July-August Upstate Gardeners' Journal

buffalo - ithaca - rochester - syracuse

The Peace Garden Trail Ornamental peppers A mystery grows at Chimney Bluffs FREE

Volume Eighteen, Issue Four July-August 2012

upstate gardeners’ journal - 3200 east avenue - caledonia, new york 14423

SARA’S GARDEN

Hosta Summer

Container

Classes

Join us in our quest for a Hosta Summer and start gardening in the shade!

We have decided to declare this a Hosta Summer: the goal is to spend as much time in the shade as possible. The festivities include an expansion of our current Hosta border, an increase of our retail selection for the summer months, and bringing in the 2013 sneak-peek introductions a month earlier – all culminated with a Hosta Party at summer’s end. We’re hoping that a summer devoted to shade gardening (utilizing what is surely one of the most loved perennial genuses on the planet: the Hosta) will surely be a win-win for everyone!

If you haven’t gardened with Hosta, there are a few things you should know: they are just about the most durable yet incredibly beautiful of perennials. Hosta offer wonderful color and texture in the garden, will adapt to a wide range of soil conditions… even deer love them! Well, that is not one of their strong points, but really: they have everything else going for them.

This season we are offering over 400 Hosta varieties, ranging anywhere in size from mini to very large. Plus, we are also offering more Hosta varieties in smaller container sizes. With our new selection of Hosta in 4” pots, you can procure these plants in a younger state, therefore allowing you to save money while having the pleasure of watching your Hosta develop over time.

Don’t want to wait? We still have plenty of more mature Hosta for sale as well!

To make this celebration even cooler during this summer season of shade, we are giving you an opportunity to save money and expand your collection in one fell swoop!

Bring this advertisement from the Upstate Gardener’s Journal into Sara’s and we will give you $5.00 off any and every Hosta you purchase valued at over $10.00. This offer is good from July 10th through August 31st, 2012, and is limited to one per household.

Like us on Facebook and follow us for details on the Hosta Summer Party!

30+ year Mission!

It is our greatest desire to provide our customers with top quality, well-grown plant material at a fair and honest price. We will strive to provide an unmatched selection of old favorites and underused, hard-to-find items, along with the newest varieties on the market. We will eagerly share our horticultural knowledge gained from years of education and experience. Lastly, we offer all this in a spirit of fun and lightheartedness.

Sara’s Garden Center | 389 East Ave. | Brockport 14420 | 585-637-4745

Contents What to do in the garden in July and August........ 6 Ear to the ground.................................................... 7 You ask... the experts answer.................................. 9

Publisher/Editor: Jane F. Milliman Art Direction: Dean S. Milliman Managing EDITOR: Debbie Eckerson Graphic design: Cathy Monrad Technical Editor: Brian Eshenaur Proofreader: Sarah Koopus Western New York Sales Representative:

Maria Walczak: 716/432-8688 Contributing Writers:

Liz Berkeley | Mary Ruth Smith | Marion Morse Michelle Sutton | Colleen O’Neill Nice Jonathan Everitt | Christina Le Beau

The Peace Garden Trail....................................10-11 Calendar...........................................................14-26 Fresh tomato pie................................................... 27 More Pleasure, Less Work

Alternatives to Gardening as Outdoor Housecleaning. ............28-29

Bring on the summer heat with ornamental peppers.................................32-33

3200 East Avenue, Caledonia NY 14423 phone: 585/538-4980; fax: 585/538-9521 e-mail: info@upstategardenersjournal.com upstategardenersjournal.com The Upstate Gardeners’ Journal is published six times a year.

To subscribe, please send $15.00 to the above address.

Magazines will be delivered via U.S. mail and or email (in PDF format). We welcome letters, calls and e-mail from our readers.

Please tell us what you think!

A mystery grows at Chimney Bluffs...................... 36

We appreciate your patronage of our advertisers, who enable us to bring you this publication.

All contents copyright 2012, Upstate Gardeners’ Journal.

Rooted: Urban farmer, by association................... 38

On the cover: purple coneflower, Bluegrass Lane, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Never miss another issue! Get the UGJ delivered to your door six times a year for just $15.00. It’s our area’s guide to everything gardeners want to know about. To give a gift, simply enclose a note with the gift recipient’s info. We’ll send a notice and start the subscription.

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Thank you 3200 East Avenue Caledonia, NY 14423 585/538-4980

Featured on Numerous Garden Tours

2012 Fall Lecture Series

August 29

William H. and Jane Torrence Harder Lecture

The First Ecologist: John Ruskin and the Futures of Landscape Paul Sawyer, Professor of English, Cornell University 5:30 p.m. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall Garden Gala Party to follow at Plantations Botanic Garden

September 12

William J. Hamilton Lecture

Earth’s Beautiful Ancient Forests: Can There be a Happy Ending?

Dr. Joan Maloof, Ecologist and Author

September 26

Audrey O’Connor Lecture

Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden Peter J. Hatch, Garden Historian and Monticello’s Director of Gardens and Grounds Emeritus

October 10

Elizabeth E. Rowley Lecture

Bringing Back the Pollinators: What we can all do to protect these essential creatures Scott Black, Executive Director, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

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Entertainers will enjoy the custom deluxe gourmet kitchen which opens to the hearth room and spacious conservatory/ sun room. The main level also boasts an elegant formal dining room, library and covered porch overlooking the lake. The private rear yard is a gardener’s paradise featuring a fabled children’s garden, comfortable outdoor living area and patio as well as an English gambrel barn and sport court.

For a private appointment, please contact Nick Mendola and Marty Mendola

October 24

Class of 1945 Lecture

Whispering willows and lying lilies: The chemical dialogues of plant behavior Robert Raguso, Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior

November 7 The Garden of Six Virtues: Designing a contemporary East Asian garden Marc Keane, Landscape Architect and Writer First lecture, Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, 5:30 p.m.

All other lectures, Statler Hall Auditorium, Cornell University, 7:30 p.m.

Visit cornellplantations.org for more details.

270 S. Main Street, Canandaigua (585) 394-0270 www.CanandaiguaLake.com Email: info@lakepros.com

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Large Selection of Hardy Trees & Shrubs

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Annuals • Perennials • Fertilizer Seed • Bulk Mulch Bagged Mulch • Stone Large Selection of Fine Pottery We offer a variety of lawn and landscaping services.

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Installation Walkways/Patios Flagstone Unilock Brick Paverstones Keystone Foundation Planting Retaining Walls Excavation & Grading Water Gardens Water Features

Gardening Mulching Topsoil Rototilling Tree Planting Tree Removal Stump Grinding Shrub Pruning Theme Gardens Perennial Gardens Lawn Care Lawn Maintenance

DELIVERY & PLANTING SERVICES AVAILABLE For an estimate please call (585) 244-1626 www.CloverNursery.com

Big Ideas: Hot Pots, Small Lots, Garden Plots!

Featuring Speakers

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Eisenhart Auditorium

Rochester Museum & Science Center 657 East Avenue Rochester, New York 14607 •

Presented by the Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County and underwritten by Grandpa’s Nursery & Gardens • For more information call (585) 461-1000 ext. 225 or please visit our Web site at http://www.GatheringOfGardeners.com

Almanac

What to do in the garden in July and August July Tasks in the Ornamental Garden Early July is your last chance to pinch chrysanthemums back.

This is the best time to divide and/ or move bearded iris, so they can get re-established before winter.

Keep deadheading perennials to prevent seedlings, and in some cases, to encourage re-bloom (consult Tracy DiSabato-Aust’s excellent book, “The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, Planting & Pruning Techniques”).

Keep deadheading most common annuals and they will continue to flower.

Don’t let weeds go to seed!

If you are going on vacation, at least chop perennial weeds back if you don’t have time to pull them up before you leave.

Newly planted woodies (trees, shrubs, and woody vines) need 10-15 gallons of water each week with less than an inch of rainfall.

It’s too late to fertilize woodies, and pruning should be restricted to dead, diseased, or crossed branches.

Note which perennials need to be divided or moved. Late August/early September is OK for extra-hardy ones, but shallow-rooted perennials need to wait until spring, to prevent winter frost heaving.)

Go on garden tours to see new plants and get new design ideas!

Take photos and label your plants as to name and color of the flowers, to help with identification and design ideas.

Fertilize your container plants regularly, or use a slow-release fertilizer.

July Tasks in the Food Garden Keep small vegetable transplants watered if it’s hot and dry. Mulch them if you haven’t already, but water them first. Organic mulches help improve the soil as they break down. If you notice oval holes on the foliage and fruit it may be due to slugs. One solution is a nontoxic iron phosphate slug bait.

Prevent blossom-end rot in tomatoes (a calcium deficiency) by keeping the water supply steady through use of mulch and judicious watering, but don’t get the foliage wet.

Plan replacement vegetables where the spring peas and other early crops grew 6 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

(succession planting).

Start harvesting blueberries; ‘Duke’ is an excellent early-to-fruit variety. Plan your blueberry bird protection.

Keep tucking your indeterminate tomato vines inside the cages.

Direct your squash vines the way you want them to go.

Consult your Extension office for the last day to plant particular vegetables and still expect to get a good crop: e.g., July 15 for snap beans, carrots, and cucumbers. For good germination, it will be important to keep the soil moist.

Late in the month, harvest garlic when about half the leaves have turned brown; the bulbs will store better.

Handpick Colorado potato beetles, and scout for other insect pests.

Remove diseased or yellow leaves from tomato plants; look up late blight symptoms and stay vigilant.

August Tasks in the Ornamental Garden Keep watering the newly planted woodies (see above).

Look for quality plants on sale at your local nursery. Water them well before planting. If it’s really dry, water the planting hole before you plant, then water again after planting, and mulch.

Later in the month, see what perennials are in bloom now that you can add to your garden Use the hot dry weather to tend to garden structures that need paint, stain, or repairs.

Create a sitting area! Look for light shade, with a view of sun-loving flowers. Plan where to put a pergola, and which vines to grow on it.

Continue to take photos and label plants.

Continue to weed and deadhead established plants.

Continue to water and fertilize container plants. Early in the month, pinch annuals such as petunias back, and they will respond with more flowers.

Late in the month, install trunk protectors on trees exposed to bark rubbing by bucks.

August Tasks in the Food Garden Harvest tomatoes regularly. If time is short, freeze them then process them for sauce in the winter (no need to remove the skins, as they come off easier when thawed).

Harvest vegetables at the right time, which varies for each species and often the variety as well. Eggplants come in many sizes, shapes, and colors. Sweet peppers, however, can be left on the plant to ripen and turn color (red, yellow, orange, purple, or ‘chocolate’ are all available). Sweeter when ripe, peppers are also fine in the green stage.

Keep a close eye on tomato and potato plants for disease symptoms.

Keep picking cucumbers, pole beans, and summer squash, so they continue to produce.

Continue harvesting blueberries; ‘Elliott’ is an excellent late variety, providing berries sometimes even into early September.

Day-neutral strawberries may produce another crop of fruit if kept watered.

August 10 is about the last date to plant broccoli and cauliflower transplants, as well as leaf lettuce, spinach, and turnip seed. Average date of first fall frost is October 1 (later near the lake, or in zone 6).

Late in the month, pinch melon and winter squash vines back after they have set all the fruit they can reasonably be expected to mature.

If your potatoes were planted early, or you planted early potato varieties, the foliage may mature, and the potatoes may be ready to harvest. If so, harvest promptly. If late blight is nearby, harvest the potatoes before the foliage gets infected. Plan to eat the potatoes; do not save them as seed potatoes.

Keep asparagus mulched and weeded so that the ferns can feed the roots as long as possible.

Make sure your fencing is tight and adequate to prevent animal damage. As wild forages stop growing in hot dry weather, vegetable gardens become even more attractive.

Almanac courtesy Monika Roth & Pat Curran, Tompkins County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Ear to the Ground

UGJ Adds Graphic Designer Please welcome Cathy Monrad to the Upstate Gardeners’ Journal team.

Cathy is a terrific artist and has already helped out a lot with the past two issues. She is also working on the redesign of our website. Cathy lives with her family in Webster.

