Be sure to check out the What's New Page also - send me any photos you would like to see highlighted.
Please join us on the Second Wednesday
of the month, September - May
All garden friends are welcome from wherever you live!
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - FIELD TRIP
This month, the regular membership meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the Bell Tower Conference Room of the Historic Oakland Foundation, 248 Oakland Avenue, S.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30312. A tour of the historic Victorian gardens will follow the meeting.
Those who are carpooling will meet at the parking lot of the Dunwoody Library on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, near Mt. Vernon, by 9:00 a.m.
Oakland was established in 1850 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976
"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."
Gertrude S. Wister, American gardener
"The secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific knowledge, is love."
Luther Burbank, American horticulturist
Back Issues of the Newsletter
Aug/Sept 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
For more information, contact:
DeKalb County Federation of Garden Clubs.
Thursday, May 25, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
At Callanwolde on Briarcliff Road, Atlanta
Program: “Using Color and Texture in the Landscape”
"The word May is a perfumed word. It is an illuminated initial. It means youth, love, song, and all that is beautiful in life."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
PLANT OF THE MONTH
AZALEA
We all love azaleas in the spring. In a nutshell, their requirements are: acidic soil, a heavy mulch, consistent moisture with good drainage, filtered sunlight and no cultivation.
River sand and products like Nature’s Helper can help loosen our clay soil before planting. A heavy mulch of pine needles is especially good for these acid-loving plants. Their roots stay near the surface, usually within 3 or 4 inches of the surface. Mulching not only helps to keep these shallow roots moist, but it protects the roots from the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter. In addition, the roots must never be disturbed by cultivation.
The decaying mulch provides some of the feeding requirements of the plant. Thus, it needs fertilized only once a year at most, with cotton meal or an acidic fertilizer, immediately after blooming. Never use manure; it is too alkaline. Sprinkle the fertilizer over the mulch and water in. Never dig it into the soil, and never fertilize later than June. They thrive best in filtered sun and in a sheltered location to protect the blooms from the wind.
Pruning should be done immediately after blooming. This will allow the blossoms to form during the summer Encore azaleas should be pruned immediately after blooming and a second time no later than June. Autumn Twist is purple & white. Autumn Bell is purple with a pink center and a light edge. Our native azaleas are not only beautiful, but they attract humming birds.
Bonnie Barton's photo of her deep red peony with ants
"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."
Joseph Addison, 18th century English essayist, poet, statesman