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Yesterday, when Crofton Village Garden Club members decorated the Crofton Village Green and Front Gate for the holidays, it was one of the warmest days in the history of our 40-year tradition. Club members have sometimes faced biting cold, wind, and even rain, but this year we lucked out with a very nice day.
Crofton Village Garden Club donates and hangs the live greens and beautiful red bows for these areas. But that’s not all. We also donate wreathes to the Crofton area schools and Crofton Library.
So… the next time you see a garden club member, say “Thank You”. We work hard to dress our community for the holidays!
Special thanks to Carole Hampton who chairs this committee.
Crofton Village Garden Club (@CroftonGardener) recently stepped into the social media age by establishing a presence on Twitter.
You’ll also find National Garden Clubs, Inc. (@NatlGardenClubs) posting nearly daily on Twitter, and clubs from Virginia, Hawaii, Georgia, Oregon, New York, California and even Thailand and British Columbia.
Twitter will be a wonderful source of tips on gardening, flower arranging, horticulture, conservation and other topics for our club website. But club members can follow the club’s Twitter feed on their own and watch for “tweets” matching their own interest.
So come on, Ladies, jump into the social media age. Follow your garden club on Twitter (@CroftonGardener).
P.S. If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter and the vocabulary that has grown up around the use of this popular social-media site, here is a link to How to Speak Twitter – A Twitter Glossary on BusinessWeek.com.
Crofton Village Garden Club welcomed Sharon Stoddard and Johanna Accorti as new members during the November meeting at Fellowship Hall, Prince of Peace Church in Crofton, MD.
Ann Kane, Johanna Accorti, Margaret Woda, Sharon Stoddard, and Mid O'Malley
Sharon, a longtime Crofton resident and retired Anne Arundel County public school teacher who is eager to learn new skills and make new friends in the club, was sponsored by her neighbor Margaret Woda.
Ann Kane sponsored her neighbor Johanna, another longtime Crofton resident who has worked at Anne Arundel Medical Center and Open Door, an after-school program in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
The club now has 51 active members, and only four openings. New members are required to attend three consecutive meetings with a current member before joining the club. For more information about joining Crofton Village Garden Club, contact Membership Chair Mid O’Malley at (410) 721-0823.
Want to learn more about Crofton Village Garden Club member Kristen Becker? Just pick up a copy of today’s Wall Street Journal and turn to the Life & Style section.
Or you can click on the link to When Mr. Clean meets Ms. Messy to read the article online. You’ll learn Kristen’s age, how many children she has, who lives in her home besides her husband and kids, and which spouse is the neatnik (and which is the slob).
Kristen, we’ll be interested in learning how columnist Elizabeth Bernstein “discovered” you and your husband.
Kristen has been a member of Crofton Village Garden Club since September and she’s already making her mark by volunteering as the Youth Activities Chair for the club. She’s also slated to be the emcee for our Plant it Pink Fashion Show and High Tea at Crofton Country Club on May 2, 2010.
If you live in the greater Crofton area in Maryland, it’s important to prepare your garden pond for winter so you can minimize the loss of fish and plants. Now is the time to do this chore, if you haven’t already.
Dave Kemon, the water gardening expert at Homestead Gardens in Davidonsonville, recommends these five steps to get your pond ready for winter:
Drain your pond halfway and scoop out all leaves and debris with a net. Fill the pond back up with fresh water and a de-chlorinator if you have chlorine in your water (Stress Coat is recommended).
Bring in all UV filters, lights and clarifiers so they don’t freeze and break. If your outside filters are large, drain all the water out of them and shut them down for the winter. Also shut off all water pumps if you have concerns about the pond freezing them. Finally, add a pond de-icer or raise your pump halfway up.
Cut back all water lilies and hardy bog plants, and bring tropical plants indoors. Remove all water hyacinths and water lettuce so that don’t rot in the pond.
Cover the pond with netting but never lay it flat on the water, or falling leaves will push it down and turn the water dark. Always place your net like a tent using PVC pipes so the leaves fall to the side and frogs can still get up on the ledge.
Switch fish food over to cold weather food, although they only need to be fed through the month of November. There will be enough organic matter in the pond to sustain them through the winter months.
Check the water gardening page of Homestead Gardens website for additional information including a list of items you’ll need for winterizing your garden pond and a list of thing NOT to do.
