Rochester Civic Garden Center

Shirley's Christmas Snowball Cookies

2010-12-05T10:48:00.010-05:00

She wishes we didn't call them that, saying she got the recipe from a magazine years ago. But that's what we call these cookies at RCGC, remembering them fondly from the many times former Board member Shirley Dumbauld brought them to our Christmas parties. I made them for our recent Christmas soiree and they were a big hit. For those of you who requested the recipe (and even if you didn't, they're really great Christmas cookies):

Christmas Snowball Cookies
1 C butter, softened
1/4 C sifted confectioners sugar
2 tea vanilla
1 T water
2 C sifted flour
1 C chopped pecans

Confectioners' frosting:
4 C sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 C milk (or less)

Coating: 8 oz flaked, sweetened coconut

Thoroughly cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir in water. Add flour and mix well. Stir in nuts. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet (they can be placed fairly close as they don't spread very much) and bake for 20 min at 300 deg, or until delicately browned. Cool completely before removing from pan. Dip in confectioners frosting and roll in flaked coconut.

Confectioners' Frosting: mix milk slowly into the sifted sugar, a little at a time, until of dipping consistency.

Yeild: about 30 cookies

Master Class With Ellen Hornig

2010-11-11T10:13:00.004-05:00

Master Class with Ellen Hornig

After Ellen's lectures, I realized that I've probably thrown away a good many viable perennial seeds because I didn't understand the processes they needed to go through to germinate are different than sowing vegetables and annuals. Her lecture and seed sowing demonstration in the hoop house gave me a ton of information I was lacking and inspired me to go home and start more perennials from seed.

She brought a variety of seeds from her own collection and took us through every step she uses to get them to germinate. It was a real treat to have access to so many unusual seeds and to pot them up and take them home. I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.

A rare find

2010-09-20T19:15:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago while hiking at Letchworth State Park, I came across a rare find. Nestled between stands of spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and pale jewelweed (Impatiens pallida) I came across a jewelweed plant the likes of which I had not seen before.

This plant looked like spotted jewelweed in the shape of the flowers and the leaves but it had white flowers with red spots. I've never in all my stomping about in wild places or perusing through various field guides trying to ID wild plants seen one like this.

After some investigation, I believe it is one of two very uncommon variants of the spotted jewelweed: Impatiens capensis forma albiflora (white flowers with red spots) or Impatiens capensis forma Pease (white flowers with larger red spots/splotches). These variants are referenced here in a NYFA Newsletter if you wish to read more.

It was very late in the day and the light was low so these pictures are not my best but hopefully you'll be able to see and enjoy this rare beauty as well!

-kim

THE MEMORY GARDEN

2010-08-26T14:52:00.002-04:00

I recently discovered a hidden gem of a garden that is open to the public, but that seems to be little-known, even to the gardening community. It's the Memory Garden, and it's located at the back of Monroe Community Hospital at the corner of Westfall Rd. and South Ave. Parking is in the County Health Dept. lot on the left side as you come in.

This beautiful one-and-a-half- acre mini-botanic garden was started by the Alzheimer's Association eleven years ago on the site of a hospital parking lot. It's enclosed by a hedge, which gives it a peaceful, safe feeling, but which also hides it from public view.

I have written an article about the garden for the Upstate Gardeners Journal. Be on the lookout for it, but in the meantime, stop and see it for yourself. As the Michelin Guide says, it's "Worth a trip."

Mary Ruth Smith

RCGC Library Volunteer and Garden Writer

gardening isn't for wimps

2010-07-08T13:44:00.004-04:00

The 90 plus temperatures didn't deter these two master gardeners from showing up to work with our Thursday volunteers to help impose law and order into the perennial borders along the top of the Sunken Gardens. This is such a lovely spot, and it needs a lot of help! Many thanks to Cornell Extension Master Gardener Coordinator Karen Klingenberger for putting out the APB to all the master gardeners. Thank you for taking an interest in this project, we really appreciate your help!

The Passionflower is Blooming

2010-06-23T17:09:00.003-04:00

I'd love to tell you to come see it in the Library - but each bloom seems to last less than a day. When one opens the news travels fast here and we all go look - they are fascinating, very complex. It's got lots of buds, worth a trip just in case...

Thanks to member and Library volunteer Tina Szostak for donating the plant to the library.

an evening in the garden

2010-06-08T16:54:00.003-04:00

The first soiree of the season was held in this tranquil garden. It was a perfect evening and helped me appreciate even more the role the passage of time plays in a garden. If you missed this one, make sure to come to our next soiree here at the castle on June 24th 6:30-8pm. It's a lovely way to enjoy the magic hours at the end of the day.

Bee Swarm Season is Here

2010-06-02T11:34:00.004-04:00

From RCGC Professional Member and beekeeper Pat Bono:

During the next several weeks, honey bee colonies will be expanding and sending out swarms - groups of bees with a queen. Swarms can form from colonies in trees, barns, houses or managed hives. Before leaving the parent hive, the bees gorge on honey in preparation for their trip to find a new home. This makes it difficult for them to sting.

Swarms usually collect on a branch or some other spot and stay for a few hours to a few days before moving on. Local beekeepers are looking for swarms to collect, and will do this for free. Captured swarms are used to replace bees lost during the winter.

If you see a bee swarm, please contact a beekeeper right away. Please do not spray the swarm, as it sickens and damages the bees, making them useless for pollination and honey-making.

There are many internet sites with lists of local beekeepers waiting for swarm calls.

Pat Bono
Seaway Trail Honey, PO Box 25291, Rochester, NY 14625, 585-820-6619
RochesterBeeSwarms@gmail.com

a bulletproof boxwood

2010-05-21T10:42:00.006-04:00

The front of my house is a cottage garden and for years I've been fantasizing about putting boxwoods in it, but haven't because of the site-a hot sunny western exposure and frigid winds from the lake almost guarantee winter burn and that awful orangey yellow color they get from too much exposure.

But, I think there's hope in sight. This fall I planted 'north star'; a boxwood introduced by Proven Winners that is reported to withstand tough conditions. As an experiment, I planted one in a container and four out in the front garden. At the end of winter, there was a very slight yellowing on the new growth that quickly grew out, and the foliage was rich and dark green. 'North Star' has a mature height of 3'-a good size for a small garden. If you're looking around for a bulletproof boxwood, this one is a winner!

Go Native!

2010-05-12T12:55:00.000-04:00

In planning your gardens and plantings for the season, please consider some of the wonderful native plants that you may find at your local nurseries. There are ones for every garden location and type. Whether you like flowers, butterfly attracting plants, or interesting foliage, there is a native plant perfect for you.

And if you are already a native plant devotee, you might be interested in an article I wrote for another blog. It is my own answer to a "native plant smackdown." I hope you enjoy!

-kim

2010-04-13T15:20:00.003-04:00

The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County recently awarded Jerry Kral the 2010 Excellence in Horticulture Award for the Greater Rochester Region. Jerry was honored for his volunteer work with The Eastman House, Rochester Civic Garden Center, Cornell Cooperative Extension and his work with many plant societies. It is certainly a well deserved award, Congratulations Jerry!

