GROW - the Williamson Garden Club

August Lecture - Beginning Bonsai

2011-08-21T21:14:00.001-07:00

The Williamson Garden Club presents
Beginning Bonsai

Bonsai is an art form using miniature trees grown in containers. This is a wonderful gardening experience to use your creativity and ingenuity. Come to this lecture and learn the techniques to create your own bonsai tree.

The Williamson Garden Club is pleased to announce that a Master Gardener from the Wayne County Cornell Cooperative will present a talk detailing the facts about bonsai.

This free public presentation will take place Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the community room of the Williamson Free Public Library.

August Members Only Project - Hypertufa Class

2011-08-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Gardeners!

I hope everyone is having a lovely August. Our vegetables are starting to come in (our first ripe tomato!) and the flowers are really enjoying the rain.

If you have a chance, drive down Route 104 and check out the new raised bed near Motts. We had a small but able group to help put the bed together -- a BIG THANK YOU to John Ferrante, Eric Herriman, Scott Utley, and Penny's husband and son, Bill Bishop and Evan Bishop. We have not yet planted flowers yet but plan to do that soon. If you have mums or stella d'oro daylilies to share, please let me know.

Also just a reminder about dues ($10/year). We've received some check and are happy to accept dues at our next event if you'd prefer not to send a check.

For our members only meeting, Betty Morley has generously offered to host a hypertufa class. It is a wonderful opportunity to create something wonderful for your gardens. Last year, she showed us how to make pots. This year, you can do pots or a leaf casting.

The event will be on Wednesday, August 17th, at 6:30. While Betty will provide the material to create the hypertufa, there are some things that it would help if you could bring
1. sand
2. if you want to do a leaf casting, please bring a hosta leaf (or let me know that you need one). Any leaf with good strong definite veins are good for this project.
3. you will need to bring a strong board to carry your project. It will take a few days to cure.

Please let me know if you can attend so that we have enough supplies.

In case of rain, we will meet on Wednesday, August 31st at 6:30.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

2012 Project - Raised Bed on Route 104

2011-08-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Hello Gardeners -

For our 2011 project, we are continuing with raised beds around Williamson. We are planning putting up a raised bed nears Duffy-Motts on Route 104 and one on Rte 21, across the street from the school.

We are going to work on the one on Route 104 this week. John Ferrante needs 2-3 members to help him move the raised bed to the area and put it together. If you are free during the week, please contact him so he can make sure he has enough people to put it together.

On this coming Saturday, we will be meeting at 9 am at the Duffy Motts sign on Route 104. We will be unloading the truck and filling the raised bed. If you have any mums you can donate to the cause, please let me know. We are planning on putting in bulbs later in the year (fall time).

Please bring buckets, wheelbarrow and/or shovels if you have them.

We hope to see you on Saturday!
Happy Gardening!
Subrata

July Lecture - Moonlight Gardens

2011-08-21T21:10:00.001-07:00

The Williamson Garden Club presents
Moonlight Gardening
By Master Gardener Mary Moss Sprague

Moonlight gardening -no, this is not something you do after your day job! But if you need a quiet garden to soothe the stresses after a long hard day, nothing brings the problems down to size better than a fragrant moonlight garden of white and pale colored flowers and foliage that literally glow in the dark.

Don't just think of flowers that shine at night. Foliage plants can do the same, or scent the air. Paths with thyme or mint growing between the stones or along the edges are scented as you bruise the leaves along the way. Variegated leaves with white predominating brighten up the area with their reflective glow.

The Williamson Garden Club is pleased to announce that Master Gardener Mary Moss Sprague will present a talk detailing the facts about moonlight gardens.

This free public presentation will take place Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the community room of the Williamson Free Public Library.

June Event - Garden Tour and Montly Lecture

2011-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Gardeners!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the gorgeous weather! My peonies are blooming like crazy and my roses are looking pretty good.

The Garden Club is planning to provide monthly garden tours for our members this summer. If you are interested in joining or learning more about our Garden Club, please let me know. Eric (the President of the Garden Club) and I are going to have the first tour at our house. Our Members Meeting will be on Wednesday, June 22nd, 7pm at our house. We'll start off with a brief tour of our gardens and follow-up with our meeting.

Our June lecture, June 29th, at 7pm, at the Williamson Library. It is going to be on the Emerald Ash Borer. Laurie Van Norstrand is going to show us how to identify infestation, what the borer looks like and what steps can be taken to fight this problem. She is very knowledgeable and helpful and it looks to be an excellent lecture. As always, our lectures are free and open to the public.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

2011 Garden Club Schedule

2011-03-15T15:55:00.001-07:00

Hello Gardeners -

I don't know about you but I think I can smell Spring in the Air. Pretty soon we'll be able to sink our hands into our gardens and start planting and growing things!

Our members meetings are on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. As mentioned earlier, Eric and my work schedules have changed pretty drastically. For our non-snowbirds, please let me know by Friday if you can attend on 3/16. If we don't have enough attendees, I will plan cancelling the meeting and sending information by email.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pull out your calendars as we have a number of great lectures coming up! The Master Gardeners from Wayne County Cornell Cooperative are providing their services as guest lecturers.

MARCH - 3/23, 7pm, Williamson Library - Vegetable Gardening

APRIL - 4/27, 7pm, Location TBD - Landscape Design

MAY - 5/14 - Apple Blossom Festival,
5/28 - Possible Garden Sale (to be discussed further)
Downtown planting

JUNE - 6/29, 7pm, Williamson Library - Emerald Ash Borer

JULY - 7/27, 7pm Williamson Library - Moonlight Gardens
7/16 - Pultneyville Homecoming (to be discussed further)

AUGUST - 8/24, 7pm, Williamson Library - Beginning Bonsai

SEPTEMBER - 9/28, 7pm, Williamson Library - Hands-on Terrariums (we'll be creating terrariums)
9/17 - Pultneyville Garage Sale

OCTOBER - 10/26, 7pm, Williamson Library - Stone Wall Construction

NOVEMBER - 11/12 or 11/19 - planting Christmas Trees

DECEMBER - date TBD.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am hoping to set up some Garden Tours as well as members-only hands-on classes (such as the wreath-making and hypertufa classes of last year). If you'd like to volunteer your garden or skills, let me know.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

February Minutes

2011-03-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Gardeners!

What a gorgeous day! I hope that you get a chance to go outside and enjoy the sun a little bit. This weather makes me want to start digging into the soil and plant things right away - or at least pull out my catalogs and start planning my gardens.

We had a small group of people for our February meeting. Due to time constraints for Eric and myself, I have two requests:
1. I'm going to ask people to let me know if they can attend the members meeting. If we don't have a large enough group, I may cancel the meeting and we can try to discuss outstanding issues by email.

2. I need a volunteer who can call the library every month to schedule the room for the third Wednesday of the month. Please let me know if you can take on that responsibility. We can't reserve the room ahead of time, it needs to be done on a month-to-month basis.

Here are the notes from our meeting:

February Garden Club Minutes

1. Lifetime membership sounds good (suggested $200 for lifetime membership). What about a corporate rate -- $500 or $1000. Did we want to set up an annual corporate amount?

The Garden Club brand is popular enough to Williamson and we have done enough projects to raise our profile.

Give businesses a certificate once they are a corporate sponsor for the garden club.

Did we want to provide signage at table? – at Apple Blossom Festival

At Pultneyville Garage Sale

2. We received a call from Martha Stewart Inc. On the 1st of March, she is doing a garden special and is wondering if we (members of the garden club) wanted to be in the audience for the presentation. Her show tapes in New York City.

Calling All Gardeners! March

Do you spend hours tilling the perfect spot for your vegetable garden? Do you enjoy picking the perfect perennials to complement your yard? We're filling our Garden Show audience with gardeners of all kinds -- vegetable gardeners, flower growers, and more! If you're interested in requesting tickets, please tell us about your garden and why you would like to be a part of this special audience.

Request Tickets for This Show - http://www.marthastewart.com/get-tickets#gardeners

If you sign up to attend, please let us know. We're trying to figure out a way to have a t-shirt or something made so that the Garden Club's name appears on TV.

3. Monthly lectures okayed (dates okayed – presenters still be finalized)

ACTION ITEMS:

- Perry - starting the publicity of those (church organizations, etc.)

- Penny – work on the posters for the events

Question: Did we want to do a generic poster for the 3rd wednesday, members meeting and 4th Wednesday for lectures and then post them at the libraries and offices/business?

4.Lectures from Cornell Cooperative Program

a. Protecting and Enhancing Your Woodlot: Advice for Landowners
Saturday, March 12, 2011, 9:00 am - 12:00 noon
This program will be held at Wayne County Cooperative Extension, 1581 State Route 88 Newark NY
Registration fee of $10 includes the workshop and printed copy of reference material.

Your woodlot is a valuable resource, providing both a place for recreation and the potential for a financial return. This workshop will show you how to protect your woodlot from both human and natural threats, and offer you ways to maintain a healthy and productive woodlot. Topics will include how to avoid timber theft and poor logging practices, how to recognize various invasive species and the effects they can have on a woodlot, how to develop a management plan, and what resources are available to help landowners practice good silviculture on their woodlots.
Registration deadline is March 5th 2011. To register, send your $10.00 payment along with your name, address and phone number to: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne County, 1581 Rte 88 N, Newark, NY 14513

b. Controlling Invasive Species is an outdoor hands-on session and will run from 9am to noon on Saturday, May 21st at a woodlot in Sodus.

We'll cover identification and control options for invasive species in the woodlot and introduce participants to crop tree management, a forestry method well suited for owners of small woodlots. This session is intended to build on our March 12th program but you need not have attended to register for this session. Registration is $10.00

To register for either session send your payment along with your name address and phone number to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne County, 1581 Rte 88N, Newark, NY 14513

Any additional questions please call (315)-331-8415 or e-mail mgwayne@cornell.edu

5. Ontario Library Garden Series – Along with the butterfly garden lecture next week, Ontario is having garden lectures in March and April. Please call them to register.

6. If you have tarps, please bring along to put on the floor for next week’s lecture. Does anyone have seed starting mix to donate or seeds to donate?

7. Penny: please bring sandwich board

8. Business card/seed packet.

Liked the idea but the price was too high. Suggestion – buy seed packets and order business cards from vista or similar. Need to discuss type of seeds, etc.

9. We would like to take out the trees while the weather is nice. Let me know if you are available to do that and we can send a note to everyone who is available. We will leave our truck available for scott or whoever to drop the trees off.

10. The soil and conservation district forever green tree program has a website with a color catalog www.lakeontario.net/swed
Orders by March 20. Pickup april 7 and 8 8338 Ridge Rd East in Alton.

That's all for now

Happy Gardening!

Subrata

January 2011 Minutes

2011-01-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

Garden Club Agenda 1/19/2011

ACTION ITEM:
Subrata: check on 501(c) status (non-profit organization). What is paperwork, etc. needed for that.
Subrata: check for folder with history/background for garden club.
Eric: follow up with Cavallero and drop off paperwork
John: get rid of pumpkins for 2010 project

Pick up tulips from conservatory this year – a) to plant in raised beds this year and b) for sale at PHS sale

1. Plans for 2011 –
- Discussion of change in Eric and Subrata’s work schedule/work load.
- Will try to set up lectures through the the Master Gardener program for the 4th Wednesday of the month. (The 3rd Wednesday will be the member’s meeting and the 4th Wednesday will be our monthly lecture/event). Need to hear back from the library to make sure we can set it up through the end of the year.
- Idea of creating lifetime membership for $200(?)

2. Focus on recruiting new members / outreach into the community
- Send Penny info for monthly posters for events to put out in community. John recommended creating smaller postcard size to put on library desk
- Send info to Don for town calendar
- Penny to check to see if there is lighter sandwich board to use to publicize meetings
- Membership attendance – set up phone tree again (Linda to take on that responsibility)
- Penny - list of presentation/calendar of event for what Garden Club will be doing 2012
- Perry has master list of churches – can set up (1/2 sheet of events). Better off with churches for recruitment than organizations
- Kris to pretty up the sandwich board? Possible to leave it at library on a permanent basis?
- Firemen/School putting up signs for the Garden Club? – Perry to ask Doug about sign. John Manahan for Fire – John to follow up on that (for fire department).

Focus from now until June to do PR and move things along.

Give presentation to organizations
1. Penny to follow up with boys scouts

3. hands-on lectures/garden tours – terrariums (John has small plants in his woods/Penny has moss) – September/October; hypertufa and wreath-making – use as fundraiser/recruit members (make these events members-only).

4. spring plant sale - Talk to Sodus about doing a plant sale
- Possibly Sunday rather than Saturday – car show or airport/pancake breakfast
- Look at business cards as seed packets – Check out this link http://www.4imprint.com/product/6604
500 seed-packet business cards printed with the GROW logo (probably as black and white line art) for $310 or so.
- PR / seed packs / calendar for the year of events?

5. 2011 summer project
- Route 104/Motts – do some outreach to Motts and see if they are interested in donating
- Depending time, Rte 21 (across from school)
- (John to buy materials ahead of time)

- 2010 – stella d’oro daylilies for Cavallero. Go there in May to clean and see how tulips are working.

February

Seed Starting – Penny/4th Wednesday of February (tentative) July:

March
Learning Fair, March 12
August

April
September
PHS Sale

May
Apple Blossom Festival (2nd Saturday of the month)/Plant Sale

Downtown Planting (end of the month for actual plants)
– will need to put in bottom for new planters and put in new soil (discuss in March/April members meeting).
- Put drainage holes in plastic bucket inside the new planters
-hardware fabric

- Begonias for town hall

-Use packing peanuts (compression/floating issues)?
-Peat gravel (John or Penny)
- 4x6 lumber pieces from barn (John) – use for spacers
- causes rust. Need something on bottom so they don’t rust onto sidewalk. Plastic “feet”? wooden base?

