Thursday, May 31, 2007

Spring Tulip


Cornell Cooperative Extension ofWayne County

Would you like to receive e-mail gardening tips and information aboutupcoming garden related events from the Cornell Cooperative Extension ofWayne County Master Gardeners?

If you would, call the Wayne County MasterGardener hotline 331-8415 ext. 107 and leave your name, phone number, and e-mail address or e-mail your contact information to mgwayne@cornell.edu.

If you have gardening questions please continue to call the hotline, as they are currently not able to answer questions via e-mail.

The Wayne Co site address (there is gardening info there) - http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/wayne

Mark Your Calendars - June Events

Hi Fellow Gardeners!

I hope you've had a chance to dig into the soil and get your gardens going. My irises are blooming like crazy and my peonies and oriental poppies are looking to bloom any day now.

We have two events going on in June.

1. Monday, June 11 at 7pm. at the Williamson Library
Garden Club administrative meeting. We invite all current members and any interested-to-become-members to join us at the administrative meeting to discuss our plans for the rest of 2007. We are interested in new ideas, suggestions for upcoming lectures, etc. Just remember, membership dues are only $10 (and children are free when a parent joins!).

2. Monday, June 25th at 7pm at Audrey Ferris' Rose Gardens
The Garden Club is happy to announce a lecture and tour of Audrey Ferris' rose gardens. This Master Gardener has over 200 rose bushes. We are very fortunate that she is willing to share her knowledge and expertise with us.
Please contact myself or John Ferrante ( for more information and directions to her house. This event is open to residents and nonresidents, so tell your friends.

Finally, I hope that people have been checking out the blog at http://grow-thewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com/. There is some information about the Cornell Vegetable Variety Citizen Science Project which is looking for volunteers to share their knowledge about vegetables.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Cornell Vegetable Variety Citizen Science Project

Wanted: Wayne County Gardeners who will participate in the Cornell Vegetable Variety Citizen Science Project

What varieties will grow best in my garden?

No doubt gardeners have been asking their fellow gardeners this question for centuries. Today's gardeners ask the same question. But now this website provides an avenue for gardeners to share their knowledge with a much wider community.

The concept is simple: Gardeners visit this site and report what varieties perform well - and not so well - in their gardens.

Other gardeners visit to view the variety ratings and read the reviews to decide which might work well for them. The Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners citizen science project also provides an opportunity for researchers to involve knowledgeable and motivated citizens in meaningful scientific research. Research on the performance of vegetable varieties is often limited to commercial production for many reasons. Home gardens may be overlooked, in part, because visiting thousands of home gardens to collect data would be an overwhelming task.

Asking gardeners to partner with researchers by collecting and sharing their own observations via the web could prove to be a winning combination for all. With a multitude of gardener observations at their finger tips, researchers can gain new insight into the performance of vegetable varieties under a wide range of conditions and practices, and ultimately provide more insight into which varieties perform best. At the same time, gardeners can get advice from a larger community of gardeners to help decide which varieties to try in their own garden.

Gardeners - young, old, beginners, experts - join the research team today.

Visit: http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu Or contact the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne County Master Gardeners at (315) 331-8415 ext. 107

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Watering Schedule for Town Planters

From our PR person, John Ferrante:

HI GARDENERS,

Now that the planting has been completed, it is time to establish a watering schedule for both the Main Street and Town Hall Planters. On Main Street, you will need watering cans/plastic pales and can get water at Kings Auto, Williamson Hardware and in front of the Tanning Center. At the Town Hall, you may need to get the water valve key from the Library or bring a couple of cans of water from Main Street. It would probably be a good idea to check the smaller planters of individual shops to verify they are being watered too. To date, the Library has not requested our help with their gardens for 2007. By the way, some planters will need watering even if we have rain because they are located under awnings.

While I was watering the planters this morning (5/14/07), I asked Mike Orr (Kings Auto) if we could keep a calendar with the watering records on his office counter. He agreed and would be willing to let a member know when the last recorded watering was done if a member called his shop. If you water outside Mike's shop hours, please call me (589-9557) and I will record the watering the next day.
Please call me if you could help out on the watering this summer.

Thanks,
John Ferrante

P.S. The Garden Club will be selling plants and handing out our club literature this Saturday (5/19/07) in the Craft Area starting at 12:00 Noon. We could sure use your help.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Master Gardener Plant Sale, May 12th

Hello Fellow Gardeners-

On Saturday, May 12th from 8:00 am -12pm there is going to be a Master Gardener Plant Sale!

Plants will be provided by local nurseries and from Master Gardeners' private collections.

Location: Wayne County Cooperative Extension, 1581 Rte 88 North, Newark.

For more information, check out their website at http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/wayne/gardening/000265.php

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

May Events - Spring Valley Greenhouse and Edgewood Nurseries

Hello Fellow Gardeners-

Well May is starting out with a bang!

This weekend there are two great events going on:

1. Spring Valley Greenhouse is having their Open House on May 5th and 6th from 10-5. From their website:
Perennial plants will be the 11:00am seminar topic. Free coffee and donuts from 10:00am-11:00am (or while they last). Sign up for our free drawing. Use the coupon in the Spring Valley Gardens newsletter to receive your free clematis, (valued at $5.98) No purchase required, must be 18 years old, one per family please. On Sunday, May 6th Chris LaBarge of Whispering Pine Stables will offer horse and pony rides from 11:00am-2:00pm, so bring that special little one then!

http://www.springvalleygreenhouse.com/Pages/Retail/Tips.htm

From past experience, their gardens are gorgeous to walk through and be warned that it's hard to walk out without buying something!

2. Edgewood Nursery, 620 Walworth Penfield Road (Rte 441) is having their annual nursery stock auction on May 5th starting at 10. Preview is at 9am and I think there's more information at www.reynoldsauction.com.

Hope to see some gardeners at both events!
Subrata