Club Minutes: Horticultural Society, 1972

also reported that as many as 500 evergreen trees were available to anyone for reforestation from District Forestry office in Laurel.

Helen Farquhar reported on her laurel bushes purchased last Fall - two have died (plant in a very exposed spot) but the others appear to be alive.

The next meeting will be at Springdale with Lucy and Ellis Manning on Tuesday, May 2nd. Dorothy Weske will be the reader ( unless she can twist John's arm).

The meeting adjourned. Claire Hutton, Secretary

FORETHOUGHT FOR APRIL, 1972 --------SYLVIA WOODWARD

This is the month to clean leaves and other debrisout of gardens and shrub borders - Divide and transplant crowded summer - blooming perennial - set out new ones Now is the time to plant magnolias Cut butterfly bushes and crepe myrtles where they die back Keep Easter lilies out of the garden - they are often the bearers of the dreaded mosaic disease Sow early vegetables - radishes, lettuce, parsley, carrots, and cabbage Get rose bushes in - this is the last call Spade compost, leafmold, or peatmoss into the beds which will be planted later on Remove mulch from bulb beds - but keep this material convenient in case a freeze is forecast Check your stored summer flowering bulbs to see that thay have enough air and light Prune the conifers so the cuts will soon be hidden by new growth Step up the watering and fertilizing of house plants The hardwood cuttings which were taken last winter should be lined - out in the spots where they are to grow and develop Keep the Easter plants in as cool a situation as possible, so as to prolong their display - do not neglect watering them Spring - flowering bulbs may be protected from rabbits in several ways - one is to press a few moth balls into the soil among the plants - another is to sprinkle blood meal around Make cuttings of house plants, such as coleus, begonias, etc., so that they may be set out in the garden at the end of May And my usual April forethought - which I bet you think I'd forgotten this year: Set out pansy plants --- and happy gardening again!

LIST OF EXHIBITS ---------APRIL., 1972

1. Pink and White Bouquet of green house blooms ------- Betty Ligon

2. Daffodils, Crocus, Tulips, and Forsythia ---- Mt. Pleasant - Flora and Harry Goff

3. Bouquet of Spring Shrubs --- Pear, Plums, Apricot, Sour Cherry, Maple, Pussy Willow -- Rocky Ridge -- Dale and Alan Thomas

Several other contributions unlisted

Notes from - Secretary April, 1972

Letters written to Elizabeth Canby and Zela Heckendorn on April 5th

for May Meeting

Treasurer`s report Balance on hand - Oct 1971 $42.45 April 1st 1972 expenditure for post cards 1.20 Balance April 4th $41.25

Dues due at May meeting

June 6th - Rose and Ulric Hutton Reader - Betty Ligon

Springdale May 2nd, 1972 with Lucy and Ellis Manning

More May showers did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Horticultural Society as they came together at the gracious home of the Mannings. The rain kept some of us from the gardens which are well - planned to be enjoyed from the house, with the boxwoods contrasting the many other greens of a moist May.

Following a typical bountiful dinner, the meeting was called to order by President Harry Goff. We regretted the absence of Mary Reading and Bob Miller, Walter Wilson and Claire and Rose Hutton. The minutes were approved as read. Unfinished business included reports on the cantaloupe seeds previously given out; Elizabeth Ligon and Sara Mannakee are having good results and are hoping to harvest 25 lb. fruit - or maybe 5. The Annual Treasurer's report stated a balance on hand of $41.25. Dues were collected from 13 members.

We were happy to have John Weske back with us to give a talk on the Siberian frontier, where he has spent much of the winter. The rich, black Steppe soil is made by grass which makes it fibrous, insulating and very light - peat moss, in fact - retaining moisture even though the precipitation is about 1/3 the amount we have. Snow falls until May 10, but the ice goes by May 30 and the growing season begins for a suprising variety of crops; wheat ( Sparse this year because of the Ukraine's lack of snow and an unexpectedly late frost ), potatoes, buckwheat ( John finds it a treat to drive through the vast fields in bloom), cucumbers, cabbage, horseradish, berries, and dairying.

The Siberians live in dense quarters in the city, with gardens of about 1/4 acre outside the city where they raise, among other things, wonderful raspberries and black ( not red ) currants which are delicious as well as rich in vitamins. Wild strawberries are found in abundance and the reindeer scratch through the snow for cranberries. ( Flora Goff was glad to know where Rudolf's red nose came from).

Trees are limited mostly to pines and birch., but Siberians are proud of successful experiments with apple trees to develop a fruit suitable to their short season. September, when the birches are gold, is the best month for gathering mushrooms, which are impaled on thorns of sloe trees to dry - and be enjoyed by birds and squirrels.

Medicinal plants grown include mustard and garlic, the juice of which is squeezed on bread to combat Grippe.

John's comment on the weather in his town made us happy with Maryland. It was -42° this winter and is the hottest place in the Soviet Union in summer.

The mention of black currants elicited remarks from