June Newsletter 2017
Ssh! Don’t tell the Ants!
It’s Picnic Time: Indoors, Air Conditioning, Food and a Movie!
What else could you ask for? The Memphis Horticulture Society’s Annual Picnic will be held on June 6th beginning at 6 pm in Sara’s Place. There will be transportation available to anyone who needs it, so don’t let that stand in your way of having a great social time with your fellow MHS members and their guests.
MHS will furnish BBQ, drinks and desserts. We ask that each member bring a side dish to share.
As a special treat, we will be showing “Greenfingers”, a movie about an inmate named Colin Briggs (played by Clive Owen) who is introduced to gardening. The thriving prison garden attracts the attention of a flamboyant gardening expert, Georgina Woodhouse (played by Helen Mirren), who offers to sponsor the inmates in an upcoming flower show. At the Hampton Court Flower Show, Colin meets Georgina’s daughter and a romance blooms. “Greenfingers” is an amusing British Comedy that should appeal to all. Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes.
Remember, as always, guests are welcome at our annual picnic, just be sure to bring a side to share and come prepared to have a lot of fun.
See you there!
Upcoming Events
June meeting: Tuesday, June 6 in Sara’s Place at the Memphis Botanic Garden, 6:00 pm
Please bring a friend and a dish and to share with members and friends!
June: Picnic & Movie Night
July: Dr. John D. Byrd, Jr.
August: Caroline Brown
September: Cheryl Converse
President’s Letter
by Martha Garner
We are getting ready for our annual June picnic and movie. I look forward to everyone coming. We are scheduled to have our event at Sara’s Place this year. The Board is providing Bar-B-Que, drinks and desserts. The members are asked to bring side items that go with Bar-B-Que.
Emelia Miekicki has resigned as our Membership Committee Chairperson. The Board wishes to honor her significant work for the Memphis Horticultural Society.
The Board is actively looking for members who are willing to serve in several positions. We are looking for members who have an interest in Membership Chair and Website coordinators. Also, we now have the new position of Second Vice-President and will have an election as soon as possible. Please remember that our organization is only as great as our members. If interested in any of these positions see Martha Garner or any Board member.
Have a great start to Summer.
Martha Garner, President
Through Our Garden Gates – Garden Tour
The Memphis Area Master Gardeners cordially invite you to attend the 8th annual Garden Tour, June 3rd, 9 am until 4 pm, rain or shine.
Several MHS/MAMG members are participating this year, so be sure to come out and support them.
Go to:
www.memphisareamastergardeners.org/togg.htm
to download map and directions.
Blast from the Past
(Portion of the article on Magnolias by Kenneth O’Dell in the June, 1986 Horticulture Notebook)
Magnolias
The word Magnolia came from the name of Pierre Magnol, a French botanist. Magnolias are known to be among the most ancient of flowering plants. Their fossil remains have been found in rock formations dating back more than one hundred million years. Throughout the intervening ages, during which most other races of plants have evolved, Magnolias have remained relatively unchanged. Magnolia flowers are of simple structure. Because there is usually no distinction between sepals and petals, these floral leaves are termed “tepals” and are arranged in whorls of three. ………There are no nectar glands, though the flowers are more or less fragrant. It has been found that they are largely pollinated by flower beetles which crawl between the overlapping tepals.
Add to this romantic background the fact that Magnolias bear the largest individual flowers of any tree or shrub capable of outdoor cultivation in temperate regions, that they are often borne preciously on bare stems well in advance of leaf growth, that they will flourish in a wider range of soils than rhododendrons and camellias, varying in stature from large shrubs to vast trees usually with fragrant flowers, and then their importance in our gardens becomes manifest. The bark of most of the Magnolia species and hybrids emits a pleasant resinous aroma when cut, bruised, or crushed while that of several species has medicinal properties.
Scrape’s Trivia
June is National Iced Tea Month
June 23 is Take Your Dog to Work Day.
The largest eggs in the world are laid by a shark.
Sixty-seven million pounds of pesticides and about three million tons of fertilizer are used annually on lawns in the U.S.
The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat.
Thought for the day: If all the people who sleep is church were laid end to end around the world, they would be more comfortable.
It is estimated that a single toad may catch and eat as many as 10,000 insects in the course of a summer.
Quotes Worth Quoting
I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.
—L. N. Montgomery
In June as many as a dozen species
may burst their buds in a single day.
No man can heed all these anniversaries,
no man can ignore all of them.
—Aldo LeopoldIn the spring, at the end of the day,
you should smell like dirt.
—Margaret AtwoodWhat is one to say about June, the time of a perfect young summer,
the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.
—Gertrude Jekyll, "On Gardening"