Published by The Garden Club of Austin SOUTH AFRICA. Dave Guttman presents the People, Places and Plants

Transcription

1 Austin Gardener Published by The Garden Club of Austin CALENDAR The following events are of direct interest to the membership of The Garden Club of Austin. All events are at the Austin Area Garden Center in Zilker Botanical Garden at 2220 Barton Springs Road unless otherwise noted. Additional gardening calendar information may be found every Saturday in the Life and Arts Section of the Austin American Statesman. NOVEMBER 20 Joint meeting of TGCOA and the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society. Social starts at 7:00 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM. DECEMBER 9 Monthly meeting of TGCOA. Holiday Banquet starts at 7:00 PM. The High Road 700 Dawson Road Austin, Tx JANUARY 29 Monthly meeting of TGCOA. Social starts at 7:00 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM. FEBRUARY 26 Monthly meeting of TGCOA. Social starts at 7:00 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM. NOVEMBER 2014 Vol. 51 Issue 11 NOVEMBER PROGRAM SOUTH AFRICA Dave Guttman presents the People, Places and Plants O ur guest speaker this month will be Dave Guttman. He is a very interesting and talented gardener/plant enthusiast originally from South Africa. He will share a wealth of wit and knowledge about the very special native plants of his homeland. Once again our garden club will enjoy the tradition of joining the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society for their November meeting. This is a great opportunity to spend time with a large group of avid gardeners and learn more about the ways we can incorporate cactus and succulents in our home gardens. The Garden Club of Austin provides the refreshments and the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society makes the speaker arrangements. Both clubs are encouraged to bring plants for what will be an exceptional raffle. We are meeting early this month because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Please join us Wednesday, November 20th, social starts at 7pm, meeting begins at 7:30pm. Guests are always welcome!

2 PRESIDENTS MESSAGE AustinGardener The Garden Club of Austin, Inc. was established in 1953 and is currently affiliated with The Gardeners of America/Men s Garden Clubs of America (TGOA/MGCA), the Southwest Region of MGCA and the Austin Area Garden Council. Meetings are open to the public and held in the Austin Area Garden Center on the fourth Thursday of the month except for November (the third Thursday) and December (an awards banquet). Membership inquiries should be directed to our treasurer, Annie Hackebeil, at Questions or comments concerning the newsletter should be sent to the editor, Dwain Osborne, dwainosborne@ yahoo.com President Laura Joseph 1st Vice Presidents Lois Koho, Lea Giberson 2nd Vice President John Fox 3rd Vice President Elizabeth Wong Secretary Molly Clark Treasurer Annie Hackebeil Historian Luby Garza-Abijaoude Newsletter Design Dwain Osborne Web Master Liz Stansfeld AAGC Representative Wilburn Hackebeil Directors: Term extending through 2014 Wilburn Hackebeil Marilyn Metcalf Term extending through 2015 Laura Holland, Joe Yura Term extending through 2016 Joyce Fox, Joe Defoe Succulants Abound I am looking forward to our annual November joint meeting with the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society. Our program will be presented by Dave Guttman, a very interesting and talented gardener/plant enthusiast originally from South Africa. Dave will share a wealth of wit and knowledge about the very special native plants of his homeland. The diversity of plants in South Africa is amazing, and you will enjoy getting to know Dave. I also want you to be at the meeting for the best plant give away of the year. You will be thrilled with the selection and quality of the raffle items so be there early to check out everything and be ready to take home some amazing new additions to your plant collection. Succulents are among my very favorites as I discovered a few years ago just how easy most are to propagate. I try to have no one leave my garden without a take home plant or two so I keep flats of easy to root succulents ready to go year round. I always have a table out back full of Echeveria or commonly known as hen and chicks. I love the cold hardiness, variety of colors and rosettes, and the total ease of rooting most of the 150 or so species. They will also do pretty well inside if Veldt Grape or Devil s Backbone Cissus quadrangulus Don t forget your membership dues Time to pay dues for Membership runs from January through December. Dues are $25.00 per member, $40.00 for two persons residing in the same home. Please bring to meeting or send to Annie Hackebeil at 652 S. Monroe St. LaGrange, TX Make checks out to TGCOA. PAGE 2 I water very carefully and sparingly. Another aspect of these plants that I like is they will also root from one tiny leaf. Kalanchoes are another favorite as I adore the tiny plantlets which grow at leaf tips or along sides of leaves. I am always looking for adventitious plants which produce thousands of new plants each season. These succulents are fast growing and one pot of Mother of Millions can fill dozens of hanging baskets or planters in one season. They will plant themselves everywhere so be prepared to pot them up often and you will always have plenty to share. Joyce and John Fox gave me a cutting of one of the all time best hanging basket plants. The Fox cutting is now a wonderful container-full of Cissus quadrangulus. I have broken off pieces for anyone who likes this strange looking log-like succulent which produces roots and tiny grapevine- like leaves at each joint. Of course, it roots practically overnight and grows very quickly. I ll bring several to share at the meeting. I hope you will come and bring some of your favorites to share. It will be an evening to remember for all of us! See you at Garden Club. Laura Joseph