ACTION ITEM: bring in unused new planter for next meeting to look at and decide how to best handle it for May.
October

June:
1. Emerald Ash Borer – Cornell Cooperative – 4th Wednesday of July (tentative)

2. PHS House Tour, June 11
- Request for centerpieces (herb planted pots?
- Request for extra plants for homeowners
- Force bulbs for June?
- Ask Masons regarding wholesale plants?
November
Downtown Planting

December
Flower Arrangement

Suggested Master Gardener Lectures
Beginning Bonsai Bulbs: Planting, care and succession of bloom
Beneficial Insects Hands on Gardening
Diagnosing Plant Problems Garden Design with Perennials
Orchids Putting Your Garden to Bed (Fall)
Stone Wall Construction
Honeybees Spring Garden Tasks
Daylilies Perennials
Dahlias

Hands-On (members-only)
1. Wreath-making
2. Hypertufa
3. Terrarium
4. Creating a succulent wreath

Garden Tours
Audrey Ferris Rose Garden
Sylvia and Phil Bornath Oriental garden
Do Members’ Garden Tours for summer as our members meeting
? suggestions for other garden tours

May Minutes

2010-05-27T09:28:00.001-07:00

Hello Gardeners -

What a great meeting we had yesterday! Lots of excellent information and ideas came out. But first I want to welcome our newest member, Meddy, from Meddy's Musings! She has been a great guest lecturer in the past and joined our Garden Club this past month.

1. 2010 Project - Laurie Van Norstrand from the Cornell Cooperative graciously attended our meeting and was an amazing source of information. While we did stray from our original topic (we had to take advantage of having such a knowledgeable Master Gardener in our midst!), we did get a lot of information for our 2010 project.

2010 project -- Two raised beds in front of "Welcome to Williamson" signs. One on Rt 21, near the school, and one on Rt 104, near Cavallaro Neubauer.
1. Talk to Jerry Hubright regarding drainage issues around Rt 21 site and potential spraying around signs by the department and any potential right-of-way issues

2. Need to be aware of snow/wind/traffic in general. salt may be an issue. Remember that the snow load might be piled on which could crush the plants
.
3. Raised beds, not simply mounded areas, was decided. Recommended mixing existing soil with new soil and use newspaper to smother grass/remove sod.
Use top soil and compost. Additionally these should be well-mulched to reduce the need for weeding. Adding gypsum to soil can help alleviate the salt problem.

4. The soil will probably settle and will need to be re-set. Traditionally these would have been done in the falltime, allowing it time to settle. Recommendation to do
annuals this year to allow soil settlement and reset

5. Discussion of upkeep and maintenance. Important to make sure we can keep up with it otherwise no use in starting this process.

6. Suggested plants: low-growing juniper, tulips and daffodils, daylilies, shorter grasses, sedum, yucca, canna, hostas (not blue-leafed ones), annuals. Laurie to send
list of salt-tolerant plants for us to look at and choose from.

7. Recommended looking at size of flowers before deciding on size of raised beds. Look at impact of long-term plantings once we plant perennials. Keep in mind
lessons learned from Green Space in terms of placement.

8. We could take care of the weeds/seeds with preen or round-up although more organic methods should be look at as options.

We will set up a meeting in mid-June to discuss the logistics of taking on this project for this year. Last year Shirley was the lead person in moving the Green Space project forward. If anyone is interested in being the lead for this project, please let me know.

Then we segued into a discussion of how to handle pests in our gardens, what may be causing rotting in daylilies, and tomato problems.

The CCE recommends using copper fungicide for tomatoes and make sure you plant your tomatoes where it can dry off. The blight survives on live plants so get rid of last year's tomato plants/potato plants that might still carry it.

If you have questions for the CCE, their master gardener hotline is 331-8415 x107 and they are available on Tuesday and Fridays, 9-12p.

Pest Alert: the Emerald Ash Borer. http://www.pestalert.org/viewNewsAlert.cfm?naid=33. if you think that your ashes have been infected or you find an ash borer, contact the Cornell Cooperative. They are waiving their $3 fee for this as they are trying to catch it before it becomes an infestation. (image: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/eab/). the CCE may be offering a lecture later this year on this pest.

2. MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The Cornell Cooperative is hosting a Great Gardens of Wayne County, Saturday, July 3rd from 11-4pm. There will be 6 gardens and they are IN Ontario, Williamson and Sodus. Tickets are $10 per person and can be picked up at Cornell Cooperative Extension Wayne County, 1581 Rt 88N, Newark, NY 14513, Phone: 315-331-8415.

Gardens include an oriental garden, an arboreteum, perennial/water garden, a straw-bale garden as well as others.

Additionally, the CCE is looking for nominations for gardens in Wayne County that you think might be one of the “Great Gardens” that could be included in our tours in future years. If you or someone you know has a potential tour garden please let us know. This program will be an ongoing program and they will be contacting owners of possible 2011 tour sites this summer.

3. Review of Apple Blossom Festival/Suggestions for 2011
Attendance appeared lower for this year's festival and we did not make as much money as last year/discuss the Garden Club with as many people. We had initially set up at Apple Blossom to publicize the Garden Club and it has segued into a plant sale. Suggestions for next year:
1. Set up on Sunday, during the car show. People park much closer and walk around more. More likely to buy plants and more likely to make contacts with
Williamson/local area for potential members.

2. Set up stand-alone Plant Sale on a following weekend. Would need to advertise more strongly and could set up a sandwich board at Apple Blossom to let
people know of sale.

a. This year, the CoC accepted material from different organizations to hand out during Apple Blossom so we would get some publicity
b. Set up at Breens / alternate location that would attract people (other ideas?)
c. advertise in sun&record / pennysaver / set up sandwich board / flyers / posters
d. See if we can coordinate with another garden club (sodus/ontario) for a combined plant sale
e. Talk to members of Sodus/Ontario about how their sales are set up - tips/ideas/suggestions for a successful plant sale

4. planters status - new planters/current planters
We are getting 12 new planters for downtown. No set date yet on when that will happen. Currently 18 planters downtown are planted. When new planters come, we will
replant 12 of them and keep the remaining 6 planters. Next year, we will probably only do the 12 planters (to be discussed further).

This is the third year that plants have died in May due to the cold weather. Discussion of putting something temporary and then putting in the plants at the end of May. One
suggestion is putting in Apple Twigs with fake Apple Blossoms, in keeping with the Apple Blossom festival. We would create a concrete base so that the planting would not
fly away. This needs further discussion.

5. watering of planters
Kris and Ed, Shirley, Perry and Darrell & Esther have volunteered to help with watering. if you can help, please let me know. Typically volunteers water for one week.

6. updated Garden Club events
Penny is having a sale in mid-June. We will be selling our plants during that time. After the sale, we will have a plant exchange for members (and friends!). if you have any
"wants" or "offers", let me know and I'll see about posting them closer to the exchange.

7. membership dues - Everyone owes dues (except Meddy, our newest member). $ 10 to Scott Utley, PO Box 202, Williamson, New York 14589 or you can send it to Eric Herriman, 2814 Rosemarie Lane, Ontario, NY 14519. Any checks should be made out to the Williamson Garden Club.

8. logos/t-shirts - Penny has created a logo which I will be sending out for people to look at. We want to create a t-shirt that all members can wear so we are easily
recognizable.

Perry, were you going to see where we could get these t-shirts printed/pricing to get them done?

9. We still need to discuss the Green Space dedication and signage

Finally I am happy to say that we were finally able to repay the Sodus Garden Club for their generosity to us these last couple of years. Eric and I dropped off some Japanese Maple Trees as well as some other plants for the Sodus Garden Club Plant Sale. Of course, I ended up buying way too many plants at the Sodus Garden Club Plant Sale which was as awesome as I had heard - it was great to finally attend the sale after hearing so much about it. The Sodus Garden Club was again very generous and gave the Williamson Garden Club their extra plants at the end of the sale.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

2010-05-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

July 10 & 11

3rd Annual Lavender Festival

9:30 - 4 :30

Celebrate Lavender at this fun and relaxing informational event. Pick lavender from our field, visit with our many craft artisans as well as the Olfactory Soap Shoppe. You may also purchase lavender plants, Enjoy musical entertainment Sample baked goods and herbal tea made with lavender and Participate in one of our hands on workshops.

This years key speakers are

Marcia Dixon, Medical Herbalist, business owner, and lecturer from Toronto ON . She will be speaking on "How to relieve stress and anxiety using herbs"

Julie Mitchell, Medical Herbalist, Owner of Eos Botanicals, and American Herbalist Guild member from Vermont will be speaking about herbal hydrosals, making and using them. Julie is also an Adjunct Professor at Middlebury College, and has worked as a Horticulturist at Addison Gardens in VT.

Chef Kevin McMaster will demonstrate how to cook with this wonderful herb and will be sure to offer some tasty samples!

Arleen Hodge, Owner of Cranberry Creek Herbs in Avon NY. Will be speaking about growing and using Lavender.

Cathy Maletta, an herbal tea consultant will be speaking about many different varieties of herbal tea.

There will be a small farm museum, hay rides and a childrens area.

Admission is $3.00 12 yrs & under FREE

Events

2010-05-05T07:12:00.001-07:00

I'll be sending the minutes from our meeting later. Bring out your calendar as there are some dates for you:

1. April 27th - Public meeting

Meeting Subject: “What can the Town of Williamson accomplish through sustainability?”

Background Information: The Town of Williamson was awarded a Program Opportunity Notice grant through NYSERDA for $30,000.00 in late 2009 to conduct Energy Conservation Studies of the Town’s Municipal Buildings and street lighting. Larsen Engineers, the Project Consultant, would like to share what was learned through the study. The meeting will cover the amount of money that can be saved through implementing energy conservation measures, and what this could mean to the Community, going forward.

The main question posed will be: “What can the Town of Williamson accomplish through sustainability?” We would like to know what green measures you would like to see in place in your community. Your ideas and input are important.

Meeting at 6:30 at Town Hall.

2. May 7th - Planting main street/town hall planters. John and Carol will be picking up the plants from Mason Farms. We will be meeting downtown at 7pm and planting. Please join us!

- take a look at your calendars and let me know if you can water during June-September

3. May 8th - Williamson Clean Sweep starting at 9am at King's Auto.

4. May 15th - Apple Blossom Festival. 9 am and we will (hopefully) have the same spot we've had for the last couple of years. Please bring plants to sell.

- If you need pots, please let me know.

- If you can work the tent, let me know. We will probably be there from 9am-2pm

5. May 20th - Ontario Library is hosting a "Shade Gardening" class at 7pm. Their last two lectures have been excellent (the last one actually got Eric and I planting cold-hardy vegetable seeds for our vegetable bed).

Just a reminder that Mason Farms opened on Wednesday. I can't wait to get in there this weekend and look at their plants! They are open from 9-6 on weekdays and 9-5 on the weekends.

April - Members Meeting

2010-04-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring! After the invigorating talk on vegetable gardening last week, Eric and I ended up planting some cold-hardy plants such as lettuce, spinach and beets. Our pea vines are starting to poke their heads out and growing so it is definitely feeling like springtime!

Just a reminder that we have our members meeting. I'm excited to let you know that Laurie VanNorstrand, from Cornelle Cooperative, is going to come to our meeting to help us talk/plan our 2010 project. She was a great help last year in planning the Green Space and I'm looking forward to asking her questions and learning from her.

In addition, we will try to discuss these items also. If you have more, let me know and I'll add them to the agenda.

Also we have our members meeting next Wednesday, April 21st at the Williamson Library's small meeting room. (For the bookworms amongst us, the Library is holding their book sale so come early to buy books!).

Items so far:

- Plan for the Apple Blossom Festival

- Plan for downtown/town hall planters including watering schedule

- Plan for 2010 project (raised beds near "Welcome to Williamson" signs)

- Update on Garden tours for the summer

- New residents packages/Chamber of Commerce

- PR/Marketing/new member drive

- Green space update

If you have other items you'd like us to discuss, let me know and I'll include it in the agenda.

Upcoming Events for 2010

2010-04-21T04:59:00.001-07:00

Well after a gorgeous week of beautiful weather (was I the only one tempted to go digging last week?), we've been having fairly typical Spring weather. My bulbs are starting to put out their green shoots though and I know that gardening time is just around the corner! I'm starting to get my supplies in order so as soon as the weather allows, I can get out there and start digging and moving things around.

1. Bring out your calendars because I have some dates to share with you. We have more planned but these are definite dates.

APRIL: The Ontario Library is presenting another lecture that we had planned to arrange for April. So mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 14th at 7pm. Vegetable Garden Preparation by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program. Call 315-524-8381 to sign up.

APRIL: The Genesee Region Orchid Society invites you to attend the 2010 Show and Sale, April 10-11, Saturday: 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday: 10 am - 4 pm, at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, Eisenhart Auditorium, 657 East Ave., Rochester, NY. I'm going to forward an email from Audrey Ferris that you can print out for $1 off the ticket price.

MAY: Downtown Planters/Town Hall Planters plantings, Saturday, May 8th, 8/9 am. Please let me know if you can help with the plantings or with watering during the summer.

MAY: Apple Blossom Festival Plant Sale, Saturday, May 15th. Please let me know if you can help out at the tent and what time(s) you can help. I have extra plastic pots if anyone needs them for plants.