Watch Out For Lily Leaf Beetles

2010-04-06T16:58:00.005-04:00

Adult beetle and feeding damage

Eggs

I found these awful creatures on my fritillarias yesterday; the adults must have just emerged. They showed up in our area a year or two ago, and can completely decimate lilies and fritillarias, and possibly some other plants such as Soloman's seal and solanums. For now I am going to try to control them by squishing the adults and the eggs by hand. They are easy to spot, being bright red, but the adults drop to the ground and hide when you disturb them. Keep a close eye on your plants, because once they get going they are voracious, and the larvae that hatch from the eggs are even worse than the adults. Cornell recommends this fact sheet for further information: http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/defoliators/lily_leaf_beetle.html

2010-04-01T14:57:00.002-04:00

Good sharp tools make gardening so much easier! If you’re afraid to look at yours and need some tips on how to care for them and choose between the good, the bad and the ugly - make sure to tune in to Rochester public television RCTV-15 Tuesday April 6, 6:30pm-7pm for a special program: “The Sharpest Tool in the Shed” with RCGC executive director Christine Froehlich and instructor Nellie Gardner.

Gardenscape Thanks

2010-03-18T13:24:00.009-04:00

Gardenscape is an event all of us enjoy escaping to at this time of year. For organizations like ours, its a terrific way to let folks in the community know about who we are and what we do. With the help of many hardworking members,RCGC won the best educational non profit award for our exhibit. We couldn't have done it without the help of Bob and Carolyn McKee,who spent countless hours unearthing pots, plants and furniture from their home and schlepping them to our booth. We can't thank them enough for their help and great ideas. Additional thanks to Nellie Gardner, Amy Semple, Pat McCandlish and Milli Piccione for helping us to tweak it all up. Bristol’s Garden Center and Palmiter’s Nursery generously provided us withe some terrific plants- a special thank you to them and to the many other volunteers for manning the exhibit over the weekend. Many hands make light work-we couldn't have done this without you.

Visit the library

2010-03-02T16:43:00.002-05:00

This is the time of year when you can cozy up with a good book-guilt free. The RCGC library is open all year Tuesday-Thursday, 9am-4pm. During the months of January, February and March it is also open on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays from 9:30am-12:30pm (in the fall we will have Saturday hours again). Everyone may visit and use the library. RCGC members may check out books, or you can get a library-only membership for $5 a year which will allow you to check out books. Our catalogue can be viewed on our website, http://www.rgc.org/.

Restoring the Ceiling

2010-02-27T09:05:00.005-05:00

They are putting up the finished pieces now, almost done. We will miss them - what a treat to watch these craftsmen at work! The restored ceiling is beautiful.

Molding the Pieces

2010-02-27T08:29:00.014-05:00

First they applied a liquid rubber compound to pieces of the original moldings.

Then the rubber molds were imbedded into more plaster inside a wooden frame and new pieces were cast.

Mike and Fritz are at it again

2010-02-16T15:58:00.004-05:00

Many of you might remember Mike and Fritz-they are the masons who repointed the castle's limestone walls this summer. We are blessed with their presence once more as they repair the ceiling in the Great Room. It is a fascinating process to watch as they remove the old damaged plaster and cast new molds in their basement work room. Soon, they'll be fitting them back together and the ceiling will be restored to its' former elegance.

Is it spring yet?

2010-02-10T14:48:00.003-05:00

Iris reticulata is one of my favorite early spring bulbs, but as I'm looking out at the snow and lusting for color I'm appreciating them even more in my kitchen window. They are easy to force, requiring a cooling period of about 8 weeks. I potted these up after teaching a class on forcing bulbs class last fall, put them in the garage to cool and promptly forgot all about them. I found them a couple of weeks ago and brought them inside-there are rewards to being forgetful. Next year I plan to have lots more.

2010-01-20T16:52:00.003-05:00

Who says you can't have flowers in the winter? Forcing branches from your flowering trees and shrubs is a cheap and easy way to get a flower fix. I started these just before Christmas and I'm about to be rewarded with lilac and rhododendron blooms. Come learn how to do it next Saturday January 30th at our 3rd annual Seed and Houseplant Swap 9:45am-12:30pm.

Seed Swap, Symposium & more!

2009-12-30T09:54:00.005-05:00

Our Annual Houseplant & Seed Swap event is just around the corner. This year it is on Saturday January 30th from 9:45am - 12:30pm. Bring your seeds and houseplant cuttings to this popular event to trade with other enthusiasts. There are speakers, refreshments, and more. See our Seed Swap web page for additional details and registration information!

In case you're wondering, the bloom above is from an orchid cactus I got last year at the Seed Swap. There truly is something for everyone!

We also have just added on-line ticket purchases to our Spring Garden Symposium webpage - be sure to give yourself an after-the-holidays gift and buy yourself a ticket! Our Symposium this year features Claire Sawyers talking on "Cultivating a Sense of Place" and Bruce Zaretsky speaking on "Doctor's Orders: Take a Walk (in the Garden!)." To get you in the mood and excited for Bruce's talk, we have added an article to our website titled "Gardening for Your Health." We hope you enjoy it!

We've also added a new service - Private Garden Consultations. Here you can work with some of our experts and instructors on your own garden needs. See our new Garden Consultations web page for more details!

-kim

let there be light

2009-12-09T16:51:00.003-05:00

Wayside Garden Center has a terrific assortment of Christmas trees and it is the place to shop! Owner Carol Sorbello was kind enough to donate this beauty for our holiday tree lighting class with Michael Hannen. Many thanks, we appreciate your generosity!

Once I watched Michael decorate this tree, I realized my problem-I was severely underlighted. More lights! See how he is neatly wrapping them up? He showed us many helpful techniques in addition to showing us how to repair them ( I never knew that you could) Without a doubt he is the man to see for gadgets and tools for such problems.

If you didn't attend, this is an event you won't want to miss next year.

Join us at the Castle for a Christmas Party!

2009-12-01T19:16:00.004-05:00

Christmas Party with Michael Hannen
Wednesday, December 2, 6:30-8 p.m.
The Castle will be all decked out for Christmas - join us for some mulled cider and yummy desserts, and a tree lighting party. And - if putting up those holiday lights on your trees has always been an exercise in frustration, don’t miss this opportunity: in winter-time the multi-talented Michael Hannen is a professional installer of holiday decorations. He will show us his proven methods for putting up holiday lights without tearing out your hair or ruining your marriage. $15.

Fall Harvest Dinner and Dance

2009-10-21T12:50:00.010-04:00

Our first harvest dinner and dance on October 4 was a great success! The historic carriage barn at the Ellwanger Estate was lovely – old-time stalls converted for fine dining, dancing to the wonderful Zydeco music of Lil’ Anne and Hot Cayenne. Director Christine Froehlich and RCGC pal Nellie Gardner did an outstanding job of decorating the barn to the nines with the richness of the fall harvest.

Many thanks to all of you who worked so hard to make this happen, from the crew who cleaned up the barn to the floral designers, the furniture movers, the people who baked all those wonderful appetizers and desserts, the dinner and cleanup crew…it took a lot of us to pull it off, and it was worth it!

From Director Christine Froehlich, who deserves a huge amount of credit for all her creativity, excellent planning and hard work: “A million thanks for all of your hard work and creative efforts. We couldn’t have pulled this off without your help. I really enjoyed working with all of you! Thanks Again, Chris”

Spiffing up the Castle

2009-09-23T16:36:00.002-04:00

For the past several weeks Dennis from the Monroe County Parks Dept has been working on the Castle, painting what used to be ugly siding in the courtyard and now cleaning, winterizing and painting the windows - and taking really good care of us while he's been here. Hopefully he won't be done for a long time because we will miss him!

