| Thursdays at the Hort |
Thursday, February 14
7 PM - 8:30 PM
Sensational Dahlias - Something for Everyone
Have you always wanted to grow dahlias but think they're too much trouble? Did you know there are 18 different forms of dahlias in sizes from 2 inches to over 10 inches in diameter in nearly every color of the rainbow? This program will focus on how to identify each of the 18 different dahlia forms, their cultivation, care, dividing and storage techniques. While most flowers are winding down for the
season in August, dahlias are just starting to hit their stride. Come learn about this sensational late season flower.
Elm Bank, Wellesley, MA
Instructor: Donna Lane, principal of Lane Interiors & Gardens
Fee: $10 members / $15 non-members
Thursday, February 21, 7 PM - 8:30 PM
Simplifying Gardens to Fit Our Lifestyles
Change happens. Many still dream of 'Better Homes and Gardens' landscapes but reality has muddied the picture. Job demands, kids, money, hectic schedules, aging bodies, and changing interests have led to nightmare gardens. Time for some 'editing'. This
inspiring lecture provides easy-to-follow downsizing strategies, recommended no-fuss plant material, and design tips for stunning year-round gardens that will be as close to 'autopilot' as you can get. Book sales and signing follow the program.
Elm Bank, Wellesley, MA
Instructor: Kerry Mendez, owner of Perennially Yours in Ballston Spa, NY
Fee: $20 members / $25 non-members
Thursday, February 28, 7 PM - 8:30 PM
Cold Frames and Hoop Houses
Cold frames and hoop houses are great season extenders, allowing vegetables to be planted 2-4 weeks earlier than unprotected plants. They also play a key role in
the transition of seedlings of all kinds from the sheltered windowsill / greenhouse environment to the outdoors. Learn how, where and when to use these interesting tools
in your own garden.
Elm Bank, Wellesley, MA
Instructor: David Fiske, Curator of Gardens
Fee: $10 members / $15 non-members
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Learn more about volunteering at Mass Hort
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Letter from the President
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Kathy Macdonald, President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society
Photo by Andy Caulfield
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Dear Friends,
This week Massachusetts Horticultural Society will be at New England Grows, February 6-7, at the BCEC in Boston. Due to the impending snow storm, the show will close at 5 pm on Thursday, Feburary 7th. This horticultural trade show and conference showcases current educational content and innovation to bring inspiration to participants. It is a great place to meet with green partners and learn about industry trends.
At the 2013 show, Mass Hort will be demonstrating the Hortycode technology, which uses QR codes (quick response codes) on plant labels to provide detailed cultivation information. Mass Hort has been testing this technology in the Bressingham Garden. Additionally, the Plantmobile, Mass Hort's travelling horticultural education van will be on the trade show floor to promote our new Garden Classroom initiative. The Garden Classroom program promotes the benefits of school gardens for elementary and middle schools and works to connect local green partners with schools to help with garden installations.
Speaking of shows, the Boston Flower and Garden Show is just 35 days away...March 13-17, 2013! The greenhouses at Mass Hort are filling up with plants for our exhibit "Sowing the Seeds of Change". Mass Hort and our sponsor, Bartlett Tree Experts, will present the amateur competitions at the show. Last weekend, Mass Hort hosted a workshop for our Junior Horticulturalists to help them get ready for show. There was a lot of enthusiasm in the Putnam Hort Center as these young people pruned and groomed their plants!
New Online Ticket Retrieval... The flower show theme, " Seeds of Change" also notes a change for our members on how you receive your flower show tickets this year. Flower show tickets will be available online, as noted in the article below. Your tickets will be available beginning February 11 by visiting: www.bostonflowershow.com and clicking on the BUY TICKET button. We have mailed out postcard instructions and have instructions on our web site to help you with this process. Thank you for your help with this new e-ticketing, and for saving a tree to two.
Sincerely,
Kathy |
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Capital Improvements Springing Up at Mass Hort
The first signs of spring may be months away, but exciting new things are already popping up at the Mass Horticultural Society thanks to an $183,000 grant awarded by an anonymous
foundation in December.
