Feb 2016 Newsletter - Perennial Gardeners

Perennial Gardeners
2016 February
As Punxsutawney Phil said….”Spring is right around the corner”, or so the folklore says. .. I’m sure our
latest storm is just a little bump in the road and crocuses will be up any day now! This newsletter
ended up being three in one…...so much info ...didn’t want to leave anything out! Our members have
so many beautiful gardens! Happy February everyone—the shortest days are gone! Enjoy, Vera Hough
No shadow—early Spring!
"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to
sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures
our dream."
- Barbara Winkler
Ned & Maryellen Hanchay welcomed us back in Spring to their lovely
home in Pembroke by Chandler’s Pond to admire
their amazing Azaleas and Rhododendrons, Koi Pond, Pagodas and
Spring Flowers! Thank You!
Spring 2015
Wendy Morgan: President
Vera Hough: Vice President
Maryellen and Ned
Hanchay, Kelly Connetta,
and Wendy Morgan.
Newsletter Editor: Vera Hough
[email protected]
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Photos by Vera Hough
Ned Hanchay's Azaleas and
Rhododendrons list:
I asked Ned to give us a list of his best bushes …
Thanks Ned!
Latin Name
Common
Name
Color
Notes
Rhododendron catawbiense Rhododendron
'Carolina Springs'
'Carolina Springs'
Mauve flowers
Large upright plant to
20'.
Rhododendron
Rhododendron 'Chionoides' 'Chionoides'
White flowers
Tends to be a spreader,
grows to 5'.
Rhododendron 'Christmas
Cheer'
Red (intense) small
flowers
Medium size.
'Coral Bells' azalea
Rhododendron 'Coral Bells' (pink)
Pink small flowers
Marginally hardy.
Rhododendron 'Delaware
Valley White'
White large flowers
Can grow to 6'. One of
the best whites.
Azalea 'Christmas
Cheer'
Deleware Valley
White' azalea (white)
Rhododendron 'Dora Ama- Rhododendron 'Dora
teis'
White flowers
Amateis'
Medium size.
Rhododendron 'Hershey's
Red'
One of the best reds.
Azalea 'Hersey's Red' Red flowers
Azalea species, pink
Rhododendron hybrids (D) and white (D)
White flowers with
pink edges
Rhododendron 'Lemon
Drop'
Yellow (pale) flowers to 5'.
Rhododendron
'Lemon Drop'
Stay away from the
pinks.
A native, grows upright
Rhododendron 'Rosum Ele- Rhododendron
gans'
'Rosum Elegans'
Pink flowers
Big, tough as nails. Most
common rhodie.
Rhododendron 'White
Hexe'
White flowers
Another very tough
plant, grows to 3'.
Azalea 'White Hexe'
Rhododendron 'Hino Crimson' (x)
Azalea 'Hino Crimson' Red flowers (small)
Beautiful, hardier than
'Hinode-giri'.
Rhododendron 'Hinodegiri' (x)
Purple-red flowers
Also beautiful but marginally hardy.
Pink (rose) flowers
Lovely, grows to 4',
needs a lot of shade!
Azalea 'Hinode-giri'
Rhododendron yakusiman- Rhododendron yaum
kusimanum
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Info from last year’s
April 6th Presentation
with
Eric Eisenhauer.
Margaret Taylor

