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january 2011 newsletter
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No, Michael wasn't the only person at the meeting, but doesn't he look
good out in the garden?
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Our most recent meeting

Our Most Recent Meeting:
The
December meeting was held in Tampa at the home of our President and
First Spouse - the Barrys. While the weather was not the
greatest, I'm told that it was a very nice Christmas party.
Thanks guys!
Our
Next Meeting:
Happy
New Year Everyone! Our next Meeting will
be on Sunday, January 16, 2011 at 1:00 pm at the St.
Petersburg home of Ricardo and Pete. Yes, this is a new location
for us, and it should be of great interest since Ric is well known in
the club for his knowledge of Hoyas, which he will be talking about at
the meeting as our guest speaker.
Please
make plans to join your
fellow Club members for the first Meeting of the new year!
Parking is an issue, so please heed my parking rules along with
the directions.
Directions to next meeting: Login to Members page
Florida Gardener's Almanac:
January
Winter is Here!
January is a great month to begin
planning and planting your spring vegetable and flower gardens. The
weather is
dry and daytime temperatures rarely go above 85°F. The nights get
cool, but
rarely below freezing - although many years ago, January 19, 1977 to be exact, a trace of snow
fell in Miami and cities north.
Occasionally Siberian
Freight Trains of cold Polar air will push their way out of Canada and
down to
Florida, sometimes getting only as far as Central Florida, other times
barreling their way down to the Keys. Last
year was memorable for two of these
Siberian Express cold fronts,
which dropped temperatures below freezing in Tampa for five nights!
Because this month tends to be so dry,
your lawn and plants require supplemental applications of water.
January is also an important month for
gardeners in South Florida to
fertilize tropical fruit trees, lawns, and shrubs.
Citrus trees especially, should be
evaluated
this month. Insect pests, plant diseases, and nutritional deficiencies
may
become apparent now. Aphids, whitefly,
caterpillars, grasshoppers, and scale insects attack citrus. Citrus trees can also become home to sooty
mold, fungus, foot rot, gummosis, "greasy spot" and a host of other
diseases resulting from poor nutrition. Now
would be an excellent time to
schedule (on your new calendar of
course) regular feedings of 6-6-6 fertilizer around the drip
line of your
trees. The rule of applying fertilizer to fruit trees is one
pound of fertilizer for each year of the tree's age.
Watermelon anyone? Now is a good time
to start
watermelon if you are in Central or South Florida
(North Floridians should wait until March).
Best
bets for starting a traditional garden this month are:
- Vegetables:
Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots,
Cauliflower, Celery, Chinese Cabbage, Collards, Cucumbers, Endive,
Escarole, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leek, Lettuce, Mustard, Onion Sets, Parsley,
Peas, Peppers, Pumpkins, Rhubarb, Romaine, Rutabagas, Spinach, Squash,
Strawberries, Sweet Corn, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Turnips Watermelons,
and almost any other vegetable or fruit you desire.
- Herbs:
Anise, Basil, Borage, Chives, Chervil, Coriander, Fennel, Garlic,
Lavender, Marjoram, Mint, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Sesame, Sweet
Marjoram, Thyme and most other herbs.
- Flowers:
Amaryllis, Asters, Baby's Breath, Bachelor's Buttons, Balsam,
Calendulas, Callas, Candytufts, Carnations, Cosmos, Cockscombs,
Daisies, Dianthus, Forget-Me-Nots, Gaillardias, Gladiolas, Globe
Amaranth, Hollyhocks, Lace Flowers, Lilies, Lobelias, Lupines,
Marigolds, Narcissus, Nasturtiums, Pansies, Poppies, Salvias, Scabiosa,
Snapdragons, Statice, Stock, Strawflowers, Sweetpeas, Sweet William,
Verbenas, and other cool season flowers and bulbs.
Sources:
Florida Home Grown; Florida Gardening Month by Month
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
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I did not attend the last meeting, our Christmas/Holiday party as
I was going through something that I'm sure we all have at one
time or other - the loss of the family pet. I took it pretty hard
at the time, after all Rags was a part of the family for such a long
time, but I am ready to put that past me and move on for the new year.
My wish for all was a Happier New Year, which I am sure you can
all understand.

While I did not attend the meeting, I did make an appearance to drop
off food and cookies. I saw Joe and Bob welcoming everyone and
passing out badges. Joe has done a wonderful job organizing the
badges considering what was given to him. He has printed up all
new badges for everyone, and don't you prefer the new lanyards? I sure
do!
In my few moments at Barry's house I saw a lot of new faces, so I know
there were a few guests. What better time than at the holidays to
welcome new people to the club. Hopefully we can get them to join and
become regulars.

