SSM Garden Club

November/December 2020

Garden Club News

On the side of caution, we have regretfully decided that we are unable to hold our usual Greens Sale this year. It is not possible to meet social distancing recommendations and still do all our preparation and workshops to produce our products. We appreciate your support over the years and have every intention of continuing with our Greens Sale in subsequent years when it is once again possible to safely do so.

We will miss the camaraderie, holiday music, delicious soups and treats and creative energy as we make holiday decorations with freshly picked greens from local landscapes.

A collection of products at the annual Sandy Spring Museum Holiday Party in 2019

Garden Club Program

Museum members were treated to a wonderful program on Exuberant Decorating for the Holidays. The narrated video presentation included some of these beautiful items:

Draped balustrades

Lovely vignettes

Fanciful table settings

Thanksgiving

Shimmering chandeliers

Themed trees

Christmas from years past

A Victorian Christmas

Draped mirrors

Decorating every nook and cranny

We thank our Decorating Diva for inspiring us to make the most of this Holiday season.

Crafting for the Holidays

Pomander Balls will keep smelling of spices throughout the season. Learn how to make these wonderful decorations HERE.

Be sure to see these Smithsonian's Let's Talk Gardens programs from 12-1 PM:

December 3 - Holiday Wreaths and Greens Decorations

December 19 - Poinsettias and Holiday Trees

What's Blooming?

Some irises are rebloomers, as this white iris putting on a show in November.

Pink camellias are blooming on the grounds of the Sandy Spring Museum.

The Garden Club is a body of the Sandy Spring Museum

Learn more about our activities and how to join the Garden Club.

https://www.sandyspringmuseum.org/programs-and-events/garden-club

email: gardenclub@sandyspringmuseum.org or call 301-774-0022.

October 2020

Garden Club News

A recording of the September program, How to Cultivate an Organic Lawn, can be found HERE on the Sandy Spring Museum You-Tube channel.

Everlasting Crafts

After a garden club member showed her gifted Preserved Boxwood wreath to the group, a few of our members wanted to try this process. This project needs special curing ingredients, 20 days to "preserve" the freshly cut boxwood and a large quantity of product. They made these beautiful sustainable wreaths to last, hopefully, for many holiday seasons:

You can find instructions on making your own Preserved Boxwood Wreaths HERE.

Fall Decor

In past years the Garden Club has made Front Porch Fall Decor as an auction item at the Museum's Fall Dinner and Auction and last year we had a workshop on creating our own fall table decorations, including velvet pumpkins. To inspire you to create your own Fall decor, these are some of those finished products:

Co-President Amy Cohen is ready for her Thanksgiving dinner

What's Blooming?

Camellia S Yuletide from Kathy Gaskill's garden

Morning sunshine brighten these lovely grasses in Olney.

Note: You can reach the link to a particular topic by placing your

curser over the red type and clicking or touching the red type.

The Garden Club is a body of the Sandy Spring Museum

Learn more about our activities and how to join the Garden Club.

https://www.sandyspringmuseum.org/programs-and-events/garden-club

email: gardenclub@sandyspringmuseum.org or call 301-774-0022.

September 2020

Garden Club News

Join us on Sunday, September 27, 2:00-3:30 pm to learn How to Cultivate an Organic Lawn.

Note: You can reach the sign-up link by placing your curser over the red type and clicking or touching the red type. Or call 301-774-0022.

Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club
October Zoom program - "Beautiful Bulbs: Gorgeous Geophytes"
Sunday October 11
2:00pm

Join the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club for another great zoom presentation.

October is a perfect time of year to learn more about bulbs and planting bulbs.
We are so fortunate to have Master Gardener, Merikay Smith, present her talk "Beautiful Bulbs: Gorgeous Geophytes"
She will share with us the joyful beauty of spring flowers grown from fall planted bulbs. Besides sharing the unique characteristics of bulbs, she will give details about selecting and planting bulbs then speak in depth about narcissus, hyacinths and tulips. As time allows Merikay will also share photos and descriptions of other bulbs including some which are native to North America and even a few native to our region.

Mark your Calendar for October 11^th at 2:00 and visit the October program page to register.

