14/11/2023
Welcome members, new members, and friends to a new season of talks and get-togethers with the CT Chapter of the Hardy Plant Society.
Our November 29 meeting is free and open to the public, as a public service. Bring friends! 7 pm social, 7:30 meeting. In-person only (no Zoom) at the Wethersfield Academy for the Arts. Members whose last names begin with A-M, please bring a snack to share. Beverages provided.
Raffle! Please feel free to donate plants or garden-related items for the monthly meeting raffle. * Be sure plants are clean, and free of jumping worms!
Nov. 29 - Dr. Gale E. Ridge: Jumping Worms! Snake Worms! Learn All About Them.
Regardless of what one calls them, Asian jumping worms have invaded the Eastern US and have the potential to cause significant damage. Learn how to ID these crawlers and the best practices for controlling them. If you have worms in your garden and are not sure what kind they are, take photos/videos and bring them in for identification. Adult snake worms are killed by a hard freeze, but if you can bring live worms for ID, place collected worms in a plastic container with plenty of food (leaves, mulch, compost) to keep them alive until the program.
Dr. Ridge is an Associate Scientist with the Dept. of Entomology at Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. She is an expert in human feeding bed bugs and oversees the daily activities of the insect inquiry office, which receives thousands of inquiries each year. Although not a worm expert, she can “spot a jumping worm a mile away” and currently does educational presentations on them.
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/CAES/DOCUMENTS/Publications/Fact_Sheets/Entomology/Jumping-worms-in-Connecticut.pdf This is a link to a fact sheet published by CAES in case you want to look at it ahead of time.
Calendar listings for 2023-24 follow below.
Most meetings are on Wednesday at 7pm, speaker at 7:30, and will be in-person at the Wethersfield Academy for the Arts, 431 Hartford Avenue, Wethersfield, CT, and on Zoom. Some will be Zoom only – check each listing.
*** ZOOM invites will be emailed the day before the event and on the day of the event. Please be sure to provide email contact info if newly signing up. ***
Membership for the year is $40 ($45 family), drop-ins for each talk are $10. YOUR MEMBERSHIP makes possible the many wonderful presentations given each year, and all talks are included with membership. We invite you to join the HARDY PLANT SOCIETY if not already a member. The membership year begins September 1 and ends August 31. The membership form is attached for your use.
HPS Treasurer will be changing, but for now, you can join by sending a check by regular mail to:
HPS c/o Maryanne Gryboski, 88 Eager Road, Franklin, CT 06254.
HPS PROGRAMS (Watch for more listings to come) 2023-2024
November. 29 Jumping worms! see above
December 27 Holiday party at the Arts Academy, and Zoom at the party or Zoom at home with
MARK AKIMOFF - Alpines of New Zealand: Escape the short dark days of the northern hemisphere to spend time in the long days of the southern; this December adventure will take us from the Southern Alps on the South Island, to the Volcanic peaks of the North Island.
Mark is a professional horticulturalist from Salem, Oregon. He learned the craft early as a youngster working as a nursery hand for Pepperwood Plantation, a specialty specimen palm tree grower owned and operated by his uncle on the island of Kauai. After a brief moment studying biotechnology at Montana State University, Mark decided the laboratory wasn't for him and finished his schooling with a degree in ornamental horticulture at Oregon State University. He started as an intern at the legendary Rae Selling Berry Botanic Garden and was soon hired as the propagator. With a huge collection of rare plants to propagate and the mentorship of some of Portland's horticulture heavy weights, including Berry's own gardener Jack Poff. Mark soaked up the knowledge and skills to grow rare and unusual plants. Stints in the estate gardening world, fern production and Japanese maple and conifer nurseries followed before a transition into Wetlands restoration and environmental conservation have rounded out the career.
Mark operates illahe Rare Plants, a specialty nursery in the Willamette Valley growing unusual flower bulbs, Alpines, Rock garden and xeric plants from all around the world. He has worked in many sectors of the public garden, nursery and grounds maintenance industries for the past 25 years. Recently he has been developing a rock garden for display of the flower bulb collection at his own illahe nursery and gardens. Mark has spoken about growing unusual flower bulbs at the Emerald Chapter, Potomac, Columbia-Willamette and Siskiyou Chapter of NARGS and frequently lectures at plant societies and garden clubs on the subjects of Water Quality,Conservation, Native Plants of Oregon, Green street infrastructure, and botanical travels around the world. Mark is also an adjunct faculty at Chemeketa Community College where he lectures in the Ag sciences and Horticulture departments.