JULY: Master Gardener Garden Tour, Saturday, July 3rd. The Master Gardeners are having garden tours as a fundraiser this year. More information on the ticket prices/locations to follow as I receive them. This should be an amazing event if the gardens are similar to what we've experienced with Master Gardener Audrey Ferris and her gorgeous rose gardens.

SEPTEMBER: Pultney Historical Society Garage Sale, Saturday, September 18th.

OCTOBER: Terrarium Program, Master Gardener program, Tuesday, October 26th at 7pm at the Williamson Library.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mason Farms is building new greenhouses this year and, unfortunately, won't be able to give us a tour of their farms this year. While that is disappointing news, I'm looking forward to seeing what new things they'll have at their farm and will keep you posted on when they open up for the season.

2. The Garden Club had discussed having a dedication of the Green Space this year. We had tentatively talked about having it during the Apple Blossom Festival but have not contacted the Apple Blossom Festival organizers. We could also hold it at another time but should have it this year. I need some volunteers to take on this project and organize it. Please let me know if you are interested in doing this.

Monday night gardening talk series in the City of Rochester

2010-04-21T04:56:00.000-07:00

This year we (finally) have the opportunity to attend the Sodus Garden Club's plant sale. As you know the Sodus Garden Club has generously donated their after-sale plants to our club during the Apple Blossom Festival for the last couple of years. This year, they will be having their sale on Saturday, May 22 starting at 9 am on Rt. 88 in front of the Primary School. I would highly recommend that you come at 9 as they have some amazing plants for sale every year.

From: Michael Warren Thomas

Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 12:14 AM

Subject: Monday night gardening talk starts series of ten in the City

Hello Fellow Gardeners! I will be doing a series of free gardening talks at ten different locations in the City, beginning tomorrow night (Monday) at Cornell Cooperative Extension, in their auditorium from 7-8pm. These workshops will be rather free wheeling, based on the questions people bring, plants they bring for identification, and materials that I bring. It will be show and tell, rather than Powerpoint. Tomorrow night I will bring tiny Hardy Cyclamen seedlings for people - mine have been blooming since the snow departed, and they will continue through much of May.

No need to RSVP if you are not coming, but if you are, let me know so I can bring enough seedlings for people. They are tiny and delicate, but the price is right! I hope you can join me for one or several of these workshops. Some are on Monday evenings and others are on Saturday afternoons. They are listed in the Flower City Looking Good brochure, along with dozens of hikes, bike rides and other gardening/nature related events in Rochester. Look for the brochures in libraries or I would be happy to send you one.

Keep your eyes open for the first Tulip and first Lilac of 2010 - the final two categories in First in Bloom. Details on the other 9 categories already awarded, are at www.SavourLife.com under Naturally Green. Also Bristol's Garden Center is having their Spring Open House on April 10 & 11, I'll be there to broadcast on April 10. Then I will also be broadcasting from the Broccolo Earth Expo at Cooperative Extension on April 17 from 9-4pm - a free event.

www.broccologroup.com/events.htm

Mondays from 7-8pm, Free
March 29- Cornell Coop. Extension of Monroe County, 149 Highland Ave
April 5- Danforth Community Center, 200 West Ave
April 12 -Thomas P Ryan Community Center, 530 Webster Ave
April 19 -Edgerton Community Center, 41 Backus St.
April 26 - The Rochester Civic Garden Center, 5 Castle Park in Highland Park
May 3 - North Street Community Center, 700 North St.

Saturdays at the libraries - 12:30-1:30pm, Free
April 3- Winton Branch, 611 N. Winton Road
April 10- Arnett Branch, 310 Arnett Blvd.
April 17- Charlotte Branch, 3557 Lake Avenue
April 24- Monroe Branch, 809 Monroe Avenue
Rose Workshops
, 10 am–12 noon, Sat., May 1, June 19, July 24 and Oct. 9. Maplewood Rose Garden

Michael Warren Thomas
19 Trafalgar Street
Rochester, NY 14619
585-328-8300
Michael@SavorLife.com

March Events

2010-04-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

1. We don't normally do this but the Ontario Library is presenting the same lecture we had planned to arrange for March. So mark your calendars for Thursday, March 18th at 7pm:

Spring Garden Preparation - the Cornell Cooperative Extension is loaning us Cindy Ziegler Master Gardener for the evening. It is that time of year again. The time when our thoughts turn to the joys of getting our hands in the rich brown earth and working with it coaxing it to yield those wonderful flowers that we can enjoy for the warm Spring, Summer and Fall months. Call 315-524-8381 to sign up.

2. The Learning Fair is Saturday, March 13th this year. I am going to be out of town and am looking for a volunteer to man the table. It normally runs from 12-3 and we have flyers/brochures to share with the attendees. Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering (email or call me at 524-4204).

February 2010 Event

2010-02-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hello Gardeners! I hope everyone is staying warm during this cold time. It's hard to believe but even though our gardens are covered in snow, it is a perfect time to start planning for this year's gardens.

The Williamson Garden Club is excited to have Penny Higgins, past president of our club, provide a hands-on demonstration on starting plants from seeds. Following the presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to plant seeds. The presentation will be on Wednesday, February 24th in the Williamson Library’s large meeting room at 7:00 P.M.

The Garden Club will provide whatever equipment is needed so just bring yourself and questions for Penny.

The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, call Eric Herriman at (315) 524-4204. If you need information about Garden Club activities, membership, etc. feel free to email grow14589@yahoo.com. Additionally, you can check out the calendar at http://www.town.williamson.ny.us/ to see when we are holding our meetings and upcoming events.

Happy Gardening!Subrata

November and December Event

2009-11-24T06:29:00.000-08:00

Hello Gardeners!

I hope everyone had a great (and spooky) Halloween! At our last members' meeting, we decided to put together/test the christmas trees before putting them in the planters. It turns out that our regular meeting day (the 11th) is Veterans' Day. Therefore, we are going to meet at John Ferrante's house at 7pm on Tuesday, 11/10. Dress warm as we'll be outside/in his barn.

Eric and I took a look at LED lights as a possible replacement for those trees that no longer light. The price is still pretty high and the cost savings is not as large as we initially thought. We're currently thinking about going with regular white lights - this is something we can discuss further when we meet.

Finally, we will be putting the trees in on Saturday before Thanksgiving, which I believe is the 21st. 9am (dress warm!). We also have some plastic candy canes to put in the green space. If you have items to discuss for the 10th, please let me know.

For December, Eric has spoken to John Palmer regarding doing flower arrangements for Blossom View again. John asked if we could make the ribbons ahead of time, as we did last year. Due to the amount of work that this program needs, please let me know if you are interested in helping AND what dates won't work for you. (John had initially suggested 12/2 but I've heard that PHS is having their dinner that night).

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

July Event

2009-07-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful today playing in their gardens. The weather is just gorgeous for a fun day outside.

I am very excited to announce that our July event this year is a daylily tour at Joyce Leimberger's gardens. As many of you who attended Parker Zach's gorgeous daylily tour last year may remember, Joyce's garden was the starting point of Parker's love of daylilies. Joyce is a passionate gardener with extensive knowledge of daylilies and a keen eye for mixing colors and textures. Her daylilies are unbelievable - so many different colors and textures Bring your camera because they are a sight to see!

The tour will be Thursday, July 23, at 7pm.

This is free to the public so feel free to forward to other interested gardeners. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Happy Gardening!Subrata

Fencing Pics

2009-07-12T11:08:00.001-07:00

Lowes - Fencing 1

Lowes - Fencing 2

Lowes - Fencing 3

Fencing for Green Space

2009-07-12T10:32:00.002-07:00

Fencing Options for Green Space

From John Ferrante - pricing information
HD LOWES
FENCING 4X8 STD $50
3X7.5 GOTHIC $45
36 IN X 92.25 DIF STYLES $30 TO 50
48 X 92.25 " "
POSTS INC CAP 6' $25
POST $15
CAP $2.50 TO $5.00

Note: Some posts do not need a 4x4 wood post inside for support but the HD unit can support itself. Some posts include mounting hardware while others require it to be purchased separately.

For Home Depot, go to "homedepot.com" and type in veranda fencing. You can see what style is available.

For Lowe's, go to "lowes.com" and type in vinyle fencing. You can see some more information about the fencing.

I'm going to try to attach pics of the Lowe's fencing.

Hopefully this won't be overwhelming. Please take a look and let me know if you have a preference for a certain style of fencing. If you feel overwhelmed. let me know and we can print out the specific fencing and information for our next meeting.

thanks!
Subrata

May Update - Apple Blossom Festival and Plant Sale

2009-05-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

We had a wonderful turn-out to do the downtown/Town Hall planters. A big thanks to John and Linda, Kris and Ed (and their super-cute grandkids, Sylvia and Abby), Carol, Scott, Fran, Nancy, Penny and Eric.

Mason Farms did an AMAZING job with the plants -- we have some great foliage and gorgeous flowers. It is going to look really great for Apple Blossom Festival. I have tags that Dorothy had made up with our club name and email address. I plan to put them in the planters before next week.

We need volunteers to take a week (or more, if possible) to water plants. For our new members, we ask volunteers to water 3x/week to make sure the planters don't dry out. There are water spigots available outside the hardware store, King's Auto and Mane Attraction. If you can't guarantee 3x/week, let me know what you can do and maybe we can have 2 or more people volunteering for a week. We will need waterers through September.

There were some questions about Apple Blossom Festival. Here is the current plan:
- we will be selling plants on Saturday, May 16th, near Meddy's Musings/the old Fire Hall (near the rides).
- we will be setting up the tent on Friday night, probably around 7ish. Eric and I will be at the tent around 8/8:30 on Saturday morning. if you wish, you can drop off plants on Friday or Saturday.
- we need plant donations for the festival. we typically accept any type of plant (annual, perennial, vegetables, herbs, tree, bush, etc.) if you need pots, let me know.
- I have 2 volunteers to help so far. If you have some free time, let me know. Last year, we didn't sell many plants after 2 so I'm thinking that we will sell from 9-2 this year.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

April Update for Members

2009-05-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

hello Gardeners! I can't believe it's the end of April already. I wanted to send an email as May is going to be coming at us fast and furious and we have some things coming up soon.

1. I think most of our snowbirds are home (welcome back and thanks for bringing back some sun!). I'd like to set up a set date for our members-only meetings. I'd like everyone to send me days that DON'T work for meetings - for example, the Charrette meets on the first Thursday of every month or the Historical Society meets every first Tuesday of every month, etc. I realize not everyone is going to be able to make our meetings but I'd like to make sure I'm not conflicting with other things, if possible.

2. Drag out your calendars - we have a few things going on in May.

a. Main Street and Town Hall planters - Because of a prior commitment, Eric and I are not available Saturday, May 9th. Instead of doing the planters on Saturday, we're planning on doing the planters on Friday, May 8th. Eric is coordinating with Mason Farms and we're thinking of meeting around 6:30-7:00ish. Please let me know if you think you can help out so we can plan accordingly.Perry - do you think you can ask the VP at the school if kids would be available to help us?

b. If you are free on Saturday, May 9th, they are doing a Clean Sweep in the morning. Any help would be greatly appreciated. As you know, our town has looked amazing for Apple Blossom Festival due to the hard work of the volunteers during the Clean Sweep.

c. Apple Blossom Festival - Saturday, May 16thwe are fortunate enough to have gotten permission to set up where we did last year, near Meddy's Musings/the old Fire Hall. Instead of having only a few people watching the tent the entire day, I'd like to try to set up volunteers throughout the day. If you can volunteer to watch the tent, even for an hour, please let me know.

i. If you have plants to donate and need pots, let me know as I have extra pots to donate. I think we're going to set up the night before so plants can be dropped off the night before.

ii. we are very lucky again this year. The Sodus Garden Club is having their plant sale on Saturday morning. They will be donating any remaining plants to us after 12:00. Eric has offered to go and pick them up.

3. Typically our May event is the planter plantings and Apple Blossom. I received an email from the Master Gardener program. Would anyone be interested in an event later in May? If so, I'll talk to the coordinator and see if we can set something up.

4. Scott will be sending out a letter soon regarding dues. if you have not yet paid your dues (or can't remember when you last paid dues), please feel free to contact him. Dues are still $10 for the year.

5. Finally, we need to meet to talk about the Green Space. The bulbs that Shirley planted last year are starting to come up and look really great. I think, after the Apple Blossom Festival, we should meet to talk about what we want to do with that space.

*whew* okay I think that's it for now. I am planning on setting up a meeting in May but it will probably be after the Apple Blossom festival.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

April 2009 Event - Tour of Mason Farms

2009-05-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners! What wonderful weather we are having! I am very tempted to skip work and just play in the garden all day long. My tulips are starting to bloom and I'm starting to see my peonies popping out of the ground. Hopefully this nice weather will continue through this coming weekend and give us all a chance to enjoy our gardens.

Just a reminder that our April event is tomorrow night. We will be having a tour of Mason Farms in Williamson (http://www.masonfarmsny.com/) followed by a Q&A with Doug Mason. We will be meeting on Wednesday, April 29th at 6:30. The Farm is located at 3135 Ridge Road, Williamson, NY.

We will get a tour of the flower greenhouses and, weather permitting, shown how their tomatoes are being grown this year. As you know, Mason Farms is IPM and Organic Certified and Doug and Lorraine have always been very kind to answer any and all questions we've had for them.

