Cherry Hill Time Capsule

We received an e-mail from the Township of Cherry Hill requesting a donations to their time capsule commemorating their 50th anniversary of the official name change from Delaware Township to Cherry Hill Township. Mary, Twyla, Marilyn and Anita gathered pictures, newsletters and other HSSJ material along with a personal letter to put in the time capsule. The capsule was sealed on December 7, 2011 and will be reopened in De-cember, 2061 to mark the 100th anniversary of the name change.

2012 Scholarship Committee

We are actively seeking a member to chair this committee. If you are interested, please contact Mary or Twyla (see your membership list for phone numbers) for further information.

Thank You

A big thank you to all those members who brought food to our December program. It was such a festive and creative evening. Thank you Elsie for all you did that evening and to Lori for overseeing the making of the seed packets. Please consider bringing refresh-ments/food to share at our January meeting.

Karin Hirsh came across a fun website she wanted to share with the members — please visit www.hortmag.com, its filled with all sorts of horticulture information.

Master Gardener Classes

The next Camden County Master Gardener class series begins on 2/7/12. Classes will be held at the new Environmental Center at 1301 Park Boulevard, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002. Also, the Homeowners Spring Series will be held at the same location beginning February 7th. Please contact Becki Szkotak at 856-216-7130 for further information on these classes series.

November End-of-the Season Wrap-Up

This is an excellent time of year to test your soil for pH content and to correct it if needed by adding lime, working it into the soil so that it will do its job before spring planting time. Either get a soil-test kit from a gardening center or contact your local county extension service. Herbs are happiest in a neutral soil, or slightly above that, so if your soil in the herb garden tests below 6.5 pH level, sweeten it up!

Time to put the roses to bed. If you live in an area with mild winters, prune back the canes of hybrid teas to 24" to prevent the winter winds from snapping them. Then, wherever you live, heap on a good mulch. As with all winter mulches, the pur-pose is to prevent the soil from freezing and thawing, which heaves plants out of the soil. This is especially important in areas where there is not a steady, heavy snow cover to protect the plants from the extremes of temperature. Mound some garden soil (from another spot; not from under the roses) to cover 8-10" of the lower part of the cane. Later, after several hard freezes, add a layer of leaves, straw, or any mulch, about 5" deep, to keep the soil layer frozen. (A cup or two of bone meal added to the soil of rose bushes before you "hill" them up will do wonders come spring.)

Holiday Tip

The colonist created homemade remedies from their herb gardens for everything! There’s no guarantee that this one will cure a migraine, but you’ll have a sweet-smelling handbag each time you open it up! Keep a pouch in your purse of equal parts of dried marjoram, peppermint, lavender, and orange peel, with a few whole cloves. Then, when your holiday shopping begins to take its toll on you, inhale the pouch for relief from your holiday headaches.

— "The Pleasure of Herbs" by Phyllis Shaudys

GARDENING FROM THE INSIDE

Most people can’t wait for the NY Times to print their Summer reading book list. But us garden-ers are too busy in warm weather for leisurely reading, right? What gardeners need is a Winter reading book list. So I scoured the internet to find a few of the best books to read during a gardener’s downtime. Here are a few excerpts of reviews on recently published gardening books. — Twyla B.

"Grow the Good Life: Why a Vegetable Gar-den Will Make You Happy, Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise," by Michele Owens.
Even if you prefer the farmers’ market approach to fresh vegetables, Michele’s book makes you want to start your own vegetable garden.

"The Conscientious Gardener: Cultivating the Garden Ethic,"
by Sarah Hayden Reichard. A modest and unassuming but powerful book, arguing that gardeners should be on the front line when it comes to recognizing the interconnection of mankind and nature. "Practices and products," she writes, have crept into the craft of gardening "that decrease its long-term sustainability." The reviewer writes that she will never again resort to pesticides or peat moss after reading her book. Reichard’s chapter on soil, "the skin of the earth," is an excellent refresher for any gardener. There are 20,000 identified types of soil in the U.S. alone. Dirt may even be the new Prozac. Reichard mentions that working the soil might alleviate depression; a specific soil bacterium has been found to activate serotonin-releasing neu-rons. Which, at the very least, explains why more gardeners don’t throw down their shovels and quit.

"Beekeeper’s Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes and Other Home Uses,"
by Richard Jones and Sharon Sweeney-Lynch. The Bushmen of south-ern Africa believed the first human was born when a bee planted a seed in a mantis body. In Roman times, secret love letters were carved into wax tablets, from which the incriminating evi-dence could be easily removed. The authors ex-plain the science and society of bees in clear, accessible language. And the recipes are admirably useful: honey scones, honey soak, honey hangover cures.

Page Dickey is the author of six previous garden books,

including one called "Duck Hill Journal," written 20 years ago, about her three-acre garden in upstate New York. Change has come with the passage of time — divorce, remarriage, grandchil-dren and aching bones. "Embroidered Ground: Revisiting the Garden" is another tour of what sounds like a well-loved and highly demanding homestead. "Embroidered Ground" is a sweet, tender love story about how gardens and garden-ers age and adapt, each to the other.

