The Grapevine. Royal Oak Garden Club. Edition: February Officers. Pres. Judy Anglada & Nancy Beatty. Sec y: Rebecca Clizbe. Treas: Janet Prieger

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1 The Grapevine Royal Oak Garden Club Edition: February 2015 Officers Pres. Judy Anglada & Nancy Beatty Sec y: Rebecca Clizbe Treas: Janet Prieger Newsletter: Beth Loker, Programs: Jane McConnell Pool Coord: Brenda Stone and Jan Otter Goodies: Cherron Crane Post Office Pots: Karin Ramsburger

2 Letter from the President Winter Colors (by JP) ROGC President s Message, Feb When I come across a plant that is so easy to care for, I make sure I have several of that plant. The beautiful amaryllis is just such a species. I have 9 of them now given to us as Christmas gifts over the last 10 years or so. As I have neglected them they just seem to shake it off and are determined to bloom with glorious abandon this time of year, every year. Right now, I am enjoying a large pink and white flowered variety and a gorgeous red that is just opening for Valentine s Day. The rest of the bulbs are in the greenhouse and when they start to open I bring them in the house and set them in front of a south facing window. A couple are forming buds and some are just sprouting which means I will have amaryllis enjoyment for the next 6 weeks or so! I mentioned neglect and that is almost what I do with these tough bulbs. After the bloom fades I cut that off to keep it from going to seed. The green stem stands headless with the long strapping leaves as support. I let the stem gradually turn yellow and droop before I cut it off. The leaves are left and stay green and this is when I slow down on the watering. When it finally warms up in the spring I move all the pots outside to a shady area and that is where they stay until cold weather then back in the greenhouse they go. During the dry days of summer I may, if I think of it, give them a shot of water from the hose, otherwise they are only watered by a passing shower. Rarely, if ever fed, never repotted as all are still in their original plastic pots and never forced these are truly amazing plants. They are much happier being pot-bound and having at least 1/3 of the bulb out of the soil. The oldest bulbs have just about filled up the pot and have sent a shoot from a bulblet which seems just as healthy as the mother bulb. I never give the bulbs the resting period they need for forced blooming because I am not concerned about having their flowers at Christmas. They make wonderful gifts and I really enjoy their display for the holidays, but for me they are most enjoyable this time of year. It s cold outside and I am ready to dig in the dirt, but that is quite a few weeks away. Having these incredible blooms

3 in the house gives me so much enjoyment and they ease the itch I have to be outside. Its 9 degrees this morning and what a contrast these beautiful blooms make with the cold and frigid outdoors. I will bundle up and make a quick trip to the greenhouse and see which bulb is ready to bloom and bring that in with the others. What a display. It s not Longwood Gardens, but sure makes me happy! Hope to see everyone at Mimi s on the 23 rd. Bird talk, a speaker and a pot of soup offered by Mimi! Also, please take note of the time change, 12:00 instead of 1:00 which is prime woodpecker and lunch serving time with our hostess. I will send out another time change reminder before the meeting. Take care and stay warm, Nancy Minutes of the previous meeting Minutes for January 26, 2015, meeting held in the Royal Oak Methodist Church. Thirteen members and one guest attended Naomi Rohman's presentation on preparing seeds and garden beds for spring planting of edibles. OLD BUSINESS Treasurer's report: Janet reports that the treasury holds $ Dues for 2015 are now being accepted. Mimi reported that she received a thank you note from Christmas in St. Michaels for our contribution. Nancy reported on an additional contribution of $100 for the Church as thanks for letting us meet there. Membership: Nancy asked Janet to update the garden club's list. Pool Garden: discussed were arrangements to prune the crepe myrtles and plans for Christmas decorations for next year. Post office pots: Karin reported plans for spring planting of pansies and pussy willows. Cherron circulated a list for members to sign up for providing drinks and snacks for future meetings. PROGRAMS February 23 rd - Mimi's bird spa (Mimi asks that the first person arriving to park at the end of the front fence and each successive car park behind that car)

4 March 30 th - Horn Point April 27 th - May baskets at Janet's May 18 th - Karen Simmons at Bay Hundred Botanicals June 29 th - Kristine's gardens July 27 th - Naoma's gardens August 31 st - annual luncheon September 28 th - Plant exchange at Jan's October 26 th - Sherry is working on scheduling a speaker on peonies. This speaker is expensive so Sherry is talking to other garden clubs who might join us and share expenses. December 7 th - Greens workshop with Soup luncheon NEW BUSINESS Nancy initiated discussion about what additional projects to contribute to with dues. We discussed inviting the architects working on plans for Thompson Park to make a short presentation. They are trying to raise $200,000. Sandy brought up a garden at Port and West that has not been doing well and would like to offer consultation. She will investigate further. Before adjournment we reviewed offerings from everyone's gardens. Adjourned at 3:20 Respectfully submitted, Rebecca Clizbe Tidbits from the Gardens From Jan Otter: After Christmas Adventure with Rocks Two weeks post op from my shoulder replacement I sat at my computer, sideways on the chair in order to use my left hand to hunt and peck at the keyboard. My right hand lay quietly in the super sling that was keeping my shoulder and arm immobilized. Bored, uncomfortable, unable to drive or do much else I pecked out Craig's List on Google. I rarely go on the site, except in spring when people are looking to sell young goats, colts, chicks and lambs. I don't usually go beyond simply looking at the photos and imagining myself with more animals to love and care for. A few years ago I did coerce Tom into driving me an hour into the farmlands (of either Maryland or maybe Delaware) to look at baby goats. After getting lost for half an hour we found the farm with about thirty cute youngsters running and jumping all over the fields, their tired mothers grazing on the bright green grass. I wanted two and had my eye on who would come home with us. They had other ideas. Not one young goat was remotely interested

