Oct Newsletter

Transcription

1 AMLOOPS ARDEN LUB EXECUTIVE President: Rae Wilson Vice president: Sharon Green Secretary: Ruth Lunn Treasurer: Carolyn Demers Membership/Newsletter: Judy Villeneuve Directors, Liv Sallows, Roberta Marshall, Muriel McIlwain, Judy Villeneuve, Jennifer Trudeau Flower Show Director Liv Sallows Oct Newsletter Meeting will be at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, Oct 26th, in upper level of Heritage House, 100 Lorne St. Guests are always welcome. Guest Speaker Didi Bone from the community kitchens will speak about pickling. Thank You to our September Guest Speaker Elaine Sedgman who did do a power point presentation on with information from the book Growing for Flavor by James Wong. One surprising way is to stress plants a bit by reducing watering, it elevates flavor and nutrients. Another tip is to use aspirin: spraying a dilute solution on to tomato plants (half a soluble tablet per liter of water) causes their sugar content to increase by 150 per cent and boosts Vitamin C by 50 per cent with a single spray. Aspirin is a close chemical copy of the plant stress hormone, salicylic acid, which turns on the genes that regulate their defence systems, so more sugars are redirected to the developing fruit. Adding to Elaine s presentation is about storing winter squash to increase the sugar content: which includes acorn squash, spaghetti, butternut, delicata, hubbard, kabocha, turban, sweet dumpling, and of course all types of pumpkins. Winter squash keeps great in a cool dark place like the pantry. The following squash keep for:

2 Delicata (2 to 3 months) Spaghetti (2 to 3 months) Pumpkins (2 to 3 months) Butternuts (3 to 6 months) Buttercups (3 to 6 months) Turbans (3 to 6 months) Banana (3 to 6 months) Kabocha (4 to 6 months) Hubbards (4 to 6 months) Cushaws (4 to 6 months) Try to find a storage area that stays between 50 (10 ) and 55 (12.8 ) and is well-ventilated. In general, the harder and thicker the rind, the longer it will store. Be aware, however, that even prolonged exposure to temperatures below 50 (10 ) can cause damage to your squash, so no fridge. Acorn squash is an exception to the curing (left in sun for a week or two) rule, as it declines in quality. It keeps (without curing) in ideal conditions for a month or two at most. Thank you for last month s goodies from Carolyn Demers and Mary Pallot. This month s will be brought by Mary Bianco and Sheila Frances. Grocery Receipts Remember to bring in your grocery receipts For Mary Bianco from Independent Grocery store at North Hills Mall, as we receive gift certificates for them which we use to buy our Christmas turkeys and Prime Rib Roasts. A vote will be asked for to decide if members like the new brochure designed by Sharon Green, reducing the yellow full page trifold to one cardboard narrow card. It will be easier to carry in a purse to hand out to potential new members, and it narrows down the activities of the club, and meeting times. Some of the southern interior clubs are promoting a business card size to hand out, but sometimes those get lost in amongst all the other store cards we all have to carry these days.

3 President s position: Rae Wilson wants to retire the end of this year, so we will need to elect a new person in February. Members need to consider volunteering for the job. Duties of the president are to preside at all club meetings, examine all correspondence and arrange for proper action to be taken and insure that all club business is properly conducted. That is all. Not a complicated or difficult job to do. Rae has always gone above and beyond by finding a speaker, collecting items for the Christmas party silent auction, and making arrangements for the spring plant sale, though this activity is a group effort by many club members. Rae said he will continue to do the silent auction, but it is possible for someone other than the president to find speakers, even all members should come up with ideas for subjects they wish to explore, and recommend anyone they know who might be a good speak Fall Garden Cleanup: some plants that do better if foliage is left on till spring. I am reprinting this list of overwintering plants from last year for those who forgot and for new members. Artemisia: need their foliage cover for winter protection, to avoid dieback or death. Leave old foliage as a marker for Asters, Balloon flower, Blue Mist shrub (Caryopterist), Butterfly Bush, Campanula, Cardinal Flower, Cushion Spurge (Euphorbia), Delphinium, Dianthus, Foamflower (Tiarella), Foxglove are pruned back after flowering and produce a rosette of basal growth which should be left on. Gas Plant has irritating sap that is less pronounced in spring dormancy. Geum can remain semi-evergreen in mild winters. Globe Thistle will respond well to a pruning in July, producing more flowers and sturdier plants that will stand for the winter and feed the birds. Winter survival is improved if not cut back hard in the fall, Heartleaf Bergenia: The shiny round leaves can remain evergreen in mild winters and even cold damaged leaves can remain an attractive bronze color, clean-up in spring, only as needed. Hosta: Although the foliage gets ugly over winter, some hosta varieties can be damaged by spring frosts and benefit from the protection of the collapsed foliage, and make it easier to find them. Lamb s Ear: There s no point in trying to clean up for the winter. Let it be and remove winter damage when the leaves perk up in the spring.