Crofton Village Garden Club members enjoy our November meeting more than any other of the year. That’s because we have an opportunity to say “Thank You” to our troops while doing something we love – making flower arrangements.
Each November, we make 120 patriotic-theme arrangements for the VA Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility in Baltimore. We would love to have your club, scout troop, office or other organization duplicate what we do in your own area, so please take a look at this short presentation:
Cutting back on holiday gifts this year? Why not give a beautiful poinsettia plant for the whole family or office to enjoy instead of several individual presents.
Be sure to get your poinsettia order in to Crofton Village Garden Club by Wednesday, November 4, for delivery to you the first week of December. These are NOT your big-box store plants… they are Behnke’s Signature Poinsettias at discount prices.
Four colors are available: Red, White, Pink and Marble. If you just can’t decide on a color, why not order Pink – $1 of every pink poinsettia sold will go to National Garden Club’s “Plant It Pink” program to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Prices:
$9 – SMALL (5 inch pot) – 3-4 blooms
$14 – MEDIUM (6 inch pot) – 4-6 blooms
$20 – LARGE (7 inch pot) – 6-10 blooms
Every pot will be covered with foil and the plant will be delivered to you in Behnke’s protective sleeve. Large orders (over $300) include direct delivery by Behnke’s to your specified destination.
Place your order with Crofton Village Garden Club by contacting Jane McClanahan (301-858-1387) or Tish Smith (410-721-0470) before November 4, 2009.
Ahhhh…. the joys of home ownership in Crofton, Maryland! It’s autumn, and that means beautiful fall foliage followed by falling leaves in your yard. You can bag those leaves for weekly curbside recycling, shred them with your mower to use as mulch in your garden, or compost them to add to your soil in about two years.
Composting those leaves is easy – and it helps provide mineral-rich soil for your spring garden.
Begin by running over your leaves with the lawn mower so they will break down more quickly than whole leaves.
Add the shredded leaves to your fenced compost pile and mix them into the pile to quicken the composting process. (A tall wire fence around your compost pile will help prevent animals like skunks and raccoons from getting into your compost pile.)
Add nitrogen-rich bone meal or manure to your compost pile because nitrogen is essential for composting.
Turn your compost pile at least weekly, using a garden fork to move shredded leaves from the bottom to the top and vice versa.
Cover your compost pile through the late fall and winter to keep heat in and moisture out. (But you will still need to turn the pile weekly.)
You’ll never again need to buy “Leaf-Gro” at your neighborhood garden center because this process will help produce your own home-grown leaf compost.
The abundance of mature trees and fallen leaves in Old Crofton may make shredding and/or composting leaves an overwhelming prospect for some garden club members. If you find yourself in that predicament, here are some guidelines for preparing your yard waste for pick-up by Anne Arundel County:
Place leaves, grass, and brush in plastic 32-gallon or smaller trash bags that are tied, not closed with wire or metal ties.
Bundle branches with twine no more than four feet long or four inches in diameter.
All bags and containers must be marked with a large “X” visible to the collectors so they know it is recycling and not trash.
Bags, containers or bundles may not weigh more than 40 pounds each.
Do not mix trash with yard waste.
There is no limit to the amount of yard waste you can put out for collection.
Whether you’re a beginning gardener, master gardener, or somewhere in between, find out how to join the Crofton Village Garden Club by contacting club president Sunny Frank by email. SunnyFrank@verizon.net
About a dozen Crofton Village Garden Club members attended the District II Semi-Annual Meeting at the Bowie Comfort Inn, earlier this month.
We were extremely proud of our president, Sunny Frank, who won the “birds and butterflies” photography contest with this photo of an African Gray-Crowned Crane. She had several entries, and they all were fabulous!
Sunny Frank with her winning photo.
The lunch was wonderful, as it always is at this facility, and the flower arranging demonstration by Doug Vogel was very informative, entertaining and inspiring. After the presentation, all of the arrangements created or displayed during the program were auctioned off – and Crofton Village Garden Club members took several of them home.
Doug Vogel "Nature's Floral Artist"
Numerous vendors were available in the corridor, and these wonderful birdhouses made from gourds caught my eye. I couldn’t resist! Now… should I keep it or give as a Christmas present…. Hmmmmm…
If you’re a garden club member and have never attended one of these meetings, try to make the annual meeting in Spring. I think you might enjoy it!
