November 2008

Table of Contents

by George Cornwall

The November 25th meeting will be held at the Bowie City Hall, General Purpose Room at 7:30 p.m. The speaker for the meeting will be Esther Mitchell, the President and Volunteer Coordinator of the Prince George’s Master Gardener Program. She is a well-distinguished gardener receiving her horticulture certificate at the USDA graduate program and has educated many in our area about gardening through the Master Gardener program. Esther is very familiar with the challenges of gardening in our region since she was born and raised in the DC Metro area. She will be speaking about drought tolerant plants at the meeting. We hope to see everyone at the meeting to learn from such a knowledgeable gardener.

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by Jesse Terres

I can seldom go into my yard without seeing a plant or object that brings back memories of old friends. Signs of Jonas Bason, one of our Garden Club’s founding fathers, are all over the place. Jonas told me that the theory behind a perennial garden is to have something in bloom at all times--a tall order. When I pass his advice on to others they frequently reply, “Why certainly,” as if they had always known that. Myself, I had never thought of it from that standpoint until hearing it from Jonas. However, since Jonas, who was responsible for my conversion to perennial gardening, told me that, I’ve accepted the challenge and constantly plan to have something in bloom throughout the season. Some years have been better than others and most seasons start out well, but I seem to have a weak finish. My excuses are the weeds and heat, mostly the heat and it seems to get worse as I get older. Since I don’t give up easily I’ve already started planning for next year and will keep you advised of my progress.

This past year I grew a few more vegetables than last year and I’m planning on growing more vegetables next year. Bud Kerr told me with the economy the way it is we probably should have someone advise us on vegetable growing. This is probably a good idea. Thanks to BG&E’s thinning of the trees, I have more sunlight than in past years and might as well take advantage of it.

   During the “promising season” as Will Rogers referred to the pre-election period, you heard a lot of talk about achieving energy independence and off-shore drilling for oil. I doubt if I’ll live long enough to witness energy independence and wonder what the country will do when we use up the off-shore oil. In October’s Newsletter I discussed our government’s concern with the impact that stirring up the ocean bottom ooze from the mining of manganese nodules would have on the growth of plankton and in turn the reduction of oxygen that all life depends upon 1,000 years from now. It’s hard to imagine anyone thinking that far in advance when many of us don’t think much beyond tomorrow.

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Meeting Minutes, October 28, 2007

The Tuesday, October 28th meeting of the Bowie Crofton Garden Club was held at the Bowie Community Center on Stoneybrook Drive. The program was a business meeting followed by a Q & A discussion of our garden problems.

Jesse Terres, President called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm.

The September minutes were unanimously approved.

Jesse called for the Executive Committee reports.

Membership:  There were no new guests or members to report.

Hospitality:  The Christmas Party will be held on December 7 from 4 -7 pm at St. Matthew’s Church on Route 450. The Hospitality Chairperson, Eleanor Leshinsky, provided a sign up sheet for attendance and food to be brought to the holiday party. The sign up sheet will also be available at the November meeting.

Treasurer:  No report

Historian:  Jesse mentioned that the Historian, Francisco Roman, hopes to attend the November meeting.

Programs:  George Cornwall reported that Esther Mitchell, Master Gardener Coordinator, Prince George's County, Maryland, Department of Environmental Resources, University of Maryland Cooperative Extension will be the speaker. Her topic is to be determined.

Field Trips:  Rich Dodson reported for Ellen Brous. Ellen reminds everyone that the next field trip will be to the Philadelphia Garden Show on March 2, 2009. The trip to Longwood Gardens was held even though there were some unsold seats still available.

Garden Tours:  No report.

Newsletter:  Send articles to Don Sminkey on time. The deadline is November 8, 2008.

Public Relations:  Dorothy Bice submits monthly BCGC meeting information to the Bowie Blade News.

Sunshine:  Barbara Eberstein will send Harriet Feldman a card. Barbara is also willing to send a reminder card to those with lapsed membership. Those club members may appreciate that extra caring reminder that they’ve been missed. Please notify Barbara if you know of any member’s illness etc. so she can send a cheerful card. Barbara’s car caravan trip to Adkins Arboretum was postponed to sometime in the Spring.