If the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Director of Operations seems like a happy man these days, it's because for the first time in several years, mention of "the truck" won't be synonymous
with a trip to the mechanic. Rather it will bring to mind Mass Hort's new dump truck, which will make Clark Bryan's work caring for the expansive Elm Bank grounds feel more like a walk in the park.
Executive Director Kathy Macdonald may have an even bigger spring in her step when she hears the word "roof". Instead of leaks and patches, she will think of the new environmentally sensitive, metal roof that will be installed on the Education Building this spring.
"The recurring ice dams in the existing Education Center roof have convinced me this is the best solution," explained Kathy. Metal roofs actually shed snow and ice and help prevent ice dams, a chronic problem in the Northeast during bad winters, and are designed to help curtail energy costs. Research by the Florida Solar Energy Center showed that metal absorbed 34 percent less heat than asphalt shingles, and homeowners switching to metal roofing reported savings up to 20 percent on their energy bills.
The standing-seam metal roofing panels are durable, fire retardant, use a majority of recycled material, and come complete with a 50-year guarantee.
Both the new truck - a Ford F-350 specially outfitted for heavy-duty landscaping projects - and the new roof are made possible by the terms the grant, which restricts use to capital projects. The grant will also include greenhouse improvements and a new well for irrigation of our vegetable garden and other gardens.
"We're thrilled," Kathy says, succinctly echoing the sentiments of trustees and employees. "Most people think of grants and gifts as being for high-visibility 'showcase' projects like a new garden or building. This one is specifically for infrastructure improvements, and we have a long list of deferred maintenance and capital projects."
The roof and truck are starting points because they affect horticulture and agriculture programs, employee productivity, as well as revenue to sustain those programs.
"There's a cascade effect," Kathy explained. "Our existing roof is more than 30 years old, so it requires constant maintenance to keep ice dams from forming in winter, and in summer, it absorbs too much heat. With the new roof, we can finally renovate interior space for use as classrooms, confident that the work won't be undone by water damage."
The roof replacement project will begin as soon as a contractor can begin. The truck arrival is slated for early February.
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IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING TICKETS!
Online Flower Show Member Tickets Available Beginning February 11!
One of the exceptional benefits of a Mass Hort Membership is ticket(s) to the Boston Flower & Garden Show, to be held this year on March 13 -17th. This year, Mass Hort is fulfilling all of its members' Flower Show tickets online with E-ticketing. This is not only a green initiative but a cost-saving measure as well.
Member E-tickets will be ready for online retrieval and printing by members beginning on February 11th. Mass Hort will send an email to each member in February directing them to www.BostonFlowerShow.com, with instructions on how to retrieve and print each member's allotment of complimentary Flower Show ticket(s). Members will need their Membership ID Number to retrieve their ticket(s). TO DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Additional, discounted tickets may be purchased by Family and Supporter Members for $18.00. Discounted tickets are ONLY available at time of ticket retrieval. (There is a limited number of discounted tickets available). Otherwise, additional tickets may be purchased at the regular Show rate of $20.
Member Paper Tickets have been mailed to members that do not have an email on file with Mass Hort. If you do not have internet or printer access, do not know your membership ID number, or if you have any questions, please call Amy Rodrigues at 617-933-4963. Please watch for your email in February and see you at the Show!
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Mass Hort's appearance at New England Grows
 | April Daley, Education Coordinator, with the Plantmobile at
New England Grows.
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How to Read a Seed Catalog
by Betty Sanders
BettyOnGardening.com
If you have ever ordered anything even remotely horticultural through the mail, or if you subscribe to even one gardening magazine, it's likely that the postman has already delivered a large stack of seed catalogs to your home. (And, if he hasn't, don't despair, they are all available online.)
In my home, more than half the catalogs, filled with luscious photos and adjective-laden descriptions designed to seduce, are discarded the day they arrive. I believe a good seed catalog begins with useful basic gardening advice at the beginning of each vegetable variety. That information is critical for the novice and a good reminder for even the most advanced gardener.
