Madelin Chase Dafoe contemplates buying groundcovers at the Pine Plains Garden Club Plant Sale

Donna Croshier recommended the following books while presenting “From Rome to Gnomes” at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Millbrook.

Isaacs, Jennifer. Quirky Gardens. Ten Speed Press: California, 1995.

Plumptre, George. Garden Ornament: Five Hundred Years of History and Practice. Thames and Hudson: London, 1998.

Rooney, E. Ashley. Garden Ornaments. Schiffer Publishing: PA, 2004.

Rushing, Fielding. Bottle Trees. . . and the Whimsical Art of Garden Glass. St. Lynn’s Press: PA, 2013.

Smith, Linda Joan. Garden Ornament. Workman Publishing: New York, 1998.

Madelin Dafoe and Donna Croshier

Penny and Master Gardener Donna Croshier

Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener, Donna Croshier, presents “From Rome to Gnome” to our club on Thursday, April 9th.

Weeding the tribute  gardens at Stissing Beach and Seymour Smith School kept us busy this week.

It’s a busy year for the Pine Plains Garden Club:

March 20: Sunprint/Cyanotype

April 10: Spring Luncheon @ Uncle Sonny’s, Stanfordville, NY

April 17: Third District Spring Meeting. Diamond Mills, Saugerties, NY

April 24: 10 a.m. Beach garden cleanup

April 25: National Arbor Day

May 16: 4 p.m. Plant sale setup at Eno House, South Main Street, Pine Plains, NY. Bring plant donations for sale in containers. Please identify plants.

May 17: 9-12 p.m. Annual Plant Sale. Eno House, South Main Street, Pine Plains.

May 22: 10 a.m. Window boxes, town barrels

May 24: 9 a.m. Cemetery planting

May 26: 7 a.m. Memorial Day sprays. Rae Hart’s house

May 26: 3 p.m. Tree dedication to honor Janet Adams and Fran Bradley. Town Beach

June 5: 10 a.m. Meet at Town parking lot. Stonecrop Gardens. 81 Stonecrop Lane, Cold Spring, NY. $5. Guests Welcome.

June 19: The Climbery. 201 Buckwheat Bridge Rd. Livingston, NY. 12:30 p.m. meet at Town parking lot. Guests Welcome.

July 10: 10 a.m. Falls Village Nursery. Meet at Town parking lot

July 24: 10 a.m. Alice Platt Gardens. East Taghkanic. Meet at Town parking lot

August 7: 12:30 p.m. Rae Hart’s home at Stissing Lake. Bring a covered dish. Flower sow final discussions, plant exchange.

September 4: 12:30 p.m. Mary Briggs Sanctuary. Underwater design workshop

October 9: 2:30 p.m. FFA Fall Festival/ Flower Show. Setup with team. 4 p.m. arrangements can be brought in. Stissing Mountain Middle/High School

October 10: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. FFA exhibit

October 11: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. FFA exhibit

October 16: Third District fall meeting

November 6: 11 a.m. Plant town window boxes

November 8 – 29. Festival of Trees. November 29, 4 p.m. auction ends

December 4: 10 a.m. Christmas workshop. Assemble winter sprays. Guests Welcome

Frosty’s Tree. Nancy Sullivan

Birds of a Feather. Mary Briggs

Someone’s in the Kitchen. Nancy Sullivan

Snowman Tree. Marguerite Hill

Poinsettia Christmas Wreath. Anita DiMarinis

Jolly Ole St. Nick. Trudie Wilson

March of the Wooden Soldiers. Vicky LoBrutto

Peace on Earth. Vicky LoBrutto

Hydrangea Wreath with Christmas Bow. Diane Butler

Horse Shoe Tree. Kathy Bartles

Grandma’s Christmas Kitchen. Linda Pulver

The Pine Plains Garden  Club and Pine Plains Library are sponsoring a Festival of Trees Silent Auction November 2-30th during Library hours. Winning bids will be announced November 30th before the town Parade of Lights. Check out these beautiful entries!