January 24, 2024 JACK SWATT Restoration of the American Chestnut: Over 100 years ago, a fungal blight was introduced that devastated the population of American chestnut trees in the
Appalachian forests. Learn about the history of the American chestnut, the blight that attacked it
and the efforts to restore it to the forests of the east.
Jack Swatt has been a member of The American Chestnut Foundation since 1993. He received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from UConn in 1983, an M.S. in Chemistry from CCSU in 1992 and graduated from the Albany Medical College Physician Assistant Program in 1996. He is
currently retired but was previously employed by The Hospital of Central Connecticut as a Physician Assistant in Hospitalist Medicine. He is also an active volunteer for the CT DEEP (monitoring wintering eagles and Whip-poor-wills), Audubon CT, CT Audubon, NH Audubon, the Loon Preservation Committee and the Society to Protect New Hampshire Forests (aka the Forest Society). He is also a life member of the Wolcott Fire Dept. Co. #2 and the New Haven Bird Club.
February 28 Zoom, with LINDA BEUTLER Clematis Myth Busting completely restates pruning advice for the genus without pe***ng the species and cultivars into pruning groups.
Linda Beutler grows a great variety of plants on a simple city lot in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Her passion for clematis led to the publication of her first book, Gardening With Clematis (2004), followed by two more Timber Press titles: Garden to Vase (2007) and 2016’s Plant Lovers Guide to Clematis.
Linda serves as curator of the Rogerson Clematis Collection (FRCC), North America’s only accredited clematis collection, and she is past-President of the International Clematis Society. In July 2018 she was presented a Golden Clematis Award by the International Clematis Society for her service to the society and the genus Clematis. She has been an adjunct instructor of horticulture at Clackamas Community College since 1996, specializing in herbaceous perennials (their cultivation and use) and cutting gardens for home and commerce.
Linda lectures internationally (thanks first to Canada and now Zoom) on a variety of gardening topics, and she has made numerous appearances on Portland’s Garden Time TV.
March 27 NEIL LAJEUNESSE from Dunning Industries - The Magic of Soils: Learn about the science and art of soils from the General Manager of the Custom Soils division at Dunning, located in Farmington, CT.
Neil creates soils that are custom engineered for ballfields, golf courses, rooftop gardens, rain gardens, commercial ma*****na growing and more, and he oversees the extensive composting production. Neil has recently created soil for a riverbed restoration project, returning a recently dredged riverbed to its natural composition, per mandates for river protection.
Neil earned a degree in Accounting from Quinnipiac University, and a degree in Agronomy from UConn. After working 10 years at a golf course, he joined Dunning where he works in soils and sales. With the skills of a master soils chef, he specializes in developing recipes for individual situations. At a bulldozed construction site, he matched the local soils and returned the site to what previously existed, blending with the local environment.
April 24 TBA
MAY 22 KATHY CONNOLLY, Speaking of Landscapes Create Foundation Plantings that Say Welcome Home to Native Plants.
In this one-hour presentation, we first consider the design problems posed by the foundation area around homes and other buildings. Then we look at native plants that fit into that highly visible setting. The foundation garden need not be a
bastion of imports such as pachysandra and boxwood!
Among regional native plants, there are flowering perennials, shrubs, grasses, trees, and ferns that both provide habitat for birds and pollinators as well as a pleasing appearance. Let's take a look at how we can achieve curb appeal and nature support in the foundation area of our homes and community buildings. This talk is accompanied by design resources and plant lists.
Kathy Connolly is a landscape designer who specializes in naturalized designs, low-impact landscape techniques, and native plants. She has helped design and install multiple meadows and meadow-gardens and has managed her home meadow for over 25 years. She gives more
than 30 talks and workshops annually for conservation organizations, master gardeners, museums, libraries, land trusts, and garden clubs. Topics include meadows, site preparation, native plants, invasive plants, and pollinator encouragement, among others.
Since 2013, Kathy has published upwards of 150 articles on landscapes, plants, and land care in Connecticut publications. She is active in the Connecticut Invasive Plants Working Group, which awarded her its Leslie J. Mehrhoff Award at the 2022 symposium for her efforts on the topic of invasive plants.
Kathy has a master's degree in ecological landscape planning and design from the Conway School in Northampton, MA. She completed the advanced master gardener program and is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional through the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut.
Her website is www.SpeakingofLandscapes.com.
June. 26 TBA