Further, I prefer to order from New England based catalog companies. Their seeds are chosen to grow in our climate while the large national companies have to have varieties for the entire
country, and sometimes it can be hard to discern if a plant is best suited to Mississippi or Massachusetts.
Let's read a seed catalog together, starting with the one fruit  everyone wants to grow: the tomato. Which of the hundreds of available varieties should we grow? Take a careful look at the descriptions of each cultivar. By parsing the descriptions, you can find the varieties that best meet your needs.
Here's a sample description from the Pinetree Seed catalog: Sun Gold tomato (F1 hybrid 60 days). From those few words you know that it is not an heirloom but, rather, comes from two parents. The fruit will ripen approximately 60 days from transplanting it into the garden.
The description goes on to say Indeterminate, which means the vine keeps growing as long as the weather allows and will keep setting fruit. Determinate tomatoes stop growing at a predetermined height and produce all their fruit at one time.
The description continues: Great tomatoey flavor, an 8 on the brix scale. Fruits are 1" round globes which turn an attractive golden orange when ripe. Translation: it's sweet, it tastes like a
tomato (some don't), it is small, and don't pick it till it's orange. Productive vines provide very high yields: It will produce a lot of fruit.
On another page the Pinetree Seed catalog has this listing: Grandeur tomato (F1 75 days) VFN&T. Translation: it's another hybrid, you'll have harvestable fruit 75 days from transplanting and the cultivar has been bred to have natural resistance to vercillium, fusarium, tobacco mosaic and root knot nematode - four nasty diseases that affect tomatoes. An early red cluster tomato with 5-7 fruits per bunch, 6-9oz. firm, meaty tomatoes. Now we know it's a
medium size red tomato growing in clusters. A vigorous grower, long yielding with large leaves that help with resistance to cracking. There's a caution here: a 'vigorous grower' means that the tomato vine will need a sturdy support and 'long yielding' means it won't stop producing early. 'Cracking' is the blemish that occurs while the fruit grows, more important perhaps to the farmer than at home.
Next we go to Johnny's Seeds to find different zucchini to compare. Dunja (F1) OG 47days (PM,PRV,WMV,ZM) is a hybrid with two non-hybrid parents, it has been organically produced, and will have fruit 47 days from planting the seed. It is resistant to powdery mildew, papaya ringspot virus, watermelon mosaic virus and zucchini mosaic virus.
Dunja is a high yielder of dark green, straight zucchinis. Well that's easy to understand. Open plants and small spines make for an easy harvest. The squash will be easy to spot and won't scratch your hands, too much.
Costata Romano HL 52 days Traditional Italian heirloom with the best flavor. Distinctive zucchini are gray-green, green flecks and prominent ribs. These are heirloom zucchini with a unusual look. Big, large-leafed plants with about half the yield of hybrids but much better tasting; clearly better texture, nutty and delicious, raw or cooked. Compared to the Dunja, this is one grown for flavor, not a huge crop.
By carefully reading the descriptions, mentally removing most of the adjectives, and thinking about what you like and need, you can winnow the hundreds of varieties of each vegetable down to just the few that suit you and your family. Just remember to keep the size of your garden in mind when you find that your list of "perfect for you" vegetables is two pages long!
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Book Review: In the Garden
Stacy Bass (photography) and Suzanne Gannon (essays) Melcher Media (2012)  Reviewed by Cheryl Monroe www.GardenintheBurrow.com
To be honest, I bought the book for its cover: a country gardener and his canine companion staring out wistfully into a stunning English style landscape dotted with roses and clematis, the distant vista shrouded in fog; my heart was all aflutter. But beyond the obvious coffee table display, In the Garden by Stacy Bass (Melcher Media 2012) has plenty to offer the reader as it akes us through 18 personal gardens all located here in New England.
Elegant prose by Suzanne Gannon sets the tone for each garden space explored; unveiling the history, development, and planning of the gardens as well as some personal insights about the gardeners. It turns out my country gardener is Chester Burley from Greenfield Hill in Fairfield Connecticut and from that terrace where he stands in the cover photo" the eye travels from the woods in the distance over alternating bands of foliage and grasses that include a high meadow and outgrowths of cattails. Integrated into the panorama are naturalistic vignettes such as a narrow stream, its banks studded by river birches, a lone weeping willow, a majestic 40 year old dogwood, a shade garden with delicate ferns, and a structured inner garden gated by an arbor of akebia and featuring soft shoulders of rhododendron.." . I, too, could stand there all day just drinking it all in.