Angel Tree. Marguerite Hill

Hydrangea Wreath with Beige Ribbon. Mary Briggs

Christmas Table Runner. Margo Brandt

Christmas Is For Children. Joan Syler

Bird Song. Penny Wheeler

We are always happy to share information about other gardening clubs. Wednesday, September 25, at SUNY Ulster Campus, Stoneridge, NY. The Rhinebeck Garden Club will meet at 10 a.m. at the Xeriscape Garden for a tour led by a master gardener from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County. Guests are welcome, $5 fee. For information on this event, contact Brenda Brockett at 914-475-3502.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Master Gardener program is sponsoring a bus trip Sept. 26 to the High Line Park in New York City with shopping at the Chelsea Market Concourse. The park is built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. Bus departs 8 a.m. from MAC Fitness parking lot in the Kingston Plaza and returns at 7:15 p.m. Cost is $35 per person. Registration deadline is Sept. 20. 845-340-3990. www.cceulster.org

Friends of Taconic State Park. 518 966 2730. Supporting the activities of the Taconic State Park. Copake Falls, NY. Promoting recreational, historic, educational and cultural activities. Advocating for the maintenance and improvement of its facilities and programs becoming a voice for the park by acting as a liaison with governmental bodies, institutions, schools, businesses, regional groups and their organizations of common concern.

• June 8. Take a “Walk on the Wild Side.” Botanist and northeast wildflower authority, Robert Naczi, of the NY Botanical Garden, leads a wildflower walk in Taconic State Park. Info: 518 966 2730.
• July 25. 5th Annual meeting and potluck supper at Copake Iron Works. 6 p.m. Details to be announced.
• September 22. Hidden Valley Hike with Hudson Valley Ramble. Details to be announced.

Stonecrop Gardens. Cold Spring, NY. 845 265 2000. Open Monday – Saturday. 10-5. www.stonecrop.org. Consists of 12 acres of gardens at a windswept elevation of 1,100 in the Hudson Highlands. See a diverse collection of plants conservatory, enclosed flower garden, woodland garden, Mediterranean garden, alpine rock ledge. Guided group tours available. Plus “Open Days” June 23, July 21, August 18, September 15, October 13. Join them for tea in the garden noon-4 p.m.

The Beatrix Ferrand Garden at Bellefield. Hyde Park, NY. www.beatrixfarrendgarden.org. Free. 7 days/wk. 7 a.m. – sundown. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. 4097 Albany Post Road, Route 9. Hyde Park.

Weathersfield. 214 Pugsley Hill Road. Amenia, NY. Sunday, June 30. Part of Garden Conservancy’s open days program. 10 acres of formal classical style and outer gardens surround Chauncey Stillman’s Georgian style brick house. Garden open 10-4. Garden tours at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. House open for viewing 12-2. Admission $5. http://www.weathersfieldgarden.org.

Bard College. Blithewood Road. Red Hook, NY. 845 758 7179. http://inside.bard.edu. Blithewood Garden. Turn of the century Italianate walled garden overlooking the Hudson River. The grounds began their metamorphosis from untamed woods into a carefully landscaped estate in the late 1830s and Andrew Jackson Downing was commissioned to design the grounds. Open seasonally, May-November.

Hudson River mansions, Innisfree, Vassar College – Arboretum and Shakespeare Garden.

Garden Club of Amenia, Ltd. Lecture series.

• June 15. 2 p.m. Roses, with a viewing of two local rose gardens. Presenter: Paul Arcario. All lectures held 3rd Saturday of the month 2-4 at Amenia Town Hall, Route 22. Amenia, NY. Free.

Hidden Gardens of Amenia. Saturday, July 13. As many as 15 gardens. Keep your eyes open for when tickets go on sale.

Horticulture Magazine. Features “Gardeners on the Go.”  http://hortmag.com/subscribe/gardeners-on-the-go. Great gardening ideas, time saving tips and garden travel inspiration.

GardenersHub.com. Free weekly smart gardening e-news letter. Packed with timely tips and plant recommendations, plus quick links to great deals.

Whiteflower Farm. Litchfield, CT. Open 9-5:30. 860 567 8789. June 22. 9-5. Open house. Iced tea and cucumber sandwiches on the lawn. Serving at 2:30. The display gardens should be close to peak and the Begonia House will be hitting its stride. More info whiteflowerfarm.com/events.