4 Lavender: Don t prune late in the season, new growth is extremely cold sensitive. Wait until new growth appears in the spring before removing winter die back. Lupines are temperamental, short-lived perennials and they do not enjoy winter. Leave the foliage on for protection and hope for the best come spring. Sea Holly (Eryngium) often gets a flush of new growth in the fall and cutting it back can cause unnecessary winter die-back. Mums (Chrysanthemum) need the foliage intact to protect the plant s crown, better to let the flowers bloom well into the fall. Oriental Poppies appear to be ephemeral, disappearing or declining after the blooms fade. However a new flush of foliage should emerge and can be left on the plants over winter to act as mulch. Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa) Remove the old flower stems, but this plant is so temperamental, leaving the old foliage may be the only way you will know where the plant was. In warmer areas, where it is hardier, the foliage may be evergreen. Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia): trim back the foliage as it begins to decline, but don t cut it back entirely. The crown is very sensitive to cold and leaving a clump of foliage will help protect it. Trimming by ½ will keep the foliage from completely flopping. Russian Sage doesn t like to be trimmed back in that fall, because its tender growth is too sensitive to cold. Wait until new growth appears in the spring and then cut back to about 6-8". If the only new growth is from the base of the plant, the entire top woody section has died back and it can be pruned to the ground. Sea Lavender: The flowers are held so high on this airy plant that it s easy to forget the cluster of leaves at the base. Go ahead and forget them. Let them be for the winter and clean-up any die back in the spring. Sea Holly (Eryngium) It's the rare Eryngium that isn't cut back for drying, but a good deadheading in late summer will encourage a flush of basal growth that will carry the plants through winter. No further fall pruning should be done. Sedum: Many of the tall Sedums can remain attractive throughout the winter, even holding caps of snow on their flower heads. Autumn Joy, in particular, holds up very well. The basal foliage appears very early in spring, so Sedum can be one of the first plants you prune then. Last November I spayed several large seed heads with red paint and it lasted till spring and brightened up the garden. They can also be used in outdoor foliage arrangements. Tickseed (Coreopsis) seem to fare better if allowed to stand during the winter and cleaned-up in the spring, but are rampant self-seeders, so cut off seed heads.

5 Turtlehead: Keeping the foliage on until spring seems to improve winter survival. Valarian, Jupiter s Beard (Centranthus ruber) cutting it back to about 6-8 inches in late summer and leaving that new growth over winter, increase chance of survival. Wand Flower (Guara) is such a short-lived perennial that allowing the flowers to remain and possibly self-seed may be the only way you ll see another Guara pop up in the garden next spring. Tidbits from Gardening: a Gardener s dictionary by Beard and McKie Hope this is not what is happening in your yard, the definition of fruit: General term for seed-bearing part of a plant that turns mushy, is eaten by birds or worms, drops off, rots, gets funny spots and speckles, pockmarks the lawn, isn t what was pictured in the catalog, tastes like a glove, or doesn t appear at all. That s why we took out our apple, crabapple, and peach trees. As winter brings sad feelings for gardeners watching their flowers turn brown, here are some new and lovely plants recommended by Minter Gardens in a little brochure, eye candy for next year s shopping. Seaside Serenade Fire Island Hydrangea Hortfire Zone 4

6 Miscanthus sinensis Ghana 60 tall, bright green leaves turn russet in fall, zn 5 Weigela Sonic Bloom Zone 4a or 5, blooms from May till frost, tall

7 Pretty Grand Mix Petunias are made up of most of the colors from the series which include deep pink, midnight, purple, red, rose, summer and white. The Pretty Grand series is more compact and better branching. The foliage stays closer to the ground while the blooms are held a little higher which reduces the risk of Boytritis, 6 to 8 tall. ( Madness ones are but get leggy by August) are always scented, some of these are but will have to see. Pee Gee Hydrangea Fire and Ice 3-4 Zone 3 Appear as cream color, slowly turning to pink in summer, then in fall magenta and burgundy.

8 Rose of Sharon Purple Pillar tall and narrow, zone 5 Sambucus Black Tower 6-8 tall, Zone 4 Judy Villeneuve

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