In addition, the Market will be open so if you want to get a start on buying flowers, herbs, etc. for your gardens, we'll get the opportunity to do so. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. This event is open to the public - if there are others you think might be interested in the event, feel free to invite them. I hope to see you there! Happy Gardening!Subrata

Upcoming Garden Events

2009-03-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Here are some upcoming events you might be interested in:

Gardenscape - the Rochester Flower Show.
March 12 - 16 at the Dome Center. http://www.rochesterflowershow.com/

Rochester Dahlia Society sales and shows near Williamson.
May 9 at the Webster Arboretum.
August 14 at the Wayne County Fair.

Spring is in the air!

Happy gardening,

~Penny

Flower Arranging for Blossom View

2008-11-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

We're going to come off our long Thanksgiving weekend and jump right into our December event.

****For Garden Club Members only****

On Monday, December 1, at 6:30 pm, we will be doing flower arrangements to donate to Blossom View. John Palmer from Laggoner Farms will show us how to put together the arrangements. We have approximately 130 arrangements to make so need to make sure we have enough people to make them.

****Please confirm in advance, if possible, that you will attend****

Send confirmation to grow14589@gmail.com

Some people have already confirmed. If you can confirm, please do so - though you are still welcome to come even if you can't confirm ahead of time. We are simply trying to make sure we can make all the arrangements in the time we have set up.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

November Events

2008-10-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of exciting things going on in November - both with the Garden Club and the upcoming election and the presentation of the Rte 104/21 Gateway. Specific dates have not been set, so keep your calendars open! If you wish to participate in any or all of these projects, please let the officers know by sending an e-mail to grow14589@gmail.com. Most importantly, let us know what dates would NOT work for you.

Our usual November Garden Club event is winterizing the downtown planters. Last year, we used artificial christmas trees, and we plan to do this again this year. This year the process with take two steps: a) The christmas trees need to be checked before we put them in the planters. Additionally we have discussed putting the trees together in advance of putting them in the planters. Remember - we have 20 trees that need to put together and their lights checked out. b) we need to install the trees into the planters and secure them well.

Also, last year's flower arrangement donations were such a success, we thought we'd do it again this year. Plans for this are in the works.

And now it's back to winterizing the yard. We got that first dusting of snow overnight: the harbinger of things to come!

Enjoy!

~Penny

October Lecture Event

2008-10-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

BASICS OF COMPOSTING

Do you think about how to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes to create earthy and rich compost to benefit your garden? Join the Williamson Garden Club to learn the basics of composting!

The Williamson Garden Club is excited to present a Wayne County Master Gardener from the Cornell Cooperative Extension for their October lecture.

This lecture will be on Monday, October 20th at 7pm. The lecture will be at the Williamson Public Library at 7pm located at 6380 Route 21, Williamson, New York 14589 (p) 315.589.2048.

Please contact the President of the Garden Club, Subrata Paul at grow14589 [at] gmail.com for more information.

This event is free and open to the general public. Pre-registration is not required.

Update to September Meeting

2008-09-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

We had an interesting members' meetings yesterday. At the meeting was Eric, John, Scott, Penny (and Evan), Perry and myself.

1. 2009 Officers for the Williamson Garden Club
President: Subrata
VP: Eric
Secretary: still available
Treasurer: Scott
PR (publicity and press): Perry
PR (blog): Penny
Archivist: John

2. We are doing well financially and have almost doubled our bank account, thanks to the great plant sales we've been having.

We had some discussions about providing money/plant donations including
- donating plants to the green space
- if Chamber of Commerce/Charrette puts up "Welcome to Williamson" signs, Garden Club will provide plants/landscape/maintenance
- provide landscaping around sign near Town Hall/Library including raised bed, greenery and flowers

3. The decision was made to have set dates for membership dues. Going forward, membership dues should be paid by September 1st. For members joining after March, dues will be 1/2 ($ 5). This will help all of us keep better track of paying our dues.

I realize some of you have paid recently. Please talk to Scott to see how your dues will be set up.

4. Franke's Nursery is having a plant auction this coming Saturday.
Information:
3987 Boynton Road, Walworth, NY
10:00 (preview at 9:00)
for more information : www.reynoldsauction.com

5. We need to continue to recruit active members. We have a great core group of people who are active and helping. As we desire to take on more roles to help revitalize and beautify Williamson, more help would be great. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Ideas we came up with yesterday:
- Contact Fellowship of Churches
- Request help from Charrette
- Contact school for help from HS students. New Vice Principal, Mark Schichtel, is good contact. Perry will contact him to see what help is available.
- Williamson Orchard Center
- Whispering Woods - mgr is part of Chamber of Commerce so will contact on setting up meeting to present Garden Club to homeowners there.

6. So what's on the calendar for the rest of the year?
October event - Replace plants in Town/Main Street planters with mums (Scott to organize)
Compost lecture by Cornell Cooperative (tentative)

November - We received A LOT of compliments for our trees last year. We will check trees/replace trees and set up trees (end of November)

December - Flower arrangements with John Palmer (tentative)

If you have any suggestions or recommendations for upcoming lectures, let me know.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

August Meeting Minutes

2008-08-22T06:15:00.001-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Here are the minutes from our August meeting on Tuesday, August 19th at the Williamson Public Library at 7pm.
Members: Subrata Paul, Eric Herriman, Penny Higgins, John Ferrante, Carol Hopkins, Shirley Schulze, Nathalie Fuller. Guest (and future GC member): Gail McCarthy

a. Mike Orr's Greenspace:
Shirley has been working with Mike and keeping up with the progress of the restaurant wall.
Mike is planning on adding two benches to the tree that he has already planted. Additionally, Walker Nurseries has offered perennials as they are going out of business.

The Garden Club needs to finalize a layout plan and help Mike with the plantings. We discussed possible shrubs, using trumpet vine/clematis/ivy to grow up trellises up the wall and getting daylilies from our newest GC member, Joyce Leimberger. Additionally there is a perennial flower set-up on Lake Rd across from Orbakers, where plants are $ 2.00.

Suggestion to put up laminated plan near green space with notice that the garden is a community effort with no tax dollars going into it. (some free publicity for the GC as well as Mike Orr).

ACTION ITEMS:
1. Shirley to find out what perennials will be donated.
2. Shirley to find out when perennials need to be taken from Walker Nursery
3. John to investigate manure/leaf mulch for us to work into soil and enrich it
4. John to look into stones available at Fox Farms to use in green space
5. from ALL our members - please look at your gardens and see if there is anything you can donate. E-mail me your list of possible plants by next week Monday (8/25). This can include shrubs and larger plants.

b. Elections
Just a reminder that elections will take place at our September meeting. Please consider serving as an officer, even if it's for a partial year. I know many of you head off to warmer weather as it cools off around here but your service for 6-9 months would be beneficial to our organization.
Positions available:President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Archivist
Public Relations/Membership

If you have questions about the responsibilities of any of these positions, let me know.

c. Fall plantings
The current plantings are doing very well and will remain in the planters as long as they look good. Suggestion to put in pumpkins/mums if needed. If you have any to donate, let me know.

d. Winter plantings
In the beginning of November, we will check all the christmas trees to see what needs to be replaced.
Weights are needed for the trees, so they don't fall over.

ACTION ITEM
1. Scott to see what money is available for fall/winter plantings
2. Subrata to see if Chamber of Commerce can help with winter decorations. If funds available, we could add decorations to other areas of downtown.

d. Pultneyville Garage Sale, Saturday, September 20th
Carol Hopkins has graciously offered her yard for us to set up for the garage sale. There will be a $15-20 permit fee that will be paid by the Garden Club. John has offered his tent again and we will be setting up the night before. If you have plants or fruits/veggies to donate, you can drop them off the night before if desired.

ACTION ITEM
ALL garden club members - please look at your gardens and see if there are items you can donate. Last year, we made almost $100 even though it was a cold and overcast day. Along with plants, John brought apples, tomatoes and hot peppers - all which sold very well.

e. Town Hall sign
The spring bulbs planted last year by the Garden Club looked great this year. John suggested that we plant perennials (such as hostas and daylilies) to enhance the area. He also suggested that we put a sign stating "If you want to contribute to the beautification of the town, please contact ______________________"

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

August Events

2008-08-21T09:27:00.001-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

A slight soggy greetings to you - the rain has been pretty unbelievable this month. Of course, my garden seems to be enjoying it and I know that our downtown/Town Hall planters are looking lovely and lush.

We've been getting a lot of compliments on how great our planters look this year. I'd like to thank Eric for working hard with Doug Mason to come up with some great plant mixes and our diligent waterers -- Shirley, Perry, Kris and Ed.

If you haven't taken a slow drive or walk down Main Street, I would recommend it. I've also noticed that some of the shopkeepers have put out plants, making downtown Williamson look very green and colorful.

Eric and I had a wonderful tour of Joyce Leimberger's gardens. As many of our Garden Club members are, she is a passionate gardener with extensive knowledge of daylilies and a keen eye for mixing colors and textures. Her daylilies are unbelievable - so many different colors and textures and different from what we saw at Parker's house. If you're interested in seeing her flowers, I will send you a link to Flickr where some photos are located. I was glad to have my camera with me that morning! Joyce sells her daylilies - if you are interested, she is located at 4466 Lake Road.

For August
1. Members meeting - Tuesday, August 19th at the Williamson Public Library at 7pm. A few items to discuss:
a. Shirley informed me that it looks like the Chinese Restaurant wall is being painted which means that the Green Space will be ready to be planted soon.
b. Elections are going to take place in September. Please consider serving as an officer, even if it's for a partial year. I know many of you head off to warmer weather as it cools off around here but your service for 6-9 months would be beneficial to our organization.
c. Fall plantings - there had been an initial discussion about this so that we don't have dead plants until we put in the Christmas Trees. If our planters continue as they are currently going on, it may not be a problem as we might be able to keep them until October with only a month between plantings. Let's discuss what we would like to do.
d. Coleus over-wintering - we will have some coleus to overwinter. I think our best bet is to divide them up so as to increase the likelihood of some of them surviving. Let's discuss who would be able to take some for the winter.
e. Pultneyville Garage Sale in September

If you have other items to discuss, please let me know and I'll include them in the agenda.

2. Monthly Lecture/Event
I am very excited to announce that Sylvia Bornarth and her husband have opened up their Asian Garden for the Garden Club to walk through and see. They have an amazing garden and the Bornarths are accomplished gardeners.
This is a Garden Club Members-Only tour. If there is anyone who has expressed interest in joining our Club (or becoming a Friend of the Club), please feel free to invite them.

The tour will be Tuesday, August 26th at the Bornarth House at 6:30. Hopefully there will be no need for a rain date!

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

July Update and Events

2008-06-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

Mark your calendars for our July events -

1. Members meeting - Ed and Kris Jorolemon will host our members meeting on Monday, July 7th at 6:30. If you have not had the pleasure to see Kris and Ed's gardens yet, you are in for a treat! Let me know if there are any topics you would like discussed during our members meeting.

2. Monthly event - Parker Zach has invited to see his Daylily garden on Saturday, July 19th at 6:30 pm. He lives in Webster.

----------------------------------

In other news, Eric and I went to the CoC meeting last night. There was an excellent response to the request for paint donations and volunteers to paint the Chinese Restaurant wall. All the paint and the filler have been covered through donations, even though Mike Orr was willing to dip into BID money in case it wasnt' covered. The CoC simply needs to get the top part filled in and painted and then will let the volunteers know when they are needed for painting. I will keep you posted.

Secondly, from Lorraine
"in exciting news, the Chamber received permission from Mr. & Mrs. DiGiulio, the owners of the cobblestone garage on Main Street to do a clean-up on the property! We are very pleased that this could be worked out to benefit them and our community!!
We are asking any adult that would volunteer one hour of their time to help pull/cut weeds to please contact Lorraine Mason or the Chamber or Mike Orr of the BID. We are only asking for an hour...whatever you achieve in that hour is your donation to the community project.
We also approached the DiGiulio's about the Chamber and the BID freshening the paint on the building. We are waiting to see if this is a possibility.
PLEASE...consider helping...these types of projects show community spirit, pride and our willingness to help others!
Thanks for the consideration!!!"

If you are interested, the Chamber of Commerce email is WilliamsonCofC@aol.com.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Update and Recap - June

2008-06-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

We had an amazing June lecture at Audrey Ferris's gardens. She showed us her spectacular rose gardens (as well as her other plants) and let us take clippings of her roses. She said that about 50% of her rose garden came from clippings(!) and they are just gorgeous to look at. I know that 1/2 of the cuttings I took from her garden last year survived and are thriving. I will try to write up my notes on how to make cuttings/preparing your roses, etc. and will post it on our blog.

We were also lucky to get three garden tours on Tuesday! Along with Audrey's amazing gardens, two of her neighbors were generous enough to share their gardens with us. One of the neigbors owns Lavender Lane and she grows, harvests and sells lavender. It was really something to see.

I have some "Save the dates" for July and information on the next Chamber of Commerce meeting.

1. CoC - Meeting is today (7/26) at 7pm in the Williamson Library.

2. Kris and Ed will be hosting our members meeting this month. We will have it in the beginning of July - more information as date/time are finalized.

3. Penny has arranged the daylily tour with Parker Zach for Saturday, July 19th. I know we typically don't do weekends but if you can make this tour, his daylily garden is out of this world. Parker is a very passionate and experienced daylily gardener. I will send the time and address in a future email. I know this is the same day as the Pultneyville Homecoming but unfortunately no other day works well for Parker.