Florence Griswold Museum. Historic gardens and grounds of Miss Florence’s boardinghouse for artists. Delight in the landscape made famous by the Lyme Art Colony. FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org. 96 Lyme St., Old Lyme, CT. off exit 70 of I95. 860 434 5542.

Stamford Museum and Nature Center. www.stamfordmuseum.org. Stamford, CT. 118 acres include trails, 300 ft. boardwalk for strollers or wheelchairs. A garden with plants indigenous to CT at entrance of the boardwalk. Property includes flowers, shrubs, trees, groundcovers, as well as a lake, waterfall, fountain, sculpture, and farm with organic flower and vegetable garden.

Hollister House Garden. 300 Nettleton Hollow Road. 860 868 2200. Group tours contact hollisterhousegarden.org. Set against an historic CT farmhouse, this romantic country garden juxtaposes exuberant plantings with formal lines of the 20th century English gardens that inspired its owner George Schoelikopf and is noted for its subtle and sometimes surprising color  combinations. High walls and hedges divide the garden into series of rooms that open onto interesting vistas. Several areas of this Garden Conservancy Preservation Project have been recently revised and expanded to include a kitchen garden and hillside paths.

Berkshire Botanical Garden.  5 West Stockbridge Road. Stockbridge, MA 01262. 413 298 3926.

• June 8. 4 p.m. Tasting Terroir: A Story of Earth, Wine and Human Hope. Wine tasting, book signing and sale to follow talk.
• June 15. At Home in a Potager Garden.
• June 20. 10:30-12:30 p.m. Native Knowledge. Learning about native plants at Nasami Farm.
• July 8-29. 10-1. The Garden in Watercolors, Session I. En Plein Air Watercolor Painting In the Summer Garden.
• July 11. 10-12. Collecting Woody Plants Propagation Workshop.
• July 18. 9:30-12:30. Meadow Gardening at Its Very Best.
• August 1 and 2. 10-4. Landscape Painting with John McDonald.
• August 5-26. 10-1. The Garden in Watercolor, Session II. En Plein Air Watercolor Painting in the Summer Garden.
• August 7. 4 p.m. Private Edens: Beautiful Country Gardens. Book sale and signing to follow lecture.
• August 15. 10-5. Standing Stones in the Garden Stone-Carving Workshop. Tools and materials provided. Bring bagged lunch, safety goggles and dress for working.
• August 22. 10:30-12:30. Seed saving in your New England Garden.
• August 22 and 23. 10-4. Botanical Painting with Watercolor. Master class with Carol Woodin
• October 5 and 6. 10-5. Fall in the Berkshires at its very best. Live music, crafts, food, rides, silent auction, plant sale, tag sale, farmers market, fun for the kids.
• See their web site for other events added throughout the year.

Wards Nursery and Garden Center. 600 South Main Street; Great Barrington, MA. 413 528 0166.

Hosting designers continuously until Mid-September.

• Craig Okerstrom-Lang Design. May 30-June 9.
• Pat Parkins Gardens of the Goddess. June 13-June 24.
• Eloise Richman Passion Flower Landscape Design. June 27-July 8.

Helpful information from Wards

• Time to fertilize. All your gardens could use a light dose of 10-10-10 Epsoma Garden Food as they begin to grow. This is a fast feed that last only 4 weeks. After that, fertilize with a slow release season long fertilizer.
• Watch for frost warnings. Cover tender annuals and vegetables with spun polyester like material. A light frost will not kill your perennials or spring bulbs. Zone 5 frost free date is May 22.
• Prevent crabgrass organically with gluten weed preventer.
• Apply dormant oil spray to prevent fungus spores and insect pests on any susceptible woody plants before leaf buds open. Choose a day when 24 hours of dry weather above 40 degrees is forecasted and calm for spraying.
• Bird feeders should be brought inside at night to avoid black bear visits. Encourage birds into your yard with birdhouses and hummingbird feeders.

Phantom Gardener. 6837 Route 9, Rhinebeck NY. 876 8606.

Workshops and events throughout the year.