THE URBAN ROCK GARDENER T M

A NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY

MANHATTAN CHAPTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ROCK GARDEN SOCIETY

Volume 23, Issue 4 September/October 2010

~ MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT ~

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 , 2010 @ 6:30 PM, 6TH

AND B COMMUNITY GARDEN

ANNE O’NEILL will speak on

CITY ROSES

Anne O'Neill's talk will deal with roses that are agreeable in small spaces, beautiful through the seasons, and don't require a chemical arsenal to grow, bloom, and thrive.

Anne O’ Neill is Curator of the Shakespeare and Fragrance Garden, and the north section of the Systematic Collection for Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She was Curator of the Cranford Rose Garden from 2001 through 2008. Before BBG her adventures in gardening included five years as Community Horticulturist for New York Botanical Garden’s Bronx Green Up Program, and a very enjoyable tenure as Gardener for Altamont Gardens, in Ireland.

MEETING LOCATION: We return – once again – to the 6th & B GARDEN for our September MCNARGS meeting. The 6th St. & Ave. B Garden is in the East Village, closest to the SECOND AVENUE stop on the F or V trains and the ASTOR PLACE stop on the #6 train. With special thanks to Mary Buchen and Delphine Oravitz of the 6th & B Events

Committee for opening their community gardens to us and hosting our first meeting of the new season.

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~ TRI-STATE MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT ~

An event sponsored by five metropolitan New York NARGS chapters will occur

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010

AT THE CARRIAGE BARN, LYNDHURST, TARRYTOWN, NY

~ FEATURING ~

DEAN RIDDLE speaking on From Marigolds to Maackia: A Gardener Grows Up

JANET NOVAK speaking on Exploring America's Native Orchids

Janet Novak is a molecular biologist by training and a scientific editor by trade, but it's plants that are her passion. She has been a member of NARGS for 10 years, and currently belongs to the Delaware Valley Chapter. She gardens on a city lot of 1/6 acre, where she has found room for 660 plant varieties, including four hardy orchids. Her knowledge of native orchids comes from membership in the Native Orchid Conference and various botanical societies. Directions to Lyndhurst: Take the West Side Highway north to the Henry Hudson Parkway north to the Saw Mill

Parkway north to the NYS Thruway/1-87 to I-287 west to the last exit before the Tappan Zee Bridge – Route

9/Tarrytown. Turn left onto 119 at the first light, then left (south onto Rte. 9 south at the second light. Lyndhurst’s gates are ½ mile south on the right.

Train Directions: Take Metro North –Hudson Line from Grand Central Station to Tarrytown, Taxis are available at

the station to Lyndhurst. Bring your own lunch.

“I studied horticulture in North Carolina. After college, I spent a year as a student gardener at Hillier’s Nursery in England. Since 1996 I’ve lived in the Catskills, where I run a garden design business. For six years I wrote a regular column, ‘Dean’s Dirt’ for Elle Décor magazine. I contribute to Gardens Illustrated magazine and my book, Out in the Garden was published in 2002.”

“Although we tend to think to think of orchids as tropical plants, the temperate region of the US has almost 150 orchid species. This program explores the beauty and diversity of America’s wild orchids, emphasizing the ones native to our area. The talk will cover orchid habitats, good places to see native orchids, some intriguing aspects of orchid biology, and where to buy ethically-propagated orchids.”