Garden Tour

Since the Sandy Spring Museum was built, the Garden Club has maintained the Courtyard Gardens. Dedicated to Mary Rice, the founder of the Garden Club, they are lovingly tended by a small group of volunteers led by Mary Dominique and Penny Sidell. The gardens consists of an herb garden, perennial gardens and shrubs. The Garden Club also plants the garden near the front door and is currently training the refurbished wisteria on the front walk arbor.

Harvest Notes

Anthony Vodraska is growing the unusual looking Tromboncino squash with seeds provided by Mary Dominique. It is an Italian heirloom cultivar of the species Cucuribita moschatat, or more commonly referred to as butternut squash. He quickly discovered their vining habit and had to erect additional bamboo supports. It seems to live up to other reports that it is more tolerant to common summer squash pests and they produce beautiful large yellow flowers that attract pollinators.

In the Spring when he could not find zucchini seeds at the big box stores, he selected a packet of white pattypan squash. The vines spread much more than zucchini vines, but are very productive, allowing him to donate many to Harvest Share, a community donation program.

Show-Offs and Bloomers!

Mary Dominique shares her border of "elephant ears", the common name for a group of tropical plants grown for their larger, heart-shaped leaves of the genera Colocasia. They have enjoyed the rains this summer. The annuals zinnia, cosmos and melampodium accentuate the greenhouse and deck.

Fall Clean-up

As our flowers begin to fade, we want to tidy up our gardens and cut everything to the ground. However flowers that have seed-heads are a great source of food for birds, the stems are homes for overwintering bees and plants are still taking nutrients into their roots. Cutting Down Perennials in the Fall answers the questions we all ask in the fall.

The vegetable garden, still producing until the first frost, will need to be put to bed as well. Planting a nitrogen-fixing cover crop will suppress the weeds and enrich the soil. A list of cover crops is HERE.

Note: You can reach the link by placing your curser over the red type and clicking or touching the red type.

The Garden Club is a body of the Sandy Spring Museum

Learn more about our activities and how to join the Garden Club.

https://www.sandyspringmuseum.org/programs-and-events/garden-club

email: gardenclub@sandyspringmuseum.org or call 301-774-0022.

August 2020

Garden Club News

September Program Sunday, September 27 2:00 PM

Join us in September as we continue to adjust to new ways of doing things.

The Garden Club will present: "How to Cultivate an Organic Lawn".

Mary Travaglini, Program Manager, Organic Lawn and Landscape Program from the Department of Environment Protection, Montgomery County, MD, will teach about natural grasses and the best ways to have a beautiful lawn. Join Mary on Zoom to learn about organic lawn care and healthy lawn soils. Wondering how fertilizers can negatively affect your lawn soils, how carbon-based amendments can help? Want to know how to create a dense, lush lawn using organic methods? Mary will share what you need to know about soil and hot tips for improving your lawn and benefiting your local environment.

There will be no fee for the program. Donations will be accepted at the time of registration. The proceeds will support the Museum's Gardens. Register here to get the Zoom link.

Our Garden Club has made several tutorials. Stephanie presents: Fairy Garden Prayer Flag Tutorial.

Anita has been donating produce from her garden to Harvest Share , an initiative in Montgomery County that asks backyard and community gardeners to grow a little more in their gardens and donate the extra produce to community resources dedicated to reducing food insecurity. She donated 10 pounds of green beans each week this month, 22+ lbs of various vegetables every month.

A beautiful example of one of our Strawberry Festival plants:

Garden Tour

Kathy G, a Master Gardener and long-time member of the Garden Club has a lovely home surrounded by beautiful flower borders, a large vegetable garden, a growing tree and shrub collection and a water management site that uses a diverse group of grasses and stones. Here are a few pictures:

Harvest

Is anyone pickling, canning and freezing their fruits and vegetables? Even if they are not from your garden, you may buy fresh produce from farmer's markets. Pickling cucumbers are available from most Asian markets, too. Try this recipe for Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles...no canning equipment necessary! Please share your favorite recipes in the comments section below.

What's Blooming?

Brookside Gardens

Please feel free to add a comment below and send photos and suggestions to janbaw2@gmail.com.

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The Garden Club is a body of the Sandy Spring Museum.

Visit sandyspringmuseum.org to learn about the many activities and how to join.