The Latest Dirt. President s Message. Mary. La Plata Garden Club June Table of Contents

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1 The Latest Dirt La Plata Garden Club June Table of Contents President s Message Club News and Events Pages 1 14 Committee Chair Reports Pages Other Upcoming Events Pages 19 Once again, our club has been honored with awards for two of our community projects!! The same two projects we won awards for at the District level also won State awards. At the March 22 Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland, Inc. Annual Meeting, we were presented the prestigious Maryland Roadside Award for the planters at the Charles County Courthouse. The project was selected from a statewide pool of applicants as the most outstanding roadside improvement and came with an inscribed silver plate. A photo of me very proudly accepting the award on behalf of the club is shown on page 3 in the newsletter. We were also presented a First Place Civic Development Award (Large Club) for our Tilghman Lake Beautification Award. A complete listing of State awards can be found on the Federated Garden Club s website, I hope you have enjoyed our exceptional meetings this year and want to thank Carol for doing such a great job of detailing them in the newsletters. Although it hasn t the past two years, we are hoping that the weather will cooperate in making this month s annual hot dog social at Tilghman Lake Park a beautiful evening in the park. Rain or shine, though, I hope that you will join us there to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow members and learn more about the history and development of the Town park. Mary 1 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

2 LPGC Treasurer s Report January 1, 2016 May 31, 2016 Opening Balance $19, Income Expenses Membership Registration Yard/Plant Sale 2, Membership Registration Printing Supplies Rentals Presenters Donations Awards Projects Yard Sale 1, Closing Balance $18, Mary Paesch Treasurer Welcome our New Member Lannie Kalinowsky 4987 Tournament Ct. White Plains, MD elkpotomacriver@gmail.com 2 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

3 Below are pictures Kathy Pedersen took on her recent trip to England and Scotland Left flowers grow on the Island of Sark. Bottom picture Thistle flowers are sold at a farmer s market in Scotland 3 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

4 March Meeting Our March meeting presenter was Judy Mudd, committee member of the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage. This is an organization formed in 1930 as a committee of the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland. The purpose of the committee then and now is to preserve and restore architecturally and historically significant real estate in Maryland. The committee is now a separate organization but continues with its original mission. In the 79 years of its existence over $1,000,000 has been raised in support of the organization s mission. Each year, designated counties in the state organize a money raising public tour of these properties. In Southern Maryland, Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary s counties rotate their tours. Details of the Memorial Day tour can be found on the Pilgrimage Website The money raised will be used to defray expenses of the Maryland Veterans Museum. The next page shows pictures taken of the historic Charles County homes and gardens that the public was able to enjoy seeing while on the Memorial Day weekend tour. Judy Mudd, our March Meeting Presenter Heritage Tour Home below 4 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

5 Scenes from Maryland Heritage tour Charles County May 2016 Timber Neck 18th Century Charles County Home Pictures of Chandler s Hope 5 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

6 April Meeting Our April meeting was held at the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp in Calvert County, MD. The swamp is a 100 acre environmentally protected tract of land owned by the Nature Conservancy. This land contains the only stand of bald cypress in Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay. Since 1977 Calvert County has leased the property and used it as a public park. Within the park the Calvert County department of Natural Resources operates a nature center and a quarter mile boardwalk from which visitors can explore the huge bald cypress and the plants and wildlife that make this area their home. Club member photographers enjoyed taking pictures of an owl which had been hurt and rescued by the Calvert County naturalists. The owl along with turtles and other protected wildlife make their homes at the nature center. Pictures on this and the following page were taken from the boardwalk and within the nature center. Our presenter pictured on the left provided interesting information about the plant life we saw on the boardwalk at the swamp. 6 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

7 Pictures from our April Meeting at Cypress Swamp Park 7 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

8 May Meeting Our May meeting was held at the home of Judy Thomason. Kyle Olsen, Director of Horticulture at the Robert Stethem Center, a part of the Charles County Public Schools, spoke on growing camellias and azaleas. These plants grow easily in partial shade using acid soil. They come in many colors and when in bloom present stunning floral displays. Kyle stressed camellias are a southern plant and that Charles County is the northern edge of camellia growing country. By planting the right camellia variety in protected areas these plants can be successfully grown in our area. Late blooming varieties Of azaleas Grow in Judy s backyard Judy Thomason Our Hostess 8 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

9 May Meeting (Continued) Kyle Olson gives Lots of good Tips on successful Growing of azaleas And camellias In our Local gardens History of Azaleas and Camellias in the Landscape According to azalea historian Fred Galle, azaleas were first introduced into the American outdoor landscape during the 1830 s at the rice plantation Magnolia-on-the Ashley in Charleston, South Carolina. The Plantation owner John Drayton imported the plants from Philadelphia for use in his estate garden. The estate is now a public park known as Magnolia Gardens. Many types of azaleas continue to grow in this location. The first camellias were grown in American gardens when French botanist Andre Michaux in 1786 gave camellias to the Middleton family for their plantation known as Middleton Place. This estate in South Carolina continues to grow many types of camellias. From February thru March the public is invited to enjoy walks in the gardens to see some of the 3500 cultivars in bloom. Some of the plants are over 200 years old and date back to the original camellia plantings. 9 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