"Tomorrow’s Garden: Design and Inspiration for a New Age of Sustainable Gardening,"
 by Stephen Orr. Stephen Orr writes gracefully about the mellowing of his own design sensibilities. He argues that gardeners must start considering "sustainability in water usage, plant choices, local ecology and preservation of resources." He resists a didactic tone, concentrating instead on describ-ing small plots whose modest beauties speak vol-umes. There are intriguing designs here for any gardener.

Orr’s excellent book is also a hymn to resourcefulness.

A beekeeper in Chicago tends dozens of hives at an abandoned parking lot. A young woman plants sunflowers along the curbs in the neighborhood surrounding Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, an E.P.A. cleanup site, and strangers leave her thank you notes. And the best idea to come along in years is yard-sharing, which Orr describes in an enthusiastic visit to Portland, Oregon.

"The Late Interiors: A Life Under Construction,"

by Marjorie Sandor. This most soulful gar-den book is Sandor’s memoir that covers her pas-sage into middle age and through it all, she gar-dens — and proffers nimble mediations on heal-ing, friendship, literature, architecture and music. You won’t find design advice or planting tips in this book. What you will find is a simple answer to the question, Why bother? Over the centuries, around the world, we have always come home to one truth: Gardening sustains life, love, and happi-ness

Refreshments

Just wanted to again thank everyone who brought food to the Halloween table and, of course, all who helped me decorate. If you are going to bring refreshments this month, please keep in mind the theme will be „Thanksgiving.‟ Look forward to all the goodies you all bring. P.S. We have a few wheat gluten intoler-ants as part of our group now, so please think of them when you make your table choices. — Janet

2011 Fall Flower Show:

The results are in . . . The winner of the Evelyn Pierce Award for All Around Best in Show is Kathleen Harvey. Congratulations Kathleen!

NJDOT and Cherry Hill partner to beautify Route 70
Wildflowers being planted along highway median

NJDOT and Cherry Hill partner to beautify Route 70

(Cherry Hill) - New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner James Simpson today announced a cooperative effort with the Township of Cherry Hill to beautify sections of the Route 70 median in Cherry Hill with wildflower plantings.

The initiative advances the Christie Administration’s Clean Up NJ campaign to improve the appearance of New Jersey highways to benefit residents and attract and retain businesses to the Garden State.

“Neat and attractive roadways send a strong message to visitors and prospective business owners that New Jersey is a great place live, work and create jobs,” Simpson said. “We are delighted to team up with Cherry Hill to spruce up the important commercial corridor in a way that adds beauty, reduces demands on mowing crews and benefits the environment.”

“Route 70 carries more than 60,000 vehicles a day and runs adjacent to hundreds of businesses in Cherry Hill, so to a large degree this is our Township’s front porch,” said Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt. “This new initiative will deliver a fresh coat of paint to this tired roadway and present a much more aesthetically pleasing landscape for our overall community.”

Ten sections of the median will be planted with wildflower seeds within the next several weeks, covering a total area of three acres. Nine of the median sections to be planted are in Cherry Hill, with the easternmost section at the border of Cherry Hill in Evesham. The westernmost wildflower location will be near the intersection of Route 70 and Route 30.

The collaborative effort includes mowing by NJDOT crews and preparing the ground and seeding the soil by the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which has planted 30 acres along the Atlantic City Expressway with wildflowers this year.

Cherry Hill officials have played a leading role in coordinating the effort, including enlisting the support of a Cherry Hill civic organization to contribute the seeds and a Berlin landscaper who will volunteer time and equipment to water the wildflowers.

 

African Violets/Bonsai Pots   Al Case

I am a member of the AVS living in New Jersey (Marlton).  In the long cold winter, African Violets are my sanity savior.  Looking out at a lawn, backyard and driveway covered with snow is tiring.  Shoveling it is more tiring.  My escape is in my plant room (study). It is on these snowy, cold days that I sit among my plant collections of cacti, orchids and most of all African violets.  The plants give me an awareness that this cold, snowy long winter will be over in the next 2 1/2 months.  In the meantime, I pamper my African violets.   Why African violets?  Because they are the most friendly of all the plants in my collection.  At no time is one not in bloom or getting ready to flower.  I discovered that African violets are a good plant for bonsai pots which I pick up at the Phila. Flower Show.  I have a collection of pots and plant all sizes of African violets in them.  They look better than in those plastic pots they come in.  I am now in possession of 9 bonsai pots growing African violets.

  Those of us who stay up north in the winter can beat the winter blues with a window sill or a desk top with a light and two or three, I would suggest three, African violets.  They would perk up the cold, gray skies of winter.  This is only my idea.  There is no scientific data to prove my reasoning.  I am still in New Jersey and at last evaluation I am sane.  At least I think I am.. 

