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Lockerly Newsletter July 2016
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Volunteers of the Month
Due to the support of our Education Committee Chair Kathy Chandler, and volunteers Anne Wright, Anne Culberson, Susan Morris, Sue Strange, and Linda Poyner, we were able to offer a new summer program through a partnership with the Mary Vinson Library and the Baldwin
County Public Schools. Activities in the library, Arboretum, and Woods Museum, were planned for 60 enthusiastic 2nd and 3rd graders, and led by our Volunteers of the Month on two Thursday mornings in June.
The library's Summer Reading Club theme this year, On your mark, get set, read...!, is built around team sports and being physically active this summer. Lockerly was invited to participate because we could provide time outside walking, running, and exploring in the gardens. Before coming out to visit
Lockerly, the children took turns looking at seeds under microscopes. One child had so much fun he asked where microscopes are sold.
From the library all the children loaded up on a bus to come to Lockerly. Our volunteers provided time walking in the woods and doing a nature scavenger hunt for specific trees and plants. The children also visited the Woods Museum and the Teaching Garden.
We couldn't have added this new summer program without volunteers. Our Education Director, Greg Eilers, was already committed to our summer camps. He worked with Kathy on the content, and from there Kathy contacted volunteers.
Our volunteers step up in so many ways. It was great to see them invested and excited about providing time outside for children. (We are prohibited from taking photos of children in school programs, so we don't have photos of our volunteers leading the student groups. We used our heavy duty microscopes at the library.)
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Historic Sparta is growing!
Last month Lockerly Dirt Diggers ventured off to Sparta for the afternoon and visited Suzy and Robert Currey's home, gardens, and mushroom farm for an afternoon. The Currey's much beloved dog Rives also joined us as his schedule allowed.
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Vegetables, herbs, and flowers grow side by side.
Peggy Dunford photo
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Josh Plymale explained how they make compost, use a "no weed" planting system, and rotate plants to keep the soil nutrients rich. We walked past magnificent beds of Black-eyed Susans, cone flowers, and a rainbow of day lilies, often bordering the vegetables and herbs.
Suzy took us through their bonsai garden, which Robert and their son Brownlee, have tended for several years. The bonsai plantings led us to another bed that included fresh blueberries. We were encouraged to try some.
After walking around the house to the front porch, Suzy very generously invited us inside. At the turn of this century, the Curreys fell in love with the Harley-Rives House, circa 1854, and they have restored it with great care and attention to detail.
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Mushrooms are grown in a sterile medium in a hoop house inside a stored factory.
Peggy Dunford photo |
Robert walked us across the street to Sparta Mushrooms, which is located in an old brick furniture factory that was in very poor condition when the Curreys decided to expand their farm to include mushrooms.
Using a special blended medium under sterile conditions, the Curreys usually grow three varieties of mushrooms. In addition to selling their mushrooms to Whole Foods, several restaurants in Atlanta, and at two Atlanta farmers' markets, mushrooms are sold at the Currey's farm on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.
Robert and Suzy are very much committed to making Sparta a place where families want to live. Their farm is providing opportunities to create jobs and build a stronger sense of community.
We are very appreciative of the time the Curreys spent with us. If you want to learn more about Elm Street Gardens , the best way to do that is go visit when the produce stand is open.
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Mix it, shape it, fill it up!
Last month we were able to hold two hypertufa classes.Vicki Folendore, started a wait list when our first class filled up. Before we knew it, there were enough people for a
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Leaves add texture.
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second class.
We had first timers making things with the mixture of cement, peat, and perlite, as well as folks who have made containers before. One mother and son made the water "bowl" for a birdbath they are creating at home.
Participants used sea shells they had collected, smooth glass, small glittery tiles, and leaves. Once the curing process is complete at home, our workshop participants will have round,
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Plastic bowls are used for shaping.
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square, rectangular, and oval shaped containers for plants.
Each person took Debbie Foster's "Lockerly Recipe" home so they can make more containers on their own.
We were glad to welcome five new Friends of Lockerly who became members so they could support the Arboretum and take advantage of the lower registration cost for members.
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| This container is ready to begin the curing process. |
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We're getting close to our goal!
With your help we have raised $2,270 for improvements to the Education Program building. If we raise the remaining $1,230 to reach our $3,500 goal during July, we should be able to have running water and three sinks installed in the early weeks of the school year.
Please support this much-needed update to our education facilities today.
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Hiking, miniature boats, dragonflies, and more!
Campers at the Oliver Worley Outdoor Center built tiny boats for "racing" in Rooty Creek, hiked, set and checked traps in the creek, splashed in the water to stay cool, used GPS trackers to learn some new exploring skills, and collected things to look at under a microscope.