Off to Merry England, Again The UGJ is busily putting together our fourth trip to the Chelsea Flower Show and gardens and around London in May of 2013. Why do we keep doing the same trip over and over? Because it never gets old! However, we are hoping to add to our repertoire and are eager for

suggestions for future trips. If you are interested in seeing Chelsea with us (it’s amazing!) or seeing other gardens with a group, email Jane: Jane@JaneMilliman.com.

ABOVE: Carnivorous Plant Display at Chelsea

Need Inspiration? Visit Gardens Summer means garden walks (as they are called in Buffalo) and garden tours (as they are called everywhere but Buffalo). Our ace calendar editor, Debbie Eckerson, has noted these events with a

“T” so that they will be easy for readers to find.

Of special note, of course, is Garden Walk Buffalo (gardenwalkbuffalo.com), totally free and the largest event of its kind in the nation, July 28 & 29.

Oops—Our Mistake There were some editing errors in Colleen O’Neill Nice’s “Growing the Green,” which appeared in the May-June ‘12 UGJ. The second caption on page 36 should have read “A large variety of standard form evergreens at Berner Farms in Elma,” and Johnson’s Nursery was included in the article and map but its address listing did not appear under the map.

Are you a green industry professional?

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UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 7

Q&A

You ask... the experts answer Q: I have a pear tree on my property that has something wrong with some of the shoots and leaves. They have a scorched look. Can you identify the problem and tell me how to address it?

A: The problem sounds like it could be a bacterial disease called fireblight.

Fire blight is a serious disease that affects new leaves, fruit, flowers, and stems of over 75 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family including: apple, crabapple, hawthorn, pear, pyracantha, cotoneaster, spirea, flowering quince, and mountain ash. Temperature, humidity, insect vectors, and wounding can all affect the severity of infection from year to year. It can cause flower and fruit blight, twig and branch dieback, and with repeated infections eventually kill the plant. If your trees are affected by fireblight, they will begin to show symptoms just before their flower petals fall. This is the blossom blight stage when flowers begin to turn brown and mushy and wilt. Eventually, the bacteria will move down into the branches of the tree. Leaves darken and wilt but remain attached to the tree giving it a scorched or burned look. Branch tips blacken and curl downward, causing a “shepherd’s crook” symptom.

No single practice completely controls fireblight, but a combination of the following practices reduces the chance for infection: In late summer or winter, prune out all diseased wood at

least 10 to 15 inches below the infection and destroy. Remove suckers at the base of the tree and water sprouts that arise from the trunk or branches. Disinfect tools between cuts by dipping in a 10% chlorine bleach solution. Avoid pruning in spring when bacterial ooze is prevalent. Also, clean up and dispose of any dead twigs.

Avoid fertilizing that leads to an abundance of succulent growth.

Eliminate nearby old pear, apple, or quince trees in the area that may harbor the disease.

Replace diseased plants with varieties resistant to fireblight.

Chemical sprays are not very effective. However infections can be minimized if good spray coverage is obtained using copper based sprays applied during bloom, then every 3–5 days through the spring when the daily high is over 65 degrees F and the humidity is about 65%. Most homeowners would be better served by replacing a problem tree than going to the expense and bother of spraying.

For information on resistant varieties and management details contact your local Cornell Extension office.

To have fireblight or any disease or insect problem diagnosed consider the Plant and Insect Diagnostic Lab At CCE of Monroe County. Fee for diagnosis and written report is $20.00 per sample. Samples can be dropped off at Extension offices, 249 Highland Ave. between 8:30-4:30 weekdays.

This issue’s guest expert is Liz Berkeley, Horticulture Educator/Plant & Insect Diagnostician, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County.

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www.sensenigs.com UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 9

Seasonal stakeout

The Peace Garden Trail

by Mary Ruth Smith

F

ABOVE: Honorary International Peace Garden at Lewiston, NY INSET: Evan Cummings, age 8, is the youngest volunteer at the Bicentennial Peace Garden in Batavia.

1 0 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

or most of us in Upstate New York, the War of 1812 is a forgotten war, even though many of its battles were fought in our back yard.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of that war, which was started in 1812 and concluded, in a draw, most historians agree, in 1814. It is remembered most for the battle at Fort Henry, fought in Baltimore, that produced our National Anthem, for the burning of Washington DC, and for the Battle of New Orleans, made famous in song, that was actually fought after the peace treaty had been signed. It is often referred to as the Second War of Independence.

The War of 1812 led to a lasting peace between the US and Britain and the

record-setting 200 years of peace along the longest undefended border in the world, the one between the US and Canada.

So what does this history lesson have to do with gardens? To answer that question, I have to go back to WW II. Canada gave shelter to the Dutch royal family during that war, and in gratitude, the Dutch sent thousands, perhaps millions, of tulip bulbs to the Canadian people. The annual Tulip Festival in Ottawa is the result, and well worth the trip if you have never seen it. In 1990, a Batavia native, Paula Savage, was working in Washington, promoting the interests of the Canadian government. She had the idea to pass on that gift of gardens from Canada to the US and worked to get approval to build the first Peace Garden on the grounds of the Washington Monument. It was so well received that people encouraged her to carry on the idea.

Thus began the International Peace Garden Movement. When Poland became the first country to break away from The Soviet Union, Paula, by now the President of the International Peace Garden Foundation, orchestrated the gift of a garden from the people of the US to the people of Poland. As other countries became free and democratic, or promoted peace in some way, the gift was passed on until now there are twentytwo International Peace Gardens, linking countries around the world in peace.

The most recent garden was dedicated in Istanbul, Turkey in 2010. And all of this was organized in and directed from Batavia, NY! A few years ago, the Arts Council of Buffalo was looking for ways to commemorate the War of 1812 and consulted with Paula about the possibility of creating Peace Gardens in the Buffalo area at important sites of battles during the war.

She realized that battles had also been fought all

along the US/Canadian border, and the idea was born to have a trail of Bicentennial Peace Gardens along the border at sites associated with the war.

Municipalities looking for ways to increase tourism jumped on board, volunteers were recruited, and sites were chosen to either build a new garden or repurpose an existing garden.

This year, all of these sites, nineteen in the US and three in Canada, will be dedicated as Bicentennial Peace Gardens. The first to be dedicated was, appropriately, in Batavia on May 6. The garden was a labor of love by the Friends of Batavia Peace Garden and volunteers from the community. It’s located on Main Street next to the Holland Purchase Museum in Paolo Busti Park, which honors the principal agent of the Holland Land Company.

Barb Toal, the Chair of the Batavia group, told me that it took two and a half years to get all the permits, funding, design and labor. The garden itself is still a work in progress with many more plantings and hardscape planned. She hopes it will put Batavia on the map. More than just a tourism attraction, the site will serve as a venue for performances of art and music by young people. Some of those young people performed at the dedication ceremony, flags of all the International Peace Garden countries were raised, a 21-gun salute was fired by veterans and militia enactors, and the enthusiasm of the entire community was evident in the large numbers of people attending.

In addition to the Batavia garden, the Rochester area has two other Peace Gardens, one at the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse off Lake Avenue, and the other at the Lake Ontario Winery and Vineyards in Hamlin. The Buffalo area has the largest concentration of gardens, ten in all, including such gems as the Japanese Garden at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and a garden in Lewiston.

Wayne County has two gardens, and Oswego has the closest garden to the Syracuse area. They are all free and open to the public. The Bicentennial Peace Garden Trail won the Garden Tourism Initiative of the Year from the Ontario Garden Tourism Coalition in 2011, and in 2012, the Peace Garden Trail map won the award for Overall General Excellence at the NYS Tourism conference.

Information and photos of the gardens are available on the Peace Garden website, 1812.ipgf. org. Trip planning aids that include suggested itineraries, special events, nearby attractions, accommodations, driving directions and more can be obtained by calling 1-800-622-2686 ext.23 (M-F 8am-4pm EST). Free audio tours are available on your phone by calling 585-201-5079 and dialing the extension for each garden listed on the map.

A map of the entire trail is available from the Genesee Chamber of Commerce at the 800 number

above. The map is also available through the county tourism offices in Niagara, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Wayne, and Oswego counties. A digital version of the map is available on the website of visitgeneseeny.com This is a great way to learn more about the history of the area as it related to this forgotten war and to see beautiful gardens and other sites of interest in a series of day trips. If you have a chance to attend the dedication ceremony in one of the gardens near you, the dates of which are listed on the website, I urge you to do so. It will warm your heart.

ABOVE: Japanese Garden at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society INSET: Flags of countries with International Peace Gardens at the Batavia 1812 garden dedication

UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 11

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Calendar BUFFALO

Western New York Honey Producers, Inc. First Presbyterian Church of East Aurora. wnyhpa.org.

REGULAR CLUB MEETINGS

Western New York Hosta Society, contact for meeting dates and location. 716/941-6167; h8staman@aol.com; wnyhosta.com.

8th District Federated Garden Clubs of New York State Inc. Adrienne Pasquariello, District Director: 716/681-1047; gardenclubsofwny.com.

African Violet and Gesneriad Society of WNY meets the third Tuesday of each month, September - June, at 7:30 pm, LVAC Building, 40 Embry Place, Lancaster. avgswny@verizon.net; gesneriadsociety. org/chapters/wny.

Buffalo Area Daylily Society. East Aurora Senior Center, 101 King Street, East Aurora. 716/ 649-8186; buffaloareadaylily@ hotmail.com.

Garden Club of the Tonawandas meets the third Thursday of the month at 7 pm, Tonawanda City Hall, Community Room.

Garden Friends of Clarence meets the second Wednesday of the month at 7 pm, September – June, Town Park Clubhouse, 10405 Main Street, Clarence. gardenfriendsofclarence@hotmail.com.

Hamburg Garden Club meets the second Wednesday of every month at noon, summer garden tours, Hamburg Community Center, 107 Prospect Avenue, Hamburg. 716/648-0275; droman13@ verizon.net.

Niagara Frontier Orchid Society (NFOS) meets the first Tuesday following the first Sunday (dates sometimes vary due to holidays, etc.), September – June, Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo. niagarafrontierorchids.org.

Niagara Frontier Pond & Koi Club meets the second Friday of each month at 7 pm, Zion United Church of Christ, 15 Koenig Circle, Tonawanda. nfkpc.org.

Orchard Park Garden Club meets the first Thursday of the month at 12 pm, Orchard Park Presbyterian Church, 4369 South Buffalo Street, Orchard Park. President: Beverly Walsh, 716/662-7279.

Silver Creek-Hanover Garden Club meets the second Saturday of the month at 2 pm, First Baptist Church, 32 Main Street, Silver Creek. Sue Duecker, 716/934-7608; duke. sue@roadrunner.com.

South Town Gardeners meets the second Friday of the month (except January) at 10:30 am, Charles E. Burchfield Nature & Art Center, 2001 Union Road, West Seneca. New members welcome.

Western New York Carnivorous Plant (CP) Club meets the first Tuesday of the month, 6:30 pm. wnycpclub@aol.com; facebook. com/pages/WNY-Carnivorous-Plant-Club.

Western New York Herb Study Group meets the second Wednesday of the month at 7 pm, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo.

1 4 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

Western New York Iris Society meets the first Sunday of the month in members’ homes and gardens. Information about growing all types of irises and complementary perennials. Shows. Sale. Guests welcome.

Pat Kluczynski: 716/633-9503; patrizia@ roadrunner.com.

Western New York Rose Society meets the third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm, St. Stephens-Bethlehem United Church of Christ, 750 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville. No December meeting. July 18: Insects in the Garden; August 15: Bee Pollination. wnyrosesociety.org.

Wilson Garden Club generally meets the second Thursday of each month at 7 pm, Community Room, Wilson Free Library, 265 Young Street, Wilson. Meetings open to all, community floral planting, spring plant sale, local garden tours. 716/7516334; wilsongardenclub@aol.com.

Youngstown Garden Club meets the second Wednesday of every month at 7 pm, First Presbyterian Church, 100 Church Street, Youngstown.

Frequent hosts BECBG: Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14218. 716/827-1584; buffalogardens.com.