Thank You HSSJ

I’d like to thank the membership for their cards and messages in sympathy at the passing of my husband Val—it’s times like these that one appreciates the camaraderie engendered by this organization.  Harriet Monshaw Yeah! Ernie is Home!

To those who don’t know Ernie Greiser received heart by-pass surgery at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital back in Mid-January. He is recuperating at home and we here he is doing quite well.  Ping and Twyla representing the HSSJ took  over a food tray from their favorite restaurant, Panerra Bread last week. Get well Ernie, we miss you! June we know you are taking good care of him. Spring is almost here Ernie so hang in there! I hope you are writing some more poems for the newsletter while you’ve been resting. Website Question Answered by a Pro

We are always getting questions from people all over the world about our group and about gardening. Below is a recent HSSJ website question that I thought I would pass on to everyone…I am a 6th grade science teacher in Cherry Hill. We are planning on installing a greenhouse to start vegetable and herb plants for our garden. When is the best time to start the plants indoors from seeds? Is it possible to use the greenhouse effectively in early March without heat? Dear Sir,  Mary Metrione and Chris Espinosa from the Horticultural Society of South Jersey asked me to provide you information on starting seeds in your greenhouse.I’m enclosing an excellent article from the University of Missouri on starting vegetables and flowers, and one from Rutgers.  When you should start vegetable seeds for later planting outside depends on the vegetable.  Only the cool season vegetable seeds should be started now, and even those are limited.  The cool season vegetables are things like lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower.   Frequently the package will  say start your seeds indoors “x” days before the date of last frost.  Don’t start your seeds to early, or they’ll become leggy.  It is very important to know the date of last frost when you want to start seeds or move seedlings outside.  In our area, we use Mother’s Day as the rule of thumb for the date of last frost.    The article from Missouri gives approximate times to start inside for  Missouri which is mostly Zone 5.  We are in Zone 6, a little warmer, so you can go back one or two weeks from Missouri U. recommendation for indoor seeding.  For example, if it says mid March, you can use early March.  Your seeds won’t germinate if the greenhouse is too cold, hasn’t enough sunlight, or is too dry.  Generally speaking, the temperature needs to be 60-65F, for cool season starters and 70-75 for warm season starters.  Again it depends on the vegetable.  And there needs to be sun, perhaps on the order of 10-12 hours.  Moisture is important.  Don’t let seedlings dry out. If your area is too cold and dry, you might want to consider enclosing your flats or pots in a tent of clear plastic.   Please review the attached articles for hints. (e.g. beans don’t transplant too well so you might want tostart them in a plantable container so that the root won’t be disturbed.)  Herbs generally need sun and heat to germinate and grow and are very similar to the warm season vegetables.  Most won’t tolerate frost and germinate in 2 to 3 weeks.  Make sure to read the information on hardening off seedlings.  Don’t just dig  a hole and put them in. They’ll be shocked.  (It might be interesting to have the students experiment on what works and what doesn’t for a particular plant in your environment.) Rutgers has a Cooperative Extension office, with Master Gardeners on call from 9AM-12PM in Clementon, where you’ll be able to get more info too.  The number is 856-566-2900.http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G6570http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=fs787 Regards, Bernadette Eichinger Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s Annual Meeting"Pine Barrens Landscapes, Frozen Ground, and the Jersey Devil" &"The Great Debate: Native Plant Species vs. Cultivars in the Landscape"Hosted by The Lewis W Barton Arboretum & Nature Preserve at Medford LeasOne Medford Leas Way Medford, New Jersey 08055Saturday March 12 10:00 - 3:30 $20 per person(Includes all presentations and hike, light morning refreshments and full lunch.)To register click hereMark Demitroff, member of the University of Delaware Permafrost Group and PhDstudent at the Geography Department, will present "Pine Barrens Landscapes,Frozen Ground, and the Jersey Devil", an exciting story of the region's naturalhistory, enriched by adding botanical context to recent geological studies.Join us as Restoration Specialist Bill Young of Young Environmental, LLC andPropagation Guru Jason Austin of Rare Find Nursery debate the value andimportance of Native Species and Cultivars in the landscape. Come prepared withquestions, this will be a real debate with your questions being addressed by thespeakers.A Native Plant Sale and Hike will follow the meeting.The Native Plant Society of New Jersey's mission is to promote theappreciation, preservation and study of New Jersey's Native Flora. Plant Artistry is born!