How grows your garden?

2009-09-10T09:51:00.004-04:00

Hopefully it has been a wonderful growing season for your gardens! The extra moisture this summer seems to be appreciated by many plants....ok, my tomatoes have resented it, but it seems to be appreciated by many. I have even seen some plants hang on for longer than normal due to the extra moisture - I can still surprisingly find both trillium and bloodroot leaves on some hikes here and there. Normally these spring visitors vanish with the heat and dryness of summer.

I admit to neglecting a number of my gardens this summer (only so many hours in the day!), but some gardens did get my attention. One garden that did was my vegetable garden. Normally my vegetable garden is full of all sorts of oddities and unusuals that I'm trying out and things that I intend to eat and use but never really seem too. This year I cut those out and focused on the things that I consistantly use. As such, most of my vegetable garden was planted with tomatoes (roughly 20 different varieties), peppers (mostly hot and about 12 varieties), corn ("White Eagle"), beans (14 varieties), onions ("Copra", "Red Zeppelin", "Sterling" and "Ailsa Craig"), and few other miscellaneous herbs and vegetables.

In order order to get more food socked away for the winter months, I doubled the amount of beans I usually plant. Beans are not only prolific and consistent producers, string beans blanch and freeze marvelously. I planted my beans (all string or fresh-eating varieties) in two major plantings and I'm currently in the middle of harvesting from the second planting. I have already picked and frozen 18 quarts of beans - and that's not counting the beans eaten fresh. The beans I grew this year were:

Bush
"Frijol" - I picked up numerous packets of this bean for $.010 a packet last fall. Excellent and tasty green bean with a fair second harvest.
"Dragon Tongue" - a yellow bean with purple mottling. Very tasty and prolific heirloom variety. It is a 3-year favorite.
"Jade" - a large tasty green bean that produces exceptionally. Another 3-year favorite. Open Pollinated.
"Soleil" - A new bean this year for me. This is a yellow french/filet bean. While I found this bean to have great taste, I would opt for other beans next year. The beans were much tinier than I like. Pick this one if you like dainty, baby veggies. Open Pollinated.

Pole - While I grew up with only bush beans growing in our vegetable garden, pole beans have become my favorite bean to plant. They are so varied, robust, prolific, and make the best use of garden space.
"Garden of Eden" - A new bean to the garden this year. Sweeter than the average flat, romano-type green bean. I'll plant this variety again. Heirloom.
"Helda" - is another green romano-type of bean. This one is another variety that I go out of my way to plant. Tender even when large. Open Pollinated.
"Purple Trionfo Violetto" - a deep purple bean that changes to a green color when cooked. I find this variety indistinguishable from the "purple podded pole" I usually plant. Either way, not only is this bean a good eating bean, it is very beautiful and ornamental. Heirloom.
"Trail of Tears" - a historic bean carried by the Cherokee people on the "Trail of Tears". A nice snap or dry bean. I like this bean so much from the last two years that I'm trying out another Cherokee vegetable variety this year, "White Eagle" corn which also was carried on the "Trail of Tears." Heirloom.
Rattlesnake - While those that are not fans of "legless reptiles" may not like the ophidian name this one has, its purple specked green pods are ornamental and of good taste. Another bean used for snap and dry beans. Heirloom.
"Gold of Bacau" - Another yellow romano bean I'm first trying this year. I find it indistinguishable from a long-standing favorite of mine "Goldfield." Heirloom.
Purple Podded Pole - A regular in my garden. The purple of the beans are so intense and yet it vanishes to be replaced by green so magically in the cook pot. Very good tasting and beautiful. Heirloom.
Goldfield - One of my favorites. The seed is not easy to find - I only know of two seed vendors that carry it, but I go out of my way to get the seed. I am a long-time fan of wax beans...so much so that any yellow bean is sure to become a favorite of mine. This is a romano type with long tender beans. This even second crops well.
"Kentucky Wonder Wax" - Another new one to the garden this year that will become a regular visitor I think. Long, fleshy, tender pods. This one can be used for "shelly" beans as well. Heirloom.
"Anellino Pole" - 'gold & green mix' - A perfect example that beans are viable for a number of years since I bought these two-three years ago. These are small beans but in an interesting crescent shape - a different look than most other beans have. A nice small-sized snap bean. Heirloom.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and maybe next year you'll find a little corner of your garden for a few of these wonderful beans!

-kim

adventure to avon-RCGC garden tour

2009-07-23T14:51:00.009-04:00

It rained, but that didn't deter most people from enjoying the gardens. The gardens were all unique and very inspiring. Here are a few comments from folks that enjoyed the tour.

“Just had to express my thanks for a wonderful garden tour on July 11. Both my friend and I felt it was one if not the best tour we have been on. Each garden was unique and held delights. The hosts were gracious and full of information.”

“It was a lot of fun, even in the rain, with some great locations.”

“I always enjoy the tour but some stand out more. This year, Pastoral Pleasures will be remembered because of the beauty of the countryside and the glory of the gardens and joy of their owners.”

Come celebrate Summer with us - Annual RCGC Summer Garden Tour is Today!

2009-07-11T08:43:00.004-04:00

Saturday, July 11 2009
10am - 4pm
Rain or Shine!

What better to do on a beautiful summer day but to enjoy beautiful and breath-taking gardens! Today is the annual Summer Garden Tour. This year's garden tour, Pastoral Pleasures - A Garden Retreat to Avon, offers an opportunity to visit an area rich in tradition and history, with access to several unique properties that date back to the early 1800's. The surrounding countryside provides an idyllic backdrop for a variety of gardens that each have something distinctive to offer.

You may purchase tickets today for $20 at the following locations:

1211 West River Road, Caledonia 14423 - Get Map
1374 Jenks Rd., Avon 14414 - Get Map
Charlton Bed & Breakfast Inn, 310 East Main Street, Avon 14414, 585-226-2838 - Get Map

We hope you enjoy the tour as much as we enjoy offering this unique experience to you!

-kim

Tennessee Coneflower

2009-07-01T09:05:00.005-04:00

A few years back, my sister tried planting an herb garden at my place. She had a collection of seeds she planted but it didn't fare so well. She tried using one of the garden beds I had yet to renovate - that bed had been used by the previous owners for vegetables and the soil was poor and spent. Most of the seeds refused to germinate. So I popped a few plants in....like most gardeners I can't stand to see empty garden beds! Most of the plants I got from local nurseries as they tried to unload their nursery stock in mid- to late summer. But one of the plants I picked up as a local home and garden place was going out of business. (I miss Chase Pitkins!) Anyways...it was a Tennessee Coneflower.

It's taken it a few years to come into its own - especially after my sister stopped trying to "weed" it out thinking it was a weed. But it's turned into a nice plant. Unlike other Echinacea like E. purpurea, E. angustifolia, and E. pallida, its petals flex up, not down. While I like the backward curving and somewhat "droopy" petals of the other coneflowers, the Tennessee Coneflower is charming.