DMH: Darwin Martin House, 125 Jewett Parkway, Buffalo, NY 14214. 716/8563858; darwinmartinhouse.org.

MENNE: Menne Nursery, 3100 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst, NY 14228.

716/693-4444; mennenursery.com.

NGF: National Garden Festival, June 23 – July 29, a five-week celebration of the Greater Buffalo area’s garden walks, talks, tours and events. 617 Main Street, Suite 200, Buffalo, NY 14203.

716-998-1573; nationalgardenfestival. com.

REIN: Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, 93 Honorine Drive, Depew, NY 14043. 716/683-5959; dec.ny.gov/ education/1837.html.

CLASSES / EVENTS • Indicates activities especially appropriate for children and families.

S- Indicates plant sales.

T- Indicates garden tours.

Ongoing through August 5: Celebration of Color. The Gardens will be bursting with colorful plants and flowers from the front walkway and outdoor perennial peace garden to the indoor tropical paradise.

BECBG • Ongoing through October: Family Walk, Sundays, 2 pm. Free. BMAC July 7: Master Gardeners at the Gardens.

Master Gardeners of Erie County will answer gardening questions. Soil testing, up to three samples, $5 each. 716/8271584 x291. BECBG July 7: Allenberg Bog Walk, 9 am – 2 pm.

Casual hike in search of summertime flora and other interesting facets of this unique environment. Meet: Walmart parking lot, Springville. Registration required.

Beaver Meadow Audubon Center, 1610 Welch Road, North Java. 585/457-3228; 800/377-1520; buffaloaudubon.org.

July 7: Native Plants Day, 9 am – 1 pm.

Two talks: ECO-logic: How to use it Naturally in the Landscape, Ken Parker, native plants expert. Airplanes in the Garden – Monarch Butterflies Take Flight, speaker and author Joan Calder of California on butterfly gardening and preserving habitat for monarchs and other butterflies; book signing. Panel of Experts discussion: Beautiful Landscapes, Healthy Communities. Moderator: Megan Hoffmann, WNY Land Conservancy.

Panelists: Sally Cunningham and Ken Parker, Lockwood’s Greenhouses; Joy Kuebler, Landscape Architect; Tim Fulton, Groundworks Buffalo; Dan Oles, Promised Land CSA. Refreshments. $25. Registration required. Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg. 716/649-4684; weknowplants. com.

July 7: Beginning Bonsai Basics, 2 pm.

Peter Martin will introduce the basics of Bonsai care and give an overall view of which plants can best be utilized. He will demonstrate pruning and repotting techniques and discuss basic care including growing media, watering and fertilizing. Free. Registration required.

MENNE July 7 – 8: Native Plants Weekend. NGF T- July 7 – 8: Lockport in Bloom, 10 am – 4 pm. Self-guided walking/driving tour featuring more than 40 private gardens plus 5 city parks. Rain or shine. Free.

716/434-2380; lockportinbloom.com.

NGF T- July 7 – 29: Garden Walks. Visit two Orchard Park gardens, about a mile apart, at your leisure. Enjoy extensive country gardens, a pond filled with fish and water lilies, over 700 registered varieties of daylilies, certain varieties available for purchase. Saturdays 10 am – 4 pm, Sundays 12 – 4 pm, 6047 Seufert Road; 716/648-0094. The second, a four-acre property has a newly designed Japanesethemed section, large perennial garden,

woods, pines & Japanese maples incorporated into a cottage/prairie style garden. Saturdays only, 10 am – 4 pm, 6346 Ward Road; 716/648-7085.

T- July 8: Snyder-CleveHill Garden View, 10 am – 4 pm. Tour 25 private gardens and carefully tended public spaces in the Snyder and Cleveland Hill neighborhoods. $3 donation. facebook.com/SCHGardenView; snyderclevehillgardenview@gmail.com.

NGF July 8: Iris Show, 12 – 4 pm. Eastern Hills Mall. NGF T- July 8: Natural Gardens & Habitats Tour, 1 – 6 pm. Includes Land Conservancy member gardens & properties in Amherst, East Aurora & Tonawanda. Enjoy an Amherst 35-acre grassland restoration for bird habitat and Lytle Nature Park in Lockport. Self-guided. $10 advance; $12 day of. Western New York Land Conservancy, PO Box 471, East Aurora.

716/687-1225; wnylc.org. / NGF July 9 – 13: Front Yard Contest.

Landscapers from the WNY Nursery & Landscape Association will renovate one block of front yards on Crowley Avenue facing Riverside Park, Buffalo. NGF July 13: Landscape Tour - Plants, People & Design, 10:30 am – 12 pm. Join Martin House Horticulturist Nellie Gardner and Director of Operations Margaret Stehlik for a stroll through the Martin House estate. From the landscape of Toshiko Mori’s 21st Century Greatbatch Pavilion, to the Victorian influence at the turn of the century, to the planned Floricycle (or Hemicycle), learn about the common thread uniting the dwelling with the landscape. $20 members; $25 nonmembers. Registration required. DMH T- July 13: Bus Tour – Southtowns Bouquet.

Join tour hosts Mike & Kathy Shadrack to see their Smug Creek Gardens plus visit several gardens in the Southtowns.

Picnic luncheon and tour at Lockwood’s Greenhouses. NGF July 13: Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy Gala. NGF T- July 14: Landscape Bus Tour, 9 am – 4 pm. Travel by air-conditioned bus on this guided tour of landscapes including plantings, patios, and water gardens. End the day with refreshments in the garden of hosts Gary and Kathy Sokolowski.

Lunch included. $35. Reservation required. MENNE T- July 14: Samuel B. Capen Garden Walk, 10 am – 3 pm. Featuring about 60 private gardens and public spaces in the neighborhoods surrounding University at Buffalo South Campus. ourheights.org/ gardenwalk. NGF T- July 14: Garden Tour, 10 am – 4 pm.

Presented by Master Gardeners of Orleans County. Featuring seven gardens on west side of county plus

newly established Honor Garden at Orleans County 4-H fairgrounds. $10.

585/798-4265; mgorleanscce@gmail.com; cceorleans.shutterfly.com.

T- July 14: Garden Tour, 10 am – 5 pm. Art & Garden Glory – The Final Chapter. Two extensive neighboring gardens along with various works of art for sale. Rain or shine. Rushford, located between Rushford and Caneadea, off of Route 243.

Follow signs.

July 14: Alien Invaders Investigation Hike, 10:30 am. Learn about plants and insects that could harm our forests and ponds.

Explore where these “aliens” are found, and learn what is being done to protect our ecosystems. Registration required.

REIN T- July 14: Historic Niagara Falls Garden Walk, 11 am – 4 pm. Maps: Park Place and Main Street or Orchard Parkway entrance at Main Street, Niagara Falls.

T- July 14: Historic Trinity Garden Tour, 11 am – 5 pm. See eight different gardens on Grand Island. Proceeds benefit preservation of the Gothic Revival country church.$15. Maps: Historic Trinity Church, 2100 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island.

T- July 14 – 15: Hamburg Garden Walk, 10 am – 4 pm. Self-guided. Vendors. Maps: Memorial Park bandstand, Lake & Union Streets. Rain or shine. 716/648-7544; hamburggardenwalk.com. NGF T- July 15: South Buffalo Alive Garden Tour, 9 am – 3 pm. Showcasing the gardens of South Buffalo and the Old First Ward. $2.

Maps: Tim Russert Children’s Garden next to the Dudley Library, South Park Avenue. southbuffaloalive.com. NGF July 15 – 20: Front Yard Contest – Public Judging. See description under July 9 – 13. Voting boxes on site and online.

Crowley Avenue, Buffalo. NGF • July 16 – 20: Art Camp for Kids: Strictly Watercolor, 9 am – 12 pm. Week: $80 member; $90 non-member. Single session: $17 member; $19 non-member.

Registration required. BECBG July 19: A Celebration of Life, 10:30 am – 12 pm. Stroll the garden, field and woods, learn how to create your own wonderland, no matter how large or small the lot, and what attracts birds, bees and butterflies. $52; $47 groups of 3 or more. Registration required. Lana’s The Little House, Forestville. 716/965-2798; lanasthelittlehouse.com.

July 19: Beautiful Landscapes and Healthy Communities: A Panel Discussion, 5:30 – 7 pm. TR Historical Site, 641 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. Registrataion required.

Western New York Land Conservancy, East Aurora. 716/687-1225; wnylc.org.

July 21: Master Gardeners at the Gardens.

See description under July 7. BECBG T- July 21: Town of Amherst Garden Walk, 10 am – 4 pm. facebook.com/

AmherstGardenWalk.

T- July 21: Saturday Night Lights, 8:30 – 10:30 pm. Self-guided garden tour. In conjunction with Ken-Ton Garden Tour, see below. Free. kentongardentour.com.

T- July 21 – 22: Ken-Ton Garden Tour, 10 am – 4 pm. Self-guided. Tour gardens in the Village of Kenmore and Town of Tonawanda. See also Saturday Night Lights, above. Free. kentongardentour. com.

T- July 21 – 22: Lancaster Garden Walk, 10 am – 4:30 pm. Free. lancastervillage.org/ gardenpage.

T- July 22: Home and Garden Tour, 12 – 4 pm. Presented by St. James Church & Landmark Society of Genesee County.

Featuring ten gardens, some homeowners will open their first floors as well. Dessert reception, garden talk, door-prize giveaway, 4:15 – 5 pm. St. James Church, 405 E. Main Street, Batavia. $20. 585/3438218.

• July 23 – 27: Art Camp for Kids: MultiMedia, 9 am – 12 pm. Week: $80 member; $90 non-member. Single session: $17 member; $19 non-member.

Registration required. BECBG • July 23 – 27: Kids in the Woods – Day Camp, 9 am – 3 pm. Week-long adventures for ages 8-11. $150 members; $175 non-members. Registration required.

REIN • July 28: Summer Wildflowers, 10:30 am.

Search for seasonal wildflowers and learn their uses and folklore. For adults and kids ages 8 and older. Registration required.

REIN T- July 28 – 29: Garden Walk Buffalo. Selfguided tour of 370+ urban gardens and historic neighborhoods. Free. Rain or shine. gardenwalkbuffalo.com.

• July 30 – August 3: Art Camp for Kids: Drawing, 9 am – 12 pm. Week: $80 member; $90 non-member. Single session: $17 member; $19 non-member.

Registration required. BECBG August 4: Master Gardeners at the Gardens. See description under July 7.

BECBG T- August 4: Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens, 10 am – 5 pm. Self-guided, features more than 60 gardens. See also Starry Night Garden Tour, below. Free.

716/851-5116; brrgardenwalk.com.

T- August 4: Starry Night Garden Tour, 8 – 10 pm. Self-guided, features more than 20 gardens. Part of Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens, above. Free. 716/8515116; brrgardenwalk.com.

August 11: Pruning Techniques for Shrubs, 10 am. Lana Bilger will discuss the basics of pruning shrubs including proper timing and techniques to soften damage from animals and weather. Free. Registration required. MENNE UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 15

Calendar BUFFALO continued • August 13 – 17: Art Camp for Kids: MultiMedia, 9 am – 12 pm. Week: $80 member; $90 non-member. Single session: $17 member; $19 non-member. Registration required. BECBG August 17: Fungi with a Fun Gal, 6 pm. Discover the mysterious world of mushrooms through an indoor presentation and guided foray in the woods. Registration required. REIN

member; $60 non-member. Registration required. BECBG September 14: Landscape Tour - Plants, People & Design, 10:30 am – 12 pm. See description under July 13. $20 members; $25 non-members. Registration required.

DMH September 15: Fall Festival, 10 am – 4 pm.

Exhibits by nature and environmental organizations, nature activities, live animals, nature crafts, food, music, and more. REIN

August 18: Master Gardeners at the Gardens. See description under July 7.

BECBG

ITHACA

August 18: Pruning Techniques for Trees, 10 am. Lana Bilger will cover pruning times and needs for evergreen, ornamental, fruit and shade trees. She will discuss the difference of trimming for maintenance vs. pruning to rejuvenate a tree suffering from storm or animal damage. Free. Registration required. MENNE

REGULAR CLUB MEETINGS

• August 20 – 24: Art Camp for Kids: Strictly Watercolor, 9 am – 12 pm. Week: $80 member; $90 non-member. Single session: $17 member; $19 non-member.