~NARGS SEED EXCHANGE ~

In order to make the NARGS seed exchange offering as full and exciting an offering as possible, we need the help of all NARGS members. First, we need your seed donations. As few as five packets of desirable seed will earn you donor privileges: an extra ten packets of seed with your order, and priority in having your order filled in January. And what makes seed "desirable?" Although we are a society devoted to rock and alpine plants, that is not all that most of us grow in our gardens. Seed of a wide range of plants would be helpful: interesting perennials (not too terribly large, or rampant), native plants (especially wild-collected seed), smaller shrubs, and even the occasional rare tree. We're not interested in receiving seed of common trees, fruits/vegetables, or large tender annuals and bulbs, which will not earn donor status. We will need help in packaging the donated seed - actually, re-packaging, and making lots of small packets out of the larger ones. This phase of the seedex is done in early December, and can be completed at (or after) a chapter meeting, in a separate group session, or on your own in the comfort of your home. Volunteer work for the seedex also earns you donor status, so that you can receive the extra ten packets of seed, as well as priority in having your order fulfilled. So, round up some friends --and, especially, new chapter members, to give them an opportunity to feel a part of the group. Chapters who have done this work for years (like Rocky Mountain and Wisconsin-Illinois) thoroughly enjoy it, and have made it into a day of socializing and fun, prizes and food, readings and chatting - not to mention the production of thousands of seed packets. Contact Joyce Fingerut if you can help. Don't forget that the seed list will appear on our website on December 15, go to:

http://www.nargs.org

(CLICK ON SEEDEX)

IF YOU NEED A PRINT COPY OF THE SEED LIST, CONTACT BY NOVEMBER 15:

JOYCE FINGERUT

537 TAUGWONK ROAD

STONINGTON, CT 06378-1805

alpinegarden@comcast.net

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~SEPTEMBER SPONTANEOUS SALE OF SELECT SPECIES ~

Please join us for the Fourth Annual September Spontaneous Sale of Select Species during our September meeting at the 6th and B Garden. Bring your end-of-summer contributions for sale and please BYOB (bring your own bag) to carry home a new treasure – all plants will be priced at $4. The plant sale will be held from 6 to 6:30 P.M. simultaneous with the garden viewings and prior to the speaker’s presentation. Help publicize this chapter fundraiser and meeting to your gardening friends.

~ RILEY ON THE ROCKS ~ I hope you all had a GREAT SUMMER – I did! The heat and drought have been remarkable in some areas, but on my own “back forty acres” life has been pretty good, as long as I kept up with the watering. That means ... I water lightly on the roof each morning, then work my way down to the street tree pits, fire escape and outdoor windowsills, indoor walls and plants in windows, fluorescent light room, and back to the roof to hit the tomatoes and troughs again – go to sleep and start all over again the next morning. Given that regimen, the bloom has been excellent all summer and the heirloom tomatoes – the best ever. I must admit that I did such a good job of saving my heirloom tomato seeds last fall that - I couldn’t find them this spring! Friends came to my rescue and provided seedlings of “Mortgage-lifter” and “Paul Robeson” and several unnamed varieties, and they were all excellent. The first two are not easily cultivated in pots because the vines are huge, but the fruits are so rich and delicious they are well worth the effort – thanks Mary and Delphine and Al. At a recent dinner party we served grilled tuna steaks with heirloom tomato salsa, and all home-grown (well – not the tuna). My first “summer trip” was to the gesneriad convention in Vancouver BC, what a beautiful city! This was my first visit so I went a bit early to see the local sights, including a pod of Orca (killer whales) in the open waters. The climate there is so perfect for horticulture that flowering plants take on a surrealistic aura that is truly amazing, sometimes “bigger and better, really is ... bigger and better.” We saw the University of BC rock gardens and several other field trips to fabulous gardens. Shortly thereafter, Francisco and I went to the NARGS Annual Meeting in Denver and Salida, CO. Our chapter was well represented with Judith Dumont and Frances and Ben Burr as well as many friends from far and wide. We were truly “romanced by the Rockies” and will be sharing our photos of plants and people, and other animals, at a meeting in the future. It was warm in Colorado in mid-July, but the Denver Botanic Garden looked glorious, as it does every day of the year, and once we got up to 14,000 feet, the “attitude” diminished with the altitude and a cool time was had by all.

