April 2020 Update

Hello fellow Gardeners,

First the latest Museum news: The Strawberry Festival has been postponed to September 12-13
Mary and Andrea are sheltering the plants that were started for the Strawberry Festival in the greenhouses of Century and Sherwood High Schools.  A drive-thru plant sale is being discussed for mid-May. Details will be available in early May.

Mary's Greenhouse

See videos from our own members:
Amy shows her beautiful fairy gardens on Welcome to My Fairy Garden, here.
Kathy and Betsy talk about an invasive plant Hairy Bittercress, here



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Hope you are all staying safe and healthy, enjoying your gardens and the time you spend in them. There are so many benefits to gardening:

• Exposure to Vitamin D, which benefits your bones and immune system.
• Gardening could lower your risk of dementia by 36 percent.
• In a recent study gardening lowers the level of the stress hormone cortisol.
• Pulling weeds, reaching for various plants and tools, and twisting and bending as you plant will work new muscles in your body and help with strength, stamina, and flexibility. 
• It can lower your blood pressure. 
• Mindful presence is tied to a long list of positive effects like relationship satisfaction and less emotional reactivity.
• Studies have found evidence that being in a green space is linked with better recovery from surgery, less anxiety and depression, and better stress management.
• And we all know that sharing our joy of gardening with others brings many friendships.

   (Sources 1 , 2

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Do you have a favorite gardening tool, a new cool tool you have found or an old standby?

Mary Dominique, an active Garden Club member and Master Gardener has some favorites:

The hori hori, a Japanese digging tool that is great for weeding, transplanting and dividing plants. 

She also recommends the HERS shovel, which comes in three lengths and is ergonomically designed to maximize women's strengths and minimize strain.  

 The expanding rake is also great in the fall and spring to get leaves out from between plants.

Another popular tool is the cobra head weeder, a curved steel rod with a flattened tip.

The loop hoe is a versatile hand tool used to remove weeds like a traditional hoe, but with a thin steel loop that is 3 inches wide.

Other garden necessities include:

Plant stakes for those floppy flowers like peonies.

Plant markers like these from Dollar Tree.

Bulb markers - Anita is putting a cut up garden hose around tulips so she doesn't dig into them later.

And Anthony has made these moveable planters out of water troughs.

Daphne Genkwa

Some beautiful Spring blooms from Mary's garden:

Trilium

Magnolia

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Since we can't go on Garden Tours, spend some time looking at gardens of the world and learning about gardening in your own backyard. (Click on highlighted items)

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Please feel free to add a comment below or send photos and articles to
Jan Baweja, janbaw2@gmail.com.
Also follow us on Facebook - facebook.com/sandy spring museum garden club
Gardening has NOT been canceled.