band of sticky tape (brand name Repel-3) around afflicted tree trunks was recommended. Caterpillars get hung up on the band where they can be killed and their progress thus arrested. Tent caterpillars were also inquired after. Their harmfulness was downplayed and if the colonies are out of reach they should be abandoned to the appetites of coocoos. Mary Seller asked after the least offensive and economical weed killer for lawns. Since the problem weedes included everything, some of the suggestion were to plow, pave, or turn the lawn over to an effortless meadow-in-a-can. On the other hand, Weed-be-gone or 2-4-D was mentioned.

H/6/1988-1-

June 7th, Roslyn page 1

A warm day preceded our meeting at Roslyn, home of the Hussmans. The trees, garden and grounds were well into the principle of flourishing growth and the house radiated a welcoming spirit of comfort and familiarity. Unfortunate to be missing were the Bullards, the Chances, the Allens, and Elizabeth Thornton. There were not guests per se but we enjoyed the presence of Nell Johnsen, Helen Farquhar, and Hannah Conlon.

After an abundant and delicious meal, Peter Conlon began the meeting with an article about spiders from the Journal of New York State's Department of Enviomental Conservation. It was entitled "Spiders - Assasins with Silky Snares". The article written by James H. Moerschel, told of his fascination with spiders and his appreciation of their webspinning capabilities.

The article said that there are about 30,000 species of spiders in the world and about 650 species in the New England area alone. Mr. Moerschel was more interested in types of spiders that spin webs and make the most of their silk. An interesting point is that the spider makes a new web each day and it takes an average of 20 minutes. He failed to mention that spiders like bats are diminutive and efficient allies in the gardener's war to control insect populations. A Dr. Bristowe of early 20th Century Britian estimated that British spiders consume enough insects a year to outweigh the entire British human population.

There was no volunteer article.

Due to Elizabeth Thornton's inexusable absence , John Hartge read the minutes from 100 years ago. Appropriately enough that meeting was at Riverside. The exhibits at that meeting included a dizzying array of vegetables and withering number of poultry and ducks. The enduring question emerged whether or not the English Sparrow has any friends. Apparently the president of the Society at that time had turned against the species and such negative influence had left the poor bird in widespread low regard. A contingent of Society members arrived late due to their earlier attendance at a neighboring wedding - it was not noted who was wed.

The forethought was simpler than usual because everything should be growing, harvested, and replanted. A few specific reminders included removing flowers from plants after full bloom. Pinch and feed mums. Prune and feed primroses. Pansies should be cut back in mid or late June for Fall bloom. Berries should be mulched and plan to rotate strawberries after 3 years.

H/6/1988-4-

Tom Canby brought up the ancient question of when to stop cutting asparagus and why do they heel over before the first wind. Stop cutting when you begin picking peas in earnest - about now. Staking could help limit their tendency to fall over. Nell Johnsen asked about the sycamore trees and why they all look so stricken and diseased. Unhealthy appearance attributed to fungus that attacks during an early stage of leaf development if conditions are wet enough. Tree will recover as season progresses. She also asked about Roundup - said to be strong but well prone to decompose into harmless elements. Helen Farquhar asked if it was too late to plant nasturtims. Advised to plant now without too much delay. Keep in mind that they like full sun. Transplanting was possible but operation had to be done with considerable delicacy. Iduna Hanel has ailing dogwoods - trees look sickly, the trunk are turning black and the leaves have little brown spots. Recommended that she go to the Extension Service with a leaf sample. Nancy Preuss planted peonies 3 years ago on the east side of their houses and the plants aren't doing very well. Advised to apply bone meal. Also check to make sure they weren't planted too deep. Possible they should be moved to location with full sun. Harold Earp brought the original and copies of a brochure written by Jon Kinney about the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park. The text is imbued with a profound love for these giant trees and makes for good reading. Kinney was killed in a car accident in 1986. Also distributed was a publication funded by the Environment Protection Agency entitled Baybook . It detailed ways to reduce water use and minimize wastewater. Such efforts undertaken by more and more people would have a profound effect on the good health of the Chesapeake Bay and our water supply in general.

The meeting was brought to a close. We thanked the Hussmans for their hospitality and since Chances were absent for the evening's meeting, we agreed to have our next meeting at their house on July 5.

H/7/1988/-1-

July 5, 1988: page 1

Our July metting (#871) took place at the home and grounds of Nancy and Mo Chance. Despite the deplorable deficit of rain that the preceding month had inflicted us with, the Chance's horticultural efforts were flourishing nonetheless. In addition there were interesting assemblages that could've been mistaken for a great many things but were in fact contraptions to help the Chance's mountaineer son Peter climb the unscalable and traverse the uncrossable.

Unfortunate to be missing (especially since we finally got around to taking a few group photos) were the Goffs, the Bullards, and the Conlons. The guests were John and Lea Paul of the local pick-your-own garden goods emporium, Paul's Patch. Susan Canby took the gavel in the absence of Beth Bullard.

Rudi Hanel had an article to share with us but the extended heat and drought inspired him to talk instead on the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is caused by the growing concentrations of man-made gases in the atmosphere. While we are dependent on the atmosphere's's ability to retain heat, gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons do too good of a job and tend to shutter in heat.

There are severe long range consequences to the sun's heat not being able to reflect and otherwise escape back into space. The warmer troposphere in turn melts the ice and snow cover and thus helps the effected area absorb the sun's heat rather than reflect it. Melting of the polar ice caps leads to higher sea level. This threatens the shoreline areas of the globe where half the earth's population lives. An expanded ocean area would also increase evaporation and drastically change weather patterns. This changes the river, reservoir and drainage systems of the planet and would thereby dramatically alter the future topographical nature of the planet.

It's a pretty grim scenario to envisage. What's especially grim is the nature of man and their governing bodies. We are presently experiencing the prelude to the greenhouse effect's eventual disastrous consequences. Scientists and theoreticians are kind when they say that we still have time to stall the greenhouse effect by cutting our reliance on petrochemicals and ending man's destruction of the globe's rain forests. It is encouraging that there is still hope. It is Earth's sad moan that humankind is slow to swallow any bitter pill that looks beyond self-indulgence towards the salvation of future generations and the planet itself.

Our gathering with great relief greeted an article volunteered by Buzz Hussman about a relatively sublime and up-lifting subject - Gypsy Moths. The article came from Harrowsmith Magazine (Nov.-Dec., 1986 issue) and detailed a sure-fire way to control gypsy moths. The process involves irradiating adult moths and allowing them to mate. The resulting egg masses produce sterile offspring that when released into the wild mature and mate with fertile gypsy moths. The resulting dud eggmasses would over a number of years severely cut into the foul moth's strangehold on our hardwoods. The system has some bugs in it but has been used successfully in Florida to control fruit flies. The expense involved matches $5,000 of the irradiated moth technique with similar results from insecticides costing $160,000.

H/7/1988-5-

July 5, 1988: page 4 undercoating was mentioned but spray pruning paint seems to do a better job of on site destruction of the eggs. Peter Austin had been gearing up for a rousing diatribe aimed at gypsy moths. Susan Canby sensing the threat that such long-winded vehemence posed to the polar ice caps, deftly asked where our next meeting would take place. Off balance the Secretary Treasurer reported back that we'd next meet August 2nd at the Earp's with the reader being, gasp, Peter Austin. In the confusion that followed, the acting secretary thanked Chances for their hospitality and closed the meeting.