Members' Yearbook 2012-13

WGC 85th Anniversary - NGC Certificate

Thanks

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Successful Greens Sale

Boxwood Tree Workshop

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Member Benefits &
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East Window Exhibit 2013

2nd Place!

Fall Conference Awards 2012

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Wollaston Garden Club Wins Special Recognition

at the Boston Flower Show

The Wollaston Garden Club (WGC) won a red, 2^nd place ribbon in the Amateur Horticulture Division: “Structures – Large Window with East Exposure.” at the Boston Flower and Garden Show 2013 “Seeds of Change” at the Seaport Trade Center, Boston, held from March 13 through 17^th. The intent of the club’s exhibit was to showcase the wide variety of houseplants that can be grown in the medium light exposure of an east window. The judges noted that the club’s exhibit contained a “varied unusual collection of plants, but that over-crowding detracted from the individual plants”. The exhibit received perfect scores in “suitable for stated exposure”; “color effect”; “variety and rarity”; and “correct and suitable labeling”. Two plants received the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s highest award for “Cultural Commendation”: Cindy O’Meara’s Neomarica caerulea (Walking Iris) and Carol Fischer’s Platycerium bifurcatum (Staghorn Fern).

Many club members volunteered their mature east window houseplants or volunteered to adopt plants that were included in the club’s east window exhibit. Cynthia Lewis, WGC Horticulture chair commended “the participants and recognized the horticulture skills they had acquired by growing and nurturing show-ready, medium light plants.” Participating club members were: Pat Artis, Mimi Balsamo, Kay Borek, Anne Marie Brady, Mary Cassidy, Jan Clifford, Kathy Ceurvels, Rebecca Dinsmore, Anita Fasano, Carol Fischer, Claire Fitzmaurice, Ruth Griffin, Anneli Johnson, David Kalman, Cynthia Lewis, Gail Morganelli, Cindy O’Meara, Kathleen Roach, Leah Shea, Marylynn Sullivan, and Trudy Sullivan.

Three Wollaston Garden Club members also received awards for their entries into the Individual Amateur Horticulture competition: Marylynn Sullivan received a 1^st place blue ribbon for her Kalanchoe thyrsiflora; Claire Fitzmaurice received a 2^nd place red ribbon for her Aspidistra elatior; and Gail Morganelli received a 3^rd place yellow ribbon for her Dracaena fragrans massangeana variegated.

The club’s East Window Steering Committee of Pat Artis, Rebecca Dinsmore, Colleen Lawler, and Cynthia Lewis, were pleased with their exhibit and excited to be participating in such a prestigious flower show. More information about the garden club’s participation can be found at www.wollastongardenclub.org and about the Mass Horticulture Society’s Amateur Horticulture Schedule at http://www.masshort.org/Amateur-Horticulture-Competition.



Read more about re-potting below…

While repotting is generally thought of as a spring chore, it can also serve as a winter spruce up for outdoor plants -- allowing you to replant in more decorative pots for indoors or transfer from pots that have been damaged over the summer months. Remember that fall replanting will not have the stimulating effect that spring repotting does. Transplant young, fast-growing plants into larger containers so their roots can grow to take in moisture and nutrients to support the top growth (foliage). Repot older plants periodically so they don't languish in small, tightly packed pots that require frequent watering.

The longer a plant stays in the same pot, the more likely that the salts and mineral residues from water will build to harmful levels in the potting mix. And the mix itself, mostly organic elements such as peat moss, disintegrates. Repotting replaces the tired mix with some fresh mix, which often contains a starter dose of fertilizer. If it doesn't, wait two weeks, until new roots are less vulnerable to fertilizer burn, and add a balanced liquid food, following label directions.

How to Repot Houseplants

1. Cut away extraneous top growth. Turn the plant and pot upside down, and supporting the soil with your open hand, tap the bottom of the pot with your other hand, or tap the edge of the pot against a hard surface to gently ease the plant out of its container. Determine whether the plant is root bound (if the roots look too crowded or are growing in circles around the edges of the pot.) If the roots are shallow, repot the plant in a pot of the same size filled with fresh potting soil. If the plant is root bound, transplant it to a pot about 1 inch larger than the original

2. Lift the plant with one hand, and gently tease the roots apart with the other, pulling the roots downward and away from the soil. Don't worry if some of the roots fall off.

3. Place a terra-cotta shard over the drainage hole at the bottom of the new pot, then fill it with some fresh potting soil mix, Add some water to moisten the soil.

4. Set the plant in the fresh soil, centering the top of the root mass 1/2 inch below the rim of the pot. Put new soil around the top of the plant, keeping soil at same level it was previously. Water the soil again.

5. Using a chopstick or a bamboo stick, tap on the surface of the soil to help work the soil around the edges of the plant so there are no air holes. Tamp the pot on a hard surface to pack the soil to remove air pockets around the roots and the wall of the pot.

                                          

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