Horticultural Society

H/4/1966-24-5-1966 Page 2

Bea Wilson was so full and bubbling over with "Forethought" that your Secretary had a hard time keeping up with her. Among other things she reminded us to sow seeds for early plants in the house, to get rid of chickweed, repair your lawnmowers, prepare the compost pile, plant a highly resistant tomato the Enterprize available at Beltsville, fertilize peonies and other plants, remove mounds from your roses and make a final pruning of peach trees as the blossoms open. She suggested planting the "Madcap" Hollyhock seeds now to have early Fall blooms. Sycamores are being used in place of Elms as shade trees, there are new hybrid Pansies of more than three inches in diameter, the Chrysler Imperial Rose now has the best fragrance in five years and the Red Monarch Sweet William is now an annual.

Liz Canby, our Assistant for the evening, read the list of exhibits as follows: the Mannings brought Andromeda, Magnolia, Plum and Jonquils; The Wilsons had Nasturtiums and Hen & Chicks; Pansies and Parsley were brought by the Farquhars; the Ulric Huttons had Pieris Florinbunda, Pieris Japonica and Daffodils; the Canbys had Cabbage, Turnips and Kale, while the Thomases had some Kale; Claire and Bea Hutton brought 3 varieties of Jonquils, White Myrtle, Purple Myrtle Johnny-Jump-Ups and Hyacinth; and the Ligons had 10 varieties of Daffodils, as well as from their greenhouse 4 kinds of Begonias, 2 Geraniums, Calla Lily, 2 Stocks, 2 Orchids, Lantana and some Fuchsia.

The Ligons have songsparrows and the Weskes have purple finches, while other members mentioned seeing Gulls, Juncos, Larks, Blackbirds, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Tohees, Cardinals, and many various types of Sparrows.

As required in our By-Laws, the Secretary read the By-Laws and Resolutions at this first meeting of the year. A discussion arose on the 5th Resolution which states: "That the day before each meeting every family shall report to the hostess how many from that house expect to attend". Betty Ligon closed the discussion with the resolution: "Members should notify the hostess if they cannot attend a meeting". The members present agreed on this proposal to be voted upon at the next meeting.

Questions: Mary Reading has a Nandina which is green and lovely on one side only, leaves on the other side were frost-bitten. Also, she notified us that Mrs Brewster is anxious to get a ManGardener to "live in" at Olney Inn.

Bob Miller announced the Olney Theatre Play "Come Blow Your Horn", to be shown later this month, is being partly sponsored by the Sandy Spring Lions Club and he has tickets for sale.

Pete Ligon noted that winer killed foliage is mostly above the snow but not below it. He needs a suitable container for Watermelon and Cantaloup seeds. One-half of milk carton is good to use but "Peat" Pots should work out best.

Betty Ligon: Should we spray roses with a regular spray now? Get a good fungicide first. She also has squirrels climbing up her pipes, but we couldn't do much about that!

H/6/1968-1The Horticultural Society Meeting "The Highlands" with Bob and Mary Reading Miller June 4-1968

What is so rare as another delightful gathering in June at "The Highlands"? It was such excellent weather that we were reluctant to come inside for the usual sumptious repast. Some of us did enjoy our meal out on the porch, and almost everyone enjoyed another inspection of the gardens before we were called to order at 8:05pm.

President Ellis Manning welcomed our guests, Mrs Brewster and Mr Cannon, and then suggested that the Treasurer collect back dues. The Secretary read the minutes of the previous meeting, which were approved after a slight correction. She persuaded your former Secretary to take the minutes of this meeting at her home. Unfinished business produced no further report from William Heckendorn on the clearance of roadside trash and rubbish.

Betty Ligon, our reader for the evening, gave us many thought provoking hints to improve our gardening, from an article in the Reader's Digest on "Six Steps to a Green Thumb". We should learn to relax in our gardening; don't work too hard or spend too much money, it is not an occult science, so learn to be a general practitioner, instead of a specialist and you will have that much more fun. Do the work before you see the need for it; in other words, hit first in the Battle of the Bugs. Stick to a regular spray schedule and keep cultivating to control weeds. Learn the correct fertilization for each type of plant and also how to take care of the root system. After all gardening is just learning a few "tricks of the trade" and a "green thumb" is just a dirty thumb, plus a little common sense.

Betty also read us an excellent garden poem, which she wrote herself back in 1931, about her own home and garden experiences.

As an extra volunteer article, Alan Thomas read Life's account of Boston's TV Gardener, Thalassa Cruso, who conducts a gardening TV show in the same manner as Julia Child does her French cooking. The article gave many humorous hints on down-to-earth gardening.

Sylvia Woodward's forethought tells us to: spray iris with a sticky spreader liquid; prune the camelias; divide primroses; clean the blackspot from roses; help control weeds by applying a liquid poison to the leaves and not the ground; use open and airy mulches where needed; and start succession plantings and thinning of your vegetables.

Many people have wondered how wet and cold May was this year in comparison with last year. Douglas Farquhar's weather report showed that while the lowest temperature this year was 35 degrees compared with 38 degrees in 1967, the rest of the figures were higher this year. 84 degrees was the highest this year, against 82 degrees in 1967, and last year's mean temperature of 56 degrees increased to 62 degrees this year. Total rainfall on 15 different days this year measured 5.8" vs. 4.7" last year, but it still leaves us about 12" below normal for the year, which seems to be not so cold and wet after all.

Our Assistant Secretary for tonight, Mary Moore Miller, read a tremendous list of exhibits, including flowers, fruits and vegetables. Very fine specimens were received from both Hutton families, both Miller families, the Goff's, the Farquhar's, the Ligon's, the Heckendorn's and the Thomas's. We will not attempt to list everything, but will mention a few of specific interest. The Ligons had 39 varieties of flowers in one bouquet; Dale Thomas brought a tall spiked flower from her mother, Mrs Mannakee, which could not be named by anyone here; there was a robin's egg in the "Cedars" basket, and the Heckendorns