By Kathleen Harvey President of Plant Artistry, Chief HorticulturalistUnderstanding the environment a plant will grow in is key to its success. Landscape plants beautify your home or office and can enhance their value. House plants can filter the air of pollutants while brightening your space. Having a dinner party or special event? For about the same price as a cut flower arrangement you can have several plants in your home or office for the duration of your event.  We can work with you to select the right plants for your space. For people who love plants but don’t have the time or energy to plant themselves, or if you just need a little help from time to time, we’re here to help you make your world more beautiful. We are open by appointment only, so please call to schedule some time together.For more information call our own Kathleen Harvey at  856-317-0611 or click here to email her. It’s Really Coming!  Spring Chris EspinosaOK, call me crazy, but doesn’t everyone get excited when you see the garden centers and home centers put out the seed displays.  I just saw my first seed display at Lowes this weekend and immediately bought about 10 bucks of assorted  seeds.  The displays are so colorful and my heart gets pumping as I look through the alphabetized varieties. My selection is always the same in the beginning; Zinnia’s, Lettuce, Portulaca, Basil-Thai and Sweet, Bachelor Buttons…  I can feel the life trying to escape out of those little packets as I hold them in my hand.  I read the planting dates and try not to get too discouraged-Zone 6 April…I have to wait till April?  The photos are always the same on the front of the packets (the giant pumpkins always has the pumpkin next to a little kid, the hot peppers are always in a wicker basket on a table top) but I don’t care they still seem so new,  just the sound of the seeds rattling in the envelopes makes me want to put on my garden gloves and start digging. I can feel the warm sun on my back as I carefully dig a small trough for the lettuce seeds and as I search for a good stick to poke through the spent seed packet to proudly display at the front of the row.  As I get closer to the register to pay for my spring goodies I see the line goes all the way down the paint aisle…carts loaded with ice melt and snow shovels, one man has a cart full of reduced Christmas décor.  “What’s wrong with these people” I think to myself “don’t they know spring is almost here!”. As I stand in the line, hardly moving, I decide I am not waiting in line for just a few seed packets….I walk back over to the seed display and quickly put them back in their respective places and go out the “IN” door.  “I’ll get them next time” I think to myself as I trudge through the slushy snow back to the car.  Spring will have to wait a few more weeks.

From the Prez. While sitting in my rocking chair thinking back over last year, I started getting a warm glow thinking about our club and what we accomplished last year.  Our members came up with such good ideas.  June and Ernie wanted to do the Pot Luck, er, I mean Covered Dish and planned it all.  Anita Nieves and Mindy Carfagno wanted to do a Tea Party and took care of that, even the door prizes. Twyla Bevilacqua was contacted by Collingswood for Second Saturday and took care of getting that started.  Garfield School’s after school program director contacted us to do a program and the people on that committee  produced not only one program but four:  Bernadette Eichinger, Maunie Sgobbo, Nan Mattis and Twyla Bevilacqua accomplished that.    The same people plus Mary Ann Watts did our part for the Woodcrest School Earth Day Program.  Twyla bagged Mike McGrath, for our biggest attended meeting. Al Case, Nan Mattis, and I went to Cadbury to do a program similar to the one done at our meeting place in Cherry Hill for the Senior’s group that meets there. Some of our members have been mentioned in local papers, Elsie Scharff, Chris Espinosa, and past member Eva McCarthy.  We worked on the Croft Farm Garden to get that in shape for their Earth Day where we also were represented.  Our flower shows were beautiful and this year we added photography to include more of our members.  Carol Restrepo and Leigh Eastwood did a great job planning our yearly bus trip to Ladew Gardens in Maryland.  It rained on our summer garden visitation day, however, enough of us showed up to make it worthwhile.  The weather for our yearly picnic in August at Pricilla Torio’s with a whole pig was not to be missed, sorry if you did. We heard of a local family with a child who has cancer and helped by making her yard safe to play in. John Zearbaugh was the landscaper in charge  We worked with some local people from Haddonfield to clean up the Tatem Pocket Park on King’s Highway in Haddonfield.  Chris Espinosa met with people from Subaru and the National Wildlife Federation to come up with native plantings for their agencies. Chris also led our first canoe trip in the Pine Barrens and pointed out the native plants along the way.  Bernadette Eichinger did a wonderful job of getting our notices in local papers and lovely fliers to advertise our monthly speakers.Please keep the great ideas flowing in the new year and I hope you all have a happy and healthy 2011!  Mary Metrione, The Prez. Earth Day at Croft Farms

I know it’s a little early but set this date aside to spend the day at the Earth Day Festival at the Croft Farm. What better way to spend a beautiful spring day then to honor the Earth herself. The celebration begins at 10 AM Saturday April 30^th (see, I said it was a little early, but we could use it now) and will end at 4 PM.  There will be bands and food as well as information booths and yes the HSSJ will be handing out seed packets to everyone. Anita Nieves will keep us posted as the time gets closer. We had a great time last year and plan on having an even better time this year.Spider Mites

There are numerous kinds of mites, also known as spider mites, and many feed on plants. They congregate in dense colonies in webs on the undersides of leaves. Symptoms of their feeding show up as silvering or a stippled effect on the leaf top, but the precise symptom varies with the plant. Turn over affected leaves and you're likely to find spider mite webbing; if you rub the leaf it will feel gritty. Mites feed on many kinds of plants, edible and ornamental. Houseplants are a favorite target.
Control: Hot, dry, and dusty conditions encourage mites. Keep plants well watered and wash them off frequently. If you detect an infestation, first spray plants with a forceful stream of water to knock mites from the leaves. If the infestation persists, spray plants with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, covering the undersides of leaves thoroughly. In orchards, buy and release predatory mites, and encourage any that are already present by not spraying insecticides.

