Garden Club Set for March launch 2016

If you haven't signed up for Riverwalk Garden Club email see the form to the right, you will get periodic emails regarding garden club activity. 

The plant exchange is always a favored activity, bring a plant or two to share and go home with something new. Our club is very generous! Watch for the date, time and place here or sign up for email.

Tips for Bougainvillea Lovers

Houston is a good climate for growing Bougainvillea. The nurseries are full of beautiful blooming plants now. If you have nurtured your Bougainvilleas over many years and they usually come back, then coddle them along. Houston suffered a harsh winter this past season, and some are slow to return.
My personal experience thus far is one of mine is back full of leaves. Some have small green sprouts coming out at the base.
If you think yours are goners, don't give up just yet. Test yours to see:
Snip branches to see if your plant is showing only gray dead branch inside, if there are signs of green or yellow there is still a chance its trying to come back.
Try the bend test, if the branches snap when you try to bend them snip back until you see a sign of life.
At this point in the season, mine that have not yet budded any green have been cut back drastically. Be sure to water them after pruning, then wait until they dry out to water again.
Be sure there are no roots exposed on the surface of the pot or above ground, they do not like their roots showing, cover them with some good soil, potting mix or compost.
Give them about a month and if there are still no signs of life, its time to start over.
Once we get our leaves out, we will force blooms if they don't come out on their own.
Stay tuned...

Related articles

• Grow your Bougainvillea Plant in containers and pots. They LOVE IT !!

Garden Club Meeting

F i r s t  E v e n i n g  G a r d e n  C l u b  M e e t i n g

Host: Nancy Oliver

19343 Desna

6:30 pm
RSVP: 281-354-3027

Everyone is welcome, bring a friend!
We will approve our garden club sign. Have a quick demo on a summer wreath, decide on flowers to be planted at entrance and form a committee to help with the project.

SEE YOU THERE!

Beware! Poisonous Snakes!

Be careful as you do Spring Cleanup!

Photo courtesy D. Wolf, Mersey Drive

Two neighbors have recently sent photos of poisonous snakes found on properties on Mersey Drive, yes folks we live in the forest and nature exists along side us. Be sure to wear gloves, good boots and stay safe. Dead leaf piles, rocks, and wood piles are favorite hideouts, but as you see these boys are out in the open.

Photo shared by Craig Power, also a Mersey resident. His friend, John Grayson estimates this snake is maybe 4 feet long, or close to it. He looked in Wikopedia and it says record length coral snakes are just under 48 inches (4 feet). "I might have a record -- or at least top 10 -- coral snake", said Power.

Marching to the beat of Spring

Azaleas at my Kingwood home. I hope to have some just as lovely as these at Mersey!

Azaleas are such lovely flowering plants and shout "I'm in the SOUTH", with their beautiful blooms. The can make great understory plants that grow well in partial shade. Azalea bushes do well when planted in the filtered shade of pine trees. Pine needles are acidic and Azaleas love acidic conditions. Some sources claim Azaleas planted in partial shade will retain their flowers longer in the spring.

There are those that keep their leaves and others referred to as deciduous where they lose theirs. Encore Azaleas are repeat bloomers, where the remainder of varieties bloom in the spring. My personal experience is that Encores never cover themselves in blooms but offer spotty blooming throughout the spring, summer and fall. Someone once told me that you can tell how large an Azalea will grow by observing the leaf size. There are some varieties that stay around 3 foot tall, regular varieties can grow 10 feet or more. Just read the tag when buying, but if they are already present in your yard observe the leaf size for indicators.

Pruning shears. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Prune your azaleas in the spring, immediately after they have finished blooming, to maintain the desired size and shape. Do not postpone pruning too long after blooming, otherwise you may end up cutting away next years blooms. When you do prune remove discolored, damaged or dead branches and foliage. Use only sharpened and sterilized pruning shears to prevent the spread of plant diseases. A guide is to remove individual branches back to the spot where they join a larger branch. New flower buds for next spring's bloom are set by midsummer, and any pruning after mid-June could result in diminished flower production next year.

For additional information go to:

http://www.azaleas.org/

Related articles

• Plant Encore Azaleas for Three Bloomings Per Year
• Azaleas

A big "Thank You" goes to Shirley Weidner and her husband Micheal for making sure the flags were placed for Presidents Day! Shirley volunteered to chair the flag committee during our January meeting and has stepped right up to fulfilling her position. We appreciate you!