Registration required. BECBG August 24: Landscape Tour - Plants, People & Design, 10:30 am – 12 pm. See description under July 13. $20 members; $25 non-members. Registration required.

DMH S- August 25: Hosta & Daylily Sale. Many varieties of each. Presented by WNY Hosta Society & Buffalo Area Daylily Society.

VFW Post, 965 Center Road, West Seneca.

716/941-6167; h8staman@aol.com; wnyhosta.com.

August 27 – September 24: Adult Art Classes, four Mondays, 8:45 – 10:15 am.

For beginners as well as experienced artists.

Instructor: Joan Saba. $54 member; $60 non-member. Registration required.

BECBG September 1: Flowers, Ferns and Fungi, 10:30 am. Join this guided walk to learn about local plants and fungi. Registration required. REIN September 8: Fall Garden Fair, 9:30 am – 4 pm. Vendors, garden talks & demos, plants, food. Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg. 716/6494684; weknowplants.com.

September 8: Fall Hosta Forum. Off to see the Wizard. Riverside Inn, Cambridge Springs, PA. Mike Shadrack: 716/941-6167; h8staman@aol.com.

September 12 – October 3: Adult Drawing Classes, four Wednesdays, 8:45 – 10:15 am. Taught by Joan Saba, this beginner/ intermediate drawing class will cover shading techniques, value scale, symmetry, grid method, perspective, positive and negative space and composition. $54 1 6 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

Adirondack Chapter, North American Rock Garden Society (AC/NARGS). Free and open to all. acnargs.blogspot.com.

Windsor NY Garden Group meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 10 am, members’ homes or Windsor Community House, 107 Main Street, Windsor. windsorgardengroup.suerambo. com.

Frequent hosts CP: Cornell Plantations, 1 Plantations Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. Inquire ahead for meeting places. 607/255-2400; cornellplantations.org.

CLASSES / EVENTS • Indicates activities especially appropriate for children and families.

S- Indicates plant sales.

T- Indicates garden tours.

Ongoing through September 23: Arboretum Highlights Tour, Sundays, 1 pm. Enjoy a guided tour through the F.R. Newman Arboretum to see tree and shrub collections and diverse ornamental garden plantings. Tour content will vary from week to week. Meet: Sculpture Garden, F.R. Newman Arboretum. Free; donations welcome. CP Ongoing through September 29: Botanical Garden Highlights Tour, Saturdays, 1 pm.

Enjoy a guided tour through the Botanical Garden’s numerous theme gardens. Tour content will vary from week to week. Meet: Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center, Botanical Garden. Free; donations welcome. CP • July 7: Jungle in a Jar, 10 am – 12 pm.

Children will use small plants and toy creatures to create a tiny terrarium using their imagination to make each landscape unique. Ages 5 and older, children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Materials included. $15 per child; adults free. Registration required. CP • July 9 – 13: Sketching and Painting Trees: A Study Afield, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm. Week-long immersion in outdoor sketching and watercolor painting. Daily gentle hikes to discover different species to draw. Open to adults and youth ages 12 and older. $180; $150 members & students. Registration required. CP T- July 14: Dryden Open Gate Garden & Art Tour, 9 am – 2 pm. See four gardens with original art on display and for sale.

Includes shuttle. $5; $4 seniors. Municipal parking lot, George Street, Dryden. drydenbeautification.weebly.com.

July 15: Garden to Table: Around the World with Fresh Summer Herbs and Salads, 1 – 4 pm. Guided walk through herb garden to discuss cultivation and harvesting followed by demonstration of how to make four different salads: Romanian eggplant salad, Moroccan charmoula batata salad, Italian panzanella, and Israeli tabouli. Samples served. Registration required. $45; $40 members & students.

CP August 1 – 8: Introduction to Nature Photography, 7 – 9 pm Wednesday, 7 – 11 am Saturday, 6:30 – 9 pm Wednesday. In-depth workshop presented in partnership with the Cayuga Nature Photographers. Overview of basic digital camera use and field techniques; appropriate for beginner to intermediate level. $125; $105 members & students.

Registration required. CP T- August 4: Open Days Garden Tours, 10 am – 4 pm. Tour four private gardens in Tompkins County. Rain or shine. $5 per garden. ccetompkins.org.

August 12: A Taste of History: Heirloom Vegetables, 1 – 4 pm. Guided walk through the Pounder Heritage Vegetable Garden to discuss antique varieties of some common garden vegetables that can easily be grown at home.

Demonstration and sampling of dishes made with a variety of heirloom vegetables. Registration required. $45; $40 members & students. CP

ROCHESTER REGULAR CLUB MEETINGS African Violet Society of Rochester meets the first Wednesday of each month, September – May, at 7 pm, St. John’s Home, 150 Highland Avenue, Rochester.

All are welcome. Bob or Linda Springer: 585/413-0606; blossoms002@yahoo.com.

Bonsai Society of Upstate New York meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at the Brighton Town Park Lodge, Buckland Park, 1341 Westfall Road, Rochester. 585/3342595; bonsaisocietyofupstateny.org.

Witness the Rebirth of a Historic Gardenville Tradition!

Pines Garden Center The Gardening Destination!

JULY 6, 13, 20, 27 & AUG. 10: Moonlight Stroll Music Series

formerly Majeski’s Nursery

AUGUST 18 & 19: Arts at the Gardens Fine Art Show & Sale SEPTEMBER 15 & 16: Wine Country Ramble Women’s 2-day bicycle tour to benefit Sonnenberg SEPTEMBER 28-30: Garden Symposium featuring Dr. Allan Armitage

Visit www.sonnenberg.org for more events.

151 Charlotte St., Canandaigua

585.394.4922

Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Sonnenberg Mansion *9 Formal Gardens, Lord & Burnham Greenhouse Complex, Sonnenberg Gift Shop *Daily Wine Tasting at Finger Lakes Wine Center *Explore the Kids’ Trail Kids 12 & Under FREE

Gardenville’s Anchor Attraction is experiencing a renaissance under new ownership!

Military Mondays–10% off

Fresh stock delivered to our

Senior Tuesdays–10% off

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Fairy Garden accessories

Like us on Facebook. Look for our fall festival schedule, Christmas events and coupons on our new website: pinesgardncentr.com

“Flash Your Badge” Everyday– Law Enforcement get 10% off

We appreciate your business!

Pines Garden Center 117 French Rd. West Seneca, NY 14224 716-844-8083 pinesgardncentr.com

A VIBRANT CELEBRATION OF SUSTAINABILITY!

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greentopiafestival.com GREENTOPIA 2012 | P: 585.287.5560 | E: info@GreentopiaFest.com | 81 BROWNS RACE, ROCHESTER, NY 14614 Greentopia is a project of: Friends of the GardenAerial

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City of Rochester, NY Thomas S. Richards, Mayor

Photo Courtesy of Ball Seed Co.

Any 3+ Hydrangeas or Roses – 25% OFF Summer Seminars & Events Sunday, July 8 at 2pm Keeping Roses Blooming & Beautiful All Season with Gene Noto Saturday, July 21 at 2pm Succulents Workshop Friday, July 28-August 5 Hydrangea Celebration Saturday, August 11-12 Butterfly Weekend Saturday, August 25 at 2pm Fallscaping: Design & Tasks 124 Pittsford-Palmyra Road, Macedon, NY 14502 (585) 223-1222 • www.waysidegardencenter.com

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3038 Ewings Rd, Newfane, NY 14108

(716) 778-0026

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Available August 1st: Garden Mums, Hibiscus, Asters, Montauk Daisies, Winter Survivor Pansies

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You can learn more about your area of expertise or delve into a new specialty. Either way, the skills and knowledge you gain with FLCC will make you a more desirable expert in the field.

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Calendar ROCHESTER continued REGULAR CLUB MEETINGS Fairport Garden Club meets the thirrd Thursday evening of each month (except August and January). Accepting new members. fairportgc@gmail.com; fairportgardenclub.org.

Garden Club of Brockport meets the second Wednesday of every month at 7 pm, Clarkson Schoolhouse, Ridge Road, east of Route 19. Speakers, hands-on sessions. Kathy Dixon: 585/431-0509; kadixon@excite.com.

Garden Path of Penfield meets the third Wednesday of the month from September through May at 7 pm, Penfield Community Center, 1985 Baird Road, Penfield. Members enjoy all aspects of gardening; new members welcome. gardenpathofpenfield@gmail. com.

Genesee Region Orchid Society (GROS) meets every month from September through May at the Jewish Community Center, 1200 Edgewood Avenue, Rochester, on the first Monday following the first Sunday of each month (dates sometimes vary due to holidays, etc.).

The GROS is an Affiliate of The American Orchid Society (AOS) and of The Orchid

Digest Corporation. geneseeorchid.org.

Genesee Valley Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society (GVC NARGS) meets monthly from April through October. July 29: Plant Sale.

See calendar. Information: jsamolis@ rochester.rr.com; gvnargs.blogspot.com.

Newsletter: jhoeffel@aol.com.

Genesee Valley Hosta Society meets the second Thursday of January, March, May, September & November at Monroe County’s Cornell Cooperative Extension, 249 Highland Avenue, Rochester. July 29: Plant Sale. See calendar. 585/5382280; sebuckner@frontiernet.net.

Genesee Valley Pond & Koi Club meets the first Friday of the month at 7 pm, Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park, Rochester. bobwheeler58@gmail. com.

Gesneriad Society meets the first Wednesday of each month, September – May, at 6:30 pm, St. John’s Home, 150 Highland Avenue, Rochester. All are welcome. Bob or Linda Springer: 585/413-0606; blossoms002@yahoo. com.

Greater Rochester Iris Society meets Sundays at 2 pm, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County, 249 Highland Avenue, Rochester. July 29: Plant Sale. See calendar.

Fresh

From Our Greenhouses Annuals, Perennials Herbs, Hanging Baskets Bedding Plants Foliage Plants

585/599-3502; eschnell@rochester.rr.com.

Greater Rochester Perennial Society (GRPS) meets the first Thursday of each month at 7 pm, Monroe County Cornell Cooperative Extension, 249 Highland Avenue, Rochester, except in summer when it tours members’ gardens. July 29: Plant Sale. See calendar. laburt@ rochester.rr.com; rochesterperennial. com.

Greater Rochester Rose Society holds monthly meetings at the Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park, Rochester.

Public seminars, June rose show, garden adventures. 585/621-8780; info@rocrose. org; rocrose.org.

Henrietta Garden Club meets the third Wednesday of the month (except July and August) at 6:45 pm, Henrietta Town Hall (lower level, door facing library).

Open to all interested in gardens, flowers, and sharing information about plants. henriettagardenclub@gmail.com.

Holley Garden Club meets the second Thursday of the month at 7 pm, Holley Presbyterian Church. 585/638-6973.

Ikebana International Rochester Chapter 53 meets the third Thursday of each month (except December and February) at 10 am, First Baptist Church, Hubbell Hall, 175 Allens Creek Road, Rochester.

585/872-0678; 585/586-0794.

artsGardens AT THE

A Juried

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of Fine Art & Crafts Saturday & Sunday, August 18 & 19 10 am–5 pm, Rain or Shine

Mansion & Garden Tours NYS Wine, Beer & Food Fest Hands on activities for kids Special $6 Reduced Admission Children under 12 Free On the grounds of historic

2722 Clinton Street West Seneca, NY 14224 (716) 822-9298

Growing the Highest Quality Plants Since 1922.

2 0 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

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151 Charlotte Street in Canandaigua, NY www.ArtsAtTheGardens.org

Kendall Garden Club meets the first Wednesday of the month at 7 pm, Kendall Town Hall. 585/659-8289; justadesignabove.com.

Rochester Dahlia Society meets the second Saturday of most months at 1 pm, Trinity Reformed Church, 909 Landing Road North, Rochester, except in the summer, when it tours members’ gardens. Visitors welcome. 585/249-0624; 585/865-2291; gwebster@rochester.rr.com.