Like many native plants, it is hardy and needs no special care. It does not require rich garden soil or even fertilizer for that matter - I have never renovated that garden bed! Pests seem to avoid it but the butterflies and other pollinators love coneflowers. The small seed eating birds love the coneflower seed heads. (I have to beat the birds to the seed of purple coneflowers I have to collect any seed!) It is an endangered flower in its native range. Perhaps you have room for this charmer in your garden?

Here's the PlantFiles page on the Tennessee Coneflower.

-kim

Have you plarned yet?

2009-06-11T08:38:00.003-04:00

Plarn is the plastic yarn made from plastic grocery bags. (See how to make it here.) It's my new garden twine of choice. It's plentiful, free, and re-uses something that would have otherwise just been put in the recycle bin.

Since plarn is far from picturesque, I've included a picture I took the other day at Powder Mills Park of wild yellow flags and buttercups. If you look close, you'll see the faint blue of forget-me-nots in the background. Simply beautiful. Take your camera and go out for a visit this week. If you have younglings, take them too and be sure to stop at the fish hatchery in the park. There are fish food machines and a few quarters will provide your kids with tons of squeals (as the trout jump and splash getting the food) and you with many terrific photo opportunities.

By the way, if you like my nature photography (all through the RCGC site and this blog), be sure to check out my other favorite blog, The Friends of Ganondagan and the Gallery pages on their website. My pictures are scattered through the blog and the website. Plus I've been creating a slideshow about once a month for their Gallery pages. Many of the pictures feature wild, native plants. I hope you enjoy!

-kim

What's blooming in your garden?

2009-06-03T10:44:00.015-04:00

What's blooming in your garden today? Here's a picture from mine and a favorite garden visitor of mine - I love watching bumblebees as much as butterflies.

-kim

Pix from our recent events

2009-04-14T17:06:00.040-04:00

GardenScape
Director Christine Froehlich created a really beautiful and compelling display for RCGC in the main GardenScape exhibit hall – on short notice and a shoestring. We had streams of visitors picking up Garden Center info, and lots of new people contacting us about our programs.

Guy Coppola ready to greet the public.

Book signing with Tracy DiSabato-Aust

Tracy was such a gracious guest and lots of fun! The book signing was a success all round.

Symposium

We had lots of great feedback on the Symposium. Tracy DiSabato-Aust and Bruce Zaretsky are both dynamic and articulate speakers, and we left en

ergized with new ideas for plants proven to be well worth using by one of America's best designers, and inspired with ideas for gardening in more environmentally concious ways.

Some of Guy Coppola's pictures

Things to Make Your Garden Greener

2009-04-03T16:05:00.006-04:00

A month or two back I came down with a cold. While it is never fun to get sick, it sometimes offers us a chance to do things we wouldn't otherwise get a chance to do - like read. I read an article titled The Green Path by Stephanie Kaza (Shambhala Sun, January 2009). It is an article excerpted from her new book Mindfully Green. The book is about incorporating "green living" into all aspects of your life - it is not about just putting a blue recycle bin by the curb once a week. It is about letting a deep compassion and responsibility for the well-being of our planet color your every action and thought. It is a path to follow throughout your life. I must say that this book has garnered a place on my "must read" list.

As gardeners, we have at least one foot firmly on that "green path" but maybe there are more things that we could do to make our ever-abiding love and passion for gardening more green. Here are a few things for you to consider. Even adding just one item from the list can make a difference!

Make your garden greener by:

Reduce, Re-use, & Recycle - These are the core tenants of eco-friendly behavior. Look for places to re-use plastic pots and containers. Cut strips of fabric from old clothes to use for ties. Buy products made from recycled items. Old watering cans, wooden boxes, and more can make creative planters. Look for a creative use for an item before putting it into the rubbish or recycle bin - you are only limited by your own imagination!

Compost - Landfills do not need to be burdened with your kitchen waste or yard clippings. Start a compost bin. Your plants will love the black gold that comes from the compost bin! Here's a document to get you started.

Skip the pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers - These poisons are very earth unfriendly things and they have no place in your garden. If you do absolutely need such a product, look for products that could be used in organic gardening or for items that aren't broad spectrum in nature. Broad spectrum pesticides kill the beneficial insects as well as the problem ones.

Grow your own food - There is a growing movement to "eat local." While much of this focuses on supporting local farmers, your own veggie garden is part of that too. If you don't have the space or desire for an entire vegetable garden, why not tuck a few edibles into your flower beds? Some vegetable plants are quite beautiful. There are peas and beans with colored blossoms, kales and chards for nice foliage, peppers for ornamental fruits, and even some variegated varieties (ex: fish pepper and variegated tomato). Check out this list from the 100 Mile Diet site to get some encouragement to grow your own veggies or at least visit the local farmers' markets.

Try some native plants and/or some heirloom varieties - Native plants are well-suited to the climate and growing conditions. They will need little to no special care - no pesticides, fertilizers, excessive watering and more are needed for them. They also great restorers of natural habitat for butterflies and other wildlife. Heirloom varieties are old varieties of plants with terrific qualities, history, and genetic diversity. Give them a try and save some seeds for next year's planting too! Here's some reading on native plants and some reading on heirlooms.

Harvest rainwater - Why not? Barrels by your downspouts provide you with free, soft water for your plants. While you are at it, household "graywater" can also be used in your gardens. See this page for more information on graywater. On the topic of water, be water-wise. Use water-wise plants, mulch to conserve water, water early in the day to minimize evaporation, and cut lawn-watering completely or to a minimum. Less watering will encourage the grass to send deeper roots.

Less lawn - Less lawn reduces mowing and resource needs. Mow the grass longer to protect the roots. Leave more "wild" areas for habitat and beauty. Or plant trees and shrubs as they are the great carbon dioxide burners of the planet.

Use eco-friendly garden furniture - Look for salvaged wood or sustainable wood. Skip teak unless salvaged or reclaimed. Choose woods like oak, sweet chestnut, western red cedar, larch, or douglas fir that can be used outdoors without treatment. Recycled materials are also a big plus.

Go local for your garden needs - Less shipping and resources required. Shopping at your locally owned and operated garden centers and nurseries also helps to support your local economy and business people. These nurseries and garden centers are staffed by people who know and love plants. It is also my experience that they have much better quality plants than your MegaMarts.

Skip the peat moss – Peat can be derived from different materials and what is usually available in the United States is from Canadian sphagnum moss. These mosses grow in specialized wetlands (bogs) or “peatland” and are home to many rare and specialized organisms. The peat moss is commercially harvested or “mined” from these bogs. The harvesting process involves digging a network of drainage ditches and settling basins so that the water drains away from the wetland and the bog begins to dry out and die. Once that happens, all surface vegetation is removed and the deposit is ready for drying and harvesting procedures. While some say that peat can be sustainable harvested, it largely is not - peat accumulation is only around one millimeter per year! There are very good alternatives such as Coconut Coir - it is free of bacteria and fungal spores. Here's some reading on peat from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. (Picture of a pitcher plant at the Zurich Bog - a very special place in our own backyard.)

Hopefully this gives you a few things to consider. And unlike Kermit the Frog, it is easy being green!

-kim

Hydrangeas for the North

2009-02-04T13:56:00.011-05:00

Hydrangea pro Tim Boebel has created a very nifty myspace page with pictures of his favorite hydrangeas for the north, as well as a slide show on how he constructed a container (pond) big enough for lotus to thrive for years. Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/hydrangeasinthenorth.