New Business: 

Recruiting membership:  Ellen Brous sent Jesse Terres a newspaper clipping from another garden club. She suggested that the BCGC write a similar article to attract new members. It was suggested that our Garden Club serve refreshments at the meetings. Our hospitality Chair, Eleanor Leshinsky volunteered to see if Bowie City Hall will allow us to serve refreshments and this might increase our membership. Our membership drive is held at the annual plant sale. If a member’s dues are not paid by September, it was suggested that it would be a nice and caring courtesy to contact the member.

National Wildlife Federation (NWF):  Beth Chaison contacted Jesse Terres. There will be a meeting on November 18th at 7 pm. The NWF Habitat team would like four people to participate. The City is working with a member of the Environmental Advisory Committee to form a National Wildlife Federation Habitat Team to certify the City as a NWF community. Beth would like members of the Bowie-Crofton Garden Club, to have Jesse Terres (or a rep of the Bowie Crofton Garden Club) on the committee or at least be a resource to the committee.

Beth has at least four residents interested in participating on the team so far plus a member of the Environmental Advisory Committee who is willing to lead the team (Habitat Team Leader).

They are looking for 4-10 people to participate. The National Wildlife Federation requires the following:

Bowie has a population of approximately 56,000 people and more than 18,000 households. CWFs with populations of 50,000 – 100,000 people must acquire 500 points to be certified. At least five schools in the community must be certified (Yorktown has been certified and Rockledge and High Bridge Elementary Schools have expressed interest.) for a total of 25 points; a minimum of six community sites/places of worship/businesses must be certified (All Saints has applied for certification.) for a total of 18 points; and over 200 backyards must be certified (There are already 67 certified yards.) for a total of 200 points. See (http://www.nwf.org/community/register.cfm).

A sample Habitat Team might include representatives from a selection of the following: (Ideally NWF wants 4-10 participants):

Once the Habitat Team has formed, the first project will be to research the Bowie community and develop goals, a vision statement and an action plan based on the results of the research. With the information gathered, the Habitat Team will be able to complete the form that Beth provided Jesse and the BCGC.

If anyone has questions, please contact Elizabeth (Beth) Chaisson, Senior Planner, City of Bowie Department of Planning and Economic Development, 301-809-3051 (work).

If you would like to attend the first meeting before making a firm commitment, Beth will be glad to put you on the list and you can meet with them in November when they set-up their first meeting (tentatively set for 11/18/2008 at 7pm.)

Soroptimist Club Application: Pat Cone distributed applications for the BCGC members to submit if they wish. The Soroptimist Club is awarding a scholarship to a young woman between the ages of 14 and 17, who is caring, compassionate, creative and committed to making the world a better place. Applications are due December 1, 2008. If interested, please contact Pat Cone.

Route 197 Highway Cleanup: Harold Moline stated that he was going to have to “pass off” the leadership role on the BCGC’s commitment to clean-up Route 197, because he is possibly facing knee surgery. Linda Snow graciously volunteered to head up this BCGC quarterly activity and hopefully we can support her and volunteer an hour or two four times a year. (Editor’s note: see the article below for additional details.)

Gardening Advice:  Harold Moline provided advice on recycling – recycle, reduce, reuse. He suggested that the BCGC become a Green Club and he suggested ways for us to do so. Harold also provided coaching on seed collection and storage for the best viability in the Spring. He also offered advice on collecting and storing bulbs.

Camel Cricket T-Shirts: Gaye Williams hopes that the T-Shirts will be available at the next meeting in November.

Q & A Plant Problem Session: There was an interesting and lively discussion whereby members could get answers to resolve their gardening issues.

Door prizes were awarded, plants were shared and the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.