The field trips were spectacular and the local chapter member guides could put a name on every blade of grass. And what guides - with names like Dick Bartlett, Panayoti Kelaidis, Mike Kintgen, Hugh MacMillan and Loraine Yeatts ... among others. Back in steamy New York City, we recently had the pleasure of hosting my first cousin and her family from the UK and what a delight it is to share a love of plants and gardening and good food and wine and culture with people you love – even if they are family! It gave me the perfect excuse to take time to visit BBG and Wave Hill and Stonecrop and many other gardens and museums that I seldom visit in the middle of summer. Yes, I am also blaming the purchase of two new troughs from Stonecrop on my cousin – the only problem is she didn’t get them “planted up” before she left town. These, and my beautiful Ramonda Tower from Larry Thomas are my highly anticipated planting projects for the cooler weather (soon?). It has been a long summer, so I will be very happy to see you all at our September meeting in the 6th and B Community Gardens where we will learn about “City Roses.” It has amazed me, in my travels this summer, to find these new hybrids and cultivars blooming their heads off in the most unlikely places, such as parking lots and highway dividers. And, in New York, they keep growing and blooming like this until December. I want to know more! Please note in this issue of our newsletter that we no longer have a "Guest Editor"; not that Steve Whitesell has ever been anything other than REAL in his contributions to the Manhattan Chapter, but we are very fortunate that Steve has offered to continue to serve as Editor. I'm certain that Steve will be the first to welcome your contributions to this endeavor so that our communications are indeed reflective of our activities and our members. And ... no stranger, nor second fiddle to anyone, Abbie Zabar has agreed to help Steve as his Assistant Editor - Welcome and a very Big Thanks, to one and all, now let's get on with the show! See you soon!

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Primula parryii in a mountain stream.

Some of the colorful characters at the NARGS Annual Meeting - Hugh MacMillan (NARGS webmaster), Maria Galletti (NARGS Vice-President) and Michael Riley at the Denver Botanic Garden

Castilleja miniata, one of many “paintbrushes’

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Weston Pass, Colorado – NARGS ANNUAL Meeting 2010

~ WHY DON’T YOU? ~

~ Grow the beautiful flowering herbaceous plants of autumn? The cooler, moister autumn days spur a new burst of bloom up to hard frost. If you’re not growing Kirengeshoma palmata, Tricyrtis hirta ‘Moonshine’, Aster tataricus ‘Jindai’, Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’, Gentiana scabra, or autumn-blooming Crocus species you’re missing out on some of the most beautiful flowering plants available in this climate zone. ~ Act on your summer resolve to expand the planting areas in your garden? The cooler days of autumn are also the perfect time to prepare new garden beds, tackle aggressive perennial weeds and seedling trees, and edge existing beds for a crisp appearance through the winter. Turn the removed sods upside down to smother them and they will break down quickly. If sections resprout in the spring, they’re easily pulled. Start digging! ~ Finalize your seed collecting, clean the harvest and send in donations to as many seed exchanges as your can manage? Remember that donors receive additional quantities for their efforts, and keep the exchanges vital. Most submittal deadlines are around the end of October, so don’t delay. If you’re in non-protected natural areas with ripe seed, why not collect some for the exchanges to supplement your garden-collected seed donations? Many amateur growers crave the wild-collected seed, which is always in short supply. ~ Supplement the gravel, renew the mulch, prune out dead wood on trees and shrubs, and generally prepare the garden for a long rest period? It depends on your own preference, but I think the much-publicized appeal of dead foliage in winter is a little over-rated. A clean garden provides its own winter attraction, saves time in the busy spring season, and better allows you to detect emerging bulbs in late winter

{STEVE WHITESELL is aware of summer failures in the garden and doesn’t need reminding. There’s always next year. There

were successes as well.}

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~ NARGS BOOK SERVICE ENDS A SUCCESSFUL RUN ~ President Grazyna Grauer has announced that, after many years of providing specialty books to the members of the North American Rock Garden, the time has come to “get out of the book business.” From now, through the end of October, all books in the inventory will be sold at half-price to members, with the exception of: four NARGS-published and co-published (with Timber Press) titles and the "Caucasus and Its Flowers" which are already listed at bargain prices and will continue to be sold by the Book Service. The other inventory, which consists of only a few copies of some very special titles, will be sold at half their current price. Check the Book Service inventory at www.nargs.com and get your orders in to Jan Slater. The inventory will sell out quickly, so act fast!