4. I am trying to arrange a garden tour of the Bornath House in Pultneyville. The Bornaths are avid gardeners and not only have a beautiful rose garden but have a spectacular oriental garden. This will probably be sometime in mid/end July - more information as it gets finalized.

------------------------------
--------------------------

Going forward:

1. There were other members who had expressed an interest in hosting the members-only meeting and letting us tour their gardens. If you are still interested in doing so, please let me know. We still have August, September and possibly October, depending on the weather.

2. A BIG thank-you to everyone who has been watering the plants. Eric and I are doing it this week and they look spectacular - growing, lush, and very healthy. We've been getting many compliments on how well they look this year. We are working towards getting small laminated signs in the planters so people will know that our garden club planted and are maintaining the planters.

3. Shirley is working hard on getting the Green Space going and has made excellent progress! She's been talking to Mike Orr and, until the Chinese restaurant side has been painted over, the major part of the green space is on hold. Mike has put in the tree and is planning on providing the benches, etc. Shirley will be working on putting plants in the small planter by the side. If you would like to help Shirley with the Green Space, feel free to contact her.

4. Plant Exchange - a few people have gotten back to me with plants they have to exchange. If you have items to exchange OR are interested in plants, even though you may not have anything to offer, please email me with your list.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Williamson Chamber of Commerce Information

2008-06-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

I don't know about you but my garden has just BURST into color. Every day I go out and it looks like yet another flower has burst into bloom. It's completely chaotic as I have not gotten to weeding yet (as those who are coming over on Wednesday will see) but I'm really enjoying the color and fragrances. I forget how wonderful the roses smell when they start blooming.

I've been receiving updates from the CoC as we are now members. I'm going to post them on our website but there were a few that I thought might be interesting. I'm going to combine them into one email for your convenience.

1. SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY PROJECT
The BID and CofC have received the go ahead to have the east side of the old Chinese restaurant painted. We feel that this project will benefit the overall look of the downtown area.

The project relies on support and donations from businesses, Churches, community members and organizations. The donation requested would be to submit to the BID (Mike Orr) the cost of one (1) gallon of paint. The support would be to help prep and paint.

This is a simple project if we get enough involvement. It will not fall on the shoulders of a few if everyone can offer something. One hour of your time during the day or at night after work to scrap or paint is all we are asking from each person. Don't have time for that then donate a gallon of paint.

This project will happen over a period of time. Please contact Mike Orr of the BID or Lorraine Mason of the CofC with questions, offers of help, etc.

SUBRATA: I would like us to, at minimum, donate paint for the project. If anyone sees a problem with that, let me know. We currently have over $1,000 in our bank account. If there is interest, we could set up a "Garden Club" night where members get together to help with painting.

2. The Chamber would like to communicate with as many of members as possible. If you are interested in community happenings, business news, etc. please send your name and associated email address to WilliamsonCofC [at] aol.com with the above requested information.

3. Governor Paterson's Economic Security Cabinet is pleased to announce Regional Town Hall Meetings to receive comments on New York State's efforts to protect and enhance the economic security of low-income families. In this national economic downturn, Governor Paterson has charged his Economic Security Cabinet with exploring opportunities to support struggling low-income families. These Town Hall meetings will provide an opportunity to hear about the State's commitment to protecting and enhancing economic security. Suggestions from employers, labor representatives, researchers, advocates, and the general public are a vital part of this effort, and interested individuals are invited to provide written submissions and/or 3 minutes of in-person testimony.
Further information about the Economic Security Cabinet and the regional Town Hall meetings – and registration information for the meetings - can be obtained at the Economic Security Cabinet website – http://economicsecurity.us. All meetings will begin promptly at 4:00 PM and end at 7:00 PM. June 25 Finger Lakes Region – Rochester City Hall.
To register for any of the Economic Security Cabinet town hall meetings or reserve a few minutes to speak, please visit the Cabinet's web site at http://economicsecurity.us

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Mark Your Calendar - June Event!

2008-06-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

The Williamson Garden Club is very excited to present Wayne County Master Gardener, Audrey Ferris, for their June lecture. Learn how to grow roses and keep them blooming and disease free throughout the season. As an added bonus, we will also enjoy a tour of Audrey's garden in Sodus, which contain over 200 roses!

The lecture will be on Tuesday, June 24th at 6:30 pm. If you are interested, please contact me for information on location at grow14589@gmail.com or 315-524-4204.

This event, as with all our events, is free and open to the public.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

June Update

2008-06-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

We had an excellent meeting at Carol's house - she provided a lovely tour of her gardens and a sneak peak at her house (hers is one of the 10 houses on the Pultneyville Historical Society's House Tour - http://www.pultneyvillehistoricalsociety.org/pages/news_feat.htm).

At our member's meeting:
1. The PHS House Tour is on Saturday, June 14th. We will be donating a vase of flowers for each house. Please take a look at your gardens to see what you think you can donate to the cause. We have some vases but if you have vases to donate, let me know. Kris Jorolemon will be donating her artistic skills in creating a small card/sign to go with each vase.

I will be sending another email next week for a day to get-together and create the vases (probably Thursday the 12th).

2. One of the houses is looking for garden club members to help out on the 14th. What would work best would be two people in the morning and two people in the afternoon. If you are interested, email me or Carol Hopkins and let us know which time would work best for you.

3. Shirley Schulze will be our point person for the Mike Orr Greenspace. She will meet with him to find out how he would like to proceed with the Greenspace.

4. I received a great response to the request for watering the planters. Thank you for your enthusiasm to do so! There are a few weeks (maybe 3 or 4) that have not yet been taken. If you can take one week to water, let me know.

Finally, I am very excited to announce that our June lecture will be at Audrey Ferris's garden on Tuesday, June 24th, at 6:30. Those of you who went last year know what a spectacular garden she has and how wonderful it was to walk around and see all the gorgeous flowers (roses and then some!). Hold the date as it will be an amazing experience!

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Update to Apple Blossom Festival

2008-05-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!
We had an excellent Apple Blossom Festival sale. We made $175 in sales (yeah!!). W

e have only sold six raffle tickets, to two people. I know the raffle was set up later so I want to open it up to members if anyone planned on getting tickets and didn't get a chance.
The prizes are -- Grand Prize - 1/2 hour rototilling;
1st prize - 1 year membership with Garden Club
2nd prize is a very cute gardening mug with little gardening tools.
Tickets are 1 ticket for $2 or 3 tickets for $5. Let me know by Tuesday (we can settle up money-wise later) and I'll be picking names on Tuesday evening.

We had a lot of great help.
John offered up and set up the tent which definitely came in handy during the torrential downpour. He also provided the sandwich board so passerbys could see our information.

Plants were donated by Penny, Carol, Kris and Ed, Tim, Scott, John, Shirley and Eric and then, of course, we received another truckload from the Sodus Garden Club. I can't even begin to discuss what we had because there was so many awesome plants this year!

A big thanks to those who were able to stay and sell plants. I know how difficult it is especially for those who are on multiple committees or were hanging out with the kids/grandkids. Shirley, Scott and definitely Penny were a huge help in selling and talking to prospective garden club members :).

Finally, I have to thank Eric for all the driving and picking up (and loading and unloading) on Saturday.

It was really great to see how everyone's contribution to the sale made it such a big success - thank you for your time and energy!
Happy Gardening!-Subrata

Pultneyville Historical Society -"Sailors' Farewell Tour of Homes"

2008-05-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

"Sailors' Farewell Tour of Homes"
June 14, 2008
10am-4pm

The Pultneyville Historical Society is preparing for its first “Sailors’ Farewell Tour of Homes” on June 14 th , 2008! The last time the Society was involved in a local house tour was approximately 15 years ago. The event was an overwhelming success, bringing not only community residents, but also people from the larger surrounding area!
The theme for this tour is based on Pultneyville's long maritime history with the title of
"Sailors' Farewell". Captains and crews would leave from this port, bidding farewell to many local families, neighbors, and business associates.

The agenda for this year's tour includes ten homes of varied history and architecture. Among these:

You will visit the location of the Sailors Farewell Dance, which was often held the evening before departure on these perilous voyages.

A local Captain's historic residence is included in today's adventure.

You will see homes that played an important role in the history of The Underground Railroad.

You will visit a home that reports the lowest sea level elevation on Lake Ontario 's Southern shore.

The Young Sommer Winery on Jersey Road has also been included for your pleasure as an introduction to a new exciting local winery, which will see future inclusion on a NY State Winery Trail from the Williamson area.

Other exciting features are planned for your enjoyable day walking or riding through Historic Pultneyville.

Parking will be available to the local homes at the Pultneyville Reformed Church and the Pultneyville Grill restaurant. Those needing closer parking may park at the old hotel, which is part of the tour.

A buffet lunch will be available between 11:30 am and 3 pm at The Pultneyville Grill, located in The Landing At Pultneyville , which overlooks Pultneyville Harbor . Current planning includes soup & salad choices, veggies, meat entree, and soft drinks. Price includes tax and tip. This historic beautiful refurbished building is located adjacent to the site of local shipbuilding during the late 19th century. The Artisans Loft is located next to the Pultneyville Grill and presents works of many local and area artists with different artistic mediums.

This promises to be a fun and exciting day. Click here to print out the Tour ticket order form and follow the mailing instructions to receive your advance tickets.

More Mason Farms Pictures

2008-05-14T13:31:00.001-07:00

Kris Jorolemon took some gorgeous photos of the Mason Farm greenhouses.

View of some of the lush and green plants we saw during the Mason Farm Tour

View of one (of many) greenhouses at Mason Farms

Apple Blossom Festival

2008-05-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

hello Fellow Gardeners!

The Main Street and Town Hall planters were done on Friday evening. We have some very creative and pretty mixes of plants this year - along with flowers, there is a mix of decorative foliage, textures and sizes. I wanted to thank John Ferrante, Penny Higgins and her family (Bill and son Evan), Carol Hopkins, Scott Utley, Eric Herriman and Kris and Ed Jorolemon for their help in getting the planters done. I hope everyone has a chance to check them out!

So we have some exciting volunteer opportunities!

1. Now that the planters are done, we need some volunteers for watering the plants. Eric and I went out Sunday morning and the planters were a bit dry. We are hoping to water them every day this week so that they get settled by the Apple Blossom Festival. After that, they should be watered at least 2-3 times a week, depending on the weather. Water is available at a couple of different areas, so you don't need to cart the water to the area.
- If you can volunteer, even for one week, let me know.
- If you decide to water, let me know so we're not duplicating efforts

2. We need people to sit at the table for Apple Blossom festival this year. We will have a booth set up on Saturday only and will probably be there from 10ish until after the parade (maybe 2/3ish?). Even if you can only sit for an hour, that would be very helpful.

3. Finally, we are looking for plant donations for the table. We currently have a great crop of Norfolk pine and I think we'll have hostas. Let me know if you are planning on donating - you will be able to drop things off at the table or you can also drop them off at my house during the week.

Just a reminder, starting in June, we will be having garden tours. If you would like to open up your garden for the club to tour, let me know. We are thinking about having our members meetings be at our members' gardens.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Master Gardener Plant Sale - Wayne County Cornell Cooperative Extension

2008-05-07T17:54:00.001-07:00

Saturday, May 10th from 8:00 am to noon
Master Gardener Plant Sale
(plants provided by local nurseries and from Master Gardener’s private collections)

Gardeners Toolboxes will also be available for purchase. Finished $15.00 each, kits for $10.00 each
Location: Wayne County Cooperative Extension, 1581 Rte 88 North, Newark

Pruning: An Illustrated Guide to Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs.
Pruning practices described in this publication are appropriate for both the amateur and the professional horticulturist - $6.00.

Planting and Maintaining Trees and Shrubs.
The practices discussed in this guide are appropriate for landscape plantings and for use by private property owners and professional horticulturists - $8.00.
These two publications are written using current Cornell recommendations for trees and shrubs grown in New York State. They are easy to understand and contain many illustrations.

Photos from Mason Farms Tour

2008-05-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Kris Jorolemon took some great shots of the Mason Farm Tour in April. We had over 27 attendees to the event.

A small glimpse of the crowd and the retail store. Around the corner is the greenhouse with gorgeous flowers for sale.

Doug Mason standing in front of one of the greenhouses that he showed us. Look at the colors of the flowers in the hanging baskets!

Sodus Garden Club Plant Sale

2008-04-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sodus Garden Club Plant Sale
May 17
9 AM - Noon

Sodus Primary School on Route 88 south of the village

Sodus Lighthouse - Help needed

2008-04-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

The Sodus Lighthouse Gardens need help. There are about 8 different gardens on the property (www.soduspointlighthouse.org.) and is Wayne County's number one tourist attraction.

If interested in helping this spring to get the gardens started or anytime during the season, send an email and I will give you the contact information.

Every Friday morning during the growing season, gardeners gather at 9 am to put the finishing touches on the gardens before the weekend weddings and concerts. They would welcome any help.

May Events around Williamson

2008-04-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

hello Fellow Gardeners!

I hope you've been enjoying the recent gorgeous days.

Last week, we had a great turnout for the Mason Farms tour -- over 27 people came. Doug Mason gave a great tour of the farm including a view of their organic seedlings and a discussion of IPM (Integrated Pest Management). It is really eye-opening to see the time and energy that goes into running a farm. Afterwards, we were able to walk around their retail greenhouse and buy flowers. If you haven't made it over there yet, they are open every day. Check out their dahlias -- I've already been back to pick up a couple more.

If you make it over to the Williamson Library/Town hall, notice the gorgeous spring flowers around the entrance sign - the tulips and such were donated by the Garden Club and add a great splash of color. If you see other places/signs that you think would benefit from spring flowers, let me know and maybe we can plant some in the fall.

