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Capitol Hill Garden Club [email protected]

CHGC Newsletter, September 2016
September 8, 2016 at 10:59 AM
Anthony Pontorno [email protected]

Time To Renew Your Membership!

Hill Garden News

September 2016

Message From The President

They tried to bury us. They didnt know we were seeds.
MEXICAN PROVERB

As we enter the 60th plus year of the Capitol Hill Garden Club, it is a
time of optimism looking forward to the meetings and speakers in the
coming year. The array of topics continually amaze me. I remember
thinking that a recent one in 2016 on photographing flowers and
other horticultural wonders was not something that I would enjoy,
namely because I am not the picture taker in the family, my husband
is. What did I know? It was fascinating as the professional walked us
through the eye of the photo and we learned to focus on specific
parts in the viewer rather than the whole panorama.
Education also comes from our members who share a wealth of information from successes and
failures in their own gardens. And of course the annual Christmas Greens Party with all of the
work of selecting various evergreens and holly coupled with wreath forms and pins and beautiful
ribbon make the impossible possible with the guidance of our experienced members. We end the
year in June with a potluck buffet that beats any caterer.
At the most recent Board of Directors meeting, two new committees were approved: Fund
Raising and Membership and Outreach. The CHGC is a community oriented nonprofit
organization with a mission of educating its members and beautifying the Hill. Turtle Park at the
north end of Eastern Market through the efforts of many members continues to be a green
respite. A variety of projects too numerous to mention are undertaken by our volunteer
members and will be outlined in future newsletters.

Our monthly meetings are open to the public but it is your $35 annual dues that keep us going,
allow us to engage the best speakers and expand our community work. Come on out to the
monthly meetings and join the group. Be sure to show us your interests on your choice of
committee work. The officers and committee chairs are always grateful to have you on board.
One last bit of information related to gardening that I want to share. Be cautious of working in
the heat of the day. On the first really hot 92 degree day I foolishly was determined to weed my
vegetable garden located in S.E Washington. Oh, I had a hat on and slathered myself with
sunscreen plus I brought a small bottle of water. After about an hour I had trouble getting up
but made my way to my car and started to drive home. I remember very little about the trip and
passed out at the wheel. The ambulance personnel were putting an IV in my arm and oxygen
was administered on my way to Washington Hospital Center. Yes, I had heat exhaustion and sun
stroke. Now I know only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.

New Start Time For Our Meetings!

Our meetings this year will start at 7:15! That's because we need to ensure enough time to
vacate our meeting room at the Northeast Library. Please mark your calendars and plan
accordingly, you don't want to be late.

It's Time To Renew Your Membership

With the new season upon us, you can renew your membership in the Capitol Hill Garden Club
by mailing your payment to the Capital Hill Garden Club, c/o Liz McClure, 307 10th Street SE,
Washington, D. C. 20003. You can also pay it in person at the next meeting.
Couple's Membership - $55
Individual Membership - $35
To ensure that you receive all member benefits, please send your payment by October 31,
2016.
If you have friends or neighbors who want to become members, please send them to our
website to the Join Now page where they can complete the registration process.

Meetings and Events

Our First Meeting Of The Season
Natural Flora and Public Parks of Australia
Featured Speaker: Ed Peterman
At our meetings, members enjoy lectures, demonstrations, and
workshops.
This month, Ed Peterman will share photos and observations on
the natural flora and the public parks of Australia.
Please note our new start time: 7:15 PM!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

New Start Time: 7:15 p.m.
Northeast Library
330 Seventh Street NE
(7th St. and Maryland Ave.)

Our First Party Of the Season

Fall New Members Garden Party
Don't miss our first party of the season! And, the board
of directors encourages members to start the new
season by bringing someone to the party who is not a
member of our Club so that they can find out more.
You don't have to bring someone, you can still come by
yourself. This is always a favorite event for our
members.
The Party will be held this year in the pub and
landscaped courtyard at Jenkins Row Condominium.
Anthony and Joe will be our hosts.
Beverages will be provided by the Club, but members are asked to bring 'finger food' to share
with others.
Jenkins Row is located at 1391 Pennsylvania Ave SE, but the entrance is on Potomac Avenue,
past Harris Teeter, next door to Signal Financial and Subway. At the entrance, press 047 and
then the Call button on the right side of the door and say you are with the Garden Club. Proceed
up the stairs inside the lobby (or use the elevator) to the 1st floor. The pub and courtyard will be
on your right. If you have any problems, call Joe on 202 494-2623.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
The Pub & Courtyard at Jenkins Row
1391 Pennsylvania Ave SE

