April 7, 2014

Spring 2014

*****Spring 2014*****





  
is ...

Gathering with good friends at the spring luncheon cocktail hour, looking across the table at lunch and greeting someone you haven't seen all winter, anticipating the hard work and fun of the plant sale and mentally planning your own garden designed to outwit the deer (so what if all you can plant are cleome and bloodwort!). 

Spring is going to the supermarket and buying big bunches of lovely pastel tulips.  No matter how chilly the weather - your home looks like spring. 

I am writing this from Marco Island where orchids in the market substitute for tulips.  I have been in touch with many of you over the winter and look forward to seeing all of you in April.  Enjoy the spring! 

Jayne 





New Location for Annual Plant Sale

The Cornwall Garden Club is on the move.  Well, not that far; but we’re heading across the street to the park grounds of Town Hall for our Saturday, May 10, annual plant sale.  Because of the ongoing condition issues at the Sands Ring Homestead, we’ve decided to have the sale at Town Hall, right where the Food Co-op holds their market. 

We’ll need to do things a bit differently in our new location, and plans are well underway to make that happen.  And you can help.  Do you have a tent we could borrow for the day to shelter our things and us?  How about a little wagon to help customers with all those purchases?  Please let Ilene or Andrea know if you do. 

You’ll need to be there by 7 a.m. and plan to stay until 2 p.m.  Please remember to bring your Members’ Plants and Baked Goods.  Donations for the Silent Auction and Grandma’s Attic would be greatly appreciated.  

Remember volunteers are needed for the Friday, May 9, plant delivery.  We will meet at Town Hall at11:45 a.m.  Spouses and friends are most welcome to come and lend a hand.  We are also looking for assistance on Friday night to watch over all that was delivered.  Let Ilene or Andrea know if you can give us an hour or two between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. 

Save Saturday evening for celebrating at our post plant sale pizza party.  We will collect $5 per person to cover the cost of the pizzas.  It’s a BYOB event; and, if you can, bring an appetizer, salad or dessert. 

We are looking forward to a successful day at our new location; a day filled with community spirit and fellowship. 





Spring Luncheon 

More than 50 Cornwall Garden Club members, associates and friends gathered for our annual Spring Luncheon on Saturday, March 22, at the Powelton Club in Newburgh.  While the air was still tinged with winter’s cold, warm friendship abounded. 

Marie-Elise Pearson led the day’s agenda.  We began with a fashion show with 10 members modeling various outfits from CAbi.  Our thanks to Julia Lawrence, Independent CAbi fashion consultant, for providing the clothes for the show. 



A brief business meeting that included passing our 2014-2015 operating budget was followed by a delicious lunch.  Members designed table centerpieces using the theme of “Past, Present, Future” in the format of a still life. 


























We were honored to have Jane Madis, Director for District X, Federated Garden Clubs of New York State, Inc., as our guest.  Jane conducted the induction ceremony and charged our new officers with the task of leading the club for the upcoming year.  Our officers are as follows:

President:  Jayne Petersen
First Vice Presidents (Membership):  Betty Congelli and Michele Farr
Second Vice Presidents (Beautification):  Rita
Chase and Marge Krupa
Third Vice Presidents (Program):  Sally Ryan and Fran Clifford and Amy Lawless
Recording Secretary:  Susan Olsen
Corresponding Secretary:  Sandy Kirwan
Treasurer:  Arlene DeSocio


The afternoon concluded with the distribution of the eagerly anticipated 2014 -2015 yearbook.  Thanks to Sally Mattausch for producing such a lovely and informative publication. 

  

Spring Inspiration


Marie-Elise Pearson wrote and gave the invocation at our Spring Luncheon.  Her words remind us of the wonder of Nature and friendship.  

We are thankful for the friendships that fill this room
For the generous women and their gardens about to bloom. 

We are grateful for all beauty that Nature gives
To the cities, towns and villages in which we live. 

May be always find the peace that toiling in the soil brings
As we struggle through our winters and welcome our springs. 

May we always come together to celebrate the worth
Of our gardens, and ourselves, and this wonderful Earth. 



Garden Therapy 

One of our Cornwall Garden Club projects is Garden Therapy.  The Garden Therapy Committee seeks to bring the joy of plants and flowers to those unable to pursue gardening on their own.  Our Garden Therapy outreach has concentrated on working with senior citizens. 

Last fall, the Garden Therapy Committee went to the New Windsor Country Inn and assisted residents in making autumn floral displays.  The seniors made beautiful centerpieces using pumpkins and fall foliage, dried plant material and seasonal flowers like chrysanthemums.  In addition, each resident received a small sugar pumpkin tied with raffia and with a card from the Cornwall Garden Club. 






The committee planned the activities, and all Cornwall Garden Club members were invited to assist with the carrying out of the project, said Michele Farr, the chair of the Garden Therapy Committee. 

Michele noted that the seniors always enjoy the events, and the Cornwall Garden Club members have a great time as well.  Garden Therapy is good for the spirit whether you are on the receiving or the giving side of the event. 

 


Arbor Day

 In New York State, Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday in April.  This year’s Cornwall Garden Club Arbor Day observance will take place on April 25 at 4 p.m. at Donahue Memorial Park at the river front.  All are invited to attend. 