Lots of news for May:
1. May is Apple Blossom Festival month. We will be doing the downtown Planters and the Town Hall planters (I think) on Friday, May 9th, after work. Please let me know if you are available to help out -- we have 18-20 planters to do and can use help.

2. Saturday, May 10th, is Clean Sweep Day. If you are free Saturday morning, consider helping out. We received a lot of compliments on how great Main Street looked during the Apple Blossom Festival and it's always great to show off how good Williamson looks.

3. We will have a booth on Saturday, May 17th, at the Apple Blossom Festival.
a. If you can donate plants (indoor/outdoor) or other gardening-related items, let me know. Last year, flowing plants really got people's attention but everything sold well. If you need pots, call me as I have extra ones.
b. Let me know your availability to sit at the table/help out on Saturday.

4. And, as I have to encourage plant-buying, there are some fun events going on this weekend.

a. Spring Valley Greenhouse (http://www.springvalleygreenhouse.com/)is having their Open House in Walworth on May 3rd and 4th from 10-5. Use the coupon in the Spring Valley Gardens newsletter to receive your free clematis, (valued at $5.98) No purchase required, http://www.springvalleygreenhouse.com/uploads/svg-newsletter-2008.pdfFrom past experience, their gardens are gorgeous to walk through and be warned that it's hard to walk out without buying something!b. 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 there's more information at www.reynoldsauction.com. If you bid on something, you need to take it with you that day. Last year I bought a beautiful crabapple tree for $12.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll be posting other events on our website. http://grow-thewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com/
There are quite a few Garden Club flower sales, etc. and I don't want to overwhelm people's mailbox. If you hear of an event that you think might be of interest, email me and I'll post it on our website.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Second Annual Clean Sweep in Williamson

2008-04-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

From our Town Supervisor, Jim Hoffman

Operation Clean Sweep 2008

The First “Operation Clean Sweep” was conducted last year on the Saturday prior to the Apple Blossom Festival. Many volunteers got together to pick up litter, pull weeds, do some painting and clean up the general area around the Main Street Business district, which included Rt. 21.

We would like to do it again and ask that you consider having representatives from your organization participate this year on Saturday, May 10th from 9:00 a.m. until 12 p.m.

Mike Orr, President of the Williamson Business Improvement District and proprietor of Kings Auto Service, will be on hand that day to provide rakes, garbage bags and any other equipment needed for “Operation Clean Sweep.”

Even if only one or two people from your organization can attend for an hour or two, or possibly do something prior to Saturday morning, your efforts will make a difference and be recognized. All you have to do is show up at Kings on Saturday, May 10th. However, it would be helpful if you could let me know if your organization will be participating by sending an email to wmsonsupv[at]rochester.rr.com or calling my office.

This is a good opportunity for all of us to work together to support both the Apple Blossom Festival and our Main Street Business District.

Thank you,
Jim Hoffman

Pultneyville Historical Society "Sailors' Farewell Tour of Homes"

2008-04-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

PULTNEYVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY FUNDRAISER

"SAILORS' FAREWELL" TOUR OF HOMES

SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2008
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

featuring

Tours of 10 historic homes in Pultneyville

Young Sommer Winery

Buffet lunch available at the Pultneyville Grill

Parking and restroom facilities available

FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION AND TICKET ORDER FORM
PLEASE GO TO:

www.pultneyvillehistoricalsociety.org

April Event

2008-04-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Mason Farms : Sneak Preview

Join the Williamson Garden Club for a tour and discussion at Mason Farms and Farm Market! Enjoy the beautiful flowers coming up in the greenhouses and learn how Mason Farms works and continues to grow.

This lecture will be on Thursday, April 24th at Mason Farms and Farm Market, 3135 Ridge Road, Williamson, NY at 6:30 P.M. This event is free and open to the local community and general public.

For more information, call the VP of the Garden Club, Eric Herriman, e-mail grow14589[at]gmail.com. Pre-registration is not required.

March Update

2008-03-28T11:35:00.001-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners-

Well it looks like Winter is having its last Huzzah today with snowfall and wintery weather.

A few notes:
1. Fiskars sent us a letter thanking us for applying for their grant and reminding us to try again next year. As a further thank-you, they also are giving us 10% off any Fiskars tools that they carry. As a Garden Club Member or Friend, you are welcome to take advantage of this offer. I think we can buy items individually (not as a group), but will double-check on that information.

The website is www.fiskars.com and the letter contained the code needed for the discount.

2. Kris and Ed Jorolemon sent on this website for free sunflowers. It seems appropriate after attending the Sodus Garden Club lecture on bees.
"Check out this cool, important study at: www.greatsunflower.org

This project is through SF State where I am an alumni and will send you free seeds and directions to count the bees...a national survey. You do know our bee population is waning and is at very dangerous levels."

3. Our landscape design lecture went very well and was attended by approximately 16 people.

I have the handouts that were given out and am happy to share them. A few people have asked for handouts and feel free to let me know if you would like them also.

The Master Gardener Program coordinator, Laurie Van Norstrand, has offered their help with the greenspace. They are willing to work with us (and Mike Orr) to make sure we have the right mix of soil, plants, etc. We gave them a copy of our Fiskars proposal and, in just briefly looking it over, they came up with great questions for us to consider. I think it will be a good partnership for us to continue to develop as they have a lot of great resources for us to utilize.

4. The Christmas trees - it's the end of March and time for the trees to come out. I'm going to be out of town this weekend, but Eric and I are planning on going out on Monday, after work (around 6:30/7ish, I think). If anyone is available to help, it will make quick work of it.

Happy (indoor) Gardening!
Subrata

2008-03-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

Images of our backyard, this morning, after a nightfall of snow

2008-03-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last Huzzah of Winter -- March 28th

2008-03-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

2008-03-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

Ice storm from the beginning of March

March information from GROW

2008-03-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

Well yesterday was the First Day of Spring and, the snowfall notwithstanding, spring is marching this way.

1. With that in mind, I thought the following might interest you.

Enter to win one of three prize packages chock full of gardening goodies — each package has a retail value of $1,000 and includes an assortment of tools from Ames True Temper, product from The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, and a gift certificate to NGA's Garden Shop. Check off what type of gardening you do: home, community, or school, and fill in the rest of the fields. You may enter only one category. Enter by April 30.

I need to see what the requirements are for the community gardening portion - it may be a good fit for our Garden Club. But in the meantime, all of us home gardeners could participate and hopefully one of us will be a lucky winner.

2. Eric and I had the pleasure of attending the Sodus Garden Club's lecture on "All about Bees". Mary Moss-Sprague, a master gardener and an avid bee-keeper, gave an excellent lecture on honeybees, how we can entice them to our gardens and just a little bit about colony collapse. Afterwards we enjoyed refreshments (I think Eric and I ate our weight in delicious cookies) and had a chance to meet the gardeners in Sodus.

Eric is interested in starting up beekeeping again (he was involved when he was younger). If anyone else is interested, please talk to him at eric.herriman[at]xerox.com.

3. Eric and I attended the Learning Fair last Saturday. We showed off the Fiskar video, as some of our members were able to see. Penny brought her table-top photo gallery that drew people in and we got a good response from the parents who attended. All of our brochures were taken and three people signed up to receive further information about the Garden Club.

4. Eric spoke to Mike Orr about the greenspace. Mike plans to move forward with the greenspace and there is some money alloted for it. No meeting has been set up yet. If you are interested in being involved in the discussion, please talk to Eric at the above email/phone number.

5. Last (but definitely not least), a reminder about our March lecture on Tuesday, March 25th on Landscape Design. I had the pleasure to meet one of the speakers at the Learning Fair and this is going to be an amazing event. I will be sending a message to all our past attendees and I'm hopeful that we will have as good of a response as we did to the February event.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Fiskars Grant Update

2008-03-17T08:13:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Gardeners -
Well the news is in and, unfortunately, we were not one of the finalists for the Fiskars Grant. Here is a link with the final winners. http://www.fiskars.com/content/garden_en_us/Garden/community/project+orange+thumb. They had over 500 grant applications with over half of them being school organizations.

I want to thank everyone who took the time and energy to help us put this grant application together. It was a great experience to work with our community leaders and we put together a fabulous grant application. It was impressive that we were able to turn the application around in such a short period of time (less than a month from start to finish!), including the video of what we planned to do with the Green Space. I know, as we go forward, that future grant applications will get easier and we will be more successful.

The good news is the Mike Orr has always planned to move forward with the greenspace, regardless of whether we won the grant. The grant application will be a great jumping point for us to start working with Mike in building the greenspace for downtown Williamson.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Upcoming Events - Cornell Cooperative Wayne County

2008-03-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m.: Join the Sodus Garden Club for apresentation "All About Bees" from Wayne County Master Gardener Mary Moss.She plans to cover the latest information on CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) and what it means on a local level as well as world-wide, thedifferentiation of bees that visit our gardens, what to do when you findany of them hanging around, how you can attract honeybees and bumblebees while keeping the nasty pests at bay, and the organization of honeybees inthe hive. Her presentation display will include color charts and prints,the major woodenware components of a hive body as well as a bee suit andother beekeeping paraphernalia.
Location: Sodus Parish Center

Thursday, March 20th from 11am to noon: a FREE presentation on growingfruit in home gardens. Lori Bushway from the Cornell University Horticulture Department will discuss growing different types of small fruit with a focus on bramblesand blueberries. There will be time for your questions as well!
Location: Wayne County Cooperative Extension, 1581 Rte 88 North, Newark
Please call (315) 331-8415 to reserve your spot.

Tuesday, March 25th at 7pm: Join the Williamson Garden Club for apresentation from Wayne County Master Gardeners, Bonny Gordon and Jim Oliver. Learn about reclaiming overgrown foundation plantings and blending them with other plants to create a landscape that you’ll be able to enjoy for years to come.
Location: Williamson Public Library

Saturday, May 10th from 8:00 am to noon: Master Gardener Plant Sale (plants provided by local nurseries and from Master Gardener’s private collections)
Location: Wayne County Cooperative Extension, 1581 Rte 88 North, Newark

Landscape Design: Reclaim and Recreate

2008-03-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

LANDSCAPE DESIGN: RECLAIM AND RECREATE

Every landscape is made up of a variety of plants: from trees to perennials and annuals to grasses.

A truly beautiful yard needs a design that blends these elements together.

Join the Williamson Garden Club for a presentation from Wayne County Master Gardeners, Bonny Gordon and Jim Oliver. Learn about reclaiming overgrown foundation plantings and blending them with other plants to create a landscape you'll be able to enjoy for years to come.

This lecture will be on Tuesday, March 25th at the Williamson Public Library, 6380 Route 21, Williamson, NY at 7:00 P.M. This event is free and open to the local community and general public.

For more information, call Subrata Paul at grow14589@gmail.com or check http://grow-thewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com/. Pre-registration is not required.

Sodus Garden Club - "All About Bees"

2008-03-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Sodus Garden Club

Special program to prepare for Spring Gardening!

"All about Bees" presented by Mary Moss, Master Gardener.
Wednesday, March 19th, at 7pm.
Parish Center-Church of the Epiphany, West Main & Newark St., Sodus.

For more info: 483-4740. It looks to be a very interesting lecture.

March Events and Updates

2008-03-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hi Fellow Gardeners!

Just an update before our members meeting in mid-March.

1. No news on the Fiskars Grant yet but we will let you know as soon as we hear.

In the meantime, we came across a grant for a Mantis Tiller. It had a really quick turnaround (March 1st) so Eric and I (with help from our advisor, Penny) pulled something together and sent it off on Friday. If you want information on it, check this out http://www.kidsgardening.com/grants/mantis-criteria.asp.

If you come across other grants that you think might be of interest, please let us know.

2. The Sodus Garden Club sent an invite for their March lecture. "All about Bees" presented by Mary Moss, Master Gardener. Wednesday, March 19th, at 7pm. Parish Center-Church of the Epiphany, West Main & Newark St., Sodus. For more info: 483-4740. It looks to be a very interesting lecture.

3. At our upcoming members meeting on March, I thought we could talk about
- Spring planting/Town Planters
- Chamber of Commerce membership
- Gateway to Pultneyville - Garden Project
- Friends of the Garden Club - we got our first Friend!
- Learning Fair
- High school students
- Peony catalog offer
If you have other thing to discuss, let me know and I'll add them to the agenda.

I'll send a reminder closer to our members meeting.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Update on February Lecture Event

2008-02-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

Hi Members!

We don't normally do an update after our monthly lectures but I feel like this one warrants an exception.

We had 26 attendees for our February lecture. I believe this is the largest turn-out we've had so far for one of our events.

We had people from Clyde all the way to the city of Rochester. Penny did a great job and most people left with little pots of seeds to sprout.

I think we also generated some interest for upcoming lectures and hopefully this will encourage some attendees to become members or friends of the Garden Club.

Happy Gardening!Subrata

What's going on with the Williamson Garden Club!

2008-02-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

Hi Fellow Gardeners-

1. The grant application is in the mail. A BIG thank-you to Eric for putting all the parts of the grant together and into the mail. Now we just wait to hear the (good) news :)

2. The high school students, Noah and Evan, did an excellent job on the video. They worked really hard and turned it around in just a few days. Eric and I were really impressed with their professionalism, hard work and dedication to this project. We are planning on writing a letter to their advisor regarding the excellent work that they did for us.

I would also like to recommend that we extend honorary Garden Club membership to the two students, as our way of saying "Thank You" for all their hard work. Please let me know what you think about that idea.