But, it is the photos that really tell the story. Preferring to shoot in the diffused light of dawn, Ms. Bass beautifully captures the essence of each location she showcases. All too frequently garden photographers focus on close up detail shots of a single blossom, leaf, or design element, and thus fail to capture the true sense of place. Ms. Bass does a fine job balancing the close ups with wide shots, often showing the same element from several different views giving those of us who garden, whether on land or in our dreams, plenty of inspiration. Ms. Bass is a well-known photojournalist, featured in many fine shelter and garden magazines (Fine Gardening, Horticulture, athome, House Beautiful) and oh how lucky we are to see these gardens through her lens. From delicate pink musk roses rambling over a white picket fence, to an ingenious fountain of a dapper gentleman holding aloft a pipe that magically turns in to the handle of a living parasol when the water is turned on, we are enchanted and delighted.
If I had to offer any criticism, and boy, do I have to be pushed to do so, as a bona fide plant nerd I would have preferred if the photo captions were accompanied by the scientific and cultivar names of the plants instead of the generic ones given. Well, that, and the fact that even at 200+ pages it was over all too soon.
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February Horticultural Hints
by Betty Sanders
BettyOnGardening.com
Freeze and Thaw Is Bad for Plants. Well below zero, then temperatures pushing 60, then more freezing - these are extreme conditions and exactly what we saw at the end of January.  Check your perennials and any newly planted trees or shrubs to be certain they have not been partially pushed out of the ground. When the ground freezes, it lifts plants up with it. When frozen ground thaws, it collapses as the ice crystals melt, no longer supporting the soil. Plant crowns and roots can be exposed to the sun and drying winds. Gently push the plant back in the ground and use soil, mulch or compost to cover and protect the roots from additional damage. Among perennials, the most susceptible ones to this problem include heuchera, coreopsis, chrysanthemum, and Shasta daisy.
Houseplant Care. Most houseplants are resting now but they shouldn't be ignored. The tropicals we grow in our  homes are suffering in the dry air. Last week's extreme cold made our furnaces work overtime, drying out the air even more. One easy way to provide moisture without risking overwatering is to place a double layer of pebbles in the bottom of the plant saucer and add water just below the bottom of the pot. As the water evaporates, it gives plant leaves the moisture they need without the risk of overwatering. Keeping plants together also allows each one to benefit from others' humidity.
This may sound silly, but don't forget to wash or dust your houseplants. Those that don't mind getting their leaves wet should take a trip to the sink or tubs where they can be gently sprayed off with warm water. For any too large to lift, wipe each leaf clean with a rag and warm water For African violets and other plants that do not like water on their leaves and those who should not be watered in the winter (cacti and most succulents, for example), use a soft paint brush to gently clean the dust from the leaves. Your plants will look better to you and appreciate the extra light that will reach them.
Indoor Spring. Any tulips or other bulbs in storage for forcing should be ready to begin growing now. If you have leftover paperwhites, they will grow and flower very quickly if placed in wet pebbles at this time of year.
If you need a dose of spring bigger than a pot, visit some of the wonderful local greenhouses. The camellias have started to bloom at the Lyman Estate  Greenhouses where the orchids and bougainvillea and a host of other tropicals will delight. The Margaret C. Ferguson greenhouse at Wellesley College is open to the public and offer tours so you can put a name with that wonderful flower you just saw. And we cannot make it through a winter without visiting the wonderful Orangerie and Limonaia, greenhouses like you never imagined them, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in West Bolyston.
Pruning. Once the coldest days of winter have passed, probably the end of February, you can begin pruning any plant that does not bloom in early spring. Pruning your spring blooming hydrangea or lilac or any other early bloomer will mean no flowers this spring. Confine your work to evergreens, summer and fall blooming shrubs and trees that need structural pruning. Remember if you can't do the work with your feet on the ground, you should call in a professional.
