Horticultural Society

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.