A Gardener’s Prayer During the Winter

Oh great Garden God,
Give me the strength to make it through another winter.
Please protect my nose from frostbite,
while I have it pressed against the back window,
dreaming about next year’s garden layout.
Fill my mailbox with seed catalogues and Garden Magazines.
Help my spouse understand why I need to put the garden gloves on and watch HGTV with a big glass of lemonade.
Help me erase that loitering charge from my record I got at the Home Depot indoor garden section.
Help me get over the urge to try to root my fresh cut Christmas tree (God, I wish that worked).
Help speed up global warming so I can garden all year round and actually grow a palm tree in my Cherry Hill front yard.
And last but not least...help me say “NO” to Mary Metrione once in a while.
anonymous

Chipper-Shredder Basics (Should have ask for one for Christmas)

Yard wastes are the stuff that great compost and mulch is made of. To these, you can add the vegetable wastes from your kitchen. Chipper/shredders not only make materials compost faster, they reduce the volume by up to 10 times. The chipper/shredder was once a power tool only of interest to people with large properties or serious gardeners who like to cook up a batch of compost now and then. But now the landfill problem has suburban homeowners looking at chipper/shredders and their evolutionary cousin, the chipper vacuum. The chipper-vac is the first truly new piece of power equipment to come along in years. Looking something like a lawnmower with a chute attached to it (or a mechanical aardvark), it is used in three ways: Pushed around the yard like a lawn mower, it sucks up leaves and chops them into an attached bag. Chopped leaves break down into compost much faster that whole ones. The side chute is an entry point for chipping branches of up to three inches in diameter. These chips are good mulch around landscape plants. An optional hose attachment sucks leaves and wastes out from under bushes and along walls and hedges where a mower can't be pushed.
A wide range of chipper/shredders are available for different size jobs, ranging from electric units for the small yard to large gasoline-powered ones that will chomp up a brick and still keep ticking. Most are units on wheels that stand upright to allow material to be fed into the top, although at least one model has a funnel that rests on the ground and allows leaves to be raked in. With the pressure on America's landfills, chipper/shredders may soon find their place in the garage next to the lawn mower as the power equipment almost everyone needs to own.

Clean up Day at Grace’s –A Big Success:

Grace Doran, a little girl with Stage 3 Lymphoblastic Lymphoma needed our help. Her back yard needed some TLC and needed to be cleaned up so she could play safely back there. There were some old construction leftovers, boards with nails in them, pieces of concrete and an old aluminum garden shed that desperately needed to come down. The turnout was wonderful, people from Graces school, some friends and of course that zany group of gardeners known as the HSSJ was there.  John Zearbaugh brought a truck load of Mulch and all the tools we needed to get the task done. Under John’s guidance we completely mulched the backyard all around the swing set area and made a great little path that leads to a wooden platform (the old foundation of the tool shed) that would make a great stage for a makeshift outdoor theatre for a young child. Grace’s Grandpa made us all delicious meatball sandwiches and the hot coffee, doughnuts and treats kept coming. What a great feeling it was to know that you are really doing something good for someone that really appreciates it.  Grace’s mom was right there pulling up weeds and raking with the rest of us.  The final result was a safe and pleasant little backyard a little girl can play safely in this spring.  I think we all agree this is still a work in progress and we plan on making a couple more visits in the spring to really do our HSSJ stuff. As a matter of fact we will be meeting at Grace’s again Saturday January 15^th, at 10:00 AM for about 2 hours (snow raindate of Jan 22^nd) The address is 47 Bryn Mawr Street, near the Cherry Hill Mall.  Bring wheel barrows, shovels and rakes if possible.
Mystery of the Churchyard Rose