Just found these lists — helpful for our
Spring planting! Vera Hough
Many of you complimented me
on my Rose presentation. I thank
you for your overly generous
praise. There were requests for
copies of the slide with the list of
those roses as well as the slide of
quality suppliers. Remember: If
you need some "cheer" as we
drag our way through the latter
days of winter, visit the David
Austin website (www.davidaustinroses.com/
english/Advanced.asp). You
can't help but feel the uplift of
spring and warmth of a summer
of flowers as you scroll though
his photography. “ Eric
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Elizabeth
Beach Hacking’s
Hingham Gardens
Informal Summer Garden Tours
Margaret Taylor, Elizabeth, Dawn Lopes, Wendy Morgan, and Barbara Cain
We were all lucky to be invited back to
Elizabeth’s gardens! It’s clear that gardening is her passion - what an accomplishment in just seven years!
Photos by Vera Hough
Informal Summer Garden Tours
Kelly
Conetta’s
Cohasset
Gardens
My daughter in Needham
and I went on a Garden
Tour in Cohasset about
12 yrs. ago and the rest
is history! We owned the
property 10 years—used
it on weekends and vacations until 2 years ago
when we sold our house
in Conn. The property
was abandoned and
overgrown, an old vegetable garden filled with
broken pots, plenty of
weeds. The garden along
the wall looked like the
woods beyond the wall
today. Roses are 6 yrs.
old, plants come from all
over— my Conn. Garden,
Oliver's & White Flower
Farm in Conn.,Esposito’s,
My daughter’s gardens,
HD. My favorite source
years ago was a little old
lady in Fairfield Conn.
who sold plants out of her
backyard—where I
bought my first Amsonia—an all time best
plant! Kelly
Cocktails anyone?
Kelly has accomplished
so much in the last ten
years. Her husband Don
is just as creative—he
lined the shed walls with
wooden wine boxes,
made tables with the
wine boxes as well, creative lighthouse shutters,
turned the old smoke
house into a man cave
with a running
model train!
New Dawn Rose
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Photos by Vera Hough
Informal Summer Garden Tours
Patty Evart’s
new Hingham
Gardens
Pat was very busy since
last June with the new
property. She had 23
trees removed,, and put in
extraordinary planting beds
throughout. The patio
overlooks the Weir River,
a big factor for buying the
house!
Margaret Taylor
Photos: Margaret Taylor
What is it?
Teaser photos
from Barbara
Cain’s Norwell
garden .
Photos: Barbara
WHAT IS IT?
..answers on
page 11 ……..
Welcome our new member
-Anne Jones
This is Allium Thunbergii
and Heuchera
Villossa. The red is an
annual Salvia.
Anne Jones’s
Scituate Garden.
Photo: Anne
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What is it?
Hospitality
Welcome
our new
Member:
Cindy
Thaxter
from
Hingham!
Our new Hospitality Chairs: Kelly Conetta on the left, Judy McSweeney on the right - Membership
Chair: Margaret Sampson in the center was lucky to be going home with a beautiful bouquet form Kelly’s garden!
Programs
The Language of
Flowers
Oct. 5, 2015
Jenn Kettel: Dwarf Conifers — Enthusiastic conifer identification and life cycles, best
cultivars, cultural requirements, their care, and
where to find them.
Storyteller: Diane
Edgecomb
Harper: Margot
Chamberlain
“In this enchanting performance master storyteller Diane Edgecomb, accompanied by Celtic
harper and vocalist Margot Chamberlain, brings
to life the legends that surround favorite garden
flowers revealing the deep meaning cultures
around the world. “
Diane was so funny and entertaining— we loved her
singing - Margot was wonderful on the harp!
Nov. 2, 2015
Vera Hough
Feb. 1, 2016
A great gathering of
members last night.
Good conversation,
good food, and a terrific presentation by
our own expert Nancy
Mellen on Native
Plants!
Margaret Taylor
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Photos by Vera Hough
Summer Trips
Anne
Comeau
in
Scotland!
S
o many highlights: a magnificent 16 meter long herbaceous border set against the backdrop of a 100 year old
beech hedge, the Queen's garden - a memorial to the Queen Mother…."The plantings reflect her travels to the
four corners of the globe and radiate from a central labyrinth of highland bog myrtle arranged in the form of interlocking 'E's for Elizabeth" . Anne Comeau
E
njoyed a stroll through the beautiful gardens at Stonewall Kitchen in York Maine! Enjoy the gardens throughout the Spring and Summer…..was really impressed.
Vera Hough
Vera
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Summer Trips
November: "We got back from Ireland a couple weeks ago so here are a few pictures of the 2 gardens we visited, Mt. Stewart
just south of Belfast and Powerscourt just south of Dublin.”
Nancy Mellon
Powerscourt House and Gardens
Mount Stewart Home and Gardens
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Member's Gardens Summer...
You never know
what you’ll come
across riding by the
ocean in Scituate
— Definitely did a
double take when
we saw this pirate
on Oceanside Dr.,
down the street from
the lighthouse !
Vera Hough
My pots exploded this summer! Margaret
Taylor….Hingham Porch.
Lots of success with my Dahlias and
Zinnias in my vegetable garden — lots
of arrangements!
Vera Hough
8” Dahlias!
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Member's Gardens
Summer to Winter
Craig Hannafin’s
Marshfield
Gardens
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1
Summer
Photos: Craig
2
4

First photo is peonies, tall bearded iris, and geraniums. The second is
Rose of Sharon, daylilies, coneflowers and sedum. The third is
Lespedza (center), geraniums, stachys, and amsonia (on the left). The
last is Hydrangea 'Annabelle', stachys and goldenrod.
It's a photo of the seed pods of
a shrub called Clerodendrum
trichotomum, glorybower
Thought I’d share my beautiful hellebores with you!
Peggy Mosher...Hingham….Jan. 2nd!
I only got a photo of the flower but I’m also attaching “the answer” which shows the foliage.
Eucomis “Sparkling Burgundy”
Hope you like it! Tender bulb. I did dig it up after a frost
but kept the flower going for a while.
It is a bit expensive but I’ve enjoyed it for years
now.
Barbara Caine
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December: Annual Holiday Party
Anne
Many thanks to our Hosts!
Kelly and Don
Anne, Ned, Mary, Debbie
Peggy, Cindy, Nancy, Barbara
Judy, June
Anne, Kelly
Debbie, Lynne,Kelly, Barbara
Elizabeth,Maryellen,Wendy, Dawn
Mary
Ned, Jean
Wendy, Ned, Elizabeth………………..Ned, Wendy, Patty
Peggy…. Yum!
Elizabeth, Wendy, Margaret
Remember: Keep sending me pictures of your gardens , field trips, vacations,
observations, etc.!
Thanks, Vera — [email protected]
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Photos by Vera Hough