5 in getting caught and taken away. The farmer and his wife tried desperately to corral a couple of the bouncing young kids, but it was soon clear to all of us that we were going home empty handed. That probably worked out for the best. I realized after reading a few ads in the farm and garden section of Craig's List that nobody was selling anything at this time of year that was of interest to me. Countless used tractors and plows and fertilizer spreaders, jet skis, and lots of banged up pickup trucks, nothing I wanted or needed. Except for, a two line ad with a small photo of rocks. Rocks are a real weakness of mine. Small pea gravel, round river jacks, flat blue stones, field stone, Indian stone, I adore them all. The rocks in the ad were being offered for $ That amount of money for anything, much less right after Christmas and an expensive new shoulder was laughable. There were perhaps thirty six large boulders of varying shapes and sizes and colors. They were spectacular! The huge pile was located in a backyard in Easton where the home owner had discovered an old pond, long forgotten by previous owners and overgrown for decades. He was moving, and after having extracted them a couple of years ago, realized he couldn't take them. Nor did he want them. He was NOT a rock guy. Tom drove by and confirmed what I already knew. These were very good rocks. After a week of s and phone conversations I made a deal with the seller. He knew I knew how much it would cost to get the rocks moved and that few, if any other buyers were looking for a pile of rocks days after Christmas. I got my rocks. A fair deal for both of us. Did I have a plan for these rocks? No. Did I have a way to move them? No. I called a friend and he made it all happen. A big beefy dump truck, a John Deere tractor and three guys with strong backs loaded up the rocks and brought them down Oxford Road without incident. Everybody was happy. My beautiful rocks are out with my piles of mulch, piles of gravel, small river jack pile and pallets of bricks. Next to the stacked wood we are saving for an exciting future project... I have an idea or two about what will be created with the big rocks. (Hint: water feature, new grandchild, babbling brook she can play in.) Of course my handsome big rocks can't be moved again without the John Deere. Perhaps I should return to Craig's List and scan those tractor ads again. From Underwood Gardens/ Terroir Seeds again: Cool Season Veggies & Seedling Damping Off Home-Grown Celery

6 A great addition to any garden, home grown celery has an incredible flavor that will leave you wondering why you put up with the insipid, nearly tasteless supermarket variety for so long! Celery is slow to germinate - often taking 20 days or more - so start indoors early with a soil temperature of F. Sprinkle the seed on the seed starting medium and pat into the soil, as the seeds germinate better with light. Keep the soil moist. For extended use, let the plants bolt and harvest the celery seed for a spice. Collect the seed in a paper bag and let dry, then sort out and store for later use to give a bright spring flavor to your cooking. Par-Cel Leaf Celery is an 18th Century Dutch heirloom curly, cutting celery that looks like triple curled parsley and tastes like celery. It is a 3 ft tall Celery in leaf form instead of stalks. The most heat and drought tolerant of the celery varieties, it does well in the arid Southwest with some protection, yet is remarkably cold hardy. We grow this in our trial garden. Cabbages Cabbage is a robust cool season vegetable that contributes to many dishes from coleslaw, sauerkraut, salads, soups and lots of cultural favorites all over the world, from borscht to kimchee to minestrone soup. Easy to grow in the spring and keeps well, cabbage needs the cooler weather to properly develop good sized heads. There are many flavors on offer from the different varieties, from the very aptly named mild Savoy Perfection to the robust and colorful Red Acre. A single packet of seed will grow some for the spring and early summer and also provide a great crop for this fall and early winter.

7 Controlling Damping Off Damping-off is a soil borne disease that can attack almost all young vegetable seedlings. Home gardeners often first notice that something is wrong when the very young seedlings have a constriction around the base of the stem, some of the seedlings have fallen over or there are small flying gnats around the base of the seedlings. Damping off is caused by soil fungi and the right conditions to help them flourish. We'll show you how it's caused and what you can do to control and treat this destructive disease in Controlling Damping Off. Next Meeting Information Location/Topic: Mimi s Bird Spa at Chance Farm Rd. Royal Oak. Take Rt. 329 past the RO Post Office. Go Left on Thornten Rd. Then Right on Chance Farm Road. Take the third drive on the Left. If you are first car to arrive, go left in front of the garage and pull up to the end of the fence going out. If everyone else follows there will be no problem leaving. Thank you, Mimi Treats & Drinks: Mimi &? Calendar Programs & Snacks/Drinks January 26: Naoma Rohman on spring planting of edibles Beth & Janet February 23: Mimi's bird spa Mimi, Cherron, Nancy, Karin March 30: Horn Point April 27: May Point. Club to pay Lynn & Rebecca

8 May 18: Karin's garden Donna &? June 29: Kristine s garden Kristine &? July 27: Naoma s Veggie gardens Judy Anglada &? August 31: Annual Luncheon All/List in July September 28: Plant Exchange at Jan s? October 26: Sherry's speaker on Peonies Brenda &? December 7 - Greens & Soup Workshop All/List in October Pool Garden Schedule TBD