I had to know its name. But how could I identify it—so many cultivars and so little time. This rose was one of my earliest gardening memories. I was about six years old when I first noticed it. Summer at the shore was just beginning. Most mornings I’d wander over to play at my adventuresome cousin Bobby’s house three blocks away. On the corner of his street was a small church. In the churchyard over the 2’ crenulated wall bloomed clusters of small fragrant light pink roses. They pleased me. I’d slow down to take a better look.                                           Fast forward to 2001, the year I began landscaping and maintaining that same churchyard. Because I needed plants that bloomed during the summer when the church was in operation, I removed most of the unknown, once blooming rose plant--didn’t fit the landscape plan. But for sentimental reasons, I transplanted two of them to the back wall where they couldn’t be seen. Except for cutting them back, I forgot about them until this summer. Now I was desperate to know the rose’s name. What pushed me over the edge?            In May of this year, the owner of the next door property put up a 5’ plastic fence. He warned me that, “If those roses are going to climb my fence, I’ll cut them down.” I tried explaining there is no such thing as a climbing rose but it fell on deaf ears. I told him I would cut them back after they bloomed because I needed photos of the rose in bloom in order to identify it. It was now or never. Plant fanatic versus plastic fence fanatic.            I contacted the West Jersey Rose Society. They put me in touch with a member, Bill Kozemchak of Levittown, PA, man of a few hundred rose plants. I sent him an email with some images of the rose in bloom and its habit. I included the following information:--light pink clusters, blooming once in early June—years ago it was later in the month--canes are bright green, lax and mounding on the ground--leaves tend to be mildew prone especially as blooms fade--planted between 1923 and 1947.  Bill Koz was not familiar with the rose. He forwarded the email and images to those he thought might be able to identify an older rose. Luckily one of those people was Pat Pitkin, an “old rose” aficionado. She immediately recognized the plant. She wrote, “These roses look like my ‘Dorothy Perkins’ rambler that I received from my Grandmother in Connecticut. They were popular in the forties and were identified by their mildew!!! They usually start to bloom as the other once bloomers begin to quit.  Flowers from Grandma Whit’s original bush were in my Mom’s wedding flowers, June 20, 1930 in CT.”
I was thrilled!  With that knowledge, I did some further investigation. Thus the following plant profile and history of this vigorous “climber” and prolific bloomer: flower: 1-1 ½”; petal count 30-35; cluster size 15+, fragrant. Hips: orange elongated .5 x .3”foliage: dark glossy green, orange in fallcanes: bright green and procumbent, 12’+seed parent: R. wichurana (Sp, single white flower; procumbent); pollen parent: ‘Mme Gabriel Luizet’ (HP 34 petals pink 1877)culture: tolerant of poor soils and drought; hardiness zones 6-9American Rose Society rating 6.9  History: Introduced by Jackson & Perkins Co. in 1901, the rose was named in honor of Charles Perkins' granddaughter. In 1908, this rose won top honors at the Royal National Rose Society and then quickly became one of the most popular and widely-grown roses in the world. ‘Dorothy Perkins’ thrives at 85^th St. & Landis Ave, Townsend’s Inlet, NJ. Come visit this dainty but exuberant, rose next June.Harriet “Drew” Monshaw October 2010
 
                                                                  ColorsA mallard swims across a ribbon of gold cast by a setting sun.Geese in their brown, black and white plumage settle on the pond in early dusk.Leaves of weed and tree, bronze as old pennies cling to their blood red stems.Bronze, gold, orange, red, many colors in between surround the waters edge.It is life on and around the pond.Always different, ever the same.It is the triumph of color.It is the season end.Albert CaseMary, The Pres…
Gardening Mistakes I have made and not afraid to admit: 
Took out two large cedar bushes in front of our house beside the front door.  This spot gets sun most of the day, so what do we plant but hydrangeas, which  I understand like partial shade.  Then in the middle of the hot dry spell I planted celosia and coreopsis seeds along with petunia, salvia and some blue spiky plants.  The good news is that all of these flowers are giving the hydrangeas some shade so they look happier. The camellia that we planted also in mostly sun appears to have died, the giant moon flower  that was near it did not not come to its rescue with enough shade  to save it.  Feel free to share any of your gardening mistakes  with Chris on our website,  all you have to do is goggle  HSSJ and it comes right up., then on the right hand side of the Home page is a new newsletter form, simply fill it out with your name, phone and email and the story you want printed and hit submit (it’s that easy)
Mary, the Pres. Croft Farm Garden Update
Well we were out in force on Saturday October 16^th at the Croft Farm HSSJ garden.  We got rid of one of the last Juniper trees (thanks Ernie for your help in getting those roots out) that had overrun the garden.  We planted some winter hardy pansies (which we learned are the same as the Spring pansies-thanks Mike M-we really did listen to you) as well as a couple mums and a big bucket of Montauk Daisies (which I swear are the same as Shasta Daisies).  Being the radical gardeners that we are we even confiscated more ground off the township and expanded along the artist studios creating an herb garden.  In the new herb garden we planted a purple cabbage with really fancy leaves, a beautiful rosemary plant, some peppermint (that will probably be growing into Haddonfield by next spring), a cluster of chives and lots of oregano.  We also had a dedication to Frank Heiler by planting a beautiful crepe myrtle tree within the HSSJ garden.  We had a brief dedication ceremony and we installed a plaque commemorating Frank for being such a great friend to the society.  Please click here to see video of the dedication ceremony. The HSSJ teams up with the Garden Club of New Jersey. The Garden Club of New Jersey, Inc. (GCNJ), founded in 1925, is a federation of individual local garden clubs throughout the state. GCNJ has over 5,000 members, age 6-adult.
GCNJ is the state affiliate and a charter member of the National Garden Clubs, Inc., a non-profit educational organization.  The membership of NGC is composed of 6,218 member garden clubs with 198,595 members in the fifty states.  In addition, there are 447 international affiliates, making NGC the largest volunteer organization in the world.