I'm looking forward to Tim's class at RCGC, Winning Hydrangeas for Rochester Gardens, Wednesday, March 18, 7-9 pm: "Tim Boebel, nursery manager at Wayside Garden Center, has been studying this charismatic flowering shrub for years, both at Wayside and in extensive trials in his home garden. Tim will discuss the merits of the up-and-coming introductions for ‘09 and ’10, and will also give you the lowdown on the established varies which rank high in overall beauty as well as performance in our cold climate. Have you been frustrated by the lack of bloom on supposedly hardy varieties? Much of the information about hydrangea culture was developed for areas much warmer than Rochester. Tim has perfected a very different method for getting reliable blooms in our climate and will detail the steps in this slide-lecture with handouts." See the Education Pages on our website for registration info.

Reuse your Christmas Tree

2009-01-18T17:05:00.003-05:00

Don't toss your Christmas tree! It's a handy design tool. Use it to mimic plants you think you want in your garden. You can easily drag it around and locate anywhere you want (unlike the real thing).

With a little imagination you can fantasize how a new tree or shrub might look.

In my case, I want more conifers. I"m not quite sure where yet, so I'm experimenting. Give it a try. It's a great way to recycle the tree and formulate your next garden plan.

Our Connection to Our Horticultural Roots

2009-01-12T10:07:00.004-05:00

Is is commonly accepted that agriculture started in various locations around the world 10 to 11 thousand years ago. Since those earliest times, human beings have been seed savers. They saved seeds of the best and most favored plants or perhaps those with new and more desired traits to plant the next growing season. Those simple choices allowed our ancestors to develop a stunning range of varieties of plants and foodstuffs.

Farmers continued seed saving and swapping through the millennia since with little change until relatively recently. In the middle of the 1800's seed began to be produced commercially in the United States. This changed the face of agriculture forever. The early 20th century saw the introduction of commercial hybrid seed and more recently, the introduction of genetically modified (GMO) seeds. The seeds collected from hybrid (and GMO) plants do not produce plants true to the quality of the parent plant. Between this and the easy availability of seeds to buy, seed saving began to fall out of common practice.

Beans - "Anasazi"
Even so - and thankfully, some people still saved seeds from varieties of crops and flowers handed down through their family for generations. Some of these varieties can now be had through sellers of open-pollinated and heirloom seed varieties. While much can be said for disease-resistant and robust hybrids, the open-pollinated varieties offer flavors and colors not found on your supermarket shelves. I find these old-varieties so pleasing that at least 85% of my vegetable garden last year was devoted to heirloom and open-pollinated varieties.

Interested in trying something different in the garden this year? Well the RCGC is holding a houseplant and seed swap on January 24th. It is a wonderful way to not only reconnect with our horticultural roots but a great way to get unusual varieties you will not find at your local lawn and garden centers. The seeds will surely include vegetables, herbs, garden flowers, and wildflowers. The event is also a great place for indoor gardeners to trade houseplant cuttings and starts. Our event also includes two speakers and refreshments - a little something for everyone!

Please see our 2nd Annual Seed and Houseplant Swap webpage for full details and how to register online! See you there!

-kim

Winter-Spring Catalog is available on-line

2008-12-29T13:46:00.004-05:00

You can view the new catalog now on our website at: http://www.rcgc.org/pdfdocs/RCGC_Winter2009.pdf

The paper catalog should be in mailboxes soon, and on-line registration will be available after the first of the year.

As always, you can also call, fax or email to register or for more information: phone 585-473-5130, fax 585-473-8136, or email rcgcjh@frontiernet.net

Wreathmaking Class

2008-12-10T11:51:00.012-05:00

This year's wreathmaking class with Nellie Gardner was a blast, as always! Tons of fun, and everyone's wreath turned out great.

Nellie setting up the room - what a huge assortment of natural materials she brought in her little truck.

Some wreaths in progress:

Everyone's wreath came out different!

Hearts-a-bursting

2008-11-19T09:22:00.003-05:00

"Hearts-a-bursting" or strawberry bush or Euonymus americanus is the Botany Photo of the Day for today November 19, 2008 at the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research out of Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. It is a wonderful site full of plant information and beautiful botanical photos. You can even sign up here to have the Botany Photo of the Day emailed to you. It is inspiring to see all the beautiful pictures of plants plus you learn a bit about each plant that is featured as well. It is a site not to be missed by lovers of plants and all things green.

Perhaps it is inpiring enough to encourage you to take your camera out in the garden or on walks with you. Refer to your camera's user manual to see if it has a setting for close-up pictures. My camera has a little flower icon next to the button that will put it into "macro mode" or in other words set it so it can focus on close-up subjects. Here is an easy to understand article from DIY on taking botanical pictures to get you started. Google will also be able to get you even more information if you search for something like "camera macro."

Hopefully you've enjoyed some of my botanical photographs that have been sprinkled through this blog and the Rochester Civic Garden Center's webpages - including the picture above. The above picture is of common toadflax, Linaria vulgaris, or my favorite name for it, butter-and-eggs. Although most who are not herbalists consider it an alien weed, it is a gorgeous photo subject. It's not a weed to me. I love their late summer color and ability to grow in the leanest and driest waste places on my property. Just how could you hate that?

-kim

What are you doing for HerbDay?

2008-10-09T09:32:00.006-04:00

HerbDay is coordinated series of independently produced public educational events celebrating the importance of herbs and herbalism. HerbDay was conceived of by five nonprofit organizations with interests in herbs and herbalism to raise public awareness about the significance of herbs in our lives and the many ways herbs can be used safely and creatively for health, beauty care, and culinary enjoyment. In 2008, HerbDay will be held on Saturday October 11th. People wishing to hold an herb-related event can register their event with the HerbDay organization but they are not required to. Check out the HerbDay website for a schedule of events to see if there is a registered event being held near you.

Since the event is young and still growing you may not find an event being held near you. If that is the case, you can still celebrate HerbDay. Go to your favorite local park with woodland hiking trails and look for wild herb plants. They will be all around you. A good book to take on your travels would be Peterson’s A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America by Duke and Foster. It is my one of my favorite books on herbs. You may also wish to take a list of some plants to look for. Here is an Herb List for Western NY State (PDF document) that I put together which includes many wild herb plants as well as a few garden herb plants that you may come across in your travels. It is by no means a complete or exhaustive list but it should give you a starting place. And please remember to NOT pick the plants you find unless you have permission and KNOW exactly what you are picking. That warning is as much for your safety as it is for stewardship of wild places and plants. Besides poisonous and toxic plants, there are many wild medicinal plants that are at risk from overharvesting. See United Plant Savers for more information on 'at-risk' medicinal plants.

If stomping through the wilds is not your cup of tea, perhaps you could plan an herb garden for next year. Your herb garden could feature culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, follow a theme, or any other thing that strikes your fancy. There are many books on herb gardening and your local library or the RCGC's Horticultural Library can certainly help locate one of these books for you. But if you need something to get you thinking now, I wrote an article Starting an Herb Garden which may be of interest to you.

However you wish to spend HerbDay, I hope you enjoy yourself and at least give pause to consider all the wonderful things herbs have given human beings down through the millennia.