Rochester Herb Society meets the first Tuesday of each month (excluding January & February) at 12 pm, Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park, Rochester. June-August garden tours.

New members welcome.

Rochester Permaculture Center, meets monthly to discuss topics such as edible landscapes, gardening, farming,

renewable energy, green building, rainwater harvesting, composting, local food, forest gardening, herbalism, green living, etc. Meeting location and details: meetup.com/rochesterpermaculture.

Soil, Toil & Thyme Garden Club. 585/5891640; elfreda.stangland@gmail.com.

Valentown Garden Club meets the third Tuesday of each month; time alternates between noon and 7 pm. Victor.

Kathleen Houser, president: 585/3016107.

• Indicates activities especially appropriate for children and families.

S- Indicates plant sales.

T- Indicates garden tours.

CLASSES / EVENTS Ongoing through August 25: Master Gardener Makeover Contest. Presented

by Master Gardeners of Orleans County.

585/798-4265; vhj3@cornell.edu.

Ongoing through September: Historic Garden Tours. Docent-led tours share historic photographs and details about the landscape during George Eastman’s residency, 1905-1932. GEH Ongoing through September 30: The Lost Bird Project. George Eastman House gardens will host Todd McGrain’s 6-foot bronze sculptures of extinct birds, each showing the last place the bird was seen. GEH July 6: Moonlight Stroll Music Series, 8 – 10 pm. 198th Army Division Concert Band. $7 members; $9 non-members.

SG

Sonnenberg to host a symposium by Dr. Allan Armitage The Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion Historic Park is best known for its beautiful landscaping and intriguing history. Located in Canandaigua, New York, Sonnenberg boasts nine formal display gardens, an antique glasshouse complex, and a number of Victorianera buildings including the Thompson mansion. Each year the park hosts a number of exciting events, and this year Sonnenberg is pleased to host a symposium by the garden celebrity Dr. Allan Armitage.

Dr. Armitage is regarded as one of the world’s foremost horticulturalists, garden speakers and educators. Known for his enthusiastic style and signature Tilley hat, Armitage currently works as a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia.

Here he oversees the famous Trial Gardens, where new perennial and annual cultivars from around the world are tested.

Armitage also writes for a floriculture column in the popular Greenhouse Grower magazine.

For his outstanding work in education, Dr. Armitage has been awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor from the Garden Club of America, as well as the American Horticultural Society’s National Educator Award. He appeared on The Martha Stewart Show in 2010 and has been invited to speak throughout the United States, Canada, China, Colombia and New Zealand.

The Dr. Armitage symposium will begin on the evening of Friday, September

28th, with a walking tour of the Sonnenberg gardens. The main subject will be the stunning “Old-Fashioned Garden,” which houses over 150 perennial species and provides color for the entire summer season. The walk will conclude with a gathering in the mansion from 5:008:30PM. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

The following day, Saturday, September 29th, will include a lecture in the historic Carriage House, from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Armitage will discuss perennials and annuals and relate some of his favorite garden stories. Refreshments will be provided. The final event will take place

on Sunday with a presentation and book signing at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua. This presentation is free and open to the public.

Sonnenberg is a non-profit organization and the symposium weekend is a fundraising event. A registration fee of $50 for Sonnenberg members ($60 for non-members) is required for the seminar, and donations are welcome.

Additional event details are available at www.sonnenberg.org, or via Sonnenberg’s business office line at (585) 394-4922. For more information on Dr. Armitage, visit his website allanarmitage.net.

UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 21

Calendar ROCHESTER continued July 7: Butterflies and the Plants They Need, 9:30 am. Thousand Acre Swamp. Joint trip with Burroughs Audubon Nature Club.

Be prepared for poison ivy, mosquitoes, and possibly muddy trails. 585/385-3907.

RBC / TAS S- July 8: Daylily Sale, 8 am – 12 pm. Over 40 varieties to choose from; advice on selection and care available. Visit nationally recognized daylily display garden with over 250 varieties including 30 new varieties.

Webster Arboretum, 1700 Schlegel Road, Webster. websterarboretum.org.

July 8: Daylily Garden Open House, 1 – 5 pm. Cobbs Hill Daylily Garden (a National Display Garden), Charlie and Judy Zettek, 1 Hillside Avenue, Rochester. 585/461-3317.

July 8: Keeping Roses Blooming & Beautiful All Season, 2 pm. Instructor: Gene Noto.

Free. Registration required. WAY July 10: Butterflies and the Plants They Need, 9 am. Hi Tor area, Naples. Meet: Park and Ride, Bushnell’s Basin exit of I-490.

Bring lunch. 585/383-8168. RBC • July 10: Grow it, Try it, Like it! – Day Camp for Kids, 9 am – 3 pm. Kids learn how to be localvores, plant a vegetable garden, make healthy snacks, become food

Frequent hosts GEH: George Eastman House, 900 East Avenue, Rochester. 585/271-3361 x224. eastmanhouse.org.

RBC: Rochester Butterfly Club. Field trips last about 2 hours, some continue into the afternoon, especially those that are further away. Due to ticks, wear long pants tucked into socks and use insect repellent. Free and open to the public. rochesterbutterflyclub. org.

RCGC: Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park, Rochester, NY 14620. 585/473-5130; rcgc.org.

RPC: Rochester Permaculture Center, PO Box 18212, Rochester, NY 14618. 585/506-6505; patty@barefootpermaculture.com; rochesterpermaculturecenter.org.

SG: Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park, 151 Charlotte Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424. 585/394-4922; sonnenberg.org.

TAS: Thousand Acre Swamp Sanctuary, 158l Jackson Road, Penfield. 585/425-9561; 585/586-6677. facebook.com/thousandacreswamp.

WAY: Wayside Garden Center, 124 Pittsford-Palmyra Road (Route 31), Macedon, NY 14502.

585/223-1222 x100; trish@waysidegardencenter.com; waysidegardencenter.com.

detectives and play “Minute to Win it” style games. Ages 8-11. $25. Registration required. Cornell Cooperative Extension, Monroe County, 249 Highland Avenue, Rochester. 585/461-1000; counties.cce. cornell.edu/monroe.

July 10: Create a Container Garden of Flowers and Herbs, 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

Carved Rocks

Sue Lang and Sheryl Roets of Gallea’s Greenhouses will guide participants in planting a decorative container with a selection of herbs and flowering plants.

Materials included. $40. Registration required. RCGC July 11: Flower Arranging from Your Back Yard, 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Tour Master

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Gardener Laurie Burtner’s 3½ acres of diverse landscape containing mixed sunny borders, shady beds and woodland gardens. She will talk about flowers and greenery that work well in arrangements, how to cut and condition the material and will demonstrate creating a variety of arrangements from the garden. $18 members; $25 non-members. Registration required. RCGC July 12: Garden Vibes Concert, 6 – 8 pm.

Music by Matuto. Gates open 5 pm.

Bring blankets, chairs, picnic, beverages; concessions available. Rain or shine. $8 members; $12 non-members; $5 ages 13–18; free ages 12 and under. GEH July 13: Moonlight Stroll Music Series, 8 – 10 pm. Tullamore Celtic Band & Young School of Irish Dance. $7 members; $9 nonmembers. SG July 14: Butterflies and the Plants They Need, 10 am. Ganargua Creek Meadow Preserve. Joint outing with Genesee Land Trust. Meet: Creekside entrance, near intersection Wilkinson & Victor Roads, Wayne County. Bring lunch. 585/383-8168.

RBC T- Saturday, July 14: RCGC Summer Garden Tour, 10 am – 4 pm. Gardens of Brighton – Fun, Formal, and Fabulous.

Tour eight gardens with a variety of styles ranging from two examples of the work of

July 20: Moonlight Stroll Music Series, 8 – 10 pm. Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra. $7 members; $9 non-members. SG

landscape architect Fletcher Steele to the gardens of two local artists and the labors of love of homeowners. Advance: $15 members; $20 non-members. Day of: $20.

RCGC

July 21: Summer Wildflowers, 10 am. Walk led by Carl Herrgesell, Frank Crombe & Jackson Thomas. TAS

T- July 14: Garden Path Garden Tour, 10 am – 4 pm. Presented by Master Gardeners of Orleans County. Cornell Cooperative Extension, Orleans County. 585/798-4265; vhj3@cornell.edu; cceorleans.shutterfly. com/mastergardeners.

July 14 – 15: Lavender Festival, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm. Pick fresh lavender from the field or purchase plants. Speakers, vendors, wine tasting, music, hay rides, children’s activities, baked goods, lavender ice cream. $3. Olfactory Farm, 12973 Upton Road, Red Creek. facebook.com/NY-LavenderFestival; nylavenderfestival.com.

July 17: Daylily Garden Open House, 5 – 7 pm. Cobbs Hill Daylily Garden (a National Display Garden), Charlie and Judy Zettek, 1 Hillside Avenue, Rochester. 585/461-3317.

July 18: Summer Stroll in the Garden with Michael Hannen, 6 – 7:30 pm. Michael grows over 800 varieties of plants at his urban home-based nursery. See the gardens at their peak of color with blooms that attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. Arrive early to shop or preview the gardens. $10 members; $15 non-members.

Registration required. RCGC

H.A.Treichler & Sons

T- July 21: Webster Village Garden Tour, 1 – 4 pm. Tour maps, photos and descriptions on website after July 1. Free; donations to Webster Museum appreciated. 585/2659819; mjyengo@aol.com; villageofwebster. com.

July 21: Succulents Workshop, 2 pm. Free.

Registration required. WAY July 22: Daylily Garden Open House, 1 – 5 pm. Cobbs Hill Daylily Garden (a National Display Garden), Charlie and Judy Zettek, 1 Hillside Avenue, Rochester. 585/461-3317.

July 24: Oh No, Now What – Creative Perennial Garden Maintenance, 6 – 8:30 pm. Learn the finer points of garden maintenance in this hands-on class with RCGC Executive Director Christine Froehlich. Learn: proper staking; deadheading; deadleafing; cutting back to prevent straggliness, promote new growth and rebloom; weeding quickly; identifying problems like low fertility, water, and pest problems; and what to do about the fear of rearrangement. $22 members; $32 nonmembers. Registration required. RCGC

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716/731-9390 UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 23

Calendar ROCHESTER continued

July 28: Spring Native Wildflower Propagation, 10 am. Hands-on workshop to learn to propagate spring wildflowers. $15. Registration required.

Amanda’s Garden, 8410 Harper’s Ferry Road, Springwater. 585/6692275; amandasgarden@frontiernet.net; amandagarden.com.

July 25: Daylily Garden Open House, 5 – 7 pm. Cobbs Hill Daylily Garden (a National Display Garden), Charlie and Judy Zettek, 1 Hillside Avenue, Rochester. 585/4613317.

July 26: Garden Vibes Concert, 6 – 8 pm.

Music by Herb Gross & the Invictas. See description under July 12. GEH July 26: Soirée - Jerry Kral’s Incredible Landscape, 6:30 – 8 pm. Enjoy refreshments and visit with fellow garden enthusiasts while taking in Jerry Kral’s urban landscape of small and mediumsized evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, in combinations with perennials and annuals, linked by pathways and stone walls. Plus rock gardens, including a slab garden, tufa crevice garden, and a pumice rock garden. $12. Registration required.

RCGC July 27: Moonlight Stroll Music Series, 8 – 10 pm. Music Makers Big Band. $7 members; $9 non-members. SG July 27 – August 5: Hydrangea Celebration.

WAY

S- July 29: Plant Societies’ Plant Sale, 10 am – 2 pm. Shop among participating plant societies: Greater Rochester Perennial Society, Greater Rochester Iris Society, Genesee Valley Hosta Society, Genesee Valley Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society. Monroe County Master Gardeners will be selling gently used garden items. Cornell Cooperative Extension, 249 Highland Avenue, Rochester.