Gaye Williams provided the Halloween decorations and goodies and all enjoyed the delicious munchies after the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted, Kathleen Beres, Secretary

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By Karin Banta

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by Eleanor Leshinsky

The Holiday Party will be Sunday, December 7, 2008, 4:00 to 7:00 pm at St Matthews Church on Route 450 in Bowie. The Club will provide the main course of meat and punch, soda and coffee. Members should sign-up to bring a dish. And don't forget about the $10.00 gift exchange. If you wish to participate, you bring a gift to receive a gift. It must be garden related and be of about $10.00 gift value. If you don't wish to participate in the gift exchange that is quite all right. Please sign-up for the Holiday Party at the November 25th meeting or call me at 301-262-0328 no later than December 4th. I will also have a sign-up sheet for volunteers to help in set-up and clean up. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays to you and your Families!

The Garden Club currently has 28 families and 70 individual members in good standing, for a total of 120 members. If you are able to read the newsletter online or can print it and read it, please save both trees and expenses by switching to online-only newsletters. Just send an email to Lynne Snyder at LynneinMD@gmail.com to update your preferences. The less money we spend on printing and mailing newsletters, the more money we have to put toward our club’s goals.

Highway Cleanup

Harold Moline announced that he is going to have to resign the leadership role on the BCGC’s commitment to clean-up Route 197. Harold is possibly facing knee surgery. Linda Snow, one of our more active volunteers (plant sale, etc.) has graciously volunteered to head up this BCGC quarterly activity and we all should get behind her and volunteer an hour or two four times a year to help make it happen.

The previous Highway 197 clean-up occurred on Saturday, November 1, 2008. We met at the Burger King in Bowie Plaza (NOT at McDonald’s, which is closed for renovation) at 9 AM. If there are enough of us at these clean-ups we should be able to do our pick-up along our entire area of responsibility in two hours or less. Our area extends from Old 450 (by the Brady Building) up to Rockledge School. In the past six to eight of us have been able to cover that whole distance in less than two hours.

Linda will have enough bags to go around for all who show up, and trash “grabbers” for those who may have difficulty bending down to pick up trash and/or to reach into those bushes and places where trash tends to hide.

Linda’s Goal is to make these quarterly events an opportunity for club members to get together to do our “Civic Duty” in a spirit of camaraderie. To that end, she is approaching Burger King to see if they won’t provide a round of FREE sandwiches to reward the group for its efforts. If that works, fine! It will be a pleasant opportunity to sit down and visit for a few minutes to rest from our labors. If not, I’m sure that we can all afford to buy our own sandwiches and still have an opportunity to visit and “argue” over who did the best job of cleaning up their particular stretch of 197.

We hope to see you at our next Saturday morning clean-up! Stay tuned.

Should You Prune Shrubs and Trees in the Fall?

Note: Lynne Snyder called attention to this article, which appeared on the Homestead Gardens web site under gardening tips. If you don’t receive their “Inspirations” magazine, go to http://www.homesteadgardens.com or contact them at Homestead Gardens, 743 W. Central Ave., Davidsonville, MD 21035, 410-867-6336 to subscribe.

The article on fall pruning, written by horticulturist, Gene Sumi, can be read at http://www.homesteadgardens.com/garden-tips/gardening-tips-from-gene-sumi/genes-tips--solutions.html.

Pots, Sheds and Cold

Posted by GEORGE WEIGEL, The Patriot-News , November 07, 2008, 13:35PM

Q: The only place I have to store lots of pots is in an outside shed. Will this be enough to protect plants stored over winter in the pots from freezing?

A: Depends on the plant. Some things can take more cold than others, and those make it through most winters in a pot in a shed, even if the soil freezes solid. More tender, tropical species won't fare much better there than in the ground.

Examples: Geraniums, dusty miller, lantana, agapanthus, many salvias and maybe even cut-off cannas will survive most of our winters socked away in your shed. However, things like coleus, vinca, zinnias, dracaena, cordyline, bromeliads and the like probably won't.

To get an idea which is which, look at the cold-hardiness label on the plant tag. The higher the number, the less likely it'll survive. Anything listed for Zone 7 or lower should be fine. If you can swing it, I'd try to store any iffy species or things you really, really, really don't want to lose at least in an attached but unheated garage, if not in a basement, crawl space or other cool spot that never gets close to freezing.