Here is a picture of Eric with one of the students, Noah. http://www.williamsonchamberofcommerce.org/WilliKids.html

3. Kris Jorolemon reminded me that she is looking for photographs, news clippings, etc. for the scrapbook that she is creating of the Garden Club. If you have any to share, please let her know.

4. Finally, is there interest in viewing the DVD that we submitted to Fiskars? I know that we have at least a couple of snowbirds and could wait until our March or April meeting to having a viewing, if there is interest. The video is about 10 minutes long.
Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Update on Project Orange Thumb/Fiskar Grant

2008-02-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

Hi -

I just wanted to let everyone know what the status is with the grant application.

We have finished writing Questions 2-5 and have the most recent version of the Garden Plan&Design, as well as a color painting representing the greenspace. Eric has filled out the application form.

The two high school students who are working on Question 1, Noah and Evan, have completed the video. They did an excellent job and Eric and I were really impressed with the quality of the video that they created. They are planning on burning the DVD today and Eric will be picking it up today.

We'll get the material together tonight and it will be ready to be shipped tomorrow morning.

I'd like to thank all the people who helped with encouraging us to apply to the grant, brain-storming, writing, re-writing, re-organizing and just overall helping the Garden Club successfully complete their first (but definitely not last) grant application. Thanks to Shirley Schultze, Perry Howland and Penny Higgins for all their writing and revision work. Mary Jane Haugh did an amazing job with Garden Plan and Design. Garden Club photos were donated by John and Linda Ferrante, Carol Hopkins, Shirley Shultze, and Kris and Ed Jorolemon. Mary Jane, Lorraine Mason and Jim Hoffman also graciously donated their time and agreed to be interviewed for the video. Additionally Scott Utley, Nathalie Fuller, and Carol Hopkins provided moral support and encouragement in the grant application process.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

February "Virual" Meeting

2008-02-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Hello Members!

Welcome to our first "virtual" meeting.

1. First course of business: choosing the spring plantings. After talking to Lorraine and Doug Mason, a mix of perennials/drought tolerant plants may be our best avenue this year. According to Lorraine, 5 - 1 gal pots of perennials would cost approximately the same as the large petunia 12" pot which we used last year.

If you feel strongly that we should not use perennials (or should use a different mix of perennials), let me know. Otherwise, we need to get our order to the Masons by next week.

Click on the URL. Please pick 3 ouf the 5 combination planters listed below and email me your vote by Monday, February 18th.
http://tinyurl.com/248w58
1. purple passion
2. towering inferno
3. fire and ice
4. summer salsa
5. twist of lime

2. Second course of business: Chamber of Commerce. Did we want to join, as a group, the Chamber of Commerce? If we join as a group, even though only one person gets to vote, all meetings, etc. are open to any member of the Garden Club. Dues are $35 (I believe) and we have money in our budget to cover them.

I think this would be a good relationship to build upon. Lorraine has started the year very strongly and has already shown enthusiasm and dedication to the Garden Club.

Let me know what you think. If you feel this needs longer discussion than an email would suffice, we can table this question for our March members meeting.

3. Third course of business: in an effort to create one main place where we can upload digital pictures of garden club events, Eric has created a kodakgallery account. If you have pictures you would like to upload to the kodakgallery site, please contact him for the password information.

If there is a better site for pictures (such as Flickr, etc.), let me know what it is and why you think it would be a better fit for us. We are not dedicated to kodakgallery - it is simply the one that we personally use.

I look forward to hearing from all the members-

thanks!
Subrata

February Event - Seed Starting 101

2008-02-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

If you are ready to get your hands dirty and start gardening, join us for our February lecture, Seed-Starting 101!

The Williamson Garden Club is happy to have Penny Higgins, past president of the Garden Club, present a hands-on lecture on starting seeds. We will be providing seeds, soil and pots so attendees will have the opportunity to start seeds for their gardens. This would be a great event to bring your kids!

The lecture will be on Wednesday, February 20th, at the Williamson Public Library (6380 Route 21) at 7:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public, so feel free to invite friends to attend.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Fiskar Grant Update

2008-02-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Quick update on our progress with the grant. We are moving along, thanks to the hard work of our members.

We are also very fortunate to have 3 eager volunteers from the local high school who are going to help us out.

There are five questions that need to be answered-
Question 1 - Three high school students will be working on this item.

# 1 Overall Inspiration/Vision
1) If you had no limits of time or money, describe your dreamgarden project, use any medium you like to show yourvision.

Question 2 and 5 is being worked on by Subrata
Question 3 is being worked on by Perry
Question 4 is being worked on by Shirley and Mary Jane. Mary Jane has submitted some AMAZING drawings for the green space and it is going to look wonderful when completed.

While Eric is overseeing everything, Kris and Ed Jorolemon are also providing copyreading support.

Penny is our advisor and providing excellent feedback and guidance to make sure our grant answers look and sound good.

All this hard work is going to pay off in a beautiful green space for downtown Williamson.

Happy Gardening!

January 15th Meeting Minutes

2008-01-31T11:30:00.000-08:00

Minutes from Meeting for Garden Club
January 15, 2007
7:00 PM at Williamson Library

Attendees: Nathalie Fuller, Eric Herriman, Penny Higgins, Carol Hopkins, Perry Howland, Subrata Paul, Shirley Schulze, Scott Utley

1) Discussion of Fiskar "Orange Thumb" Grant
a. Eric will be point person
- Action item: Penny to call Fiskars regarding use of Mike Orr's green space
- URL for past winners
- vote to decide what to focus on – green space or planters?
- update blog to keep track of progress

Update: Grant focus will be Mike Orr's Green Space. Perry, Shirley and Subrata will undertake Questions 2-5 of the grant. Penny will act as advisor/reviewer of grants. Eric will see if students available to help with Question 1. Mary Jane Haugh (Economic Advisor) will draw up gardening plan.

2) Discussion of 2008 calendar for monthly lectures, etc. (Tentative)
January - Herbs, Meddy from Meddy's Musings
February - Seed-starting, Penny Higgins
March - Garden design/hardscaping
April - Mason Farms/Spring Valley Greenhouse tour
May - Spring plantings & Apple Blossom Festival
June, July & August - Pultneyville House tour (June 14th);
start house tours
- Parker Zach/ daylily tour
- Japanese Garden tour
- Ed & Kris Jorolemon garden tour
August - Audrey Ferris, Rose Garden
September - Herbs, Meddy
Pultneyville Garage Sale/3rd wknd in Sept.
October - Mulching/composting
November - Fall Plantings
December - John Palmer, flower arrangements

3) Pultneyville Home Tours "Sailor's Farewell" – Carol Hopkins
- donations from local farms and florists for 10 houses on the tour
- Would Garden Club be able to donate small vase of cut flowers? Carol can call a meeting to discuss what owners would like
- Penny has started plants – should have extras to donate
- $25 tickets, 10 houses. Tickets are free to docent (work ½ day). 10-4pm

4. Feedback on December event
- more people needed to work on arrangements
- set up work stations so goes more smoothly
- complimentary article AND letter in Sun and Record

Master Gardener Program

2008-01-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Laurie Van Norstrand from the Cornell Cooperative Extenstion in Wayne County, contacted me.

She is putting together a list of Master Gardener candidates for the next class. If you are interested,, please leave your contact information on the Master Gardener voicemail at Cornell Cooperative Extension, Wayne County, at 315-331-8415 x107.

Just FYI - The Cornell Cooperative Extension has a gardening hotline that is typically open, Tuesday and Friday from 9am - noon. Please call the office at 315-331-8415 and ask to speak to one of the highly trained Master Gardener volunteers.

thanks!
Subrata

Herbology URL Links

2008-01-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

For those who missed an excellent lecture last night, feel free to contact me for a copy of the handout.

Meddy provided some useful URLs:

http://herbsociety.org/index.php - perhaps the best source to begin with

http://www.plantations.cornell.edu/collections/botanical/herb_brochure_cfm - who knew we had this resource almost in our backyard? In nearby Ithaca, science meets art and the beauty of nature.

http://www.websterny.com/arboretum - this is right in our backyard, in Webster

http://www.gardensalive.com/ - helpful products/beneficial insects

http://www.ann-mccormick.com/HerbNCowgirl/GardenDesign2.htm - ideas on formal garden designs

http://www.planetbotanic.ca/fact_sheets/fact_sheets.htm - individual herb fact sheets, some historical data with medicinal observances written with indvidual flair

--------------------

Other interesting URLs:

http://www.herbcompanion.com/ - herb magazine

http://www.abouthyme.com/dayletters/ - All About Thyme A Weekly Calendar of Times & Seasonings

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/herbs/ - excellent resource for Q&A

If you have other suggested herb sites, let me know and I'll post them!

happy gardening!
Subrata

The vote is in!

2008-01-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

Mike Orr's Green Space will be our focus for the Fiskar Grant this year.

We've already taken pictures and measurements of the area (thanks, Shirley!) and are on our way to working on the grant.

Watch this space as we post updates!

- Subrata

Update on Members Meeting

2008-01-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

We had a GREAT turn-out yesterday at our members meeting.

Topics of discussion included the Fiskars grant and also our year-long Monthly Lectures.

1. We are going forward with applying for the Fiskar grant. Eric Herriman is going to lead the group and there were some great ideas tossed around. Penny Higgins found out that the grant can be used for any community focused activity. Some people have already e-mailed me offering their expertise/proof-reading abilities and other skills. If you are interested in participating in applying for the grant, please contact Eric.

2. We came up with an AMAZING 2008 monthly lecture schedule. Highlights include, but are not limited to, water garden tour, japanese garden tour, dayliily garden tour, rose garden tour (are we seeing a trend here?). If we are able to get the speakers, we will have a lecture on hardscaping/landscaping and mulching. Just a reminder that next Wednesday, we will have our Herbology 101 lecture.

If you have suggestions/speaker recommendations, etc. please email them to me.

3. Finally, we're going to plan ahead a bit for the spring plantings. For anyone who is available, Lorraine Mason has agreed to meet with us on Wednesday, January 30th, at 7pm at the Williamson Library to talk about spring plantings for this year. We got some GREAT compliments last year and hope we can come up with plant ideas that will last the entire season.
This will hopefully be the only month we end up having THREE meetings but it's nice to start out the year with some very exciting things going on.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

January Lecture - Growing and Caring of Herbs

2008-01-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Have you wondered how to pick the best herbs to grow in this area? Are you confused between ornamental herbs and culinary herbs? Are you interested in growing herbs from seeds?

The Williamson Garden Club is excited to announce that our January lecturer will be Meddy from Meddy's Musings in Williamson. She will lecture on Herbology 101: Growing and Care of Herbs , a basic overview of choosing, growing and caring for herbs.

This free lecture will be on Wednesday, January 23rd at the Williamson Public Library at 7:00pm. As with all our lectures, this event is open to the public.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

January Members Meeting

2008-01-08T07:30:00.001-08:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

I hope you're enjoying the beautiful weather! Who would have thought we would have 60 degree weather in January?

I'm still working on our January event and hope to have something put together soon.

In the meantime, I thought we should get started with our member's meeting to discuss plans for 2008.We've gotten some good buzz so far - Jim Hoffman gave some nice praise for our Fall Plantings and the Sun & Record has run some nice articles about our donated Flower Arrangements at Blossom View. We'll be meeting on Tuesday, 1/15 in the interior conference room at the Williamson library at 7pm . I hope to see everyone there!

And for those of you who are free during the day, I received this from the Wayne County Cooperative Extension:
Free Presentation: Thursday, January 17th from 11am to noon at the Wayne County Cooperative Extension in Newark"Weed Suppressive Groundcovers" a presentation from Brian Eshenaur, NYS Integrated Pest Management Team.We will learn about plants that can help control weeds in those hard to mow spots or that can be planted to cut down landscape maintenance. Please call(315)331-8415 by January 15th to RSVP if you can join us.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Review of the last few years

2007-12-09T17:09:00.001-08:00

So what have we been doing since we started in 2005?

In addition to our monthly members meetings, here is a list of our monthly lectures:

1. September 2005 - Grace Matthews, National Federated Garden Club Information
2. October 2005 - Diane Van Acker-Hopp, Hydrangeas
3. November 2005 - Mike DeVito, Orchids
4. December 2005 - Sarah Van Eenwyk, Christmas Plants

1. January 2006 - John Palmer, Flower Arrangement Techniques and Supplies
2. February 2006 - Audrey Deanne, Heirloom Tomatoes and Seeds
3. March 2006 - Sarah Van Eenwyk, Perennials
4. April 2006 - Lorraine and Doug Mason, Mason Farms Tour
5. May 2006 - Diane Van Acker-Hopp, Main Street/Town Hall Planting
6. June 2006 - Members-only Plant Exchange
7. July 2006 - Parker Zach, Daylily tour
8. September 2006 - Diane Van Acker-Hopp, tour of her farm/division of plants
9. October 2006 - John Palmer/Lagoner Farm, Created Pumpkin Centerpieces
9. November 2006 - Diane Van Acker-Hopp, Town Hall/Main Street Fall Plantings

1. January 2007 - Penny Darby, Houseplants
2. February 2007 - Rebecca Hatch, Propagating Plants
3. March 2007 - Penny Higgins, Starting Seeds
4. April 2007 - Lorraine and Doug Mason, Mason Farms Tour
5. May 2007 - Town Hall/Main Street Plantings & Apple Blossom Festival
6. June 2007 - Audrey Ferris, Rose Garden Lecture and Tour
7. August 2007 - Sue Harrison, Butterfly Gardens
8. September 2007 - Pultneyvill Historical Society Garage Sale/Plant Sale
9. October 2007 - Joyce Lyle, Federated Garden Club Information Meeting
10. November 2007 - Fall Planting for Town Hall/Main Street Planters
11. December 2007 - John Palmer, Create Floral Arrangements

December Event - Ceate Floral Arrangements

2007-12-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the Garden Club's December event.