July 29: Building a Solar Food Dehydrator, 1 – 4 pm. Gain hands-on experience building and learn more about which foods can be dehydrated instead of freezing or canning. $30-45, sliding scale. Registration required. RPC July 31: Hydrangeas in all Their Variety, and How to Grow Them Here, 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Join Tim Boebel at his 1890’s farmhouse in East Bloomfield to see the

approximately 300 blooming hydrangea cultivars growing on his one-acre plot. Tim will discuss the merits of different cultivars, answer questions, and talk about growing hydrangea in patio containers. $18 members; $22 non-members. Registration required. RCGC August 1: Cut-Flower Workshop at a Historic Flower Farm, 6 – 8 pm. Join Nellie Gardner of Flower Fields specialty cut flowers for a tour of her small farm and the flowers she grows for her business, including many kinds of annuals, perennials and around 50 varieties of dahlias. She will discuss growing and harvesting cut flowers: which varieties work best for cutting as well as landscape use, how to cut and condition the flowers and prep the water, arranging and care of bouquets. Participants will select and cut their own bouquet to take home. $28 members; $35 non-members.

Registration required. RCGC August 4: Breaking the Rules – Creating an Inviting Entrance to Your Home, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm. Landscape designer Christine Froehlich will discuss alternate ideas for planting the front of the house.

Class will take place at Christine’s renovated Sodus Point garden where she

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has constructed fences, arbors, stone paths, a patio and pergola to define the structure of her small front-yard cottage garden. $22 members; $32 non-members.

Registration required. RCGC

are studded with fragments of historic buildings and geological specimens.

Several levels of gardens contain surprises both artistic and humorous. $12.

Registration required. RCGC

August 5: Christine Sevilla Wetlands Preserve, 10 am. Naturalist Steve Daniel will lead this walk to explore birds, butterflies, dragonflies and native plants at this wetlands preserve. Wear waterproof boots. 3799 Iroquois Road, Caledonia.

Genesee Land Trust; 585/256-2130; info@ geneseelandtrust.org; geneseelandtrust. org.

August 18: Summer Native Wildflower Propagation, 10 am. Hands-on workshop to learn to identify summer wildflowers.

Registration required. Amanda’s Garden, 8410 Harper’s Ferry Road, Springwater.

585/669-2275; amandasgarden@ frontiernet.net; amandagarden.com.

August 5: Daylily Garden Open House, 1 – 5 pm. Cobbs Hill Daylily Garden (a National Display Garden), Charlie and Judy Zettek, 1 Hillside Avenue, Rochester.

585/461-3317.

August 7: Make Your Wedding Magical, 7 – 9 pm. Floral designer and wedding planner Alana Miller will demonstrate quick and easy techniques for making boutonnieres, corsages and nosegays.

Learn how to set up dessert stations, preserve the flowers and more. $20 members; $25 non-members. Registration required. RCGC August 9: Garden Vibes Concert, 6 – 8 pm. Music by Hypnotic Clambake. See description under July 12. GEH August 9: Container Garden Tour, 6:30 – 8 pm. Join Deb VerHulst-Norris on her scenic lakefront property in Hilton to see over 100 containers, pots, window boxes and hanging baskets. Learn about plant choices, planting and care of container gardens. $15 members; $20 nonmembers. Registration required. RCGC August 10: Moonlight Stroll Music Series, 8 – 10 pm. Bats, Brats & Brews. Special appearance by Bat McGrath. $10 members; $12 non-members. SG August 11: Late Summer Dividing and Cuttings, 10 am – 1 pm. Michael Hannen has 20 years experience learning how, when and where to divide various types of perennials. He will discuss taking cuttings of perennials, woodies, tropicals and annuals and soil mix for rooting. Plus dividing perennials in time for them to re-establish before winter. $22 members; $28 non-members. Registration required.

RCGC August 11 – 12: Butterfly and Hummingbird Weekend. WAY August 16: Soirée - A City Garden of Art and Humor, 6:30 – 8 pm. The owners of this long city lot in the 19th Ward have transformed it into a multilayered landscape. Plants sit atop stone walls that

August 18: Ferns, 10 am. Walk led by Rick Iuli, Frank Crombe & Carl Herrgesell. Hand lens helpful. TAS August 18: Edible Forest Garden Caretake and Harvest. Using Edible Forest Gardens

by Dave Jacke with Eric Toensmeier as a guide, the group will discuss and experience methods and practices to manage a food forest. $70-95, sliding scale. Registration required. RPC August 18 – 19: Arts at the Gardens, 10 am – 5 pm. Fine art & craft show featuring 100 artists from across the US. Rain or shine. artsatthegardens.org. SG August 23: Walking Tour – Seed of Native Trees and Shrubs, 6 – 8 pm. Jim Engel, owner of White Oak Nursery, will introduce many species of native woody plants and discuss methods for establishing them using seed, whether in wild land restoration or the home landscape.

Walking tour of Highland Park. $22 members; $32 non-members. Registration required. RCGC August 23: Garden Vibes Concert, 6 – 8 pm.

Music by Brave Combo. See description under July 12. GEH August 25: Fallscaping: Design & Tasks, 2 pm. WAY September – December: Fall Weekend Permaculture Design Course: approximately every other weekend. Learn about sustainability and increase your self-reliance. $900-1000, sliding scale.

Registration required. RPC September 5: Dahlia Tour, 6 – 7:30 pm.

Gerald Kloc’s dahlia garden has over 450 plants of more than 300 different varieties.

Join him in his garden in the Genesee Valley Park neighborhood where he will discuss the myriad sizes, colors and forms of this late-summer flower, as well as how to start and care for the plants and dig and store the tubers for winter. $10 members; $15 non-members. Registration required.

RCGC September 6: Starting Your Own Flower Farm, 6:30 – 8 pm. Join Amy Priestley at her Palmyra farm to learn about getting

started in the flower farm business. Amy is starting up this year and will talk about the extensive amount of planning that goes into setting up: getting soil maps, writing a business plan, how to get certified organic, and more. $15 members; $20 nonmembers. Registration required. RCGC September 8: Gathering of Gardeners, 8 am – 4 pm. Big Ideas: Hot Pots, Small Lots, Garden Plots! Featuring Kirk Brown and Steve Foltz. Presented by Master Gardeners of Monroe County. Rochester Museum & Science Center, Eisenhart Auditorium, 657 East Avenue, Rochester.

585/461-1000 x225; gatheringofgardeners. com.

September 8: Fall Plant Sale, 10 am – 4 pm.

Buy perennials and woody plants grown from seeds or cuttings from the historic Eastman House gardens. Free. GEH September 10 – 16: Greentopia Festival.

Exhibitors, speakers, vendors, artists. High Falls, Rochester. greentopiafestival.com.

September 11 – 27: Basic Professional Floral Design Certificate, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6:30 – 9 pm. Instructor Alana Miller has over 30 years experience in the floral industry. This 15-20 hour comprehensive program will guide students through the basic principles and techniques of floral design. Each intensive class will include a lecture and hands-on workshop. Flowers and materials included. $395 members; $495 non-members. Registration required.

RCGC September 14 – 23: Italy – Grapes & Gardens. Travel with Marjorie Case of Travel Buds to visit Rome, Tuscany & the Lake District. travelbuds.net.

September 15 – 16: Wine Country Ramble.

Women’s 2-day bicycle tour to Benefit Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion. winecountryramble.com.

Save the date…

September 16: Fungi with Fun Guys, 2 pm. Enjoy a leisurely afternoon walk while discovering and identifying mushrooms and other fungi. Led by Dave Wolf, Carl Wolf & Don Wolf. TAS September 28: Garden Walk with Dr. Allan Armitage. Dr. Allan Armitage will lead an intimate garden walk through Sonnenberg Gardens with special attention to Sonnenberg’s Old-Fashioned Garden comprised of over 150 species of perennials. Wine and hors d’oeuvres reception to follow. Advance registration required. SG

UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 25

Calendar ROCHESTER continued September 29: Gardening Seminar with Dr. Allan Armitage, 10 am – 4:30 pm.

Dr. Armitage will present two talks: Tales from the Garden and Crazy Plants for Crazy Gardeners. $50 member; $60 nonmember. Registration required. SG

SYRACUSE REGULAR CLUB MEETINGS: African Violet Society of Syracuse meets the second Thursday of the month, September – May, Pitcher Hill Community Church, 605 Bailey Road, North Syracuse. 315/4922562; kgarb@twcny.rr.com; avsofsyracuse. org.

Central New York Orchid Society meets the first Sunday of the month, September – May, St. Augustine’s Church, 7333 O’Brien Road, Baldwinsville. Dates may vary due to holidays. 315/633-2437; cnyos.org.

Gardeners of Syracuse meets the third Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm, Reformed Church of Syracuse, 1228 Teall Avenue, Syracuse. Enter from Melrose Avenue. 315/464-0051.

Gardeners in Thyme (a women’s herb club) meets the second Thursday of the month at 7 pm, Beaver Lake Nature Center, Baldwinsville. 315/635-6481; hbaker@ twcny.rr.com.

Habitat Gardening Club of CNY (HGCNY) meets the last Sunday of most months at 2 pm, Liverpool Public Library. HGCNY is a chapter of Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes; for-wild.org. Meetings are free and open to the public. 315/4875742; hgcny.org.

Koi and Water Garden Society of Central New York usually meets the third Monday of each month at 7 pm. See web site for meeting locations. 315/458-3199; cnykoi. com.

Syracuse Rose Society meets the second Thursday of every month (except December and February) at 7 pm. Public welcome. Reformed Church of Syracuse, 1228 Teall Avenue, Syracuse. Enter from Melrose Avenue. Club members maintain the E. M. Mills Memorial Rose Garden, Thornden Park, Syracuse. crbau@aol.com; syracuserosesociety.org.

Williamson Garden Club. On-going community projects; free monthly lectures to educate the community about gardening. Open to all. 315/5244204. grow14589@gmail.com; growthewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com.

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Classes / Events Frequent hosts BWNC: Baltimore Woods Nature Center, 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, NY. 315/673-1350; baltimorewoods.org.

Ongoing through mid-August: Lavender Harvest. Lockwood Lavender Farm, 1682 West Lake Road, Skaneateles.

315/685-5369; facebook.com/ lockwoodlavenderfarm; lockwoodfarm. blogspot.com.

• July 9 – 20: Nature and Art Camp, 10 am – 3 pm. Nature will be the creative muse for 4th & 5th grade students. Registration required. BWNC • July 9 – August 10: Voyager Camps, 10 am – 3 pm. Week-long theme camps for 5th-8th graders. Registration required.

BWNC • July 9 – August 31: Summer Nature Day Camp, 10 am – 3 pm. Ages 5-12 enjoy week-long sessions of educational activities and outdoor play. Before & after care available. Registration required. BWNC July 14 – 15: Finger Lakes Lavender Festival, 9 am – 5 pm. Vendors, speakers, demonstrations, refreshments. Free.

Lockwood Lavender Farm, 1682 West Lake Road, Skaneateles. 315/685-5369; facebook.com/lockwoodlavenderfarm; lockwoodfarm.blogspot.com.

• July 16 – August 24: Summer Nature Day Camp – Teens, 10 am – 3 pm. Ages 13-15 engage in hands-on learning experiences that will challenge their minds, develop new skills, and dig deeper into nature conservation. Registration required. BWNC

& BEYOND Frequent hosts KING: The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga, NY. 518/585-2821; fortticonderoga.org.

PINE: Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center, the best remaining example in the world of an inland pine barrens.

195 New Karner Road, Albany, NY. 518/456-0655; albanypinebush.org.

Classes / Events • Indicates activities especially appropriate for children and families.

Ongoing: Beyond the Garden Gate Horticulture Tour. July & August: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10:45 am. September

& October: Saturday & Sunday, 3:15 pm.

Learn how the garden plantings evolve and what methods are used to plan, plant, and nurture the hundreds of varieties displayed throughout the garden. KING July 7: From the Earth, 10 am – 5 pm. Be inspired by flower gardens and educational activities including an organic dairy farm, alpacas, goats, timber framing, pottery studio, bird walk. Multiple locations around Alfred, Alfred Station & Almond. 607/382-7811; facebook.com/fromtheearth.

July 8: Garden Party, 5 – 7:30 pm. Refreshments, live music. Fundraiser to support the preservation and educational programs for the King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga.