Our First Event Of The New Season

Join in the Fun at the Barracks Row 2016 Fall Festival
Stroll over to 8th Street SE at 11 am on Saturday,
September 24th and you will find families, millennials,
younger and older folks making their way through a variety

younger and older folks making their way through a variety

of activities and food offerings at the Annual Barracks Row
Festival. One stop along the way south from Pennsylvania
Avenue to the Marine Barracks will be the Clubs booth.
There visitors will find information about Club activities and
membership as well as gardening tips for their indoor and
outdoor gardening problems. This year instead of selling
bulbs, the Club will be giving away a bulb to each visitor as
a souvenir of the festival and reminder of the Club.
We encourage everyone to drop by the booth and also consider a one or two hour shift to make
this booth a success. There are a variety of tasks and opportunities to interact with the
community as ambassadors of the Club: meet and greet visitors, explain and share your interest
in the Club, offer written instructions or expert advice, assist visitors interested in taking away a
bulb to bloom in their garden or on a windowsill, or serve behind the scenes to deliver and set
up or take down the tent, tables and supplies. The festival runs from 11 am to 5 pm. To
volunteer or obtain more details, please contact Joan Fallows ([email protected]) or
Jennifer Cate ([email protected]). This is a joint project of the Membership and
Community Projects Committees.

Our Final Event Of Last Season

The June Garden Party @ The National Arboretum
CHGC members celebrated the end of yet another great
year for our Club at the always beautiful U. S. National
Arboretum in Washington, D. C.
Ed Peterman, CHGC VP introduced long-time member Gail
Giuffrida as our new Club President, saying she was
happy to take the post and looked forward to working
with the executive committee and with all of our
members to keep the club fun and exciting for the
coming year.
Donna Brauth, our outgoing Treasurer, was thanked for
the incredible job she has done managing our finances, and was presented with a gift certificate
for her efforts and dedication. Board members and Committee Chairs were also recognized.
The Club also recognized members Jim and Sandy Shelar who are moving to Maryland. Having
been very active members, including a stint as President for Jim, well miss having them in our
neighborhood, but they plan to remain members, so well look forward to seeing them at some
of our meetings and events.
Leanna Fenske organized a rather fun White Elephant
Exchange with a surprising array of gardening-related
items for our members to share and enjoy.
As Joyce Jones pointed out it takes a village to have a
great garden club party like this, and our terrific party
would not have been possible without the famous Party
People who set up the party: Joyce Jones, Lorraine
Fishback, Sharon Ferguson, Leanna Fenske, Sandra Bruce
and Sonia Conly. She also offered thanks to Dan Bailes,

and Sonia Conly. She also offered thanks to Dan Bailes,

Jim Fishback, Floyd Brown and Nick Brandes.
But special thanks go to Donna Brandes who organized the party again this year, saying that
these events "kind of remind me of Thanksgiving all that work and preparation and all gone in
a flash, but that flash from 5:30 to 8:30 was ever so much fun."

Click Here To See All Photos From The June Garden Party

Community Projects Special Event

Club Marches In 4th Of July Parade
On a Fourth of July morning with no rain in sight, 10
garden club members marched behind our new
banner in the community parade on Barracks Row.
Also, on decked-out bikes, were Joan Fallows and
several members of Leanna Fenske's family, both
adults and children. Lenna pulled a little red wagon
with one of her younger grandkids sitting in it and I
pushed my garden cart. There was a big crowd
watching the parade, with a huge number of little
kids. Club members gave small folding fans to the crowd as we walked. We were quite the group
as we carried our gardening tools and EJ Truax wore her full set of hand tools around her waist.
Club members who marched said they enjoyed the event and that we should march in this
parade every year. It is very informal, so little preparation is required. Marching with the other
Hill groups raises the club's visibility, particularly among the young families who live on the Hill.
The Community Projects Committee and the Membership Committee coordinated the club's
march.

Field Trip!
High Glen Gardens
Peter Couchman, Executive Director at High
Glen Gardens, led a group of garden club
members on a tour of this beautiful private
property near Frederick at the base of the
Catoctin mountain on May 20.
The 64 acre parcel was purchased by the

The 64 acre parcel was purchased by the

owners initially for development into a
residential and commercial property, but a
fateful picnic on the grounds one afternoon
their plans and they decided to build a home
there. In 2005 the home, inspired by their European travels, was completed. Four acres of
formal gardens, designed by McHale Landscape Design of Annapolis, were installed in 2008.
Then, in 2013, the owners hired Rodney Anderson Summers, Inc. Landscape Architects, a
Delaware firm that had worked on Longwood, the Nemours Mansion and Hillwood, to create a
master plan for eventual conversion into a public garden.
Please visit our website to learn more about this tour, and to see photos take at High Glen
Gardens by our Club members.

