Horticultural Society

H/4/1988 - 3 -

Beds should be prepared for seed planing. Carrots, peas, should go in. Not long after second rows should be planted. Late in the month, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes can go in. Asparagus patch should be weeded and fertilized. Nitric of soda or sodium nitrate on asperagas is recommended. Lawns should be fertilized but not mowed until 2 inches tall. Special care should be taken with any weed killers one plans to use.

Peter Conlon provided the Meteorologist Report. In March we had 2.52 inches of rain. The peak temperature was 79 degrees on the 24th and 25th. The low was 12 degrees on the 22nd. The questions regarding whether the weather had been warmer than normal, wetter than before, and the winter shorter than usual, the consensus opinion was non-committal with patches of cloudiness. In closing Peter Conlon promised a descriptive graph of the winter's statistics to be handed out at the May meeting.

Leslie Rogers passed the exhibits. Quailhill offered daffodils. White japonica came from Roslyn. There was daffodils, hyacinth, and heather from Lea House. From Jackpine came hyacinth, jonquils and forthysia. Riverside brought daffodils, grape hyacinth, myrtle, blood root, iris, violets, bluebells, spyrea, phlox, candy tuft, ivy & weeds arranged tastefully, and woodruff. Lakeview had daffodils, forsythia and mahonia. The Earps offered flowering cherry, magnolia, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, andromeda, daffodils, and primrose. Clifton brought narcissi and spirea.

The report on birds brought up a mention of an influx of crows near Lydia Haviland's. Attention was drawn to the buzzard hanging out at Quailhill. Peter Austin protested that he wasn't feeding them any failed efforts at raising sheep but that the black ugly birds had been kicked out of the Springdale woods by construction there of large opulent houses. Quailhill was the closest low-rent area for them to move into...much to Peter's discomfort and esthetic chagrin. Peter Conlon was along the Arkansas River in Colorado and saw hawls, eagles, thousands of ducks & teals and in trees, 30 pair of nesting blue herons. Purple Martins were reported back in the Area on March 15 - if you didn't get them this year better luck next.

The redundancy Cmmitee under John Hartge's guidance and impetus wowed the gathering with an impressive showing of its winter data organizing efforts. 11 years of old Society minutes have been digested and the program is progressing nicely.

H/4/1988-5-

Susan Canby wondered why Lakeview has blossoming mahonia and Jackpine has none. No specific reason was divulged but plant feeding was suggested.

Mo Chance commented that at the end of September in 1896 the next Horticultural Society meeting at Riverside was called off because a storm blew in between 10 pm and 2am that knocked down 16 of their big trees.

On that cheerful note we brought the meeting to a close, thanked Lydia for her hospitality and agreed to meet next on May 3rd at Quailhill, home of Peter Austin and Elizabeth ThorntonThoihton. 1988

The first meeting of the Sandy Spring Horticultural Society's 125th season and overall meeting # 868 met at Lydia Haviland's on April 5th. After the winter's long espite everyone's spirits were especially buoyant. The I could just type forever! Its so much fun.

Respectfully submitted, Peter Austin sec.

H/6/1988-2-

Vegetables should be weeded and mulched. Sow seeds for brussel sprouts, cabbage, beans and carrots. Plant marigolds amongst vegetables to repel insect pests.

The meteorological report detailed a lovely month with plenty of rainfall. Our 7.95" of rain rbought us to within 1/2" of the average to date according to the Washington Post National Airport Report. A couple notable rainfalls at the Conlons happened on the 15th when 3/4" fell in 15 minutes and on the 18th when 1.22" fell in 10 minutes. The month's high temperature reading happened on the 30 & 31st when it was 38 degrees. It seemed the consensus believed the auguries were favorable for our area to escape the crushingly dry summer conditions of the past two years.

Exhibits included the following: 2 varieties of lettuce, roses, bearded wheat, and 3 varieties of mint from Sweetbriar. From the Cedars; Irish Cobbler potatoes, sugar snap peas, kohrabi, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, broccoli, and an "Enigmatic Egg" found buried in the garden. See Bird Report for details. Lydia Haviland brought in a shrub. Lakeview presented peonies, mock orange, clematis, a Dr. Van Fleet rose, pansies, coreopis. The Earps brought chives, strawberries, fuchsia, clematis, heliotrope, iris, a gardenia, and a yellow allium. Lea House shared lysanthus, fox glove, burnet, lavender, lemon balm, and wormwood. Riverside put forth Selma Lollo lettuce, La Brillant lettuce, strawberries, snow peas, sugar pod peas, coriander, bronze fennel, borage, sage, a Dr. Van Fleet rose, coral bells, siberian iris, coreopsis, Dianthus, galardia, potentilla, love-in-a-mist, a maltese cross, Crane's Bill geranium, and yarrow. Rose Hill brought coreopsis, purple andwhite love-in-amist, foxglove, phlox, oregano, french tarragon, lettuce, and caultiflower.