-kim

The Littlest Sister in My Garden

2008-09-12T13:08:00.008-04:00

Every year is an interesting experience in the vegetable garden. Unlike last year, the melons, squashes, and cucumbers produced rather dismally this year. My poor-performers of last year, beans, did wonderful this year. In truth, more than wonderful. The Seneca, who are the Haudenosaunee people who live in this part of NY State, call corn, beans, and squash “The Three Sisters.” The Seneca name for the Three Sisters is Joh-heh-goh which means “These Things which Sustain Us." The littlest sister, beans, has been quite sustainer in my garden this year. For the very small footprint in my garden dedicated to beans, it has produced many grocery bags full of food.

Pole beans are a climbing, vining variety of bean that need a trellis or poles to climb on. I think they are a good vegetable choice for people with small plots of land since they grow mostly vertical. Poles in the back of a sun-filled garden location along with ample moisture is all that these beans require. In planning your gardens for next year, why not include some veggies such as pole beans? They will surely sustain you as well.

One of my rows of pole beans was the ultimate seed cleanup grab bag. I took 6 – 8 different types of pole beans that I had little bits of and planted a row. That row offered a huge variety in color, flavor and long harvest time. By far the stellar performers in that row were the Kentucky Wonder (H), Purple Podded (H), and Cherokee Trail of Tears (H) beans. All good tasting and highly productive beans. I also enjoyed dedicated rows of Dragon Langerie (H, bush), Red Noodle (OP, long bean), Helda (OP, pole), Goldfield (pole), and Jade (OP, bush) beans. Goldfield is one of the few vegetable varieties that I go out of my way to get each year. It produces flat yellow beans that are 10” long and about an 1” wide which are tasty and tender even at the larger sizes.

Fish Pepper

Some other garden favorites this year include the following.
Note: (H) = Heirloom and (OP) = OpenPollinated

Tomato: Zapotec Pleated (H), Lemon Drop (OP), Red Currant (OP), Thai Pink (H)
Tomatillo: Mexican Strain (OP)
Basil: Siam Queen (Thai type). Tasty and pretty enough for the flower bed.
Pepper: Fish (H). 4 year favorite! It is a beautiful variegated plant with small, striped, tasty hot peppers. Edibile and ornamental!
Calendula: Solis Sponsa (H). Calendula is always in my veggie garden for attracting pollinators as well as medicinal herb use. This is a wonderful orange variety with dark centers.
Lettuce: Reine des Glaces (H)
Fava: Guatemalan Purple (H) - my garden "snack food" that never makes it to the dinner plate. A 5 year favorite.

I suppose I've rambled enough but be sure to check out the links and book sources below for Three Sisters stories and Native American Gardening information.

-kim

Sources for Three Sisters and Native American gardening information:

Gaedago:h (In the Garden) by Pearl Henry
Native American Gardening by Gilbert Wilson
Native American Gardening by Michael Caduto and Joseph Bruchac
Three Sisters Garden
Cornell Article on Iroquois Three Sisters Gardening
Three Sisters Gardening (including background and plans)
Three Sisters Story

Garden Tip #1 - Buckets of Fun

2008-08-24T17:32:00.006-04:00

I have found children's sand buckets to be a marvelous and very inexpensive garden tool. I have used them to mix potting soil, water individual plants (when you don't want to drag the hose out), and to carry harvested items from the garden whether they be herbs, tomatoes, beans, and more. The small size keeps the weight down - a blessing if you're not built like Charles Atlas. One caveat, the handles can be flimsy so keeping the load light becomes a requirement.

You might not see the purple and green plastic sand pails in a Smith and Hawken or Martha Stewart Living photo spread, but these little buckets are useful and inexpensive. Perhaps there are some already about your house....

Herbs - Oregano, Mountain Mint,
Comfrey, Lemon Balm, Sage,
Sang Ye, Raspberry leaf, and Dandelion Leaf

-kim

Lunchtime with Gardeners

2008-07-31T13:43:00.006-04:00

For many years I worked in IT, mostly as a Unix System Administrator. Lunch time spent with peers and co-workers usually saw the conversation slip to the tech-topic of the day, fishing, hunting, family, and things that use gasoline. Now that I’m working at the RCGC, the lunch time conversations are of quite different themes. Sometimes it is about new plants we have in the garden or how our tomatoes are growing. Sometimes it is about nurseries we’ve visited or where to buy “turkey grit” so it can be used as a soil amendment . Yesterday it was about how some people (nurseries included) plant/pot trees too deeply and if you use the rule of thumb (as I have) to plant as deeply as it was in the pot, you could end up loosing trees. They don’t die right away. They could linger on for a few years and then wham! Dead tree. (If you are curious as to what is the proper way to plant a tree try one of these two sites: the first has more visually-oriented instructions while the second is more verbal.) I have learned much in these lunchtime conversations with my co-workers and fellow gardeners.

Native trees: sassafras and eastern white pine

My lunchtime education reminds me much of all I have gleaned from the questions asked by other students in the classes I have taken through the RCGC. The instructors and their course content for these classes are truly exemplary. The classes showcase both the breadth and the depth of the instructor’s skill and knowledge. And as a testament to each instructor’s expertise and acumen is how they answer the students’ questions. Students often bring their garden and landscaping queries with them to ask the instructor who not only answers the questions, they often use them to illustrate the different objectives of the class. This makes each class a unique opportunity for learning.

So if you haven’t taken an RCGC class yet, give it a try. There is so much to learn for so little. Each quarter there are also classes and "brown-bag lunches" that are free to RCGC members. (See the course catalog for more details about these offerings.) Or if you have already taken a class from us, how about another class on a different topic? They are always changing. Or perhaps you could take a favorite one again. Some of the classes, such as the hands-on Pruning classes with Mike Tanzini, can be taken over and over again with each one being a very unique and learning experience. I’m sure you’ll go away with some new learnings...kind of like me at lunchtime.

-kim

Attention Greedy Gardeners

2008-07-10T12:48:00.004-04:00

Maybe you're like me-I always want more plants than I can fit into my garden, so shrubs that can be cut back are big on my list . I wasn't aware of many of the varieties available (like Fuschia Magelinica) until I started talking with Jerry Kral about some of the shrubs he has experimented with. Did you know that many "tender" shrubs can be over-wintered and treated like hardy perennials? Jerry really knows his plants, and his garden never fail to inspire me. It's a treat to go there. Don't miss Tender Shrubs and Botanical Treasures on Wednesday July 16, 7-8:30pm.

"Is This a Plant or a Weed?"

2008-07-03T16:46:00.002-04:00

Being a plant person yourself, perhaps the title amuses you as much as it does me. A weed is a plant but some act as though it is something alien and very unplant like. There has been more than one post to GardenWeb's Name That Plant! Forum that has had a subject line similar to the title of this post. I giggle each time I see one of those subject lines. Humor for plant nerds, I guess!

Perhaps you're of a different mind, but I think a weed is merely a plant in the wrong place. A weed is neither good nor bad. It just is, albeit in the wrong place. This reminds me of a recent conversation about weeds with a 7-year old who was saying "Weeds are bad!" I went on to tell him about some of the "weeds" that I use for "plant medicine," i.e. herbalism. Plantain (Plantago major) was there and handy at the time so I told him about "nature's band-aid" and how mushed-up plantain leaves can help take the sting and itch out a bug bite. I've used it and it works. Besides being useful, weeds can have the most interesting nick-names, history, and traditions associated with them as well. Plantain, for example, is euphemistically called "White Man's Foot" because it seemed to follow in the white man's footsteps in the New World. A Mohawk herbalist I saw speak about medicinal plants said to use only the round, fat, "female" plantain leaves, never the thin, pointy, "male" leaves. The female were medicine while the male ones were poison. I know I prefer the round, fleshy ones myself.

