April 2024 Newsletter of the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club

Garden Club News

Learn Clever Methods for Gardening Intensely in Small Spaces, from Patios, Balconies to Rooftops!

Sunday April 14, 2024 2-4pm

Our speaker, Kathy Jentz, is the editor and publisher of the Washington Gardener Magazine and hosts the popular Garden DC Podcast, as well as being the author of “The Groundcover Revolution” and co-author of “The Urban Garden” with Teri Speight. Kathy is a lifelong gardener and believes that growing plants should be stress-free and enjoyable. Her philosophy is inspiration over perspiration. This presentation will cover ways to garden in small spaces as well as ways to use sustainable, low-maintenance, low-water groundcovers to replace your turf. There will be time for a Q & A.

The Garden Club plant sale table will be available.

Light refreshments will be served.

Admission to this event is free for Sandy Spring Museum members.(MEMBERSSM) There is a $10 fee for nonmembers.

Please register at SSM Garden Club or call 301-774-0022

SSMGC Garden Tour

The Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club invites you to immerse yourself in the spring display of beautiful local gardens. Grow your inspiration as you walk through 4 remarkable gardens. Among the various landscapes, you will enjoy Spring bulbs, annuals and perennials, ornamental trees and shrubs, and a variety of hardscapes.

A map to the gardens is provided with your ticket. You may begin your tour at whichever garden you choose, and plan your visits in any order.

Order tickets HERE

Volunteer to be a docent, ticket taker or parker.

Enjoy your shift at one of 4 fabulous gardens. Pre-tour visits to the gardens will allow you to see the gardens and familiarize yourself with your assignment.

After signing up for a position and time slot, we will be in touch with you to select your garden address and send you information on pre-tours and assignments. Volunteer HERE or contact Jan at janbaw2@aol.com.

Museum Courtyard Gardens

Thank you to our dedicated gardeners for helping to ready the Museum's courtyard gardens for our full spring planting on April 27. Please consider coming to help out, even for an hour. We will be there from 9-12. And we will share the divisions!

Spring Native Plant Sales

Locust Grove Nature Center Online orders start May 1

In person sale May 18 and 19 Pope Farm Nursery 7400 Airpark Road Gaithersburg

Muddy Branch Alliance Order Online now to pick up on April 27 at Bohrer Park, Gaithersburg

Friends of Black Hill Nature Program In Person May 4, 1-6, May 5, 9-4

Black Hill Discovery Center 20926 Lake Ridge Dr, Boyds

Local Grower Highlight

Terra Nurseries, a local grower and long time supporter of the SSM Garden Club's Strawberry Festival Plant Sale, is opening for the season.

Opening Day will be Thursday 4/11/24

Open: Thursday-Sunday

Hours: 10:00am-4:00 pm

1707 Gold Mine Road

Brookeville, MD

Travel photos of gardens near and far

Nan Lian Garden, Diamond Hill, Hong Kong

Tet Holiday floral display, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, NC

The Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club is an activity group of the Sandy Spring Museum. Our activities can be found on the Garden Club webpage: https://www.sandyspringmuseum.org/programs-and-events/garden-club/.

March 2024 Newsletter of the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club

Garden Club News

Learn Clever Methods for Gardening Intensely in Small Spaces, from Patios, Balconies to Rooftops!

Sunday April 14, 2024 2-4pm

Our speaker, Kathy Jentz, is the editor and publisher of the Washington Gardener Magazine and hosts the popular Garden DC Podcast, as well as being the author of “The Groundcover Revolution” and co-author of “The Urban Garden” with Teri Speight. Kathy is a lifelong gardener and believes that growing plants should be stress-free and enjoyable. Her philosophy is inspiration over perspiration. This presentation will cover ways to garden in small spaces as well as ways to use sustainable, low-maintenance, low-water groundcovers to replace your turf.
There will be time for a Q & A.
The Garden Club plant sale table will be available.
Light refreshments will be served.

Admission to this event is free for Sandy Spring Museum members.(MEMBERSSM) There is a $10 fee for nonmembers.

Please register at Sandy Spring Museum.org

or call 301-774-0022

Save the Date

2024 Garden Trends

2024 Gardening Trends developed by the Garden Media Group

"Our mission is too instill a passion for nature and a love of gardening to all generations to improve environmental health and support human wellbeing."

These are the trends;

Hortifuturism - metallic and bright colors

lol

Sterling Moon Lunar Lights begonia from Southern Living

Goth Gardens - using dark colored flowers and dark foliage

Black Prince snapdragon

Vertical Gardening - hanging gardens, trailing plants

Purple pixie loropetalum

Gardening for Wildlife - pollinator gardens, continuously blooming flowers

Easy Bee-zy Knock out rose

Sustainability - environmental concerns, value of gardens and trees

Color of the year -Cyber Lime

Our Gardens and Travels

Winter Gardening

The Beauty of Hawaii

The Hope of Spring

Tet, Lunar New Year decoration in Hoi An, Vietnam

February 2024 Newsletter of the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club

Garden Club News

Create An Indoor Garden With

Houseplants

Sunday February 11, 2024

2-4pm

Bonita Condon, Master Gardener since 2014, will speak on easy to grow houseplants and everything you’ll need to know to care for them throughout the year! She is an avid gardener and combats non-native invasive species in our parks and grassland as a Certified Weed Warrior and is an advisor on the Town of Kensington's Greenscape Committee. Her demo/ talk discusses some common houseplants with information on the tools required; the selection of plants, locations, and containers; the maintenance and propagation of plants; and the identification of common pests and diseases.

Handouts will be provided and there will be time for

Q & A. Browse a display of more houseplant information and the program plant sale table.
Light refreshments will be served.