3 GARDENING CHECKLIST Gardening Checklist for Nov./Dec. With the holiday season approaching, you probably don t have a lot of time to work in your garden. However, there are a few chores that should be tended to. Besides, it gives you a good excuse to get out into the nice cool fall air, which is especially enjoyable after our hot summer. Finish planting all of your spring flowering bulbs in November (except tulips). Tulips should be chilling in the refrigerator for planting in December. Continue to practice good garden sanitation. Keep your leaves raked up and place them on your compost pile (or use as mulch). Annual rye grass will make a good ground cover for a new lawn to hold topsoil in place and prevent tracking soil into the house. Sow seed at a rate of 8 to 10 pounds per 1000 square feet. Large, almost mature tomatoes can be picked just ahead of the first frost. Store them in a cool dark area until ripe. (I usually individually wrap mine in a piece of newspaper and put them in a brown paper grocery sack. I ve had fresh tomatoes in January and February.) Use dormant oil spray to control scale and other hard to control over-wintering insect pests. Follow instructions on the label to avoid damage to plants. Use the cool, rainy days of late fall and winter to get all of your tools in shape. Sharpen hoes, spades, and mower blades. It s amazing how much better they work when they are sharp. Put a light coating of oil on all of your tools in order to minimize rust. If you need a new sparkplug for your mower or tiller, now is a good time to get one and install it so you ll be ready to go next spring. Idle away some time deciding what changes you would like to make in your landscape. If you are thinking about a new tree or shrub, now is a great time to get it in the ground. That way the roots can develop over the winter and be in better shape for survival next summer. Until next month, good gardening! Gobbling Garden Gnome Laura Holland cannot turn loose of our garden gnome. Guess she needs him to help her usher in Turkey Day! SOURCE: Normon Wagner PAGE 3

4 HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? Ridged Gourds A memorable and delicious vegetable from my childhood The ridged gourd is very common vegetable in Karnataka India called Hire Kayi used as delicious vegetable during my childhood days. After we moved to Texas started growing various tropical fruits and vegetable as Texas subtropical weather resembling to back home. This year got some ridged gourd seeds from friend and planted in a raised bed which was empty got successful crop. This triggered to do more research about this vegetable. This plant leaves and vine resemble to cucumber foliage, extremely vigorous vine growing more than 20 feet in length with many branches. Gourd vine produces fruits all season long. It is also commonly known as Loofa dishcloth gourd (vegetable sponge). There are some loofas which have no ridges. GROWING IN TEXAS It is very easy to grow here in central Texas area. Grow it in soil with good drainage by adding compost. Give sufficient water during hot summer. It is better to sow seeds directly in soil after last frost in spring (April-May). It can be done by sprouting in container inside and transplant in spring. It is easy to make mound with rich composted soil and place 1-3 seeds in soil about 1 inch deep cover soil and water thoroughly. Seeds will germinate within a week. It is highly recommended to have arbor trellis orlong fence in place ahead of PAGE 4