~ NORTH AMERICAN ROCK GARDEN SOCIETY ~

Join today. NARGS is for gardening enthusiasts interested in alpine, saxatile, and low-growing perennials. Annual dues in the U.S. and Canada are $30, payable in U.S. funds. VISA/Mastercard accepted. Benefits of membership include: Rock Garden Quarterly with articles on alpines and North American wildflowers, illustrated in color photographs and pen and ink drawings; annual seed exchange with thousands of plant species; study weekends and annual meetings in either U.S. or Canada; and book service to members. Join on-line at www.nargs.org Or write: Bobby J. Ward, Executive Secretary NARGS, P.O. Box 18604, Raleigh, NC 27619-8604, USA

~ MANHATTAN CHAPTER NARGS ~

2010 Membership Form

Individual $20 Student $15 Individual 3 years $50 Gift membership* $15 (When renewing, you may give a Gift Membership to a new member.)

Members’ dues status is indicated on this months’ mailing label. If you owe chapter dues, please take time to pay them now. Send your check with this form to: Gelene Scarborough, Membership Secretary

103 West 105th

Street #5B New York NY 10025

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~ 2010 CALENDAR EVENTS ~

September 20, 2010 – Chapter meeting at 6th and B Garden – Anne O’Neill, CITY ROSES October 24, 2010 – Tri-State Meeting, Lyndhurst Carriage Barn, Tarrytown NY Dean Riddle, From Marigolds to Maackia: A Gardener Grows Up and Janet Novak, Exploring America's

Native Orchids

November 22, 2010 – Chapter meeting at HSNY, Anne Spiegel, In Their Homes, and At Yours December 13, 2010 – Chapter meeting at HSNY, Ed Bowen, On my Radar Screen at the Moment

and beyond ... January 24, 2011 – Chapter meeting at HSNY, Steven Whitesell, Design in the Small Rock

Garden: In Praise of Artifice

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS, 2010

CHAIRMAN Michael A. Riley

212.666.2395 ManhattanNARGS@Verizon.net PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS Mary Buchen 212.982.1743 marybuchen@yahoo.com Lola Lloyd Horwitz 718.788.5340 llhorwitz@gmail.com TREASURER Kean Teck Eng 646.379.5274 keanteck84@hotmail.com SECRETARY Judith Dumont judith.o.dumont@chase.com MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Gelene Scarborough gelenes@verizon.net DIRECTOR, TOUR DIRECTOR Zabel Meshejian DIRECTOR Steve Whitesell

NEWSLETTER FOUNDING EDITOR Lawrence B. Thomas

NEWSLETTER EDITOR Steve Whitesell steven.whitesell@parks.nyc.gov PRINTING AND PRODUCTION Michael Riley CONTRIBUTORS to the September/October 2010 Issue Michael Riley, Steve Whitesell THE MANHATTAN CHAPTER of NARGS, founded in 1987, is a group of gardening enthusiasts who are dedicated to the propagation and promotion of an eclectic range of plants, with emphasis on alpine and rock gardening selections. Our Chapter Programs, designed for a sophisticated mix of professionals and amateurs, cover a broad spectrum of special interests such as rock and alpine, woodland, bog, raised bed, planted walls as well as trough and container gardening.

The yearly membership fee of $20 entitles members to five informative copies of THE URBAN ROCK GARDENER, to attend all meetings and field trips, as well as tours of unique and private gardens; plus participation in our much-anticipated Annual Plant Sale. If you are not already a member we invite you to be a guest at one of our upcoming meetings.

© 2010 Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society

No material published in this newsletter, printed or virtual, can be reproduced without the express permission of its author.

~ WE’LL SEE YOU AT THE TRI-STATE MEETING ~ {Submission Deadline for the November/December Newsletter: October 31, 2010}

MANHATTAN CHAPTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ROCK GARDEN SOCIETY

101 West 104th Street, New York, NY 10025

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