Reservation required. KING July 9 – 20: Making Sense of Lavender, weekdays, 12:30 – 3:30 pm. Lend a helping hand deadheading the lavender border while learning about the plant. Create a sachet to take home. KING • July 10: Sensational Sunflowers, 10:15 – 11:15 am. Kids will explore the life cycle of annuals, how plants move in response to the sun, and plant a seed to take home. Ages 3-8. KING • July 10: Growing Up with Gardening: Sow, Grow & Know, 10:15 – 11:15 am. Children ages 3-8 years will connect with plants and the environment through stories and handson activities. KING July 14: Karner Blue Hike, 11 am – 12 pm.

Learn about the natural history of the Karner blue butterfly and what efforts are underway to rescue this species from the brink of extinction. $3; $5 family; children under 5 years free. Registration required. PINE July 15: Karner Blue Hike, 11 am – 12 pm. See description under July 14. $3; $5 family; children under 5 years free. Registration required. PINE • July 24: Growing Up with Gardening: Sow, Grow & Know, 10:15 – 11:15 am. See description under July 10. KING • July 24: Take a Walk on the Wild Side of Flowers, 10: 30 – 11:30 am. Pre-K program.

Learn what a wildflower is and explore the many colors, shapes, and sizes of wildflowers in the Pine Bush. Free. Registration required.

PINE • July 25: Take a Walk on the Wild Side of Flowers, 10: 30 – 11:30 am. See description under July 24. Free. Registration required.

PINE • August 7: Growing Up with Gardening: Sow, Grow & Know, 10:15 – 11:15 am. See description under July 10. KING • August 21: Growing Up with Gardening: Sow, Grow & Know, 10:15 – 11:15 am. See description under July 10. KING Deadline for Calendar Listings for the next issue (September-October) is Friday, August 10, 2012. Please send your submissions to deb@upstategardenersjournal.com.

From the garden

Fresh tomato pie Serves 8 One 9" pie shell, baked 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard 4 medium-large tomatoes, peeled and sliced Freshly ground pepper 4 oz. white Cheddar cheese, grated 4 oz. yellow/orange Cheddar cheese, grated 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick crust all over and bake 6-8 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

2. Peel and slice tomatoes and place on paper towels to drain.

3. Spread the inside of piecrust with Dijon mustard.

Layer tomatoes in the crust and sprinkle with pepper.

4. Top tomatoes with the Cheddar cheese.

5. Mix mayonnaise and Parmesan and spread on pie.

6. Put on cookie sheet and bake about 20 minutes until bubbly. Let cool and serve at room temperature.

Options: Top tomatoes with freshly chopped basil or another fresh herb of your choice.

Recipe courtesy of Marion Morse, Allyn’s Creek Garden Club

Largest grower of perennials and herbs in Central New York 20 Display Gardens to View

Botanical Gardens William Smyers

Arcangel Gallery Exhibit now - August 26

Celebration of Color NEW SHOW! now - August 5

Nursery Open Monday–Friday: 8–5:30 Saturday & Sunday: 9–5 Mail: 1104 Auburn Rd., Groton, NY 13073 (Rte. 34 in N. Lansing bet. Ithaca & Auburn) Tel: 607-533-4653 email: info@bakersacres.net www.bakersacres.net

Art Camps for Kids July & August

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buffalogardens.com

UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 27

Backyard habitat

More Pleasure, Less Work

Alternatives to Gardening as Outdoor Housecleaning Story and photos by Michelle Sutton Take Accurate Measure of Thy Critters.

Note with Interest

I

ABOVE: Asiatic lilies overwinter in pots INSET: A volunteer mullein 2 8 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

once had a sign that showed a silver-haired lady in a floppy garden hat and flowery dress cheerfully deadheading flowers. At the top it said, “Gardening is bringing housecleaning outdoors.” Gardener friends would laugh wryly at it. Some of us were enjoying the outdoor housecleaning, but others were getting worn out by it.

Cleaning compulsions can be readily transferred outside, and that can be soothing or crazy-making depending on where you’re at in your personal compulsive journey.

Americans know how to turn gardening and yard care into a big cleaning grind. Just watching my neighbor mow the life force out of his inch-tall grass makes my blood pressure go up.

At this point in life I don’t want to work that hard, or worry about visual minutiae. I want to work with nature and work less. Five principles have emerged from recent experience as being helpful to me in finding more joy in my gardens: Note Volunteers with Interest, Keep Resources in Place, Go No-Till, Limit Expansion, and

My friend, landscape architect Bill Whitney, says of people and plants alike, “Volunteers are happiest.”

Plants reseed and come up in the conditions that are the best for them. They tend to be quite stalwart when they get to pick their own spot. It is best not to transplant them, as their root systems will suffer. I currently have tomato volunteers coming up in various places in my vegetable garden. Will they be progeny of hybrid tomatoes, which means that flavor and other qualities might not hold true, depending on which parent they favor? Or will they be heirloom tomatoes with stable characteristics like good flavor? I have enough room to garden to let some grow and see what happens.

As a therapist of mine used to say about emotions, “Note them with interest.” Instead of pulling out anything “out of place,” like I used to do, I note the volunteers with interest. In my yard there are some interesting ornamental volunteers popping up that I’m glad I didn’t pull out. Over by the telephone pole, bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) is showing a profusion of showy white flowers atop fused sepals that look like little inflated green bladders. It actually looks more interesting to me than other campions (e.g., rose campion) sold in garden centers, and I didn’t have to pay for it or plant it. It’s growing where it grows best.

Growing out from between two porch steps, I have spiny sowthistle (Sonchus asper) or prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola) (not sure which) and once it bloomed, its sweet yellow flowers contrasted quite nicely with the purple steps. Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus) plants are growing near the base of the pin oak tree near my other porch entrance.

I’m curious to see how well they bloom in the shade of the oak tree; they’re adapted to part shade. The fact that they’re growing here at all probably means this is the right amount of part shade for them. I won’t know until next year, because common mullein is a biennial. This year I’ll only get a rosette of basal leaves.

Keep Resources in Place

For many years, I was a good little outdoor housecleaner. Rake out the leaves, put down mulch.

More recently, rather than removing leaves from the garden beds, I’ve started raking the leaves in strategic directions, like away from bulb foliage (which would have gotten etiolated) and toward the perennials and shrubs that I would normally mulch. Previously, I worried that the leaves wouldn’t pass aesthetic muster.

But as the foliage of my shrubs and perennials filled in, the leaf mulch at their bases became a non-issue in the visual tableau. I know there’s talk about un-shredded leaves becoming moldy, but this hasn’t been a problem in my garden.

I used to whisk away my weeds and throw them into the woods. What a waste of perfectly good biomatter. As long as the weed hasn’t formed mature seeds, with the exception of some pernicious re-rooters like crabgrass, I return it to the garden in some corner or another, or around existing plants, mulch-like. In some cases, like in a gravel bed by the house, I leave the low-growing, fairly uniform-looking, earlyseason weeds in place. It looks like I planted a groundcover of little steppable plants.

Then there are inorganic resources, like the concrete blocks the previous owner of our house left in the yard. Taking a cue from a fabulous garden on one of the Rochester Civic Garden Center’s tours, I used the blocks to plant sedums and hens and chickens in a little potting mix. The porosity of the blocks suits succulents, and the plants overwinter reliably in them.

Go No-Till

Tillage stirs up weed seeds, it can break down your soil structure, it can contribute to erosion, and it releases carbon dioxide from the soil (not to mention, from the tiller) into the atmosphere. (Soil, like trees, “sequesters” carbon if left alone.) Cornell conducts research on conventional tillage versus conservation tillage. For a lot of farmers, reduced tillage, a form of conservation tillage, is proving to be optimum. But for home gardeners like me, no-till, the ultimate form of conservation tillage, is a really intriguing—and practical—possibility. It saves a lot of time in weeding!

Following my farmer friends Jay and Polly Armour’s advice, I remove sod and put down cardboard when converting beds to no-till, then pile up a good 3 to 4 inches of leaf mulch or compost. For this year’s vegetable garden, I went no-till in 75% of the space.

The plants growing in the no-till parts are doing exceptionally well, and there are way fewer weeds than in the same place in years past. In the 25% that was conventionally dug, the plants are not as vigorous, and there are a lot more weeds. I’m going all no-till starting

next year. You can read about the technique in more detail in my story, “Till You Never…,” in Chronogram: issuu.com/chronogram/docs/chronogram_0512 .

INSET: Bladder campion

Limit Expansion

When I first started graduate school in 1997, I saw my advisor’s exquisite 5-acre landscape and thought, “I can’t wait to do something like this.” Mercifully, I never had enough property to go that crazy. The first piece of advice I offer, unsolicited, to new gardeners is to put in fewer gardens than they think they want. Otherwise, they may be surprised at how soon the maintenance can get to be a frantic chore, especially if one has an unexpected injury or other unforeseen life event that limits gardening time. It’s so much more fun when I feel fully on top of things, when I have time to stand up and gaze at my garden’s beauty. I resist the urge to ever expand.

Take Accurate Measure of Thy Critters

A friend of mine just put in the Fort Knox of garden fences. Oh my goodness, did he spend a lot of time and money on this thing.

And then inside Fort Knox are just four raised beds. I see those beds and think that they are still so vulnerable to attack. The fence is not tall enough to keep a jaunty little deer out. A raccoon could scale over this fence quite easily and do a lot of damage. Abundant chipmunks on my friend’s property are going to have a field day in there. I can’t help but think he would’ve been better off having a much bigger unfenced garden that was big enough to absorb some animal pressure.

Or better yet, he could’ve joined me in the community vegetable garden, where there is an awesome community fence and so many people milling about at all hours, the critters don’t have the crushing impact they do at his place.

In my own home garden, how do I take my critters’ measure? I avoid planting tulips, crocuses, and other bulbs they favor. I plant ornamental grasses, purple smokebushes, rugosa roses and other things the deer don’t bother. I’ve stopped planting kale because I know the woodchucks (who repopulate shortly after we depopulate them) cannot resist kale (I grow the latter in my community garden instead). I gave away a special fine-petaled echinacea because Chuck kept eating it. I plant huge swaths of garlic that I imagine help keep critters away (but I have no proof of this).

I plant radishes only when the flea beetles are not in high season, because they will eat the heck out of those leaves. I plant shrubs like elderberry and ninebark that regrow readily after bunnies chew on their stems in very early spring. And I am grateful for everything that escapes the jaws of the animal kingdom.

Michelle Sutton is a horticulturist living outside New Paltz, New York. michellejudysutton.com UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 29

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Natural selections

Bring on the summer heat with ornamental peppers

by Colleen O’Neill Nice

LEFT: ‘Bird Pepper’ produces very hot peppers that mature from green to rich red. Plants can be grown as houseplants or outdoors in containers and garden beds.

CENTER: ‘Black Pearl’ is a 2006 All-American Selection award winner featuring iridescent, round purple-black fruit that turns scarlet red at maturity.

The compact plants have purple foliage and grow 18” tall and wide.

They look great in mixed containers or in beds and borders.

RIGHT: ‘Garden Salsa’ bears 8 to 9” long pendant pods that mature from green to red, surrounded by green foliage.

3 2 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

L

ast fall, during a visit to the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., I was mesmerized by the most vibrant herb garden I had ever explored. A sea of multicolored pepper pods frolicked above their foliage just waiting to be picked. I snapped photos excitedly, trying to capture the brilliant colors and unusual fruit shapes complimenting each plant. I was perplexed as to why this showstopper had escaped my list of plant must-haves. How could I have overlooked their potential? I needed to get the inside skinny on chili peppers so I could grow these captivating creatures in my own garden.

The backstory on ornamental peppers includes over 10,000 years of cultivation. Native to Central and South America, no other garden plant has as much diversity in its gene pool as the hot pepper. It is a member of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, which includes important agricultural crops like eggplant, potato, tomato, petunia and tobacco. This family also includes plants that are toxic to both humans and animals, like datura and both deadly and bittersweet nightshade. Classified in the genus Capsicum, the ornamental pepper is included in the species annuum, and is presently listed amongst thirty-two other species in the ever-expanding genus.