5 Ridged Gourd Recipes by Gani Venkappa Vegetable Curry Ingredients: One large young green, Chopped onion, Chili powder ¼ tsp, Salt ½ tsp, Curry powder 1 Tsp, Cilantro, Coconut cream ½ cup (optional), Lemon juice 1 Tsp, Cooking oil 1 Tsp, Mustard seeds ½ tsp, Cumin seeds ½ tsp. Process: Peel the ridges of green gourd. Keep it aside for chutney. Cut peeled gourd ½ -1 inch cubes. Place 2 quart size frying pan on stove, add cooking oil Put cumin and mustard seeds heat until seeds start sputtering Add chopped onion sauté until onions turn translucent Add cut gourd pieces, salt, chili powder, curry powder then stir. Add coconut cream and lemon juice Close the lid and cook for 3-4 minutes until gourd pieces are tender and juicy, Turn off the heat. Serve while still hot as side dish with cooked rice. time to provide enough space for plant to spread and for easy to see fruits for picking. I started seeds on raised bed with trellis about 6-7 feet soon found out just the trellis is not enough, extended crawling space using other raised beds with PVC pipes and nearby fence by attaching strings from trellis to the extended length of fence. See the growth of plant climbed in all directions, the fruits hanging on strings also on nearby raised beds and vertically on the trellis. You can see how widely spread the plant became with only 1-2 seeds. Abundant yellow flowers all over the plant looks like sky with twinkling stars as flowers bloom in the evening with lot of bees swarming for nectar and pollination to produce plenty of fruits. The bright yellow flowers (male and female) are self pollinating. It was a real surprise to see the growth of this plant and more than 20 foot long fruits collected in one day. It is recommended to pick fruits young and green. You have to pick them almost every day otherwise they get hard fast. If you leave fruits extended time they turn light brown color. These can be used for seeds (Fig 5) and for loofa sponge. Chutney: Ingredients: Peeled ridges of gourd saved before, green cayenne pepper, cooking oil, two cloves of garlic, ½ tsp salt, 1 Tsp lemon juice, ½ tsp brown sugar, ½ tsp roasted sesame seeds and cumin seeds, 1-2 Tsp water. Process: Put 1 Tsp cooking oil in sauté pan heat to medium add peeled ridges of gourd and cayenne pepper roast for 1-2 minutes until peels turn brown. Place this into a blender add garlic, salt, brown sugar, sesame, Cumin seeds, lemon juice and water. Blend it at high speed until smooth paste. Use the chutney as a dip for chips or a spread for bread and enjoy the mouth watering taste. Nutritional Values Low saturated fat and cholesterol, high in dietary fiber, vitamin C, riboflavin, zinc, thiamin, iron, magnesium, manganese. Ridged gourds are used in vegetable curry and other dishes. by Gani Venkappa PAGE 5

6 November Climate for Austin and Vicinity AVERAGE DAILY MAXIMUM/MINIMUM TEMPERATURES In beginning of month CLIMATE AT A GLANCE End of month Minimum at beginning of month At end of month EXTREME TEMPERATURES Occurred in 1951 Occurred in 1976 Nov. 28 Average first freeze date 1 day At 32 degrees or below AVERAGE MONTHLY PRECIPITATION EXTREME PRECIPITATION RANGE 2.37 in 2.0 in SNOW fell in 24hr. period in Snow is rare in Nov in Occurred in in Occurred in 24hr period in in Only a trace, occurred in days Of precipitation observed GENERAL CONDITIONS TIME BETWEEN SUNRISE AND SUNSET 11 Clear days 55 % 7 Partly cloudy days Amount of possible sunshine in November. 3 days 12 Overcast days Dense fog observed PAGE 6 Beginning of month End of month 10 hours 59 minutes 21 hours 00 minutes SOURCE: Normon Wagner

7 A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS What s growing in your garden? Photo s from Laura Joseph s garden Take a photo of something growing in your garden and we will include in the newsletter. Please identify photo to the best of your ability. to dwainosborne@yahoo.com This is Rangoon Creeper (Quisqualis indica) in full sun by the driveway smells heavenly, especially in the evenings. Succlent cuttings My driveway succulent display which is entirely from cuttings. Photography: Katie Williams. PAGE 7

8