Hill Garden News. Message From The Board. by Joseph Purdy

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1 From: Subject: Date: To: Capitol Hill Garden Club CHGC Newsletter, October 2017 October 8, 2017 at 11:00 AM Joseph Purdy The Capitol Hill Garden Club's Hill Garden News October, 2017 Message From The Board by Joseph Purdy Communications Team Needs Help! It has been my pleasure to serve as our Club s Communications Chair, webmaster and newsletter editor for the past 4 years. It s a lot of fun, and it has been a great way for me to stay connected to other Club members. But Anthony and I have moved to Delaware, and while we plan to continue our Club membership, I cannot continue to manage these functions. Teri Speight is taking on the newsletter, many thanks Teri! And Jennifer Cate created and manages our Facebook page, many thanks Jennifer! We now need one or two people to take on the other functions of Communications Chair and webmaster. The Communications Chair must be approved by the Board of Directors, and then serves as a voting member on the Board. This person attends all Board meetings monitoring issues and ensures that timely information is provided to members and to the public about programs, workshops, meetings, events, and other gardening matters of interest to our members. This information is distributed directly from the Communications Chair or via the persons responsible for the newsletter or Facebook. The ideal candidate for this position has some experience

2 for the newsletter or Facebook. The ideal candidate for this position has some experience managing communications. With regard to our website, we use software from Wild Apricot. They provide lots of documentation on managing the site, including videos and occasional classes. They also have an 800 number to call when you are stumped. Overall, it s more complicated than PowerPoint and/or Word, but too not much. So if you enjoy using those types of programs, this ought not to be difficult for you. It will require a time commitment at first, to learn the software, then an hour or so each month. This software experience is not for everyone, and the ideal member to take this on ought to have some communications experience. So please, give this some thought. You can me to find out more about what is involved, or you can send a message to Ed. Meetings and Events Our Next Meeting Fragrance In The Garden Featured Speaker: Claire Jones ( Chosen to decorate the White House for Christmas 2011, Claire is a beekeeper and active Garden Club member in Maryland. A Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturalist, Claire's garden designs have been featured in Chesapeake Home, Style magazine, and National garden tours. We are excited to have Claire Jones speak with us about incorporating fragrance in our gardens. If you can help by bringing some refreshments, e.g. a sweet or savory treat of some kind, please reach out to Eileen Reagan to let her know. Tuesday, October 10, :15 PM The Northeast Library Lower Level Conference Room 7th & Maryland Ave NE Washington, DC Our First Social Gathering Of The Year!

3 Our First Social Gathering Of The Year! Our first social gathering of the years is always fun - and important. That's because the board of directors encourages members bring neighbors who are interested in gardening so that they can learn more about our garden club and perhaps join. Many thanks to Judy and Mike Canning who hosted this year's event in their lovely home and garden. If you were not able to be there, and if you know someone who may want to learn more about our Club and/or to join it, please send them to our website. You can also bring prospective new members to any of our regular meetings as they are all open to the public. Barracks Row Day Once again, the Capitol Hill Garden Club had a booth at Barracks Row Day where our members shared gardening advice and handed out complimentary seed packets. Many thanks go out to Jennifer Cate who organized this event for our Club, and to the many Club members who signed up to work shifts through out the day. This event if always a great way to create awareness of our Club within the ever-growing Capitol Hill neighborhood and to attract new members. Other News From The Club We need your help As a member of the Capitol Hill Garden Club, you ll find many ways to learn more about gardening and to share your own gardening experiences. From our informative monthly meetings to the very popular May Walk, there are many was to have fun with fellow neighbors and garden lovers. But it takes more than your dues to make all of these events happen, we need your help. Community Projects Committee - The Capitol Hill Garden Club has a history of involvement in our neighborhood, performing gardening related services and projects to enhance our community. These activities have