As in previous years, the club provided the turkey and ham. I
understand the ham was delicious - I basted it and glazed it with
homemade cranberry sauce, but forgot to bring it along. I have
heard mixed opinions on the turkey, which is fine. The problem
with turkeys is you never know how it will turn up. I purchased
the same brand of boneless breast as last year, which was a big
success. You never can tell. My mother made the gravy, so
you better not say anything was amiss there!
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There
was no program for the Meeting other than good
cheer and an opportunity to visit with other members at this special
time of
the year.

We
brought back the Cookie Exchange since it was a hit last year. I
brought my two batches - the Italian Lemon cookies and Mexican Finger
cookies. I don't know how many different kinds of cookies were
there, or which was the best.
If you baked cookies for the exchange, please send me the recipe so I
can put it on the recipe page!
We also brought back the Holiday
Gift Exchange. I tend not to participate in this
type of event because I inevidibly feel cheated by the time it is over.
Either I overspend in selecting the gift I bring and then feel
slighted when I receive one facecloth, or else I end up with someone's
idea of a gag gift that ends up being lost on me. Hopefully this
went over well again.
The
meeting ended with the raffle conducted by our
new plant expert Michael as Jim and Eric were cruising on the
Caribbean.
TWO
FRIENDLY REMINDERS--
It’s
dues time!
This is a final reminder!
Dues
are only $15 for a full membership-year (September 2010-August 2011). You can pay on the Club’s website via
Paypal,
bring cash to the next meeting (exact amount is requested), or bring a
check to
the next meeting. If paying by check,
please make the check payable to “Gary Raush” the Club
treasurer.
The
Raffle is an important
part of the Club
Meetings. Please remember to bring a
plant or two for the raffle so that we can continue to have a good
selection!
If you do not have any plants started, then you might want to consider
paying a
visit to your local nursery or home improvement store to pick up an
inexpensive
plan or two. Plus, participating in the
raffle is fun! Let’s all try to keep
the
raffle selection top-notch in terms of number and variety!
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A Message from our Leaders |
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My Fellow Rakes and Bladers!
I am hoping you survived our first freeze of
this season, and will also do well
through this next bout. We went
many years without this sort of freeze, and now 2 years in a row!
Does anyone know what is still in store? Barry and I had a
few losses, but with much care and protection, we did save most of our
favorite plants. We lost parts of the gardens at our rentals, as
we did last year, so thanks to what we learned at Twigs and Leaves we
know that we have to be looking for Florida Friendly plants that are a
bit more Hardy! Most everyone I have spoken with has said
that they just let mother nature have her way and they will find
hardier plants to fill in later this spring. That is our plan as well,
but I just cannot give up on my favorites!!!!
Barry
and I had the R&B meeting at our home in December. We had
very poor weather, and between the cold, and the misting, it was hard
to get into the garden. It was very informal time with Christmas cookie
exchange, and gift exchange. Many of our folks were out of town in
advance of the Holidays, so our numbers were small. We had about 32
people, including 8 guests. Thank you all for coming, especially
our guests. In all it was a nice time of socialization and
merriment!
For the January meeting, we are going to be at
the home of Ric Moreira and Pete. Ric will be our speaker
and his topic will be Hoyas. Ric, as it turns out is a very
talented guy. He grows, trades, and sells Hoyas. He has Hoyas from
all over the world. In addition to the Hoyas, Ric is an artist
and has just had the opening night this past Friday of a Gallery
show of his work. Ric's art will be on exhibit at a Ft.
Meyers Gallery all month. In Ric's mundane life he works as
a Microbiologist - WOW! I have been enjoying my time as
president as a way to get to know each of you. As I learn
more and more, I am amazed at what a talented group of
people we are. Thanks Ric and Pete, in advance, for hosting.
Hope to see you at the next meeting, and don't forget to
bring a covered dish, and several plants for the plant exchange.
Barry
Club officer contact
Click on any link to send an email to that
mailbox.
President - Barry
Campbell
Vice President -
Larry Hughes
Secretary
- VACANT
Treasurer - Gary
Raush
Social Director - Rich Gill
Program
Coordinator - Rich Pollin
Newsletter
Editor - VACANT
Photographer -
Rick Nale
Membership Directors - Joe Kosmal and Bob
Conner
Raffle
Coordinator - Jim Nevers
Host
Coordinator - VACANT
Potluck
Committee - Vacant
Webmaster - Bryan Hopper
The Friday Update
I hope you
are getting the information you need in The Friday Update. If you
have information that you want to share with the club, please send it
to me, either by email, snail mail or phonecall - no later than
Noon on Friday for inclusion in that week's update.
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