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H/7/1944-1-
Falling Green
July 1944
Warm was the day but warmer was the greeting
of the Falling Green hostessed as the members and
their friends gathered together for the July
Horticultural meeting. And the gracious trees and
sylvan scene all around were lovely to behold.
The minutes were read and corrected.
Emma Stabler's reading on Mulching confirmed
the experience of many gardeners. The application
of a layer of organic waste, means, beside the mere
cessation of hoeing, an insulation against water
loss, and it prevents baking of topsoil so the
rain and air can enter, and prevents ordinary
erosion. Mulches are applied to annuals after
plants are in active growth. In a vegetable garden
mulching follows soil enriching. If weeds are
first eradicated, the mulch suppresses their further
growth, and need for more hoeing is eliminated.
Clarke Slade then read a scholarly discussion
of the temperature factor in gardens. Our native
plants are not so adversely affected by temperature
yet it is astonishing how few of our plants are
truly native: "our" common zinnia, marigolds and
cosmos, for instance, originating in Mexico.
Each species of plants has short and long-day
flowering varieties. These are influenced by the
amount of shade, character of soil, and perhaps
most of all, the relative length of growing
temperature.
Elza Thomas sent us outstanding Forethought
notes which were read by Helen Hallowell.
Remember the need for a fall garden, so repeat
your spring garden if you can find the time and the
seed. Let us, wrote Elza, not always bother about
the weeds in our gardens, but sometimes to go into
them to enjoy their peace and beauty.
The prolific nature of the exhibits was
excelled only by their artistic arrangement. Beth,
Cornelia and Molly Miller and the rest of the
Highlands showed 17 items including lima beans
and live strawberries. Edgewood, The Cedars,
Tanglewood and Sharon has fine specimens. The