Experiencing new popularity worldwide with the hot and spicy movement, chili peppers are not just for eating and flavorings. They are used in medicines, as coloring for food and cosmetics, as preservatives, as a self-defense tool (in pepper spray), and for the “snap” in ginger ale. Health-related uses include an aid for

digestion, sinus headache and arthritis pain relief, and diarrhea and shingles alleviation. For the percipient gardener, the influx of new varieties over the past few years provides a continuous splash of color, mostly from unique-shaped, brilliantly colored fruit, but also from awesome foliage.

The ornamental pepper plant is compact, usually growing twelve to eighteen inches tall and wide.

Inconspicuous white flowers mature into pods that ripen at different stages throughout the growing season. This results in multicolored fruit on the same plant at the same time. Fruit shapes range from conical, slim, tapered and twisted, rising above finely shaped foliage. Fruit colors vary from scarlet reds, oranges and yellows to purples, greens, creams and white. A unique feature of the ornamental pepper is that the fruits grow upright above the foliage, instead of growing downward and hidden by the foliage.

Several peppers also flaunt black, purple or variegated foliage, which accentuates the fruit. The fruit persists for up to six weeks, outlasting most flowering plants.

Pods can be allowed to dry right on the plant so seeds can be collected. To encourage more flowers, fruit can be picked. Peppers can be eaten fresh or dried, whole or ground. The thin-skinned varieties crumble easily and can be added to a wide range of foods.

Some peppers can be extremely hot while others are very mild. The hotness of peppers depends on the amount of capsaicin found in the seeds and the white membrane attached to the fruit wall. Plant genetics and environmental conditions control the amount of

capsaicin produced. Breeders can turn up the heat, while drought and high night temperatures also increase the capsaicin levels. Ornamental peppers are often labeled as “ornamentals” and “not edible.” This allows the growers to use fungicides or pesticides thus propagating plants that are not intended for human consumption. If you purchase organically grown plants or grow the peppers from seed yourself, the peppers are edible. Be cautious though, some varieties are piquant and their colorful fruit may be tempting to both children and pets.

These peppers are easy to grow from seed, and you can expect fruiting to start in 60 to 75 days. Pinch new growth to encourage the plants to branch out

citrus bicolored flowers of aromatic lantana, which thrives in extreme heat and drought.

New color combinations seem to be the focus of ornamental peppers for the future. In a recent interview via email, Danise Coon, Program Coordinator at the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, revealed some exciting details. “We are working on ‘NuMex Easter’, ‘Cinco de Mayo’, ‘Chinese New Year’ and ‘April Fools Day’.” ‘NuMex Easter’ is a short, robust plant with bullet shaped, upright pastel fruits that change from lavender to yellow and finally to peach. Producing long, skinny fruit, ‘NuMex Cinco de Mayo’ displays yellow, orange and red pods. ‘NuMex Chinese New Year’ is a short robust plant with long

and become bushy. Keep moist, but not waterlogged, and add a light fertilizer to the seedlings. When growing outdoors, avoid high nitrogen fertilizers after the plants have settled into the garden. Nitrogen stimulates strong vegetative growth and fewer peppers.

If grown as houseplants, peppers are a long-lived perennial. They can be used in table arrangements for the holidays and are a great way to bring color into your home during the winter. Grown as annuals, their heat and drought tolerance makes them exceptional bedding plants. They are the only summer annual grown primarily for the beauty of their fruit. Outdoors, ornamental peppers prefer well-drained, compost-rich, acidic soil in full sun. Since plants are frost sensitive, outdoor temperatures of 55 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer are necessary. Yellow leaf drop indicates that the plant is too cold.

Complimentary companions for peppers grown outdoors include vibrant colored annuals with similar growing needs and bloom times. Drought tolerant, late summer blooming gazanias love heat. Their brilliant, bold shades include saturated solids, striped bi-colors and multicolored blooms. Pair up chrysanthemums and pepper plants in containers to add a surprising fresh twist to the fall season. Ornamental kale can be interplanted in borders with peppers for a trendy look.

Create a tapestry of color with ‘Black Pearl’ peppers and bright red verbena or try ‘Peruvian Purple’ peppers paired with lilac verbena. ‘Numex Thanksgiving’ peppers can jazz up a window box accompanied by the

pointed leaves. It’s upright, bullet shaped fruit clusters turn from lime green to red. Tall and upright, ‘NuMex April Fools Day’ boasts long, skinny fruits that mature from deep purple to orange to red. “None of these varieties have been tested for Scoville Heat Units [a measurement of the piquance of a chili pepper], but are probably very hot and make very good bedding plants or indoor/outdoor potted plants.”

Heat up your garden this summer and fall with colorful, long lasting peppers. For seed sources, try The Chile Pepper Institute (chilepepperinstitute. org) or Reimer Seeds (reimerseeds.com), one of the world’s largest collections of hot pepper seeds with over 2,100. Johnny’s Selected Seeds (johnnyseeds. com) and Gurney’s Seed & Nursery Co. (gurneys.com) also have several varieties. For locally grown plants in your area visit Grossman’s Country Nursery in Penfield for ‘Medusa’, ‘Black Pearl’ and ‘Purple Flash’ or Wayside Garden Center in Macedon for ‘Sangria’ and ‘Black Pearl’. Just outside of Ithaca, Reenie Sandsted of Bakers’ Acres recommends pairing ‘Black Pearl’ with bright flowers or other dark leaved plants. For Buffalo gardeners, Lockwood’s Greenhouses in Hamburg grows ‘Calico’, ‘Black Pearl’, and ‘Medusa.’ For 500 varieties of chili pepper bedding plants in season and fresh chili pods in late summer or early fall, check Cross Country Nurseries (chileplants.com) in New Jersey.

LEFT: ‘Orange Thai’ produces an extremely hot, tapered fruit that matures from green to orange. It is suitable for growing in containers and can be dried.

CENTER: ‘Ordono’ is a hot, mid season pepper from Mexico. Upright pods rise above green foliage in hues of light green to purple to yellow to orange to red.

RIGHT: ‘Pretty in Purple’ is a great ornamental as well as an edible hot pepper. It displays masses of round, attractive purple fruit, stems and leaves with maturing fruits ripening through to yellow, orange and scarlet

Colleen O’Neill Nice is a passionate gardener and plant propagator specializing in hardy ferns.

UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 33

9598 Union Street Wheatland, NY 14546

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Iris - Peonies - Hosta Potted Peonies 100+ varieties Dig-Your-Own Iris & Daylilies Opening May 15 latest; Call for bloom status Sunday - Friday, Closed Saturdays sylborg@aol.com • www.Borglumsiris.com

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HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9:00am-5:00pm; Sat. 9:00am-4:00pm UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 35

A mystery grows at Chimney Bluffs Chapter 2: “Lost and found in wine country”

by Jonathan Everitt Illustration by Steve Smock “Let’s stop. I’ve heard about an antique shop here and I want to check it out,” Vivian said to Edgar as they passed a sign for Hammondsport on Route 54.

Their trunk was filled to capacity with spicy, golden Riesling and Gewürztraminer.

After an afternoon of tastings at the wineries dotting the lake, the vacationers were ready for a diversion.

They parked the little black convertible in the afternoon shade of a giant oak on the edge of the town square. Peeled off their pastel sweaters, and surveyed the local landmarks.

A white country church. A gazebo. A tavern. All of them crisp against a delphinium sky. And there, across the street, along a row of weathered shops, the promise of an antique dealer. A 19th century storefront with gleaming windows that showcased upstate artifacts.

Vivian could already smell their musty nostalgia as she perched her sunglasses atop her perfect hair. She was half way across the street with her cash-stuffed purse before Edgar could unwrap his stick of gum.

As they climbed the stone step into the doorway, a portly calico cat surprised them with a hiss, then darted into oblivion beyond an ice cream shop down the way. They collected themselves and walked into the dark store, a bell ringing as they swung open the door.

There was barely anywhere to walk, so full it was with brown, crackled side tables, dressers, jewelry, china, buttons and books. Through the haze of old time, Edgar glimpsed the silhouette of a man at the back of the room, hunched over a desk. The shape of his head looked up at them.

“Welcome,” he called tiredly as the couple drew closer on the creaking floorboards. An object just beyond his desk caught Vivian’s eye.

“What—is this!” she gasped, gazing at the wood-framed thing that glowed in reds and blues and golds, conjuring the image of sunlit seaside cliffs.

“Ah, the window,” said her knowing host. “Came from a captain’s cabin.”

“You mean a ship?” asked Edgar.

“Perhaps you’ve heard of the Chimney Bluffs,” said the old man, staring into his memory. “That’s where it ended. And where it began.”

“Oh my God,” whispered Vivian. “My grandmother.”

To be continued

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Pond Fish at Bergen Water Gardens

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Rooted

Urban Farmer, by association

by Christina Le Beau

W

hen we traded the big house and yard for a downtown loft, everyone asked about the garden.

What would I do without a garden?

I’d thought about that when we’d decided to move, thought about the many years and countless hours and endless pleasures I’d found in my gardening life. But also the many years and countless hours and endless work. And it was all good.

And now that we’re here, it’s still all good. Our balcony is planted with tomatoes and herbs. Lots of herbs. I couldn’t resist when visiting the markets and the old instincts kicked in, so I bought another railing box to accommodate the extras. There are four now, plus the two big tomato pots. And a small pot of nasturtiums.

And two other pots waiting to be filled. Visitors marvel at the abundance in such a small footprint. (And I could go vertical still.) But this is exactly how I envisioned it. Life against the brick. Green amid the urban.

My gardening fix without the stress I’d begun to feel in recent years.

Image courtesy flickr.com/rosenwald

3 8 | july - augu s t 2 0 1 2

Yet as much as I’ve felt the burden lift, I worried about our daughter. Tess is 8. She’s grown up with a big yard, big gardens, lots of space to plant and play. Tess was excited about the move, enthusiastic in the way that kids are when they’re getting a new room and stuff to go with it, but also excited because the loft would give her a (shared) rooftop deck and a view in the spirit of the big cities she loves to visit.

Of course the anticipation of moving can be different from the reality, so I feared a backlash. Or at least a lot of sulking. But Tess has embraced loft living, the newness of it and the fun perks, like mud puddles in the parking lot and riding the elevator at whim. And gardening on a small scale. Her scale.

There’s a terrarium on her windowsill. And seeds sprouting in the kitchen. She picked out pots for the balcony (but is still deciding what to plant). She did lament the loss of trees right outside her window (the better to see squirrels up close), but she plays in nearby parks and communes with the birds and butterflies that find our balcony and windowsills.

Our move puts us within walking distance of both our favorite (producer-only) farmers’ market and our favorite natural-foods store -- both urban as well -- so local eats are within easy reach. There’s talk of a garden on the roof, and we’ve already started u-pick rounds for the season.

Things don’t feel all that different. And yet they do.

In that simplified, more time, less stress way that we craved when we made the move. Boxes remain.

We’re still settling in. But there’s a calm I haven’t felt before. When a worker in our building questioned my T-shirt with the words “Farm Girl” -- “Did you grow up on a farm or something?” -- I answered no, I’m just a girl who knows and loves her local farmers. And is thankful that they do all the work. So I don’t have to.

Christina Le Beau lives in Rochester. She blogs about raising food-literate kids at spoonfedblog.net.

Incredible gardens.

A delicious lunch.

COLLIGNON-JAROSZ

(And we’ll do the driving.)

Experience some of Buffalo and Western New York’s finest gardens on an all-inclusive luxury motorcoach tour!

Friday, July 6 The Outliers: Superior Gardens of the Northtowns Friday, July 13 Southtowns Bouquet, with the Shadrack Garden Friday, July 20 Preview Tour: Best of Buffalo Gardens

Saturday, July 21 Grassroots Community Gardens Thursday, July 26 Southern Tier Scenic Tour: Flowers & Farm Gardens Friday, July 27 Gardens for Gardeners: Plant Lover’s Tour of Buffalo and Northtowns

For all the dirt, contact Horizon Club Tours/AAA of WCNY at

© 800.242.4244 or NationalGardenFestival.com/bustours