One of my all time favorite weeds is the infamous dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). The word "dandelion" comes from the French dent de lion or "lion tooth" and it aptly describes the jagged, toothed leaves. Out of all the herbs I harvest for medicinal use, dandelion root and leaf top the list. I end up with pounds of dried root and leaf each year. One of the medicinal uses for dandelion is evidenced in some of its most colorful nick-names which concern themselves with "urinating in the bed." It is used as a diuretic. Besides its medicinal values, dandelion is a well-known and nutritional green that is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is no wonder that our ancestors sought this food plant for their spring tonics and dinner plates! And let's not forget dandelion wine made from those pretty yellow early spring blooms. Mmmm...good stuff.

There are so many more wonderful weeds to learn more about. If this interests you at all, please consider joining us at RCGC's Your Backyard Herbal Medicine Chest class on August 9th. Arleen Oliver, program director at the historic Buckland House, will lead the class on a tour of the medicinal uses of your garden weeds. Please see our education page for more details and registration information. I hope to see you there!

-kim

Odyssey To Ithaca 2008

2008-06-11T23:20:00.002-04:00

I had a marvelous time at last Saturday's annual Odyssey to Ithaca trip. I got to meet new people, make new friends, buy plants, take pictures of plants, have a wonderful "herbal lunch" at Baker's Acres, buy some more plants, take more pictures, visit nurseries and gardens I hadn't been to......and oh yeah, buy more plants!!

Robison York State Herb Garden
The tour started out at the Cornell Plantations. It was a beautiful day to wander amongst the variously themed gardens, taking pictures and answering a question here and there. My favorite garden was the Robison York State Herb Garden - not a hard guess given my herbalist nature. One plant that seem to catch alot of attention there (confirmed by some of the purchases I saw at nurseries throughout the day) was the herb angelica (Angelica archangelica). It was in flower and it is quite spectacular while in bloom. Many people wondered as to its herbal uses. A nice on-line resource for getting that information is the Plants for a Future database http://www.pfaf.org and I encourage you to check it out.

Cornell Plantations - Masterwort
Pipevine. Aristolochia macrophylla. Someone asked me about a vine that was blooming at the Cornell Plantations and at Baker's Acres that I didn't know off the top of my head. This is what it is. I would have posted a picture here but my pictures of it turned out less than optimum.

Our next stop was Baker's Acres. Cool place. Great Lunch! With a wonderful selection of plants for good prices. I came away with some gas plants, society garlic, and white baneberry plants. (Yeah, I'm not a petunia and marigolds sort of gal!) If you were wondering what those pretty plants blooming in the gardens near to the Garden Room (where we ate our lunch) were that you didn't know, they were gas plants (Dictamnus albus). I answered a number of questions on them but thought I'd share in case others were wondering!

Baker's Acres
Our next stop was Bedlam Gardens. An interesting little nursery and a great place for peonies! Just wandering around the many, many gardens, which were clearly a labor of love, is worth the trip!

Bedlam Gardens - Pasque flowers gone to seed
Our next and last stop was Dickman Farms - a very nice Garden Center. We had a tour of their production greenhouses and we learned about the millions of plants that they process, grow, and ship. It was a very interesting and informative end to a wonderful day!

Dickman Farms - Production Greenhouse
All in all a wonderful day and a date not to miss next year!

-kim

Saying so long...

2008-05-29T15:27:00.001-04:00

Today is my last day at the garden center. It is time for me to move on.
I have met so many wonderful people in my years here at RCGC. Alana Miller said something to me yesterday, “this place is about the people.” And she’s right. Some of you may not realize how much time and effort goes into keeping the garden center alive. RCGC has some of the best volunteers around and I will miss each and every one of them.

I am amazed every day by how much Judy accomplishes and how many balls she juggles at one time. She has become a great friend – to a lot of people I think .

Chris jumped into life at RCGC a year and a half ago with great enthusiasm and a huge heart. She is a dear person.

Yes, RCGC’s mission is horticultural education – but it’s also full of great people.

So for now I am saying so long, but not good-bye!

Hugs - Debbie

We Need Your Plants

2008-05-15T11:46:00.003-04:00

RCGC needs your plants for our booth at the Proud Market Plant sale - Saturday, May 24 (Memorial Day weekend), 8 am till the plants run out. Come early, the best things sell fast. This is a fantastic sale - specialty vendors, great finds and great prices.

Bring us your perennial divisions, extra annuals, etc., during the week before Memorial Day weekend. You can leave them in the courtyard behind the building if we are not open. Try to label them with as much information as you know - name of plant, flower color, etc. Sales at our booth benefit the education program and library. For more information, see our website and the summer catalog.

Courtyard Rehabilitation Project

2008-05-15T11:12:00.009-04:00

The installation of the second flagstone walk hit a major snag when this 6 - 8 inch thick concrete sidewalk was unearthed late last year (as the snow began to fly). Ever resourceful and energetic, RCGC volunteer Rhea took it upon herself to start breaking the sidewalk up this morning - by hand.

Love the technique.

Rhea, you're our hero.

Addendum:

Progress!

By 3pm the sidewalk looked like this

Trough Planting Demystified

2008-04-30T14:08:00.005-04:00

RCGC Director Christine Froehlich has an article in the current issue of Rochester Magazine (May-June 2008) on Betsy Knapp and her incredible hypertufa troughs. Betsy has perfected the art of making these troughs in her own distinctive, immaculately finished style, and sells them on consignment and at Bristol's Garden Center.

Betsy got into trough making to have somewhere to plant the alpine rock garden plants that she has grown to love: "I didn't want one or two, I wanted lots of them." And she has lots of them, planted with everything from alpines to miniature vegetables.

Betsy has a class coming up very soon at RCGC: "Trough Planting Demystified," Saturday May 10 at 10-11:30 am. There is still space in the class; see the Winter-Spring Catalog on our website for more information, and call or email to sign up.

Position Available

2008-04-30T13:55:00.001-04:00

Rochester Civic Garden Center
Administrative Coordinator
Part time, 24 hour per week position.
Candidates must have strong computer skills with a financial background and understanding of Quickbooks, Microsoft Office (Excel and Word) and HTML (for website maintenance).
Good interpersonal and organizational skills are desirable. Must have some flexibility to work occasional weekends and evenings for special events.
Send cover letter and resume to: Christine Froehlich at rcgccf@frontiernet.net

2008 Spring Symposium

2008-03-27T16:19:00.017-04:00

Some images taken by Guy Coppola at our recent event (as one participant put it, “The best symposium yet.” But they all are...)

Buying raffle tickets

Andrew Fowler and his witch hazels

Gordon Hayward

Karen Bussolini

The Marketplace

What a Beautiful Dress!

2008-02-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

Lucinda Snyder, who has an upcoming knitting class at RCGC, knit this dress for her January wedding. What a gorgeous work of art! The pattern is from Vogue Knitting's 25th Anniversary edition.