Starting from seed. Get your seed orders in now. Whether you will be growing vegetables, annuals or perennials - or all of them - from seed, you will get the best selection and the fastest delivery if you order soon. [Check the article in this issue on making the seed catalog into a helpful partner and in choosing what you will grow this year.] |
"You Can't Be As Desperate As That!"
 By Neal Sanders
Leaflet Contributor
Like everyone else in America, I spent last Sunday evening in front of my television watching'Downton Abbey'. And, like every male watching the show (or at least I suspect this is the case), I was only half paying attention because Edith's wedding preparations and tribulations can hold me spellbound for only so many minutes. But Betty loves the show and so I watch it, too,
provided I'm allowed to also read the newspaper at the same time.
At the risk of providing a spoiler alert, in last week's installment it is 1921 and Lady Edith has been jilted at the altar by Sir Anthony Strallan (who appears to be on the wrong side of 70 but whom Lady Edith desperately loves). Lady Edith takes to her bed, sobbing. Then, after perhaps a month, we see Lady Edith trying to come to terms with her new status as Perpetual Spinster. Seeking direction in her life, she goes to her grandmother, the Dowager Countess, and the following exchange takes place:
The Dowager Countess: "Surely, there must be something you can put your mind to."
Lady Edith: "Like what, gardening?"
The Dowager Countess: "Well, no, you can't be as desperate as that."
At that point, I put down my crossword puzzle and started shaking my fist at the television. How dare Downton Abbey put down gardening!
And then I started to think that, well, it's 1921 and maybe gardening really was a 'desperate' avocation for a woman, and especially a titled woman. Then, a couple of names popped into my mind. The first one was Gertrude Jekyll. Ms. Jekyll was born in 1843 and so would likely have been a contemporary of the Dowager Countess. By 1890, Ms. Jekyll was the most sought-after
garden designer in the United Kingdom and she would go on to create more than 400 gardens in Britain and America. In 1921, Ms. Jekyll published Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden, a book that would inspires millions of mixed flower borders. It was likely in the Downton Abbey library.
The second name that occurred to me was Beatrix Farrand. Born in 1872, she was American and so wouldn't have had a title, but it is quite likely that the Levinsons (the American family that married into the Crawleys and replenished their fortune) could have arranged an introduction, as Ms. Farrand was the niece of Edith Wharton, who would have been a neighbor of Martha Levinson in both Newport and New York City. Ms. Farrand began designing gardens at 25; roughly Lady Edith's age. And, Ms. Farrand was working in England in 1921, designing the magnificent garden at Dartington Hall in Devon.
 | | (c) Carnival Film & Television 2012 for Masterpiece |
But, even knowing that the Dowager Countess was rather openly class conscious, it would have been impossible for her to ignore Vita Sackville-West (or, to introduce her more properly, Lady
Nicolson). Born in 1892 and so only a few years older than Lady Edith, Lady Mary already had several successful published novels by 1921 ('The Dragon in Shallow Waters' was published that year). In 1930, she and her husband would acquire Sissinghurst Castle, where Lady Mary would go on to do some very nice gardening.
I realize that Downton Abbey is drama and that it is the product of the imagination of Julian Fellowes. But Mr. Fellowes seems to have it in for gardeners. In Season One, we learned that since the Norman Conquest, the Dowager Countess has won the annual prize for 'Best Bloom' at the Downton Village flower show. But the Dowager Countess actually has nothing to do with growing those roses. It is her gardener who does all the work, and she simply shows up to collect the prize. Moreover, in doing so, she is deliberately slighting the work of her own butler's father, whom everyone in Downton knows has exquisite rose-growing skills and who ought to have been winning the competition all along.
All right; so maybe I've been paying more attention to Downton Abbey than I let on. But darn it, Mr. Fellowes, go a little easier on us gardeners.
Neal Sanders is a frequent contributor to the Leaflet. Neal's newest mystery, Murder for a Worthy Cause, was published in September. You can learn more about it here. That book, plus his four other mysteries, can be ordered through Amazon.com. |
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