The bird report detailed strange goings on at the Cedars. Mary Grady found a lone phoebe egg in the middle of the garden - with no nest, overhanging tree, or phoebe in the vicinity. Tom Farquhar found a goose egg 4 inches in the ground while he was turning the soil. The first occurrence was blamed on poor maternal timing on behalf of the phoebe. The second phenomena was downgraded to the actions of a fox who was putting aside for a later day goose eggs filched from across the street.

H/8/1991-2-

Meteorologist John Hartge referred to the localness of the month's sparse rainfall--six inches here, none there. He recorded 2.1 inches for July--a figure "shamefully low."

Exhibits included a yard-long bean from a volunteer plant at the Chances', flowers and a basketball-size passport melon from the Earps, grand championquality tomatoes from Riverside, veggies and hibiscus from Roslyn, and flowers, herbs, and vegetables from Lea House.

Regarding the matter of the birds and the bees, Sally Eller displayed a finely woven gnatcatcher nest that had blown from a tree. Jim Bullard reported the extraction of honey without a sting, and Beth said that salad oil is reputed to discourage bees from imbibing at hummingbird feeders.

Reporting for the Microfilming Committee. Mo Chance said that collections were in from nine families-- not nearly enought to finance their vacation. Serious work will resume after the October meeting. Residual funds will go to Linda Hartge for making the record cover.

During the question session, Nancy Preuss asked if plants other than mums can be cropped to encourage less leggy plants, and Priscilla Allen added phlox to this category. To Tim Eller's question about heath, Nancy said it likes full sun. Regarding Priscilla's query about tomatoes, the consensus was that ripening does not require that the fruit be exposed to sunlight. Bette Hartge mentioned the opportunity to recycle virtually all clean, dry papers, including phone books, at the Clarksville firehouse Tuesdays between 2:30 and 6:30. Also did we know that a flea can jump 300,000 times without stopping? To Ellen Hartge's question about kitchen ants, Nancy Preuss recalled that cucumber skins can be a deterrent.

The secretary reminded the group that it would reconvene September 3 at Lakeview, with Jim Bullard as reader. The president concluded with appropriate remarks about the warmth and hospitality shown by our hosts, the Ellers.

Tom Canby, acting secretary

H/9/1991-1-

September 3, 1991, Lakeview, page 1

A pleasant day preceded our meeting at Lakeview, home of Mary Seiler. Her house and grounds embraced us with their graceful and modern lines and hospitable and genteel atmosphere. Our guests were Helen Farquhar and Brooke Farquhar. Unfortunate to be missing were the Hanels, the Rogers, Tom Canby, Tim Eller, the Mannings, Ellen Hartge, and Priscilla Allen who nonetheless graced the evening with flower arrangements on the dining tables. The dining was splendid and punctuated with a dessert that was initially observed then avoided then sampled and bravely ingested = namely Elizabeth Thornton's Potting Soil Delight; a dish that looked as it was named but tasted like chocolate cookie crumb custard mousse.

When we began the meeting proper it was 8:25. The minutes from the last meeting penned by Tom Canby, August's pro tem secretary, were read and passed.

Next, Jim Bullard read a chapter from Forest Carter's book, The Education of Little Tree. The book is a recollection of a Cherokee boy's upbringing in the care of his grandparents in North Carolina in the early 1930's. The book is a charming, eloquent, and touching chronicle that ranks among the likes of Russel Baker's Growing Up, and Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The chapter that was read was a clear inducement to find the book, read it, and share it as Jim was doing. A postscript mentions that newspaper accounts have since identified the book as a hoax and Forest Carter as a psuedonom of a political writer whose general inclination was towards radical conservatism, racism, and facism. The book remains eminently readable and its fans defend the book and feel that the said hoax is itself a hoax or misguided investigative academics.

There was no volunteer article so John Hartge read the minutes from this month in 1891 at Falling Green. Notable was Norwood who had one surviving turkey out of 50 starters versus [Falling Green]] who had lost none - typical of the tricks hosts play.

Partly due to the late hour the Forethought was straightforward, economic....perhaps poetic in a haiku ("A Japanese lyric poem of a fixed 17 syllable form that often simply points to a thing or pairing of things in nature that has moved the poet") sort of way. "Wait 'til next year, then start over." One could delve into the drudgery of fall crops, purging the garden of dead stuff, cutting lawns high, and living in anticipation of cool weather but I like the seven syllable solution best.

John Hartge followed with the Meteorology report - in 5 syllables: another dry month. The area went 14 days without rain and we only got 2.72 for the month. that put us at 8 3/4 inches below average for the year to date. Temperature-wise the month started hot and ended hot. The high temperature was 95 on the 3rd and low was 57 on the 22nd. It has been the 2nd hottest summer on record since 1871. 1980 was the hottest. We had a limp-wristed brush with Hurricane Bob but the Brinklow area made up for it with the August 20th Tornado/Micro Burst which cut a swathe of ruin from the Ellers on Goldmine Road across New Hampshire Avenue, through