John Palmer, from Lagoner Farms, will be teaching us how to make floral arrangements. The floral arrangements will then be donated to Blossom View so the residents there can enjoy them. If you have not had the opportunity to meet John, you are in for a lovely experience as he is very knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with flowers and creating beautiful arrangements.

This event is open to the public so please feel free to bring a friend.

The December event will take place on Monday, December 10th at 7pm. It will be at Lagoner Farms ( http://www.lagonerfarms.com/?pid=fs_ov) at 6895 Lake Avenue.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata
http://grow-thewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com/

October Lecture

2007-10-19T06:30:00.001-07:00

Williamson Garden Club Presents Lecture on
the Federated Garden Club of New York

The Williamson Garden Club is excited to have Joyce Lyle, from the Federated Garden Club, as our October guest speaker.

The presentation will be on Monday, October 29th in the Williamson Library’s large meeting room at 7:00 P.M.

The presentation will be open to the public, but we do ask that non-members call ahead, so that adequate seating can be arranged. The presentation will include time for questions and answers. For more information and/or to confirm your attendance you can call Subrata Paul at (315) 524-4204. If you need information about Garden Club activities, membership, etc. feel free to email grow14589@yahoo.com. Additionally, you can check out our blog at http://grow-thewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com to see when we are holding our meetings and upcoming events.

Fall Update

2007-10-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

What an amazing fall we're having so far! I am loving the weather and enjoying the last-minute blooming of some of my plants.

1. As many are starting their fall cleanup, I thought you might enjoy some information from the Wayne County Cornell Cooperative regarding fall cleanup. Topics include composting, protection from rodent damage, as well as other information.
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/wayne/gardening/000277.php

Remember that this is a great time to get your spring-growing bulbs, such as daffodils and tulips, into the ground!

2. For those us fortunate enough to visit Audrey Ferris' garden this past year, just a tip if your rose clipping rooted. Audrey recommends keeping the glass jar on top of the cutting to provide a little protection from the cold and snow.

Let me know if your rose clippings survived. Three of mine have survived and I am looking forward to see what new roses I have for next year!

3. I wanted to thank those gardeners who have been generous in donating their "hardy annuals" to the Garden Club. We are still open to donations so please keep us in mind if you're thinning your gardens or if you have hardy annuals (ex. gerbera daisies, geraniums, canna, dahlias, etc.) that you would like to donate to us. You can contact me or John Ferrante for pick up.

We are currently planning the remaining month's gardening lectures. If you have suggestions, feel free to contact me.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Williamson Garden Club Update

2007-09-27T07:58:00.001-07:00

Hi Fellow Gardeners -

The weather has been great for taking care of our gardens and it looks like this weekend is going to be wonderful to be outside. It's hard to believe that it's the end of September, with all the greenery and growing flowers!

A couple of items:

1. If anyone has annuals that are actually "hardy perennials" (they would survive in warmer climates) such as geraniums, gerbera daisies, dahlias, etc. and are planning on getting rid of them, please consider donating them to the Garden Club. We can overwinter them and use them in the public areas next year. You can contact myself or John.

If you have perennials that you are thinking of getting rid of (or "shovel pruning" as my husband likes to say), again please consider contacting the Garden Club as we may be able to use them.

2. Just a reminder that there is going to be an Informational Meeting on the NYS Route 104/21 Gateway study. The meeting is tonight - Thursday, September 27 - at the First United Methodist Church, 4146 East Main Street from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The evening will consist of a formal presentation followed by an informal gathering. The consultant team will provide an overview of the project and its timeline, a summary of what they have learned to date, and discuss some of the preliminary ideas that have been generated by the process. During the informal session, residents and business owners will have an opportunity to exchange ideas directly with engineers, planners, and designers that are here to help us achieve our vision.

As many of you know, the Williamson Garden Club grew out of the first Charrette meeting (thanks to the hard work of John Ferrante) and it is exciting to see the progress that has been made since that first meeting!

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Update on Plant Sale/September Meeting

2007-09-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

1. The September sale was a huge success! We raised over $80 for the Garden Club and are looking forward to using that money towards beautifying Williamson.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Perry Howland and his wife, Dorothy. They provided a spot for us to set up and generously paid the garage sale fee for us to set up.

Plants, shrubs, fruits and vegetables were donated by John Ferrante, Carol Hopkins, Ed and Kris Jorolemon, Scott Utley, Penny Higgins and Eric Herriman. Without those items and their hard work, the sale would have not succeeded as well as it did. We had two big tables overflowing with items to tempt people into buying items and learning about the Garden Club.

2. We will be having our September meeting on Monday, September 24 at 7pm at Penny Higgins' house. Come early as we will have a plant give-away of the remaining plants from the sale (and possibly some new ones depending on how energetic I am over the weekend). After the plant giveaway, we will meet to vote on new officers for the coming year and discuss Garden Club activities for the coming year, including the Fall Plantings.

If you are not yet a member, I encourage you to come and check us out. Dues are only $10 and children join free is a parent is a member.

If you are a new member, we would love to have new ideas and new energy involved in moving the Garden Club forward in 2008.

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

September Garden Sale - September 15th

2007-09-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Fellow Gardeners!

We will be having a Fall Garden Sale on September 15th. We will be setting up on Jay Street as part of the Pultneyville Historical Society Annual Community Flea Market and Garage Sale.

Bring your plants, veggies and whatever else garden-related that you would like to donate to the Garden Club for sale!

see you there
Subrata

August's event

2007-08-08T07:11:00.001-07:00

This promises to be a good one! I hope you all can make it!

~Penny

August Garden Club Lecture

2007-08-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

Mark your calendars!!

We are excited to announce that we will be having a Master Gardener coming in to discuss Butterly Gardens on Monday, August 20th, at 7pm. The lecture will be at the Williamson Pulic Library.

We hope to see everyone there. If you have any questions, feel free to email grow14589@gmail.com

thanks!
Subrata

Daylilies in Bloom!

2007-07-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last year, the Garden Club was fortunate to be invited to get a private tour of a gorgeous daylily garden. Hopefully we will have the opportunity again this year. More information as details develop.

Daylilies are reaching their peak right now, and they will be featured at two events in Monroe County:

- More than 250 varieties of daylilies will be on display and more than 50 varieties will be for sale at the Webster Arboretum Daylily Display and Sale. The sale runs from 8 a.m. to noon July 14 at the Webster Arboretum, 1700 Schlegel Road, Webster. Half the profits of the sale go to the arboretum. For more information, call (585) 370-4260.

- More than 650 varieties of daylilies can be seen during free tours of Enchanted Gardens, an American Hemerocallis Society official national display garden, this month and next. Hours of the tours, during which daylilies will also be sold, are 9 to 11 a.m. Saturdays and 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays at Enchanted Gardens, 1085 State Road, Penfield (between Jackson and Shoecraft roads). Tours at other times are also available by appointment. For more information or to schedule a tour outside of regular tour hours, call (585) 265-9635.

Friday night excitement

2007-06-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Gardeners,

This is an invitation from the current GROW president, Penny, to attend a fun-fun bonfire extravaganza at her home this Friday (June 22).

Come early, and walk through my (weedy) gardens. Bring the kids. Well-behaved dogs (preferably with leash) are allowed.

Come later, and enjoy the fire, the lightning bugs, and perhaps an adult beverage.

Contact Penny for more information and to RSVP. If enough folks want to join the festivities, we'll set up the grill and have hamburgs and hots, too.

I can be reached at: paleololigo@gmail.com, paleololigo@yahoo.com, or 315-879-1123

~Penny

Maplewood Rose Garden Festival

2007-06-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners -

Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out the Maplewood Rose Garden.
Friday-Sunday (June 15-17)
28 Driving Park Ave 14613

Located off Lake Ave in the northwest area of the city, the Maplewood Rose Garden is one of the area's largest municipal Rose Garden. In its collection of more than 3,000 bushes you can find varieties from the antique 'Malmaison' to the most recent hybrids such as 'Princess Diana'. The roses fill more than 1 acre of garden with beautiful scent and color from early June nearly until Thanksgiving and outside the rose season the garden features bulbs, peonies, perennials and beautiful evergreens.

Rose enthusiasts will be sure to want to visit the Maplewood Rose Garden at the peak of bloom time, the second week in June. A three day festival highlights both the Garden and the surrounding neighborhood. Festival includes music, workshops, historic home and garden tours, gorge tours, children's activities, arts & crafts and more!"

2007-06-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

So what is growing your garden? If you have photos you would like us to post, send us an email!

thanks

Subrata

Reminder: June 11th Meeting

2007-06-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hello Gardeners -

Just a reminder that this coming Monday, June 11 at 7pm., the Garden Club will have an administrative meeting at the Williamson Library.

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!).

Spring Tulip

2007-05-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

Cornell Cooperative Extension ofWayne County

2007-05-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-31T08:43:00.000-07:00

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

Cornell Vegetable Variety Citizen Science Project

2007-05-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

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

Watering Schedule for Town Planters

2007-05-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

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.

Master Gardener Plant Sale, May 12th

2007-05-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

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

May Events - Spring Valley Greenhouse and Edgewood Nurseries

2007-05-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

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

Mark Your Calendars for May!

2007-04-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Fellow Gardeners -

Due to problems with the yahoo e-mail account, we've switched email addresses. Our new address is grow14589@gmail.com
Also, we have started a blog where we keep updated information on events. You can check us out at http://grow-thewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com/.

We had an amazing April event. Lorraine and Doug Mason, of Mason Farms, shared their secrets of creating a fast and easy planter as well as other tips to keeping gardening simple and easy (while still getting great results). We followed the discussion up with a walk through their new gorgeous greenhouse. It definitely made me want to rush home and dig in the dirt!

As many of you know, May is the time for Apple Blossom Festival. There are a number of things going on and we hope you can join us for some of them.

1. Saturday, May 12th.
We will be planting the town planters on Saturday, May 12th at 9am. We will definitely need some volunteers to help out as we have 18+ planters to plant. If you can help out, please email or call (524-4204). With the new techniques learned from Lorraine and enough volunteers, we should be able to get them done in no time.

In addition, Williamson is hosting its first "Clean Sweep" to get downtown ready for the Apple Blossom Festival. If you have time, after we are done planting the planters, please consider staying to clean up (pick up litter, pull weeds, painting, etc.) until 12:00 so we can get the Main Street Business area to look amazing for the festival!

2. Saturday, May 19th
Like we did last year, the garden club is planning on having a table to sell plants, generate some publicity and get some new members.

We could use any extra plants that you are willing to donate. You can either drop them off at the table on Saturday morning or you can call and someone from the Garden club will stop by and pick them up from you. (John Ferrante at 589-9557 or Eric/Subrata at 524-4204). If you know ahead of time that you will be donating, please let me know so we can plan the table space.

In addition, we could also use some volunteers to man the table. Last year we had a small but hardy bunch who manned the table the entire time but a few more bodies would help spread out the work.

Please let other interested gardeners know of these opportunities.

3. Finally, we are hoping to arrange a garden walk-through for May. It is still in the works but another message will be sent if we are able to arrange it.

In the meantime, Happy Gardening!thanksSubrataPS: If you need information about Garden Club activities, membership, or have suggestions for upcoming lectures, feel free to email. Additionally, you can check out the calendar at http://www.town.williamson.ny.us/ or at http://grow-thewilliamsongardenclub.blogspot.com/ to see when we are holding our meetings and upcoming events

Mark Your Calendars for April Event

2007-04-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Well after last week's snowstorm, I am ready to see some green, growing plants. Luckily we are going to have an excellent opportunity to get a sneak peek at what's going on at Mason Farms in Williamson.

Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 24th at 7pm. Mason Farms is located at 3135 Ridge Road. For more information or directions, please check out their website at http://www.masonfarmsny.com/.

We are looking forward to the opportunity to learn about their facilities and see how things are planted and grown.

Please let other interested gardeners know of this opportunity.

thanks
Subrata

PS: If you need information about Garden Club activities, membership, or have suggestions for upcoming lectures, feel free to email. Additionally, you can check out the calendar at http://www.town.williamson.ny.us/ to see when we are holding our meetings and upcoming events

Williamson's Clean Sweep

2007-04-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

The garden club will be participating in a 'Clean Sweep' of downtown Williamson the weekend before the Apple Blossom Festival. This will occur on May 12th. We'll keep you posted as specifics develop.

Also, the garden club hopes to have a table that Saturday of the Apple Blossom parade (May 19th). We hope to raise funds by selling plants, either extras from our own gardens, or seedlings that we started earlier in the spring. Let us know if you're willing to volunteer at the table or can donate some plants!

~WGC

Spring is in the air

2007-04-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

That is if you use 'spring' as a euphemism for 'snow!'

The weather looks as if it may finally turn for us, and that makes me happy. I have four flats of seedlings and a tray of plants purchased on-line that eagerly await getting plugged into the ground.

All I need is one warm weekend!

Happy Digging!

~Penny

Welcome

2007-04-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

We've decided to start a blog. It seemed like a good idea.

This is where we'll keep all the important information about club events and our thoughts on current, garden-related matters.

Enjoy