Other News From The Club

Refreshments Needed For Our Meetings
For 20 years, Anthony has coordinated refreshments for our
Club meetings. But he can only do this with the help of
members like you. Can you help? Sign up now.
Finger Foods
For each of our monthly meetings, members and guests
enjoy light refreshments which are bought or prepared by
Club members. "Finger Foods" are what most of our members
bring, something sweet or savory, like cookies, cheese and
crackers, or whatever strikes their fancy. Be as creative as
you like.
Please pick a month and sign up today! You may do so by clicking here right now to send an
email to Anthony Pontorno to let him know which month you want, or call him on 202 669-2138
and leave a message. All of the following months are now available: September, October
November, January, February, March and April.
Help is also needed to set up the coffee and tea service. Anthony normally does this, but as he
will be out of town on some of our meeting dates, he'll need for someone else to do it while he
is gone. One person can do this, but it is best for 2 people who can work together to bring
coffee, coffee pots, water, etc. Anthony has all of the supplies, you just need to get them from
him and and bring them. Help is needed for October, the December Greens Party, March and
April. Please click here now to send Anthony an email and find out more, or you can call him
on 202 669-2138.

There Is So Much For Gardeners To Do In Washington!

The Capitol Hill Gardens Club's Local Events and Opportunities page on our website has lots of
things for you to do in and around the Washington area.
Plan to visit this page often to see what new items are posted, or just visit the page one time
and click Subscribe. When you subscribe, you'll receive automatic emails each time a
new activity is posted.

More Opportunities With Our Affiliate Clubs

Your Capitol Hill Garden Club membership offers a lot more than you might have
thought including some very exciting gardening-related opportunities from our
affiliate organizations, including the National Capital Area Garden Clubs (NCAGC).
For more information about our affiliate clubs with links to their websites, visit
our Capitol Hill Garden Club Affiliate Clubs page today.

Dear Problem Lady

Feeling beset by gardening problems?
Send them to the Problem Lady
c/o [email protected].
Your problems might prove instructive to others, and help
them feel superior to you.
Complete anonymity is assured.

We are just back from a months vacation to find our

shade garden looking quite wan. Any ideas for color and
thrills this late in the season?
You will be lucky to find best choices in, as you put it, color and thrills this late in the season
among plants left in the stores. First you might revitalize the soil in your shade garden by giving
it a light mulching (top dressing) of rich compost. Most shade-loving perennials have already
had their blooming period, but you might still find some Astilbe or annual impatiens (Fusian
Glow brand) or begonias (Super Olympia brand) or lambs ears (Silver Carpet). For ideas visit the
extraordinary Mary Livingston Ripley Garden on the Mall, wedged between the Hirshhorn
Museum and the old Smithsonian buildings and Independence Avenue. Every plant is labeled.

What is so exciting about Thalictrum? My smart landscape designer, who shall be nameless,
raved about it so I planted one last summer. Totally underwhelming.
Delicacy? Subtlety? Elegance? You did not appreciate that this tiny plant with lacy leaves and
fluffy blooms likes ANY soil type, requires NO CARE, and thrives in either shade or part sun?
Thalictrum is a member of the meadow rue family, of which there are 200 varieties. Before

Thalictrum is a member of the meadow rue family, of which there are 200 varieties. Before
giving up, try another color of Thalictrum. Plant three or five or seven in the front of your border.
If they still underwhelm, rip them out and plant some gladioli.

Recent wet weather has brought mosquitoes out in swarms. Any new ideas for warding them
off?
Mosquitoes are best ignored, if possible, but some sweet-blooded people are especially
victimized. If you are one of those, choose a windy day for gardening work during their breeding
season which goes on all year if there is standing water near. For the unfortunate persons who
are magnets for bites, there is a small Off lamp a lantern fitted with a stick of Off repellant
that burns and disseminates as the lantern burns. One stick lasts for four hours over a wide
area.

Ive heard that autumn is the only time one can divide or move peonies. Any quick tips?
Dig roots deeply and carefully. Divide large bulbs with a sharp knife, making sure that each
remaining bulb has several eyes (growth buds). In replanting, mix plenty of manure with your
soil, making certain those eyes are never deeper than three inches below the soil surface. Water
lightly. Transplanted peonies can take a year to recover, so do not expect blooms next year.

Contact Information
Gail Guiffrida, President

Joseph Purdy, Webmaster

Click here for a complete list of our Club's Key Contacts

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For More Information about the Capitol Hill Garden Club

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