Our two sessions at the Worley Center provided 21 children with all kinds of outdoor
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Campers step into Rooty Creek.
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exploring. Campers go home at the end of the day with stories to share about what they did and the friends they made.
The last week of June our program moved from the Worley Center to the Arboretum for Camp Discovery. This session, designed for rising first and second graders, includes time in the Woods Museum, in addition to hands-on learning all over the Arboretum. There is also a little time inside to use microscopes and other earth science tools in the Education building.
June 2017 summer camps session dates and details will be announced in late winter next year. In the mean time, we hope our Oliver Worley and Discovery Campers have fun exploring outside and using their new skills from camp.
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July Garden Tips
Lockerly Horticulture Director
Are your vines loaded with flowers, but not a lot of fruit? Squash, melons, and cucumbers belong to the same family, known as "cucurbits". They bear male and female flowers on the same plant. In order for fruit set to occur, pollen from the male flower must be transferred to the female flower. The pollen is sticky; therefore, wind-blown pollination does not occur. Honeybees are the principal means by which pollen is transferred.
When bees are absent, fruit set in the curcurbit family is very poor and often n
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male and female squash
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onexistent but the dedicated gardener can substitute for the bees by hand pollination. You can use a small soft artist's paintbrush or a Q-tip to transfer pollen. Pollination is best done in the morning. The female flower in curcurbits can be recognized by the presence of a miniature fruit at the base of the flower. The male squash flower is borne on a very long slender stem. In melons and cucumbers, male flowers have very short stems and are borne in clusters of 3 to 5, while the females are borne singly.
Another plant that will sometimes have poor fruit set is the tomato. Tomato flowers produce an abundance of pollen and are wind pollinated. Optimum fruit set occurs when night temperatures are between 60-70°. When night temperatures rise above 75°, interference with the growth of pollen tubes prevents normal fertilization. The pollen may even become sterile, causing blooms to drop. High daytime temperatures, rain, or prolonged periods of high humidity also hamper good fruit set. If the humidity is too low, the pollen will be too dry and will not adhere to the stigma. If the humidity is too high, the pollen will not shed from the stamens.
Hydrangeas are loaded with blooms at this time of year. The plants do not require annual pruning yet many people do. Hydrangeas can become large plants over time. Planting young plants in small spaces can force the gardener to move it or prune it later down the road. Though hydrangeas don't need to be pruned, they can be pruned quite successfully if you understand how they flower.
A plant that flowers on new wood will form flower buds for that year on the new growth that it produces in the spring.
Smooth hydrangeas (ex. H. arborescens
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Hydrangea
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'Annabelle' or 'Incrediball') and Peegee hydrangeas (ex. H. paniculate 'Limelight' or 'Pinky Winky') both flower on new wood. Plants that flower on new wood can be pruned in early spring and still produce flowers that summer. The best time to prune this type is in early March. Overgrown shrubs can be severely pruned leaving 6-12" of stem.
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Juried Daylily Show at Rose Hill
Becky Brock
The Middle Georgia Day Lily Club held its first America Hemerocallis Society sanctioned show on June 9th at Lockerly Arboretum.
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This is a small portion of the flowers entered into the contest.
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The winners included:
Kay Sheppard- Best Extra Large-Heavenly United We Stand
Dudley Weathers- Best Large-Orange Velvet
Jack Brock-Best Double-Darya,Best, Best Spider-Rolling Raven, Best Popularity Poll-Sebastian the Crab, and Sweepstakes-Most blue Ribbons
Chip Wood-Best Small-Amazing Morris Kirby, Best Miniature-Maude Reese, Best Unusual Form-Adventures in Oz, Adventures in Oz also won Best in Show
We wish to thank the staff at Lockerly, especially Katherine Cummings, for providing us with a beautiful setting for our show. We invite anyone interested in growing day lillies to join us. For more information call Becky Brock at 478.452.0969 for details.
Plant Collection Team Leader Suzi Troxell came home with some ribbons-find out more here.
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Summer Hours
The dog days of summer are definitely here. Our summer hours through Labor Day weekend are Monday-Friday from 8:30-4:30. We will be closed on the weekends.
We're always glad to have visitors regardless of the heat or cold. Take advantage of the water fountain at the restroom building near the fenced Teaching Garden. We have benches in shaded areas that are ideal for stopping to enjoy the view.
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We appreciate our sponsors
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Lockerly Arboretum 1534 Irwinton Road, Milledgeville, GA 478.452.2112
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