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Our most recent meeting
Yes, we braved that mysterious bridge to go to Palmetto and the home of
Tony and Dominic, and was it ever worth it! The animals, the
flowers, the discussion all helped to make the meeting a great success!
Our Next Meeting:
Our
next meeting will be on December 16th, at 1 pm. We will
be heading North this time, up to Palm Harbor and the lovely home of
John Martin and Norm Bauer for our meeting and potluck. The club
will be providing the meat course, so you bring the
side dishes!
PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING A CHAIR FOR YOURSELF! The
club has stopped bringing chairs since they were only borrowed and most
were getting damaged from excessive use. You should bring
something to sit on, or be prepared to
camp out on the ground if you don't. I try to bring a few cheap resin
chairs I
picked up at Home Depot. They fit on the back seat of my car, and
if I can fit them in my tiny car, everyone should be able to.
RSVP is not necessary, but if you have any questions, Marty has all the answers at potluck@rakesandbladesfl.com or
by calling 727-797-8498.
Directions to next meeting: Login to Members page
In
spite of the cold snaps we have been having, I am sure everyone will be
bringing lots of plants for the raffle. My own garden is looking
fairly dismal with all the gingers going into hibernation, but they
will be back in the Spring. If you don't have a plant to share, please
pick up something at your local garden center for the raffle.
Don't forget to identify your plants for the next owner. I have
included the plant care form in the members only section for your ease.
You can print out as many as you need from the site. I am
sure
you will appreciate finding out how to care for the plants you select.
I haven't killed anything yet, so they must be effective!
Of Interest to Gardeners
Norris Crenshaw’s monthly timetable of gardening chores:
December:
- Spray roses once a week
- Prune shade trees
- Plant shade trees
- Prune citrus before new blooms form.
Also of interest:
Selby Botanical Garden in Sarasota
Sunken Gardens, 1825 4th Street N, St Pete.
Pinellas County Extension Service calendar for lots more gardening events.
City Beautiful Commission in St. Petersburg
Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum in St. Petersburg
Monthly meetings at Moccasin Lake Nature Park
2750 Park Trail Ln., Clearwater:
Clearwater Audubon Society
1st Monday, October – May, 7:00-9:00pm.
Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society
First Wednesday of month, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Suncoast Sierra Club
3rd Thursday, 7:30-9:30pm
ASK THE GARDENER:
As Brian told us in his presentation, there are 4 different grades of
mulch offered by the city of St. Petersburg department of sanitation.
They will deliver within the city limits for a modest delivery
fee of $25.00 for up to 6 cubic yards, or $50.00 for 8-12 cubic yards
and will make arrangements if you need more. The regular
processed mulch is free, or you may purchase one of the 3 higher
grades for nominal charges per cubic yard, depending on which you want.
You may pick up any of the mulches in person if you want to haul
it yourself.
Call (727) 983-7942 for more information
or arrangements for delivery.
Master Gardeners are highly trained volunteers who help extend the
mission of the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences Urban Horticulture Extension Agent. Classes meet one day a
week for 15 weeks, and require an additional 15 hours of community
service. The cost of training is $140.00. To learn more
about the program contact Carol Suggs at (727) 582-2124 or by email
csuggs@pinellascounty.org
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Okay, I admit it! I made a mistake!! So since when
did I tell anyone to follow my advise or instructions? For those
of you who got lost following my directions to Tony and Dominic's, I do
humbly apologize. Thank goodness Tony had the foresight to have
me include his phone number in the directions just in case. I am
including this photo of the front of the house for anyone who didn't
call and ended up in Gibsonton!
Well, for those of you who made it to Palmetto, and there were nearly
50 of us, wasn't it worth the effort? I mean, at the very least I
ended up coming home with a green egg, and at the high price of eggs
today, it was worth the trip! And I don't think the chickens minded all
that much.
 The geese started off  the
meeting by trumpeting our arrival at the house. They
commanded everyone's attention for the first few minutes, drawing
everyone over to see them. They were the life of the party, then
they quieted down as we walked away, leaving them to eat
everything in sight - so did we!
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We spent a leisurely time eating, chatting, and
catching up with old friends or making new ones. In honor of the
birds, I chose not to bring chicken or turkey..but they were there
anyway.
With Jim and Eric on a cruise in the Caribbean, Kevin was volunteered
to lead the meeting - that will teach him to miss a board meeting!
Kevin took control masterfully, hmmmm....and got us focused on the
agenda. Bruce brought it to everyone's attention that we have new
badges that tell what year you joined, and what office or gardening
specialty you have - if we know it!
Gary Raush was absent from the meeting, and understandably so, since
the meeting was the same time as the final curtain on Gary Luter's
play - 110 Degrees in the Shade.
I hope you all took advantage of Gary's very generous offer of
free tickets to attend any of the performances. I am sure it was
a spendid production, as all of Gary's work is exceptional!
