Horticultural Society

H/10/1990-1-

October 2, 1990, Roslyn, page 1

We held our last meeting of the year at Roslyn, home of the Hussmans. The warmth and familiarity of our surroundings was intimately appreciated and in direct contrast to the larger event of the moment which was the reunification of East and West Germany. Missing from the gathering included Jim Bullard, the Hanels, The Rogers, and the Ellers. Our guest for the evening was Jane Riggs.

After a meal the likes of which we would sorely miss for the next 5 months we began the meeting by reading the September minutes, dispensing with Unfinished Business and moving on to the Assigned Reader. Harold Earp had an article entitled "Talking Tidewater" by Robert Day. Mr. Day is a Kansas native who teaches at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. His wit, humor and landlocked heritage made for an amusing perspective on the ideocyncrasies of Eastern Shore lexicon.

Bettes Hartge followed with an article about foiling pests without poison. Beth Bullard contributed a treatment for black spot on roses, 1 tablespoon of baking soda per gallon should be sprayed on the plants weekly.

There were no old minutes so we went on to Forethought which gratefully included an implied respite during the cold months ahead. In these waning gardening weeks we were advised to check soil samples, start compost piles, plant green manure, and harvest the last crops of the season that could be damaged by cold weather. We were told it's a good time to plant bulbs and remember that the bigger the bulb the better the bloom. An aside included a query about which end of an anemone is up, the Solomons amongst us advised to plant those bulbs on their side. The final forethought suggestion dealt with cleaning up the garden to prepare for next year's effort as well as foiling pests from becoming entrenched in the wreckage of late gardening efforts.

The Meteorological Report mentioned September being a dry month with only 1/5 of the previous month's rainfall. Riverside reported 1.7 inches and National Airport logged .9 which was 2.6 inches below average. Our temperatures ran 77.3 for average high and 53.6 for an average low. On the 7th our high for the month was 89 degrees and the low of 36 happened on the 18th.

EXHIBITS A fine collection of late season harvests were admired. Unfortunately, the list of the offerings was misplaced. Following generations of SSHS members will have to suffer this void of information. It's the Secretary's fault - his name should live in infamy.