                                                 GCNJ Objectives
 
To coordinate the interests of the garden clubs within the state and to bring them into closer relationship by association, conference, and correspondence.

To aid in the protection and conservation of our natural resources.

To cooperate with other groups furthering the interests of conservation and horticulture.

To encourage civic beauty and roadside development.

To study and teach the arts of flower arranging and horticulture.

To raise funds to support educational, charitable, and scientific causes.  To learn more about the Garden club of New Jersey click here

Flower Show a Big Success and Good Time. Hard to believe anyone had any flowers to show after a summer like this past summer. But our group being talented and dedicated gardeners had one heck of a garden show. We had 129 entries in five categories. Winner of Best in Show for Arrangements was Elsie Scharff for her dried arrangement using cotton she had grown herself, There were 24 flower arrangement entries. Winner of Best in Show for Potted House Plants was Florence Lon for her hydroponic plant. There were 38 entries in this category. Best of Show for Specimen Garden Flowers was Johanna Schmutz for her blooming perennial. There were 45 entries in this category. Best of Show for Photography went to Gwen Baile for her photo of a butterfly on a bloom. 21 photographs were entered. The overall Best of Show went to Mary Etta Loercher for her total first class ribbons throughout the show. She will receive the Evelyn Pierce Award for this honor.

The flower Show Committee was compsed of Leigh Eastwood - chair, Maunie Sgobbo - past chair, June Greiser, Kay Coyle, Jean Sedar, John Burgess, Al Case, Chris Espinosa, Elsie Scharff and Jean Volpa. Special thanks to Ron Baile who constructed the display board for the photography entries and John Zearbaugh who helped with its transport.

 HSSJ Summer Picnic was a Big Success
The Annual Horticultural Society Picnic was a big success.  There was plenty of food and drink for all.  Our thanks go out to Priscilla Torrio who hosted the event again this year.  We all made pigs out of ourselves, or actually the pig was the guest of honor. Spread out on the cornucopia table was a whole roasted pig (apple in mouth and all), along with spring rolls, macaroni salad, fruit salad, seaweed salad, chicken wings, veggies and cold beverages this was truly a picnic to end all picnics.

Our Friend
Frank Heiler lost his two year battle with cancer on July 29th. He was 71. Frank is retired from the Philadelphia Inquirer and had a bicycle shop on Broad Street in Phila. He is past president of the Pinelands and South Jersey Orchid Societies, as well as former Trustee of the Horticultural Society of South Jersey, and member of the Indoor Plant Society, PHS, and SEPOS. Frank won AOS awards for his orchids and ribbons for plants at the Phila Flower Show, Longwood Show, and many local flower shows. We volunteered for many events for the societies, and Frank’s generosity and willingness to help everyone with everything that needed doing was well known. We went on many trips and to events together, but he enjoyed simple things most, like morning coffee out back, dinner with friends, or walking around our garden in the evening.  He leaves behind his loving companion, Kathleen, our three ‘boys’ Romeo, Galahad, and Percival; his three daughters Mary, Terry, and Ginny, and seven grandchildren. Frank’s legacy is all the lives he touched with his kindness and generosity, and the indelible stamp he left on my heart. I would like to thank everyone who sent us cards, gifts, and prayers during his illness. They were a comfort. He was my best friend, was loved by many, and we will miss him.                                   
With Love, Kathleen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Annual HSSJ Pine Barrens Kayak Tour
The water was low but the scenery was gorgeous.  What a great day to be in the pines.  Thanks goes out to Karin Hirsch for organizing our first Kayak Tour. We paddle our tails down the mighty (OK, not so mighty) Batsto River.  Chris Espinosa shared some of his favorite secret spots with the group, with a tour of patches of wild pitcher plants and sundews.  We all packed a lunch and stopped at a quiet sandy cove to enjoy a well deserved meal. click here to see a video of the trip. Dont miss the next trip.  We will be planning another trip in the fall. What a great day!

NEWS: Any newsworthy items should be sent by the 20th of the preceding month to Chris Espinosa at newsletter@hssj.org or 856-779-7753 thanks.

 
Past Events of 2009-2010

   March's Presentation will be...
"Native Plants: What are they? Why does it matter?”

