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Jane Zirlis:  brought 2 daffodils: “Jetfire”- it comes first and lasts forever and “White Lion” (has beautiful “vanilla-like” scent) and has a double flower.

Advice for planting daffodils- get the naturalizing ones as they are the best investment as the bulbs propagate easily by splitting small bulbs off. Plant depth: 1 and 1/2 the bulb’s height. She buys them at Van Engelen (wholesale) or John Scheepers in Bantam (retail) She mixes the big ones with “bulbettes”.

Jane also said  that “ Bird in the Bush” has tiny pink flowers, leathery leaves, blooms prolifically, and is partial to moist and shady spots.

Victoria Zolya added she has day lilies she splits that do really well. 

Plant them as deep as you can.

Linda Elgart uses Bobbex (a deer repellant) to help protect against  rodents - she soaks her dahlias in it.

Barbara Lussier:

If transplanting a tree, build a berm around it going all the way around the tree trunk. Build at least 12 inches away from the trunk or only the root ball will get water.

Heavily water it  and the hole before transplanting so it becomes a very deep giant clump of mud. The best time of year to move conifers is in the Fall.

Mulch away from the tree trunk or it can kill it.  Mulching too close to the trunk encourages insect and fungal damage.

Barbara Michael- brought her grandmother’s Gardening articles on tips. She wrote for the Gardners Almanac. Barbara will share 3 of her  Grandmother’s tips from the articles at each meeting.

Seniel Lucien shared how she was excited when she moved from Manhattan to have real roses growing instead of in pots on her balcony, but when she went to cut some, they all fell to the ground as moles or shrews had eaten all the roots. Linda Elgart shared again her “Jaws traps” trick. She puts a peanut in it and a pot over it. Then a heavy stone on top of the pot so a squirrel won’t knock it over.

Linda Elgart also uses Miracid for wilt-proofing plants.

Tim Barrall asked a question about building raised beds, Victoria Zolya described how she does it,suggesting you can buy cement blocks for the corners. She said no shiny material should go into the bed and she uses brown cardboard, which you keep wet as you build the layers. She uses combination of peat moss, perlite and espoma fertilzer.  Do not use  pressure-treated cedar or pine.

Andrea Sqwarek has terraced raised garden bed as example in her yard.

Deborah Willard said her fingernails take a beating as she likes to work without gloves, and she now scrapes her fingernails over a bar of soap  before gardening and it saves her nails.

Virginia Matthews asked about blueberries, Seniel uses fish emulsion- dilutes it and sprays it on. It keeps the deer away.

Debra Bach asked about what to do about  winter damage to evergreens.  Members  suggested pruning dead branches, cutting back branches, and fertilizing.

Jane Zirlis shared that bees adore her  hyssop which have a lavender scent and  spread easily. She also uses ashes for her  red raspberries. She nets her berries to  keep the birds from getting them.