Credits:
Photographs by Marge Krupa, Sally Mattausch and Andrea Hamburger. Research from the New York Botanical Garden website and the American Horticultural Society’s Encyclopedia of Gardening.
Recent Meetings
Our recent meetings were well attended; but if you weren’t able to make it, here’s what happened.
July: The Cornwall Garden Club traveled to Storm King Art Center in Mountainville for our July meeting. Club members assembled in the upper parking lot, and we divided into three groups. Eileen Tulloch, Sally Mattausch and Sally Ryan donned their Storm King Art Center docent hats and led the groups on tours of the works located on Museum Hill.
Then we all took the tram tour with its spectacular views of Schunnemunk and Storm King Mountains. The care given to the placement of the art work and the incorporation of the natural setting into the displays was evident. The meadows filled with wildflowers and grasses, the maple allee, and the pin oak and weeping willow plantings contributed to the enjoyment of the art.
After our tour, we enjoyed our brown bag lunch at the picnic grove and held a business meeting. It was a perfect summer day for a picnic – not too hot and with a bright blue sky – and a perfect day to visit one of our community treasures – the Storm King Art Center.
August: The August program centered on medicinal and healing herbs. Clinical herbalist Marguerite Dunne spoke on the use of herbs to improve well being. She discussed growing and collecting beneficial herbs and the role herbs played prior to the creation of modern medicine.
The meeting included horticulture displays, talks about ginger and compost worms, and floral exhibits. During the business meeting we welcomed Dawn Vacek as a new member.
Welcome to Dawn!
Dawn Vacek joined the Cornwall Garden Club at our August meeting. Dawn was raised in Cornwall and remembers Organic Gardening and Farming as one of the few magazines the family subscribed to. She enjoyed a successful career as a real estate broker and now manages a few rentals around the area.
Dawn looks forward to learning about floral design and said she thinks her arrangements have improved since she started attending meetings. She is already growing red wiggler worms, and there are no blooms left on her hydrangeas because she’s been making so many arrangements.
Dawn says she is excited to be part of the group. Betsy Turner will serve as Dawn's Mary Mentor. Welcome Dawn!
September: Landscaping was the topic for our September meeting held at the Cornwall Presbyterian Church. Joe Sapp, landscape designer, and Jodi Jenkins, horticulturalist, outlined how they approach their custom made design projects. Joe said he begins his consultations by asking a client a series of questions with the first being “What is your primary focus?” Other questions include “What will be your focal point?” and “How will the area be used?” Jodi recommends the plants for the designs. She stressed how important it is to use deer resistant plants. (see recipe below)
A horticulture display and talks on Egyptian walking onions, an heirloom onion variety, and permaculture, an ecological design system, were part of the evening’s agenda.
During the business meeting, the membership voted to keep the floral design, horticulture display and horticulture design program the same for another year.
Deterring Deer
At our September meeting, we discussed the ever popular topic of dealing with our neighborhood deer herd. First on the list of coping with the four-footed chewers was planting deer resistant plants. Jodi Jenkins, guest horticulturist, said very few plants are deer proof as hungry deer will eat almost anything.
If your supposedly deer resistant plants are being eaten, club members suggested protecting small plants by covering them until they become established. As plants mature, they seem to be less tasty. Planting deer resistant plants in front of other types of plants also helps keep down the foraging.
Several members reported success using our homemade deer repellent recipe and provided suggested modifications to make it easier to apply. Here’s the recipe and some suggestions.
Ingredients
2 raw eggs
1 cup skim milk
1 cup water
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbs. sticker/spreader (available at garden supply stores) or dish soap
Application
Blend together and mix well. Add to gallon sprayer and fill to line with water.
Spray every two weeks or as needed. It will wash off, so respray after a very heavy rain.
Member modifications and suggestions: Place the mixture in a two liter soda bottle. Punch a few holes in the plastic top of the bottle and squirt the spray on the perimeter of your garden. This works well on wooden fences as the liquid soaks into the wood.
Using garlic powder makes the process much easier; and, it seems to work just as well as using the fresh garlic. Use three tablespoons of garlic powder in place of the raw garlic. Removing the stringy parts of the egg white by straining the eggs helps keep the sprayer from getting clogged.
A small – one gallon – hand pressurized pump sprayer works well for application. They cost under $20 at Home Depot or Lowe’s. A hand sprayer – an empty Windex bottle – would work, but it will be tiring to do a large area.
This stuff smells, so spray when you are not planning on being in the yard for awhile. If you don’t use up the entire batch, you can keep it for use later. Warning – it really gets smelly after a few days. Making a half batch (using one egg) is a better idea than saving it.
Garden Club Signs
Signs informing passersby that the gardens at Chadeayne Circle and the Bandstand are maintained by the Cornwall Garden Club are a new addition to the gardens. Club member Jayne Petersen spearheaded the initiative to have the signs made and get them installed.
Jayne pointed out that the purpose of the signs is to let the community know what the Cornwall Garden Club does. The signs may also inspire someone to join our ranks and contribute to our community service efforts.
Club members Margaret Vatter and Beverly Abraham and spouses Chris Olander and Tom Petersen assisted in the purchase and installation of the signs. Many thanks to all!
Hurricane Irene
When Hurricane Irene passed through Cornwall, the Canterbury Creek, usually a scenic babbling brook, became a community hazard. The creek overflowed its banks and water streamed over our gardens at the Chadeayne Circle and down Main Street.
In a matter of days, Cornwall Garden Club members pitched in to remove rubbish and rake. Displaced plants were gently replanted, and mulch was replaced on the flower beds.
Soon Chadeayne Circle was looking back to normal. Although there is some hurricane damage in Cornwall especially along the Moodna, we are thankful our community was spared the devastation seen in some areas.
Chrysanthemums
Although the hours of daylight are lessening and fall is here, nature still has floral beauty for us. A hallmark of fall – the chrysanthemum – is in full bloom in our gardens and at garden stores.
Chrysanthemums come in a wide variety of forms from the dainty pom-pom to the showy spider. Their vibrant colors and long lasting blooms make them wonderful additions to our gardens.
Mums bought at garden stores can be planted directly into your garden. Plant in a sunny location in well drained soil. Mums are sensitive to the length of the day and bloom when the days shorten. Make sure you don’t plant your mums where they will receive artificial light from a street light or your porch. Remember to give them room to spread. And even though we have had so much rain, don’t forget to water as needed.
After a strong killing frost that withers the plant’s foliage, adding a light mulching will help the plant survive the winter. Keeping the foliage over winter rather than pruning back in the fall will help protect the plant from freezing.
Come spring, the mum should send up new shoots. Pinching back the shoots encourages branching and helps keep the plant from getting too tall and leggy. When a shoot is between four and six inches tall, gently pinch out the apical bud of each shoot every few weeks. Stop pinching the middle of June in order for the plant to set up flower buds.
A well established mum will bloom profusely for several weeks each fall, giving you one more beautiful flowering plant even as summer fades.
