President Nancy Madeoy opened the May 2023 meeting with What's blooming in your garden. Members responded with peonies, Iris, chives, catmint and rhododendron.
Welcome to our 3 new members who joined last month — Alicia, Kate and John.
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| A few embers brought plants to share. |
Please remember that there will be no meeting at the church in June. Our annual garden club picnic will be held on Tuesday, June 27th at Andrea Maire’s house starting at 6:30 p.m. Andrea said that we may park in the church parking lot across the street from her house. There are also six parking spots in Andrea's driveway. Please leave those spaces for those members who may have mobility limitations. Please bring an appetizer, dessert, salad or casserole to share and also bring a chair.
Again this year, we'll have our discount towards a purchase of plants at Quality Gardens garden center on Route 228 in Valencia. Marlow Madeoy sent an e-mail to all members which includes the document that shows the discount information. You must print the document and take it to Quality Gardens and show it to the cashier when you check out in order to receive the discount.
We're still looking for volunteers to help with the maintenance of the Passavant White Garden. A sign up sheet was circulated. We appreciate all the help that you can give tending the garden. Evan will send a reminder message to each volunteer to let you know which week you signed up to care for the garden.
Our annual Perennial Plant Sale held on Saturday, May 20th was a phenomenal success. We netted about $3,200. Mary Ann Kurtz gave an overview of the plant sale and we talked about what worked and things that could be changed for next year. Advertisements seemed to be really helpful; our plants looked very healthy; the holding tables work well for customers and it was suggested to have more holding tables next year. Mary Ann suggested that we could use more tables and tents. Looking to next year’s plant sale, Mary Ann is asking for a volunteer to put up signs along Route 19 and keep an eye on the signs and also looking for a volunteer to sweep the parking lot prior to the sale. Let Mary Ann know if you are willing to take on one of these tasks. It was proposed to have a 50/50 raffle and a donation box next year. Members are not in favor of either of these ideas. Another idea for next year is to offer tool and knife sharpening. This service would be setup and offered by another group who could charge a fee or accept donations. More research will have to be done to see if this is a viable idea.
Many thanks to Mary Ann for all her hard work and organizational skills for another successful plant sale. LAGC members really appreciate it!
Treasurer Denny gave a report that we had $3,400 in our account last month. After adding in the new member fees and the plant sale profits and deducting expenses, LAGC has a balance of $6,400 total.
Two members brought tasty desserts this month. Linda Brown brought rice krispie treats, mallo cups and sugar cookies. Cindy brought a delicious fruit tray. Thank you!
Bill Goff created a glorious arrangement of peonies and Siberian Iris from his own garden which was appropriate in keeping with the topic of his presentation. The Red Charm peony with its huge red blooms was very striking.
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| Peony Arrangement from Bill's May Garden. |
Program
“The Peony and the Glories of the June Perennial Garden”
presented by Bill Goff
Bill Goff, Penn State Master Gardener and longtime LAGC member showcased the photos that he took of his garden for this month’s program. He stated that his talk was based on his two premises below and he proceeded to prove the truth of these premises.
- I love peonies.
- The peony is the undisputed star of the May garden.
He explained the many reasons why we should grow peonies such as fragrance, big blooms, dark green foliage, deer resistance, able to withstand cold weather, great for flower arrangements, easy to share plant with other gardeners and long living perennial which may live 100 years.
There are 3 types of peonies: herbaceous or bush type which die back in the fall; tree peony which is like a rose bush and doesn’t die back and shouldn’t be cut back; the ITOH peony or intersectional peony which is a cross between the herbaceous and tree peony and dies back in the winter. This peony was invented in 1948 by Toichi Itoh, a Japanese peony grower and breeder.
Peonies prefer a sunny location in fertile, well-draining soil. They generally need support for their heavy blooms and it’s best to install the support when you can see the small red shoots coming out of the ground in early spring to avoid damaging the roots of the plant.
September and October are the best months to plant, move and divide peonies. It’s critical to remember that the pink eyes of the plant should be no deeper than 1 or 2 inches below the soil. Bill explained that planting too deeply is quite often the reason why peonies don’t bloom.
Peonies do not get many diseases. Botrytis blight happens during damp weather when leaves get too wet. To prevent this from happening, allow plenty of room for airflow around the plant and don’t allow grass or groundcover to grow around the base of the plant.
Bill told us that there is no symbiotic relationship between ants and the peony. A plant will still get blooms even if it doesn’t have ants. If you happen to get ants on your plants then, it’s best to leave them alone. If you want to bring the flowers inside then a gentle swish in water should remove the ants.
Bill’s photos of his own garden showed that there are many plants which are good companions for peonies which bloom in the June garden. Bill Suggested planting the following: Foxgloves, Allium, Siberian Iris, Oriental poppies, Amsonia, Columbine Bachelor's Buttons, May Daisies, Nepeta, Geranium and Baptisia.
Club members thoroughly enjoyed Bill’s presentation and we could see his love of peonies thru the photos of his garden and his enthusiastic delivery when he talked about the variety of colors and fragrances that peonies offer. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.
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