Garden Tip for February

Prune your roses close to Valentines Day! They will reward you with beautiful blooms. Trim dead wood and feel comfortable trimming back 1/3.

Steps:

1. First, remove all obviously dead canes.
2. Next, remove any crossing cane (a cane that rubs against another cane) by cutting the cane off at the bud union. Use some judgment here on selecting which of the two canes that are rubbing against each other to remove. Usually, one is better off removing the cane with the smaller diameter.
3. Remove all inwardly growing canes to make sure the center of the bush is open.
4. A good rule of thumb is removing any cane that has a diameter of less than that of a pencil.
5. After removing crossing canes, inwardly-growing canes and thin canes, leave all the others. With floribundas, the more canes the better.
6. Prune the remaining canes back by cutting off between one-third and one-half of last year's growth. See below for details on how to make these cuts.
7. Exactly where on the cane to make your cut depends on the actual rose cane before you. What we are looking for is a bud eye. Bud eyes are pimple-sized swellings on canes where a new stem will develop. We look for a bud eye on the "outside" part of the cane. That will insure that the new cane grows to the outside, not inwardly.
8. We will make a 45 degree angled cut one-fourth inch above the bud eye. The "top" side of the cut will be on the side with the bud eye and the downward side will be on the part of the cane opposite the bud eye. That way, any sap will flow away from the bud eye and not drip over it.
9. Make sure your cut is of green, healthy wood. If the cut shows dead wood (or even if only part of the cut has dead wood), you must make a lower cut to green wood. That dead wood is like a cancer, and it will cause die back and kill the cane. Thus, continue cutting back to green wood, even if you cut the particular cane very short. Cutting back to green wood is the only way to save a diseased cane. Go to the next outward-facing bud eye and try again. It is better to have a four inch cane with green wood than a eighteen inch cane with dying wood. Live wood looks light green/white. Dead wood looks brown.
10. Some people put Elmer's White Glue on the cut with your finger if the cane is especially large in diameter. Most canes will not need anything on the cut.
11. Strip off any leaves with black spot and pick up all fallen leaves around the base of the plant.
12. Established bushes (those in the ground for at least one year) can be fed anytime after pruning. For new bushes, wait until the first rose blooms appear before fertilizing. And don't forget to water.

Okay! Now you've been promised a rose garden.... :)

Riverwalk Garden Club Established

Six Charter Members name Riverwalk Garden Club

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Kick off meeting

Attendees

Tess Chustz

Shirley Crowley

Brenda Ivy

Bitsy Lugo

Pat Power

Shirley Weidner

The meeting was held at the home of Shirley Crowley. 

The group elected the following individuals to serve the club through 2014.

Shirley Crowley - Chairman

Bitsy Lugo - Vice Chairman

Brenda Ivy - Secretary

Pat Power - Treasurer

We appreciate these ladies being willing to break ground with our club in its infant year.

Committees Formed:

Shirley Weidner volunteered to chair the flag committee for flag display on patriotic holidays

Discussions:

Meetings: Meetings will be held monthly, in members homes. We will alternate holding day meetings and evening meetings. Meetings will halt in September and resume in December. Host member will provide place to meet and members will be asked to bring refreshments.

Blog: Shirley announced that she will post meeting minutes along with other garden club news and events on this blog.

Activities:

Beautification Projects 2014 The group decided they will choose two projects for this year for beautifying the community. The front entrance and median will be addressed. The group would like to form a Yard of the Month award, Christmas award for outdoor decor. The committee will accept nominations from the community and judges appointed by the garden club not associated with the club will name the awarded address. During Christmas the committee will take addresses submitted by the community and form a trail of lights map for residents to enjoy those homes decorated for the holiday. 

Pat mentioned that there is $328 left in HOA funds that can be used for Riverwalk Garden Club (RGC) seed money.

Fund Raisers Bitsy Lugo stated that fund raisers could be done to build the RGC coffer.  

Guest Speakers Members agreed that guest speakers would be welcome during meetings. A 15-20 minute presentation on gardening topics was decided.

Field Trips & Tours The group will bring up places for self visits and in some instances may form groups to go together.

Plant Swap Pat Power will host a plant swap in the next few months. An email notification will be sent with details for participation.

February meeting date to be decided.