A Photo Journey: Chris Espinosa will be talking about his experience of designing a Native Garden for the Subaru Corp. of America along with 5 other volunteers under the guidance of the National Wildlife Federation. He will be sharing the information he learned about how important native plants are to our eco-system and some surprising facts about the plants we all love and enjoy. Learn about how that beautiful delicate honey suckle Gramma had in her back yard was actually strangling all the natives when you weren’t looking.  Enjoy some of Chris’ best collection of local garden photos, guaranteed to make you feel like spring is back.
Chris has been a member of the South Jersey Horticultural Society for over 5 years and works as a busy computer animator and graphic designer in Center City Philadelphia during weekdays, but comes home to his Cherry Hill backyard garden in the evenings and weekends eager to break ground on his newest phase of garden design.
November 09th 2010
"An Evening With Award-Winning Floral Designer Michael Bruce” Mr. Bruce of Michael Bruce Florist in Collingswood, NJ has been a featured exhibitor in the Philadelphia International Flower Show since 2004. He has received numerous awards, winning Best in Show in the Floral Design category, Best Achievement Award for Innovative Design Concept in Floral Design, the Phila-delphia Trophy and the Alfred M. Campbell Memorial Trophy. In 2006, he received a bronze medal at The First International Sin-gapore Garden Festival. He has lent his talents to floral displays in Philadelphia at the Warwick Hotel, the Sheraton Society Hill, the offices of KPMG, Macy's, the Rosenbach Museum and the Markeim Arts Center. He designed for the Lady of Lourdes Gala in 2006 and his 2008 "Red Ball" for the Red Cross delighted party goers. It will be a great evening. 
The Presentation will be held at the Carman Tilelli Community Center within the Cherry Hill Municipal complex. For directions go to www.hssj.org

October 13, 2010
Mike McGrath presented “Gardens get HOT when the weather COOLS down”.  Since 1999, Mike McGrath has been Garden Editor for WTOP, the top rated, all-news radio station in Washington, D.C. He appears live every Friday morning as the "Yard Warrior" at around 8:50 am and then his witty, one-minute "Garden Plot" segments air on Saturday at forty-three minutes after the hour, from 5:43 am thru 5:43 pm. Mike is also host of the nationally syndicated weekly Public Radio show You Bet Your Garden. An hour of "chemical-free horticultural hijinks", YBYG airs every Saturday morning at 11 on it's originating station, WHYY-FM (90.9) in Philadelphia, and at various ellite radio at 7 am and 3 pm EST Saturdays and again Sunday mornings at 7 am EST. The YBYG "Question of the Week", featuring a detailed examination of a gardening or pest control problem, appears in print at the Gardens Alive website http://www.gardensalive.com, which also hosts a list of stations that carry the show and an alphabetized archive covering hundreds of Mike's gardening and pest control topics.   times on other Public Radio stations across the nation. YBYG also airs on the ‘NPR Talk' channel (#135) on Sirius sat

September 7th 2010
"Building an Outdoor Bog Garden" Presented by Jason Austin
Jason talkied about planning, constructing, planting and maintaining a bog garden. He will discuss growing carnivorous plants, orchids and companion plants in small or large bog gardens. Jason Austin graduated with a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Delaware Valley College. His carnivorous plant obsession began in 1999, when he worked at a native plant nursery in Pennsylvania. He has been growing these plants ever since. Jason is the Greenhouse Manager and Grower at Rarefind Nursery in Jackson, NJ.
June 7, 2010
"Dish Gardens and Terrariums" by Al Case, long-time HSSJ memeber, gave an informal talk on dish gardens and terrariums.  It should be a fun and relaxing evening.
May 11, 2010
Spring Flower Show “Landscape Bloopers” by Master Gardner, Mary Eklund. A virtual walk illustrating common (and easily correctable) mistakes in home landscape design and plant selection. Learn about choosing well-mannered plants, placement tips, and how to use the principles of design to enhance your yard this summer. 
September 8, 2009  
"Cranberry Culture" by Brenda Connor, cranberry farmer
May 12, 2009
Spring Flower Show "Wild Edibles"Presented by Judy Mudrak, Nutrition Consultant
April 14, 2009
"Rain Gardens"Presented by Madeline DiNardo
March 10, 2009
"The New Jersey Blueberry"Presented by Judith Krall-Russo, Food Historian
February 10, 2009 "Organic Farming"Presented by Bob Muth, Muth Family FarmNote: See also Rodale Institute article on Bob Muth plus photos from a visit to Muth Family Farm by several HSSJ and organic gardening group members in Jul 2008
January 13, 2009 "Pinelands Gardening and Landscaping"Presented by Russell Juelg, Project Manager for Outreach, Pineland Preservation Alliance
December 9, 2008 "Creating a Holiday Arrangement or Wreath"Hands-on program, presented by Elsie Scharff, HSSJ member
November 18, 2008
“Wildflowers” Presented by Delores WirthOctober 14, 2008“Drying Herbs and Other Stuff”Presented by by Gloria Stevens, owner of Springville Herbary, Mt. Laurel   September 9, 2008 Fall Flower Show "Bamboo" Presented by Ric Venzie, Master Gardener 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NJDOT and Cherry Hill partner to beautify Route 70

 

NJDOT and Cherry Hill partner to beautify Route 70

 

NJDOT and Cherry Hill partner to beautify Route 70

 

NJDOT and Cherry Hill partner to beautify Route 70