Member of National Capital Area Garden Clubs, Inc.,
Member of National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Capitol Hill
Garden Club Bulb Sale
YOUR HELP
NEEDED IMMEDIATELY
The bulb sale begins on
Saturday and Sunday, September 28 and 29.
We do not have enough volunteers to sell bulbs. If you can donate two hours, please contact
Bulb Sale Chairs Leanna Fenske
(202-544-4331) or Carol Casperson (202-714-0566) without delay. Selling bulbs is fun and easy. No expertise is needed. There will be “how
to” instructions available for buyers.
Volunteer shifts beyond the first weekend are also available. The success of our sale depends on you.
Synopsis
of Bodacious Bulbs
Bodacious
Bulbs
was the topic covered by Adam Pyle, Horticulturist from the US Botanic Garden,
at the first meeting of the Capitol Hill Garden Club on September 10 at the
Church of the Brethren. For five years
Adam was lead gardener of Bartholdi Park, planning displays and trying out new
gardening techniques for the mid-Atlantic region.
Some
basic recommendations for spring flowering bulbs are:
1) plant in full sun (may be under deciduous trees which come into leaf
later)
2) moderate moisture—with excellent drainage is required
3) bone meal or an organic fertilizer is preferred
4) plant to a depth of three times the height of the bulbs
5) use a pine straw mulch—or, if in a pot, overplant with pansies.
If you are planting bulbs in pots, the pots should be at least 12-14 inches deep
and wide. Use a mixture of potting soil and perlite, fill half way up and then
start layering bulbs as close as shoulder-to-shoulder covering each layer with
soil before adding the next layer—up to 7 layers in very deep pots. Experiment
with color and bloom time.
When do you plant your bulbs? Usually when the soil temperature reaches 55
degrees. Practical hints: when the asters and mums are on the wane or you turn
on the heater in your car.
In planning for use of tulips, Mr. Pyle recommends aiming for patches or
splashes of color with no less than 10 tulips with similar heights and blooming
times, but varied flower shapes and patterns in a color scheme of two or three
variations. He also suggested staggering bloom times when planting larges swaths
of tulips.
He very generously gave us his email address: http://adamjpyle.com/think-spring/
(under the heading "Think Spring") for
checking out blossom heights, bloom times, etc. on several charts he has
created. This information can be enormously helpful.
He did not confine himself to tulips and daffodils, but included ideas about
crocus, snowdrops, fritillaria, alliums, dwarf iris, and anemones. He
especially recommended the multiflowering hyacinth ‘Anastasia,’ which multiplies
readily and will last for years—unlike tulips, which he treats as annuals,
because hybrid tulips decline rapidly after their first blooming, losing size,
color, or sometimes disappearing altogether.
And yes—he recommended leaving the green leaves of perennial bulbs to die
back naturally without cutting or tying so the bulbs can develop strength for
their next year’s flowering. –Pat
Driscoll
September
29, 2013
3:00 –
5:00 PM
Fall
Garden
Party
325 South
Carolina Avenue, SE
Washington, DC
20003
Join us at the fall
garden party and please bring a friend or neighbor to learn about more about the
garden club. Please bring a donation of food for six
people, finger food only. Label your containers to make them easier to
reclaim as you leave. Beverages will be
provided. The party will be held at the
home and garden of Diane Brockett. All are welcome.
October 8,
2013
Gardening
in the Great Indoors
Regina
Lanctot
Cold weather needn’t
spell an end to the many rewards of gardening. Regina Lanctot, Merrifield Garden
Center’s expert on houseplants, will discuss plants that thrive indoors—how to
promote their optimal growth, banish common pests, and other topics.
Regina was born in Brazil and
has degrees in software engineering from universities in Brazil and Japan. After
working on Wall Street, and then for Fairfax County Public Schools, she found
her true love and cure for burnout in 2005 working for Merrifield Garden Center
as a Plant Specialist in the indoor tropical greenhouse at the Fair Oaks
location. Since working at Merrifield, Regina, in addition to her usual work in
the tropical greenhouse, has taught numerous classes, given lectures, regularly
hosts field trips for children of all ages, coordinates and hosts workshops, and
has taught the indoor plants chapter for the Loudoun County Master Gardeners’
program in Virginia (and will be teach it again this coming year). Regina lives
with her husband and three sons in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Also, at the October 8
meeting, Garden club members will vote whether to approve the budget for
2013-2014 proposed by the Board of Directors.
A draft of the budget will be posted on the Capitol Hill Garden Blogspot,
http://capitolhillgardenclub.blogspot.com/, for your review prior to the meeting.
You can also find the 2013-2014 Capitol Hill Garden Club
membership form and questionnaire at the blogspot. Membership dues for 2013-2014 are due by
October 31.
Being
Green With Greens
Did you participate in
the 2012 Deck the Halls Workshop? If so,
please let us know whether you had leftover greens in your bag that you either
discarded or gave away. We are striving
to order the right amount of greens this year—not to much or too little. If you had excess greens last year, please
take just a minute to email a note to Sandra Bruce, cococonure@gmail.com, this
week.
Tour of
Fallingwater
On May 17, 2014,
District I of National Capitol Area Garden Clubs is sponsoring a bus trip to
Fallingwater, the amazing southwest
Pennsylvania home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This all day trip includes
transportation by motor coach, a morning stop to purchase breakfast, a guided
tour of Fallingwater with extra time, and a late lunch (included) at the Stone
House Inn.. The tour is open to all
Capitol Hill Garden Club members.
Registration fee is $100. This
trip will fill quickly so act without delay.
For further details, please contact David Healy.
Capitol Hill
School Seeks
Gardeners
Carole LeRoy would like
to establish a garden at Ludlow Taylor Elementary School on 7th and G
Streets, NE. If you are interested in
working on this project, please contact her at Leroycaroleny@yahoo.fr.