Admission to this event is free for members. There is a $10 fee for non-members. Please register at www.sandyspringmuseum.org

__________________________________________________________________

Meet Phyllis the Amaryllis. This and many more beautiful amaryllis were sold by the garden club in November and December. See her lovely blooms - and a second stem of blooms is coming up too!!

____________________________________________________________

MANTS 2024

A few of our members visited MANTS (the Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show). They spoke to vendors, learned about new plant varieties and bought plants for the courtyard gardens for us all to enjoy this season.

New Plants for 2024

An exciting double hydrangea

Perennial of the year - Jeana, a phlox paniculata, extremely pollinator-friendly and mildew resistant

Stand by Me - A new bush clematis

Proven Winners new Seedless Burning Bush - Fire Ball

Listen to the Washington Garden Podcast No.177, New Plants and Products for 2024. Kathy Jentz (Washington Gardener Magazine) and Peggy Riccio (from Pegplant) talk about their recent visit to MANTS.

__________________________________________________________________

January 2024 Newsletter of the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club

Garden Club News

This year's Greens Sale was a huge success thanks to the many talented members and friends who gave their time to create these beautiful products.

And what fun we all had along the way

After all the excitement of the workshops and with leftover greens and reused mugs and containers, a small group made 19 small greens arrangements that were given to the Friends House Nursing Care to be distributed to residents.

And finally a big thank you to the cleanup crew that disposed of the leftover greens and emptied and cleaned all the containers that were used.

Upcoming Program

Create An Indoor Garden With

Houseplants

Sunday February 11, 2024

Handouts will be provided and there will be time for

Q & A. Browse a display of more houseplant information and the program plant sale table.
Light refreshments will be served.

Admission to this event is free for members. There is a $10 fee for non-members. Please register at www.sandyspringmuseum.org

Reblooming Amaryllis

According to Greek mythology, the amaryllis originated from the love Amaryllis had for Alteo. Amaryllis, a maiden, fell in love with the shepherd Alteo. He was strong and handsome, and had a passion for flowers. To learn how to win his affection, Amaryllis went to the Oracle of Delphi for advice.

On the Oracle’s orders, she stood in front of Alteo’s house for thirty nights piercing her heart with a golden arrow. On the thirtieth night, a beautiful flower grew from her blood and helped her win Alteo’s love. https://www.ftd.com/blog/amaryllis-meaning-and-symbolism

Today it is much easier to grow and bloom amaryllis, but the option to rebloom is a bit trickier. Here is one suggestion:

In order to get “amaryllis” to rebloom, they must be kept actively growing after they have finished blooming. Once the leaves start growing provide bright light, water regularly and fertilize monthly with a complete houseplant fertilizer (5-10-10 or 10-10-10) applied at the rate directed for houseplants (more than that, or a stronger fertilizer, can cause salts to build up and burn the roots). Once the danger of frost is past, the plant can be moved outside for the summer, first placing it in shade or indirect light. Gradually move it to an area where it will receive full sun for at least 6 hours daily. Keep it as a container plant on a patio or deck, or sink the whole pot in the ground; because the roots are brittle planting directly in the ground and digging it up later is not recommended.

In mid- to late summer the leaves may die back as the bulb begins to enter dormancy. Bring the containers indoors before any danger of frost and store them in a cool, dark place like a basement or closet (45-55ºF is ideal) and do not water. Wait until the leaves become dry and shriveled to remove them. When growth begins again, typically in late October or November, bring the plants into the light. If no new growth appears, they can be forced to bloom by bringing into the light and resuming watering. It typically takes 4-6 weeks for the bulbs to bloom after coming out of dormancy. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/amaryllis-hippeastrum/

December 2023 Newsletter of the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club

Garden Club News

Greens Sale Workshops

It is time for our elves to get busy making all our pretty greens sale items. All the picking and cutting and storing of greens has been done. Workshops start on Wednesday with a boxwood tree workshop. We have lots of orders for them so we could really use the help making these unique trees. For those of you who can only do weekends we will do another boxwood tree workshop on Saturday and a kissing ball workshop on Sunday. And of course the following week we have our normal lineup of workshops. The listing is attached. Any questions please email marilyn38858@comcast.net.

If you want to pick up early please check to make sure your order is completed. Payment by check or cash is preferred.

Come Join the FUN!!

🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄

November Program

Mushroom expert Tom Higgs gave a presentation on growing mushrooms at home. Mushroom treats were also served.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Christmas Cactus

Holiday cactus is a more accurate name as a plant purchased during the holidays may be a Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera × buckleyi), a Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), or a hybrid. Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti are similar in appearance. However, the stem segments on the Christmas cactus have scalloped edges, while the stem segments on the Thanksgiving cactus have 2 to 4 pointed teeth along their edges.

Holiday cacti are native to the mountainous forests of southeastern Brazil. These unique members of the cactus family are epiphytes. They grow in the crotches of trees and derive water and nutrition from rain, decaying organic matter, and filtered sunlight.

The stems of holiday cacti are composed of flattened stem segments called phylloclades. The leaf-like phylloclades carry on photosynthesis for the plant.

Day length and temperature control the flowering of both Schlumbergera species. Like the poinsettia, holiday cacti are short-day plants. Plants will not bloom properly if exposed to artificial light at night. Flowers may also fail to develop if the plant is exposed to temperatures above 70°F. Night temperatures of 60° to 65°F with slightly warmer daytime temperatures are ideal for flower formation.

https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/legends-and-traditions-holiday-plants

November 2023 Newsletter of the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club

Garden Club News

November Program

Greens Workshops Calendar