Our state tree is the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum).  The Sugar Maple is a landscape standout with leaves that form a complete color wheel throughout the year, turning several shades of green, then from yellow to orange, and finally to red in the fall.  The diversity of this tree makes it impressive all year round but especially in the fall.  Sugar Maples tolerate shade and like a well-drained, moderately moist, fertile soil.  Sugar Maples can be found in zones 3 – 8 in all but the warmest places in the United States. 

Sugar Maples grow to 60 to 75 feet with a 40-50 foot spread, so it is wise not to plant this tree in confined areas.  Give your Sugar Maple plenty of room to grow, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful tree that will thrive for many years. 

From the Arbor Day Foundation website at www.arborday.org



Philadelphia Flower Show


In March several members of the Cornwall Garden Club said hello to Spring by braving the weather and taking to the road for a visit to the 2014 Philadelphia Flower Show.  The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Flower Show is an annual event held in early March at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  It is the world’s oldest and largest indoor flower show, attracting more than 260,000 people annually.  The show features large-scale gardens, elaborate landscapes and over-the-top floral creations. 

Visitors were treated to fabulous design, live entertainment, culinary demonstrations, gardening how-to workshops and lectures by experts.  Proceeds from the show support the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, particularly the City Harvest program, which feeds more than 1,200 families each week during the growing season. 
Next year’s show will take place from Feb. 28 – March 8.  Several local organizations sponsor charter bus trips each year to the show.  Think about joining in for a preview of Spring. 

Information from www.theflowershow.com







All America Selection Winners
It will soon be time to select your annuals and perhaps add a few new perennials for your garden.  But what to chose?  Looking to the All America Selection Winners is a good starting point as these are plants with proven results. 

Each year the All America Selections National and Regional Winners are tested for garden performance by the AAS judges.  After the judges submit their scores, those varieties that perform best over all of North America become AAS National Winners.  Entries that performed particularly well in certain regions are named AAS Regional Winners.  Once these new varieties are announced as Winners, they are available for immediate sale and distribution.  Home gardeners will find seeds available from their favorite catalog or online seed source or as young plants at their favorite garden retailer.  Some of the older AAS Winners may no longer be available. 

An AAS Trial Ground is one of the most important elements in the process of declaring AAS Winners. A Trial Ground is a location where professional horticulturists works in their fields and where the AAS entries are planted next to comparisons or, scientifically speaking, controls. That Trial Ground may be located at a university, a public garden, a commercial greenhouse operation, a breeding station, etc.  Once the AAS entries are transplanted into a Trial Ground, the AAS Judges observe and evaluate the garden performance.  Those judges, at the end of the trial season, then send their scores and evaluations to the AAS Office and an independent accounting firm for tabulation.  Only the best performers become AAS Winners.  Here are a few of the AAS Winners for 2014. 

Angelonia Serenita™ Pink F1 2014  AAS Flower Award Winner 

Easy to grow and maintain and ideal for beginner gardeners.  Elegant yet tough plants bring long-lasting color with very little maintenance.  These look beautiful in mixed combos on the patio or create a soothing sea of soft color in the landscape.  Heat-tolerant plants.  Deer and rabbit resistant. Grows 12-14" tall by 12-14" wide. 


Gaura Sparkle White  2014 AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner


Sparkle White gaura will bring a touch of airy elegance to the garden with its long slender stems sporting a large number of dainty white flowers tinged with a pink blush.  This beauty is perfect when mass planted in sun-drenched landscape beds, in groupings with other perennials or in larger containers.  Home gardeners will appreciate that this season-long bloomer also has excellent heat tolerance and a more uniform flowering habit than other seed gauras.  Sparkle White can be used as a first-year flowering perennial or as an annual.  Sparkle White is also a recipient of Europe's FleuroSelect Gold Medal award for garden performance.  







Osteospermum Akila® Daisy White F1  2014 AAS Bedding Plant Award Winner  

White osteospermums are not unique but a clear white osteo with a yellow center is a novelty, plus, it’s easily grown from seed.  Akila® Daisy White is a tidy, uniform plant with open flowers that produces non-stop blooms all summer long.  Even southern judges praised Akila’s ability to keep blooming in the heat and they also showed more drought tolerance than other osteos.  Akila is also the recipient of Europe's FleuroSelect Gold Medal award for garden performance.


 

The information and photos for this article are from the AAS website – www.all-americaselections.org.  Take a look at this site for ideas for your spring planting.  




Upcoming Events


Mark your calendar for the following upcoming events. 

April 9 – District X Spring Luncheon and Annual Meeting at the Bear Mountain Inn.  This event is sponsored by the Clarkstown Garden Club. 

April 24 – April meeting.  “Plant Sale and Flower Show Information”  6:30 p.m. at the Cornwall Presbyterian Church. 

April 25 – Arbor Day Ceremony.  4 p.m. at Donahue Park at the riverfront, Cornwall-on-Hudson. 

May 9- Annual Plant Sale Setup.  11:45 a.m. Volunteers should come to the Cornwall Town Hall to help unload the plant delivery trucks.  Gardening gloves recommended.

May 10 – Annual Plant Sale.  All members are expected to participate from 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.  Celebrate that evening at the post plant sale party. 

June 1 – 7 – National Garden Week

June 26 – June meeting. “Vanderbilt’s Mansion and Terraced Gardens”  Meet at 9:45 a.m. at the CVS parking lot for car pooling.  Bring a bag lunch. 










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