4 enhance our community. These activities have included gardening at libraries, working at the Arboretum, donating Spring bulbs for planting in public spaces, designing and building the new Verizon garden, and more. This committee has a clean slate and is ready for someone to take the reigns to help identify and lead the completion of a few garden-oriented projects on the Hill. This is a fun way to broaden our relationships in the community and attract new members. Can you chair this?? Program Committee - This team meets once in the Spring to plan and decide what topics would be of interest to our members at the coming season's monthly meetings. We need a new Chair for this committee. The good news is, most of the work is done for this year as all of the topics have been chosen. The new Chair will be responsible for setting up the AV equipment, coordinating the arrival of the speaker through the club host and resolving any remaining speaker issues that may come up. Do you enjoy the Greens Party? If so, we are seeking someone who is willing to serve as the coordinator for this special event. The coordinator is responsible for securing the venue, ordering and bagging the greens, and identifying volunteers to assist with the overall project. We need to identify a coordinator by October 15, If not, we will not have the party this year...and that is a real bah humbug. Please contact EJ Traux if you are interested in learning more about the overall scope of the project. EJ served as the coordinator last year. If you're willing to volunteer for any of these opportunities, please contact Ed Peterman. National Capitol Area Garden Club The National Capitol Area Garden Club has recently updated its website. To help spread the word about NCAGC activities in a timely fashion, the NCAGC communications team will be distributing announcements directly to all of the active members, including all members of our Club. The CHGC will no longer serve as the gatekeeper regarding the redistribution of NCAGC information. Check out their new website here.

5 It's Time To Renew Your Membership With the new season upon us, you can renew your membership in the Capitol Hill Garden Club by mailing your payment to the Capital Hill Garden Club, c/o Liz McClure, th Street SE, Washington, D. C You can also pay it in person at the next meeting. Couple's Membership - $55 Individual Membership - $35 To ensure that you receive all member benefits, please send your payment by October 31, If you have friends or neighbors who want to become members, please send them to our website to the Join Now page where they can complete the registration process. There Is So Much For Gardeners To Do In Washington The Capitol Hill Gardens Club's Local Events and Opportunities page on our website has lots of things foryou to do in and around the Washington area. Plan to visit this page often to see what new items are posted, or just visit the page one time and click Subscribe. When you subscribe, you'll receive automatic s each time a new activity is posted. Many thanks for Carol Edwards for posting all of these events for us on the website. Dear Problem Lady Feeling beset by gardening problems? Send them to the Problem Lady c/o theproblemlady@gmail.com. Your problems might prove instructive to others, and help them feel superior to you. Complete anonymity is assured. I know I should mulch my garden to help my plants survive winter protect their roots and help them retain moisture but I fear that while a layer of mulch is going to do the job and look neat, it will shut off plant roots from oxygen, which they need. What mulch is best, and how much of it should I spread?

6 much of it should I spread? A shallow layer (two inches max) of compost or well-composted leaves makes the best mulch. Do not use mulch that has not been composted first. Raw shredded wood or bark, straw, pine needles, sawdust -- all steal precious Nitrogen from soil as they decompose. In addition, fine Pine and cedar wood shavings are very acidic, so use them only on plants that need acid soil. Can you advise about bulb planting? I know tulips don t survive our hot summers very well, but I love them. What s the best way to get a real show of tulips every single year in DC? Plant new tulip bulbs every fall. Buy ones that bloom early, in late March or early April, before the weather gets hot, and choose the biggest bulbs. Prepare a fairly deep bed, say 9 inches or so deep, and space your bulbs around the bottom of the bed fairly close together, about 4-5 inches apart. Fill up the bed with good loose rich compost. Then cover the bed with metal screening known as hardware cloth to prevent squirrels from getting at them. Remove it after the ground has frozen. When can I cut ratty-looking peony leaves away? The right time for peony pruning is in fall, after frost has killed leaves. Clip stems as close to the ground as possible. Gather all leaves, stems and any other plant debris. Don t compost this material; bag it and put it out with the trash. Peonies sometimes have fungal diseases that can survive winter on a piece of leaf or stem. Which is best time, spring or fall, for planning clematis? I have my eye on General Sikorski the most heavenly mauve color. Fall is a grand time, while weather is still warm enough to help the roots get started. (But spring is OK too.) Remember to dig a very deep hole, plant a bit deeper than the plant s bottom growth, which you then cut off. Fill the hole with top quality compost and a handful of bone meal. Mulch well. Plant about 6 inches out from a fence or wall, so the clematis will catch enough rain. Use a small-bore trellis or chicken wire against the fence and train any existing shoots to ray out, even parallel, along the wires. Contact Information Ed Peterman, President Joseph Purdy, Webmaster Terri Speight, Newsletter Editor

7 Click here for a complete list of our Club's Key Contacts Visit Our Website! or Find us on facebook. For More Information about the Capitol Hill Garden Club please visit our website or find us on facebook. Copyright 2017 Capitol Hill Garden Club. All rights reserved. Contact heyjoe.here@verizon.net You are receiving this message because you opted in at Unsubscribe