Butterfly Soiree Date Change

2007-12-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

To all of you who downloaded earlier versions of our on-line or PDF Winter-Spring catalog (as of 1/02/08 the information is correct) the date for our Butterfly Soiree at Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden at the Strong Museum has changed.

The new date is Tuesday, January 29, same time, 6-8 pm.

Hope you can all come!

Winter-Spring Class Catalog

2007-12-18T11:21:00.000-05:00

The Winter-Spring 2008 class catalog is on our web site. You can read through the class offerings and print out a registration form to mail in at rcgc.org

There's something for everyone...check it out!

Look for the catalog to arrive in mailboxes early January.

Wreathmaking Class 12/4/07

2007-12-12T14:08:00.000-05:00

These pictures are from a wreath-making class that Nellie Gardner presented here last week. It was an amazing amount of fun; everyone's wreath was surprisingly different - and everyone was delighted with their results. I am so glad I went, we learned techniques that would work with all kinds of plant materials, and supplies that most everyone already has. Can't wait to make some more.

Highland Park in November

2007-11-12T11:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks to RCGC member Brian Eshenaur (Western New York Ornamentals IPM Educator) for these fall images, taken last week in Highland Park

Katsura tree

Yes, this rhododendron is blooming in November!

Oakleaf hydrangea

RCGC in the Media

2007-11-07T09:17:00.000-05:00

Every other Friday morning Nellie Gardner (RCGC member, instructor and well-known horticulturist) has a small segment on WROC-TV News 8 Now Sunrise at 6:20 and 6:40 am. On it Nellie covers a variety of horticultural topics which usually tie into the classes being offered at RCGC - check it out at rochesterhomepage.net.
Next segment: Friday, November 16th

Trip to England

2007-10-17T16:31:00.000-04:00

A couple of shots from my September trip to England - Chenies Manor, parts of which date back to 1460. Very interesting place, with so much history, still in private hands. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were frequent visitors and made some important decisions here.

I got there by Tube from London, followed by a walk down this scary country lane - nowhere to go but into the stinging nettle if a car was coming. I don't think the locals have any trouble...

If you are interested in joining me in May on a trip to the Cotswalds and Chelsea Flower Show (May 17-25, 2008), sponsored by the Upstate Gardeners' Journal, visit travelbuds.net. Sign up soon - tickets to the Chelsea Flower show sell out fast, by sometime in November!

Floral Design Classes

2007-10-03T10:53:00.000-04:00

For those of you interested in floral design, we have many classes on the schedule with floral designer Alana Miller. See floral design classes and more on our web site rcgc.org. Class sizes are limited so if you see something you like, call right away to sign up!

"Welcome Fall" Wreath - class date Tuesday, October 9, 7-9pm

Holiday Grapevine Spiral - class date Tuesday, November 13, 7-9pm

Back to School!

2007-08-28T08:55:00.000-04:00

RCGC's Fall Class Schedule is now on our website. Check it out!
RCGC Class Catalog
Classes fill up quickly so be sure to sign up right away.

Courtyard Rehabilitation Project

2007-08-07T11:42:00.000-04:00

Rhea Oaks and Jane Uhle taking a much-deserved break from shovelling dirt on a hot August morning working on the Courtyard project.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Trophee'

2007-08-07T11:18:00.000-04:00

Taken by Bob Maier on July 31 after the class at Lakeside Nursery - Hydrangeas and More in an Idea Garden. Bob says "Blue in the garden is truly a gift from Heaven."

Compost, it does a garden good

2007-07-26T08:36:00.000-04:00

Here's my Dad, who is one heckuva vegetable gardener, standing in his squash patch. He planted this year's crop of 'Sunshine' winter squash on the spot where his compost bins stood last season. Imagine if he had planted his tomatoes there instead...

Hydrangeas and Lotus

2007-07-25T14:59:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of pictures from the Hydrangea class at Tim Boebel's house Tuesday, July 24. It was lovely - more than 200 hydrangea bushes, most in bloom, a beautiful spot, beautiful weather, wonderful hospitality and a great class.

Note the knock-out lotus pond. Tim will be teaching a class here in his yard on just how he did it, on Saturday August 4 at 10 am till noon, Constructing Ponds for Lotus to Flower and Thrive. Check the catalog on our website for more info, or call 585-473-5130.

Lily Leaf Beetles

2007-07-25T13:51:00.000-04:00

Watch Out For These Critters

These beautiful red beetles are adults of the lily leaf beetle, a relatively new pest to our area. These are native to Europe, and were discovered near Montreal in 1945 and Cambridge MA in 1992. In the last couple of years they have entered our area and are spreading fast.

Both adults and larvae cause considerable damage to lilies; they can and often do completely strip a plant of all foliage and flowers. The adults are easily recognizable – about ½ long and bright red. The larvae look a bit like slugs, but since they cover themselves with their excrement, before long they look mostly like insect poo.

If there are not too many, the best way to control them is to just pick them off the plant. RCGC instructor Roz Bliss demonstrated an ingenious method for catching hard-to-reach adults during a class at her house this summer: put some Tanglefoot (sticky substance available in garden stores) on the end of a long stick and touch the beetle with the sticky end. If you want to use an insecticide, some sources recommend neem, extracted from the neem tree. It will kill the small larvae and repel the adults; to be effective it must be applied every 5-7 days.

The good news is that this pest is under good biological control in France and Switzerland; current research in the US is focusing on parasitoids that may in the future be available here for control.

Lily leaf beetles cause the most damage on true lilies (Lilium sp.) and fritillaria and will only lay eggs and develop on these plants; they do not eat daylilies. They will feed lightly on several other plants including Solomon’s seal, nightshade, potato, hollyhock, hosta and nicotiana.

men at work

2007-07-19T15:02:00.000-04:00

Now here's a bunch of hardworking men. Guy and his crew moved all the hostas and a Sargeant hydrangea from the courtyard garden. It's currently being rehabilitated-stand by for more news.

Come here often?

2007-07-19T14:47:00.000-04:00

Hop on over here and sit beside me Wednesday night August 8, 7-8:30 pm. I'll tell you all about my trip to Stonecrop Gardens and show you a slideshow that will knock your socks off! The class is free with a new or renewed membership-don't miss it.

Girls in trees

2007-06-21T10:36:00.000-04:00

Hey- whats up with the arborvitae? They're way out of scale. Thats ok, a little creative pruning by my friend Nellie Gardner will fix them right up. She scampered right up the trunk and pruned some of the tall leaders out of the middle and left enough green around the cut so you don't see the stump. I would have never thought of this but when she was done they looked great and I couldn't even tell they had been pruned.

summer soiree at the castle June 14

2007-06-21T10:08:00.000-04:00

Our first soiree at the castle was a great success!

Many new folks showed up for a tour of the castle inside and out -thanks to Guy Coppola and Millie Piccione. It was a perfect evening to enjoy the magic hour with a glass of wine, some munchies and friends.

Welcome!

2007-05-30T11:36:00.001-04:00

to RCGC's newest endeavor at keeping the community informed.

RCGC's three staff members will contribute to this blog:
Christine Froehlich, Executive Director
Judy Hubbard, Education Program Coordinator
Debbie Eckerson, Director of Administration

Check back often to learn about the latest happenings at the garden center: new classes, special events, various horticultural happenings, our musings and any news we feel we absolutely must share with you!