10 10 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

11 Plant/Yard Sale Continued Our Plant/Yard Sale cochairs Mary Grant (left) and Cathy Cornette (right) check things out before the sale begins. Garden Club members enjoy wearing their club tee shirts 11 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

12 Plant/Yard Sale Continued Everyone enjoys both the sale and catching up with their friends Great Plants Great Prices 12 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

13 13 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

14 Thank You for the Gift Hi Gardeners, I have always wanted to grow peonies, especially the scented ones, but just never got around to it. At my last meeting as president of our club, I was given a special garden shovel and a gift certificate to "Peony's Envy" ( very Freudian), a well-known peony grower and supplier whom I had seen on the Martha Stewart show, and she helped me select my gift choices. They were babies last year and did not bloom, but this year they are beautiful and the scent is wonderful. Their pictures are shown below. Thank you members, a little late, for this gift that will last for many years. Mary Ann Peonies Bloom in Mary Ann Wade s Yard 14 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

15 Science Project Awards H.I.T.S. Expo. was held on March 19 th at St. Charles High School. Our club presented awards to the best science projects in horticulture. We judged their projects and presented gift certificates to: Matthew Kephart - Elementary Germination Rate of Zucchini: Aquaponics vs Hydroponics Emma French Middle School Worm Composting Cassidy Burch Senior High The Effects of Hydroponics on Plant Growth Polly Zimmerman 15 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

16 Bird Health One of the most shocking, deplorable and devastating occurrences in modern life is the formation of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is constantly becoming ever larger and competes in size with The Great Atlantic Garbage Patch. No one really knows just how big these infamous collections of trash are, but some estimate that the Pacific one is about the size of Texas. They are formed by vortices swirling items together. Some of these items do not stay afloat of course, such as tires and other heavy debris. Imagine, huge cargo ships drop about 10,000 steel shipping containers into the sea each year! The 28,000 rubber duckies dropped in 1992 are still washing up on shorelines. Plastic in any shape or form is probably the worst offender in the decimation of marine life. This decimation includes the albatross. Conscientious albatross parents leave their chicks on land in Pacific islands to go scour the ocean surface for food such as protein-rich fish eggs. Resin pellets look like the eggs and are fed to the chicks along with other inedible trash. The chicks eventually die of starvation or ruptured organs. Decaying albatross chicks are frequently found with stomachs full of plastic debris. Dead sea turtles, whales, and other larger forms of marine life are also found with plastic bags filling their stomachs. Sunlight does eventually photo-degrade the bonds in plastic polymers reducing it to smaller pieces, but that just makes matters worse. Plastic still never goes away; it just becomes microscopic and may be eaten by tiny marine organisms entering the food chain. According to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 90 percent of seabirds - nine in ten - have plastic in their guts. The global production of plastic doubles every eleven years. Thus the study s lead scientist Chris Wilcox estimates that in less than 35 years nearly every single seabird will have plastic in its body. Currently plastic pieces can be seen littering seabird nesting sites even in the remote Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. We can only help in small ways such as disposing of trash in appropriate containers and using nondisposable shopping bags. Simple measures such as reducing packaging, banning single-use plastic items like straws and bags or charging an extra fee to use them can make a difference. Improvements in basic waste management can reduce plastic in the environment. Efforts in Europe have resulted in quantifiable changes within the last decade Gloria Groeger, Bird and Butterfly Chairperson Gone were but the Winter, Come were but the Spring, I would go to a covert Where the birds sing. Christina Georgina Rossetti 16 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

17 Designs Made Easy (Part II) In our March newsletter, I wrote about the 6 Principles of Design balance, contrast, dominance, proportion, rhythm and scale. Now I will mention the 8 Elements of Design. These elements are line, size, light, form, space, pattern, texture and color. We see both the principles and elements in all floral designs and other forms of artwork and we view them as a whole unit and not an individual part of a design. You can easily see the elements in this photo. If we had to examine the elements and principles each time we made a floral arrangement, it would become a chore rather than a pleasure and could take all day to complete. I do think it is important to be familiar with these terms if you have an interest in floral designs but don t let them bog you down. Start practicing with flowers from your yard or roadside materials such as Queen Ann s Lace. I recently brought home a few stems of holly hock from the Star Memorial garden and enjoyed a small bouquet of them for a week. Fresh flowers in your home bring life to a room whether it is a simple bouquet or a stylized design. They are guaranteed to help you see the sunny side of life. Mary Beth Chandler Artistic Design Chair 17 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

18 Floral Designs Below are floral designs created by Charles County flower arrangers for the 2016 Maryland 2016 House and Garden Tour. They enhanced the beauty of the homes in which they were displayed. See if you can analyze these arrangements using the 6 principles and 8 elements of design Mary Beth talked about in her articles. 18 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

19 19 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor