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The Essex Thymes
The
Newsletter of the Essex & District Horticultural Society for APRIL 23,
2008.
From our President:
Hello Everyone:
Isn’t it wonderful to have that sunshine a
little more often? I think Spring is finally reaching the turning point
and winning; it sure has had a rough time getting started this year. As I
write this (the 16th) , a few daffodils are out and the tulips
near the foundation have some nice big fat buds so it is very promising
indeed. The hellebores is blooming so pretty beneath some browned up
leaves but it has been so cold, I hate to cut off those protective leaves,
poor things.
On Saturday April 5th, Kathy Hudak and
I attended the District meeting, put on by Belle River, and it was a very
nice meeting. It is so great to get together with the executives of the
other area clubs and there was a lot of
“networking “ going on. Next year, it is our turn to be the
hosts in the fall for this meeting.
We learned that almost every Society in Essex
County and beyond is having a plant sale the same day as we are.
Tonight’s meeting will be our seed and plant exchange but next
month we need LOTS of plants, potted up preferably, for our plant sale.
Please keep it in mind, and if you can volunteer some time, in the morning
especially, we would really appreciate it.
Also it will be a bake sale, so we need everyone baking something -
if you don’t bake perhaps you have something in your garden you can
bring, such as asparagus or rhubarb, or even green onions.. Those items
are always a hit. I think this year we will also add books and magazines -
how about that for an executive decision - it can’t hurt. Let’s have a
lot of fun with it that day and PLEASE come early in the morning to help
out. We need you there by 830 - to set up and get things in place.
(many customers show up by 8:30 am). The craziest time is always just on
opening - and you don‘t need to stay all day, just a few hours would be
wonderful, but early morning is critical.
District 11 is thinking about holding a Judging
School once again. If any of you are interested please see me. It is a
large commitment but a very rewarding one. It usually is held over a 2-3
year period and takes place on usually Fridays and Saturdays ( has to be 2
days back to back) and done in 5 different Seasons of a year. Each
President must let the District know how many people are committed to
wanting to take the course.. There is a cost- depends on how many take the
course. Judges are brought from London or the RGB to teach and all this
takes money. It is hands on -
you do arrangements, etc and are critiqued.
Judging of fruit and vegetables is also done. There is a test after
every session. It’s a lot of work but its also rewarding and it’s a
lot of fun too. The place it
will be held will depend on where the majority of those interested are
from, so it is centralized. So
think about it carefully and let me know as soon as possible.
The bus trip is
wrapping up - get your payments in as soon as you can, please. It should
be fun. It also is coming up fast. I hope you all have a great month and
we’ll see you back here next month. Happy gardening!
Sandy
^TOP^
Congratulations Sandy!
On April 4, 2008, during an Ontario Volunteer
Awards ceremony in Windsor, our President, Sandy Ellenor, was recognized
with a 20 Year Volunteer Service Certificate for her work in the Essex
Windsor Master Gardeners Association.
.....And speaking of Master Gardeners: If you have
a question for them, please contact the organization at essexwindsor@master
gardeners.fastmail.fm
Question: What is the herb anise used for?
I thought I might like to try growing it.
Answer: Anise (Pimpinella anisum) is an annual that grows
best in a well drained loam in a sunny location.
Home-grown seeds are much more potent than the spice found in
stores. When the seed heads
begin to ripen in late summer, cut the stalks and tie a paper bag around
the seed heads. Hang them
upside down. The seeds will
fall into the bag. Save some
for the following year.
Anise seeds are said to be a digestive aid and are
used in liqueurs such as anisette and sambucca. They are used in combination with other herbs to make
herbal drinks and in baking.
Marie Tiborcz’s “Found Projects”
#4
Instead of throwing away that old wheelbarrow, why
not fill it with annuals? It
can be moved around to any spot in the yard if the plants need more sun or
shade and also if a section of the yard needs an extra splash of colour.
Coleus and petunias do great in this type of container.
Marie’s sister Dorothy also suggests using a child’s wagon in
the same fashion.
Dorothy Vriesackers “ Found Timely Tips”,
Month 3
Do you have a potting shed or a
small greenhouse? This might
be a great area in which to set up a dining table.
Cover it with a great looking cloth and dishes and finish it off
with a centre piece made of a handful of cut flowers, a clean pair of
garden gloves & a trowel. Tie
all together with twine, spread out the flower stems and place in the
middle of the table
^TOP^
The Great Sunflower
organization at www.greatsunflower.org (or sfbee@sfsu.edu) has sent us the following
information:
This organization has just launched The Great
Sunflower Project, a community science project with the goal of increasing
our understanding of where bees are doing poorly and how the pollination
of our garden and wild plants are being affected. The organization is
hoping we will join them in planting sunflowers in your garden. Community,
demonstration, and school gardens are invited to participate.
The food you grow in your home garden and that is
grown in gardens around the world help people make ends meet in a healthy,
sustainable way. Many plants can't set fruit until they have been visited
by a bee.
We know that some bees have had severe declines
which may be affecting food production. No one has ever measured how much
pollination is happening over a region, much less a continent so, we don't
know anything about how these declines in bees influence gardens. The
project is going to use data collected by people like us to produce the
first real map of the state of the bees. The only way to do this is to get
as many people as possible collecting information from as many places as
possible. We can help. Plant a sunflower. The organization will send you some free native
sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seed and twice a month, it would like you to
time how long it takes for 5 bees to visit that sunflower. This
information will give the organization an index of pollination that they
can use to compare across the United States.
Once the organization knows where bees are in trouble, it can start
developing a plan to help the bees
Plant a seed or two, spend 30 minutes watching
your flowers twice a month and send or input your data. Plant, Watch,
Type. That's it. And, who doesn't like sunflowers..... Sunflowers make you happy.
Sunflowers make you smarter.
Sunflowers help you make friends. Sunflowers make school or
work go by quickly. Sunflowers
will teach you about science. Sunflowers will help.
^TOP^
Building your word power
horticulturally
-
geoponic (jee-uh-PON-ik)
adjective - Of or relating to agriculture. [From Greek geoponikos, from
geo- (earth) + ponein (to toil).] Sometimes
the term geoponics is used to refer to growing of plants in earth, as
contrasted with hydroponics (growing in water) or aeroponics (in air). -Anu
Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
From www.idealbite.com
The inside of a cucumber on the vine measures as
much as 20 degrees cooler than the outside air on a warm day.
Bees fly 15 mi per hr, but stop to visit 50 to 100
flowers on each pollination trip
Homemade compost is the cheapest, best soil
amendment around, eliminating the need for chemical or other commercial
fertilizers while reducing waste.
The plant with the largest cluster of flowers in
the world - titan arum - is also one of the smelliest plants in the world;
it's nicknamed "corpse flower" because it smells like a
decomposing mammal.
From Margaret Atwood:
In Spring at the end of the day,
You should smell like dirt.
************There is a
Garlic Mustard pull at Cedarwin on May 4th.
For details call 519 733 4845
Tips for Ridding
Hosta of Slugs
1. Mix
one part liquid ammonia to seven parts water. Spray directly on the slugs or pour onto the soil in early
spring to kill over wintering eggs. This
should be done when the pips are three to four inches high - John Tripp -
information found in the Master Gardner newsletter, Summer, 2006
2. Wormwood
Tea for Slugs: Cut back wormwood (Artemisia)and put a handful of the stems
in about a gallon of boiling water. Let it steep until cool.
Strain and put the water around Hosta to control the slugs - John
Tripp - information found in the Master Gardener newsletter, Summer, 2006
3. The
following information was found in “ Essential tips and Techniques for
Successful Gardening “ from the Editors of Canadian Gardening (a)
Create a sharp barrier again slugs by encircling Hosta with crushed
eggshells, pine needles, or diatomaceous earth;
(b) Grow Hosta that have tough, thick, puckered
quilted and heavier leaves; these are less tasty to slugs and snails;
(c) Dig a plastic container into the soil and half
fill with beer, refreshing it every two days.
(d) Folded wet newspaper of a shingle or board
laid on the ground will attract slugs, especially overnight
and they can be dealt with in the morning.
(e) If your garden has old logs, stumps or piles
of stone or uncut grass sections near a pond toads and
snakes will be attracted and will eat the slugs
^TOP^
You may wish to take in meetings of our neighbouring
Horticultural Societies
Belle River
meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month at the K of C in
Emeryville except July and August; Their BBQ and flower show is in June.
Fort Malden
meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at the Community building
next to the arena in Amherstburg, except for June, July, August and
December.
Kingsville meets
the 3rd Monday of the month at the Lions Club Hall, 21 Mill
Street South, except July, August and December.
Leamington meets
the 3rd Wed. of each month at the Leamington United Church, 9
John Street except for July and August.
Their December meeting is their annual Christmas dinner
Tilbury meets
the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Tilbury Area Public
School Library on Mabel St. In Tilbury, except for January, July, August
& December, . Their
annual dinner meeting is in November.
.....And remember that our own Essex Horticultural
meetings are the 4th Wednesday of the month, not
necessarily the last Wednesday of the month.
We do not meet in July, August or December.
All above Horticultural Society meetings start at 7:30
p.m. unless otherwise announced
^TOP^
Coming Events
April
23
General Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
Speaker: Louie Fiorino
- Ponding 101
Installing a pond to entice frogs and raising fish
Plant and Seed Exchange
May 10
Annual Plant at Bake Sale at the Essex Railroad Station
Also, Kingsville Hort. Society Plant Sale at Lion’s Hall,
Kingsville
Also, Belle River Hort. Society Plant Sale in Belle River
May 13
Directors Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
May 24 & 25
The Fort Malden Horticultural Society presents their Annual Garden
Tour and Fair. View up to 15
private and public gardens and to come to the Amherstburg arena to shop
for plants, garden art and various other products to make your gardening
experience more satisfying. The cost of the tour - $10 and the gardens are
open from 10 am to 4 pm both Saturday and Sunday. Buy your tickets for the
self-guided tour at the Amherstburg Arena. Browse through the vendor's
booths at the arena (admission is free) and maybe pick up some plants or
some garden art for yourself. There will also be demonstrations and a
Master Gardeners booth throughout the eekend at the arena. All information
will be published in the brochure that you receive when you pay for the
tour.
May 28
General Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
Speaker:
Susan Ross from Leamington Horticultural Society - tropical fruits
June 7
Bus Trip Monroe
Honey near Alvinston, greenhouses in Eagle where we will also be having
our lunch and the Glass House in Chatham. See write up on page 5 of this
March newsletter. Sign up and pay up soon; space is limited.
June 10
Directors Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
June 25
General Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
Speaker: Marg Dudley - Bearded Iris - Everything you want to know
July 6
Belle River Horticultural Society Garden Tour
Call Marg Dudley’s cell AFTER MAY 14TH for details
519 - 979 – 9169
July 6
Kingsville Horticultural Society Garden Tour, Kingsville. Meet at the tourist Gazebo on
Division S. at the police station. If
anyone knows the time, let Lynn know.
Please
note that Leamington Horticultural Society is not having a Garden Tour,
again, this year.
July 12
Annual Flower Show with the Theme “Alice in Wonderland” at
the Essex United Church during the Fun Fest.
The church will be celebrating its 100th anniversary
that weekend and has invited many guests to participate so we are hoping
for a good crowd
August 22 - 24
OHA Convention in Brampton
Sept 9
Directors Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
Sept 20
Master Gardeners Seminar at Colasanti’s Gardens - open to
everyone - see brochure attached to your February newsletter - Keynote
Speaker: Mitchell Hewson, HTM, ‘Horticulture As Therapy’.
Other speakers include Joanne Miehls, Master Gardener, Healing the
Earth, One Family at a Time: Sandy Ellenor, Master Gardener, Healing Herbs
for Body and Spirit: Mary Jo Rusu, The Creating of Healing Gardens:
Call 519-258-7150 for further details.
Sept 24
General Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
Speaker: Lynn Imeson - Pressing flowers
Plant
and Seed Exchange
October 14
Directors Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
October 22
General Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
Speaker: Alan & Karen Batke - native wild flowers
Silent Auction
Nov 11
Directors Meeting at Kinsmen Field House 7:30 pm
Nov 26
Annual Pot Luck Dinner & Elections of Officers 6:00 pm
Set up at 5:00 pm
Location to be announced
As usual, please bring a
dish of food to be shared, your own (Christmas) place setting, including
cutlery, glasses, cups and plates. Tea,
coffee and other drinks will be supplied.
Speaker: Representative from Pam’s Flowers, Belle River
^TOP^
CEMENT WORKSHOPS
Please see info below for on
going workshops at Lynn Imeson’s, 4369 Graham Side Road ,Cottam area.
Please contact Lynn before attending.
519 839-4751
Hyper
Tufa Troughs
Saturday,
April 26, 9 am
Price:
$15.00 for workshop and one trough. Any additional troughs are $5.00
Curved
Leaf Stones - aka Butterfly Baths -using Rhubarb Leaves
(If
you have Rhubarb Leaves of your own, please bring them along
-
they keep well for several days in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator)
Thursday,
May 8, 9 am
Thursday,
May 15, 9 am
Thursday,
May 22, 6:30 pm
Price:
$12.00 for workshop and one stone. Any additional curved stones are $5.00
Stepping
Stones - using Rhubarb Leaves - again bring along your own leaves if you
have some.
Wednesday,
May 14, 9 am
Thursday,
May 15, 6:30 pm
Thursday,
May 22, 9 am
Price:
$12.00 for workshop and one stone. Any additional stepping stones are
$5.00
^TOP^
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