Horticultural Society

H/5/1988-1-

May 3,1988 The May 3rd meeting (# 869) of the Sandy Spring Horicultural Society met at Quailhill , home of Elizabeth Thornton, Peter Austin and a smattering of housemates. The day's weather although not splendid was benign and allowed the Society to inspect the thin veener of grooming that made the grounds and house seem inhabited by civilized creatures (possibly human) and not gaping, slovenly primates. As the daylight waned everyone was gathered to serve themselves dinner. We looked out the south facing picture windows as a red fox made regal and leisurely appearance on the hillside above the middle pond....compliments of Foxes-R-Us, Rockville, Maryland.

Guests included the first Society appearance of Marika Austin and Jamie Rogers. There was also Mark Jacoby, Lisa Griffin, Liz Goll, Robin and Nell Johnsen, Henry and Esther Thornton, Jan Westervelt, and Clive and Wendy Lawrence. Missing was Tom Canby, Iduna & Rudi Hanel and Flora & Harry Goff.

After a delicious meal, the meeting began with an announcement from Tom Farhquar regarding a colleague who orders flower bulbs from Europe at a very good price.

The meeting was officially opened with the Treasurer's report. Despite irresponsible managment and wild expenditures the cofferes swelled with the opulent sum of $53.15. The yearly dues of 50 cents per family was collected, extracted and cajoled from all those present. The suggestion that those absent would pay an exorbitant penalty for lateness was voted down.

Susan Canby followed with a terrifying article about the back-breaking labor, iron discipline, and nearly oriental view of gradual progress over time that goes into creating and maintaing a lovely effortless looking wildflower patch. The article was from the 1988 April Horticultural magazine and was entitled "Can You Have a Meadow Garden?" it was subtitled "Yes , but it takes planning, preparation, and dilligent follow-through. The whole article was a direct contrast to the blite and seductive marketing attached to the so-called meadow-in-a-can. The advertisements foster the illusion that creating a beautiful wildflower meadow involves the ease and neglect that's anathema to any serious horticultural project. On the contrary, it requires preocedure, hard-work, and about 3 years to hit stride.

In lieu of a voulunteer article, Mary Grady recommended a book entitled "Honeysuckle Sipping" by Lise Chasanou. It sounds like a charming collection of the tricks and magic that can be shared with children as one unfolds the wonders of the green earth before them.

The minutes from 100 years ago detailed the meeting at Norwood, May 1st 1888. Of a multitude of facts and figure it was mentioned that watermelons and cucumbers don't mix.

Priscilla Allen described her forethought as a reminder that most of what was forethoughted last month should be continued as the dizzying pace of summer activity shifted into high gear.

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.

A photo of 21 people posing in a garden Backrow Harold Earp Edwina Earp Bette Hartge Nancy Chance Susan Fifer Canby Rudi Hanel Elie Rogers Lydia Haviland Leslie Rogers John Hartge Ellen Hartge Peter Austin Caroline Hussman Buzz Hussman Iduna Hanel Front Row Tom Farquhar Mary Grady Nancy Preuss Mo Chance Ari Preuss Elizabeth Thornton missing - Tom Canby, Bill Hartge, Jim + Beth Bullard, Peter + Polly Conlon and Harry + Flora Goff Incomplete SSHS July 5, 1988

H/7/1988-4-

July 5, 1988: page 3 small request would result in violent and withering admonitions....and we'd talk about any culprits not present.

Questions:

Nancy Preuss questioned the function of one of Peter Chances rock-climbing training aids in the back yards. Was told it helped one practice tightrope walking - what every mountain climber needs to know... and parents need not. Eli Rogers inquired into the methods that the Pauls use to care for their commercial vegetable and berry patches. John Paul explained that they have two separate gardens and gardening styles. Between the 2 they employ a wide range of techniques and approaches. They work a market garden whose produce they sell at the Bethesda Farmwoman's Market. For this operation they work intensively and as organically as possible. This market garden is serviced by a drip irrigation system, companion planting, and black plastic mulch. They also have a pick-your-own operation that is too extensive to be operated intensively. For it they use overhead sprinklers that use more water than their ponds can supply, and discrete but necessary applications of insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Mo Chance mentioned that his clematis blooms but the leaves turn yellow. A deficiency was suggested as cause and after a number of possibilities were brought up and discounted, permanganite was mentioned. A source was not readily known but drugstores were said to be worth looking into. Ellen Hartge wanted to know how to cut day lilies to best preserve the bloom. No special technique involved. If there is color in the bud and bloom, then it's worth cutting. Also what do the Pauls consider to be the best rasberry varieties for the area. For the spring bearers - Latham and Taylor. For fall crop - Heritage. John Paul mentioned Titan, a much touted variety that he feels is short on taste. John Hartge has weeds 3 times higher than some very young Xmas trees that they surround. Is the overgrowth good or bad? the 2 authorities on the subject offered their advice: Buzz Husssman said to hack them down and Caroline said to let them grow. John Paul has blossom end rot on his red peppers. Epson salts were recommended. Buzz Hussman voiced many of our thoughts by thanking Rudi Hanel for the talk earlier about the greenhouse effect. Nancy Chance has the worst ever infestation of earwigs in her strawberry patch. Adviced to put pieces of bamboo out and empty the earwigs hiding within every morning into soapy water. Mary Grady has hummingbird feeders but no hummers. Recommended to hang feeders in sun alongside colorful flowers like fuschia. Tom Farquhar gave a convincing testimonial to the effectiveness of the "Gopher-it" mole & vole repelling gizmo. Said that pinwheels with their stems in active runways also work to a degree but the Gopher-it seems to keep a impressively wide patch free from the little pests. Lydia Haviland recalled old minutes mentioning hydrangia with pink and white on the same bush. It's said that ph of soil can effect color of flowers - more acid the ph, the bluer the flower. Betty Hartge asked about gypsy moths and the best way to dispose of the egg clusters. Scraping clusters into soapy water or kerosene works. Vehicle

H/8/1987-3.

Peter Conlon returned to Buzz's first comment about global temperature saying that true increase in levels would be reflected in the oceans' level not localized temperature readings.

To take advantage of the evening's coolness, we had had our meeting on the Conlon's lovely porch. With nature's nighttime orchestra in the background (punctuated by the occasional passing automobile), we thanked our hosts for their hospitality and agreed to next meet at Iris, home of Rudi and Aduna Hanel on September 1st.