Margaret Woda
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Whether you’re a beginning gardener, a master gardener, or somewhere in between, find out how to join the Crofton Village Garden Club by contacting club president Sunny Frank by email. SunnyFrank@verizon.net
As you drive around Crofton Maryland in early spring, the first flower you’ll notice (perhaps even popping through the snow) will probably be a crocus. Soon after, you’ll see stunning gardens and accents of yellow daffodils and blue grape hyacinths… and a few weeks after that, colorful beds of tulips. These and all spring-flowering bulbs must be planted in fall – and that means NOW.
A few bulb-planting tips from Crofton Village Garden Club:
Choose healthy bulbs – i.e., large ones that are not spongy, dry, or moldy.
Bulbs love sun. (Keep in mind that some areas are sunny in spring but not later, when there are leaves on the trees.)
Plant several bulbs to create a showy display of color in spring – either in a bed or in clumps.
Plant them at a depth 3 times the size of the bulb’s diameter. (See charts below)
Plant bulbs with the pointed side up.
Mix some bone meal or superphosphate with the soil at the bottom of the hole to encourage strong root growth
Water newly-planted bulbs after you replace soil on top of them.
“Plant It Pink” sure is a catchy title for the partnership between National Garden Clubs, Inc. and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It makes a great theme for state and local clubs to use in programs, projects and yearbooks, as we have at Crofton Village Garden Club in Maryland. But let’s not forget the message of Plant It Pink…
It’s all about spreading awareness and educating members and others about breast cancer.
Of all the things I’ve ever read or heard on this topic, nothing has ever touched me more than the stories written by Karen George of her own experience with this disease at 29 years old. Please read this:
A story of delayed diagnosis and Stage IV Breast Cancer
Karen’s story is just one of millions, but it’s one you’ll want to read and forward to people you love. Karen will inspire you to thank God every day, if you’ve never been touched personally by breast cancer, and she will motivate you to join the fight against this disease. But what does that have to do with gardening, you may ask… Why Plant It Pink?
The answer is really quite simple…
You deserve as much care and attention as you give your plants and flowers.
That’s one of the reasons Crofton Village Garden Club and garden clubs across the country are partnering with Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s mission to save lives and end breast cancer forever.
The next time you see a pink flower, think Plant It Pink – and let it serve as a reminder to go home and do a breast self-exam or to pick up the phone and make an appointment for your long-overdue mammogram.
Joy Porter attended her third Crofton Village Garden Club meeting in September and became the club’s 49th active member. Joy, who was sponsored by Marcia Richard, is a long-time Crofton resident. She is well-known by customers of Robert Andrews Salon in Gambrills, where she worked for many years.
Hostesses for this meeting were Shirley Levendoski, Bernie Robertson, Faye Tolliver and Roseanne Thiel. The stunning centerpiece on the serving table was created by Bernie:
Horticulture exhibitors for October were Ruth Thouin, Angela Silverstein, Faye Tolliver and Harriet Kiilehua:
Speaker, Dick Bean of the Maryland Department of Agriculture, presented Maryland is for Crabs… Not Emerald Ash Borer. Watch future posts on this website for more on this topic.
To stimulate member interest in horticulture, conservation, and flower arranging, and to encourage, by example, pride in our homes and our community.
Motto
To promote and preserve the beauty of our community
Plant it Pink
"Plant it Pink" is a partnership between National Garden Clubs, Inc.and Susan G. Komen for the Cure to support breast cancer awareness and research.
Crofton Village Garden Club will participate in the "Plant it Pink" initiative throughout the year by featuring the color pink on our website and in the 2009-10 Yearbook, members' floral designs and horticulture exhibits.
"Plant it Pink" will also be the theme and one of the beneficiaries of the Fashion Show and High Tea to be held May 2, 2010 at Crofton Country Club.
Fundraising
When you join Crofton Village Garden Club members in supporting these activities, you help beautify Crofton and promote "Plant it Pink" -
Poinsettia Sale (Oct.)
Wreathe Sale (Nov.)
Fashion Show & High Tea (May)
Memberships
Crofton Village Garden Club is a proud and actively involved member of District II, Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland, and National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Yesterday, when Crofton Village Garden Club members decorated the Crofton Village Green and Front Gate for the holidays, it was one of the warmest days in the history of our 40-year tradition. Club members have sometimes faced biting cold, wind, and even rain, but this year we lucked out with a very nice day.
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