Brian Cahill gave a very informative presentation on the free services
available through the Pinellas County Extension Service, including free
mulch and rainbarrel training. Their link is above. Brian
presented the four types of mulch available through the county for free
or for a nominal charge. His presentation lead to a tremendous
discussion of landscaping, - the benefits and hazards of totally
mulching your yard, different types of ground cover plants, watering
regulations, and city codes. Thanks to all of you who
participated in the discussion, and to you Brian for having such a
thought-provoking topic.
Of
course we had a raffle. We didn't spend much time on plant
identification since Jim wasn't there to tell us what's what, but we
had a nice selection of plants. I donated all of those
jasmine that didn't sell at the plant sale, and to remind us of
Jim, I also brought some young passiflora edulis. After the
raffle, Dom and Tony took
us on a tour of the birds and rabbits. They showed us how they harvest
eggs and gave us a rare opportunity to see the unusual colors of eggs
produced by their chickens. In addition to the normal brown and
white eggs, they have chickens who lay green, blue, pink and peach
eggs!
Brad took this photo and I wanted to include it, even though I didn't
have anything to say about it. Brad really outdid himself with
these incredible photos - they are spectacular. Make sure you
thank him the next time you see him for all the great memories he
captures while we are having fun.
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I am including this great photo of Scott and Joe as a thank
you to them for their contributions to the club. They are the
plumeria
guys who gave me all those great photos for our new gallery.
They came up with some great ideas for changing the website to
make it
more appealing, and they also allowed me to volunteer them
as guinea pigs for our new Members Garden section - coming
soon!
It is my attempt to expand
our website by employing some of the good things in other sites!
If you
didn't notice, there are 5 new radio buttons on the top for 5 more
readily available sections of the site. Two are currently
inactive, so watch for them!
I am not going to harp on renewing membership this month. If you
haven't renewed, you know who you are and what you need to do.
 The wild, red poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a native
of Mexico and Central
America. It was introduced into cultivation in the US
by Joel Roberts Poinsett, first US
ambassador to Mexico,
in the 1820’s, and was later named for him. One hundred years later, Paul Ecke
Sr. of Encinitas, California
sought to make potted poinsettias the official flower of Christmas.  Through the
breeding and business efforts of his family, his dream was realized by the
early 1960’s, and by the time of his death in the early 90’s, Ecke poinsettias
accounted for 80% of all plant sales at Christmas time.
 Contrary to popular belief,
poinsettias are not the least bit toxic, though like all Euphorbias they do
contain a milky sap that can be irritating to some people’s skin. Also, what
most people take to be the flowers are actually modified leaves, called bracts,
which surround the tiny, yellow, true flowers.
After so many decades of Ecke
breeding, the options are far from being limited to the traditional red. Recent
introductions include many bi-colored  varieties and unusual forms. Plum Pudding
has purple bracts, Jingle Bell’s bracts are red splashed with white, and the
Winter Rose series have bracts that are curled and clustered like a dahlia.
All of these new varieties should do as well in the Florida
garden as the traditional red, giving us some interesting landscaping options
for winter color. Much is made of the poinsettia’s need for consistent hours of
darkness in the fall to initiate blooming for the holidays. I have found that
they do just fine on their own, with the decreasing daylight hours of October
naturally inducing flower production toward the end of Novermber. Just avoid
planting them in a location where strong artificial light will reach them at
 any time during the night. Bract color peaks in late December and early
January, eventually fading in March.
To produce the fullest plants with
the most colorful bracts, plant them in rich soil with perfect drainage. Poinsettias
grow well in full sun, but not extreme heat, so choose a location away from the
hottest sun, where the plants will be in light shade or partial shade in the
fall and winter. Keep them consistently
moist, and fertilize once a month from March through September. Pruning after
September 10 will not allow enough time for colorful bracts to develop on all
branches. Pinch them back in early March, May and July, and if they need it
again, before September 10. This will give you a plant with lots of branches
that doesn’t get too tall or leggy.
Club officer contact
President: Jim Nevers, president@rakesandbladesfl.com
Vice President: Ann Allen, vicepres@rakesandbladesfl.com
Treasurer: Gary Raush, treasurer@rakesandbladesfl.com
Secretary: Bruce Bates, secretary@rakesandbladesfl.com
Newsletter: Bryan Hopper, newsletter@rakesandbladesfl.com
Photographer: Brad Hissing, photos@rakesandbladesfl.com
Raffleator: Kevin Ritter, raffles@rakesandbladesfl.com
Social Director: Michael Argrew, socialdirector@rakesandbladesfl.com
Program Coordinator: Brian Cahill, programs@rakesandbladesfl.com
Host Coordinators: Ann Allen, Marty Volpe, hosting@rakesandbladesfl.com
Potluck Committee:
Marty Volpe, Scott Hoffman, Dani Skrzypek, Jeffrey Davis
potluck@rakesandbladesfl.com
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