News Archives | perennialgc

BWS 2015 Birdseed Workshop + Celebration

The Perennial Garden Club hosted their annual Birdseed Ornament workshop and celebration with the boys of the Bishop Walker School in December. The Club gathers up pinecones throughout the fall and then sets up a workshop at the school for the boys ages K-6 to roll the pinecones in Crisco and birdseeds, then hang the edible ornaments in the trees that surround the school. A party afterwards of Christmas cookies and cocoa tops off the celebration. In the days to come, the happy ruckus of birds feasting on the birdseed ornaments is an annual joy for the students and faculty.

(Above) Perennials Penny Morrill, Paige Vietor, Brooke Morton and Mary Kopper at the Birdseed Ornament Celebration. (Left) Students prepare the pinecones for hanging.

November 29 The Science behind Wild and Designed Plant Communities

Speakers Claudia West Claudia West, Ecological Sales Manager at North Creek Nurseries and Co-author with Thomas Rainer of ‘Planting in a Post Wild World’ (Timber Press)
7:30 PM Kensington Library 4201+Knowles+Ave,+Kensington,+MD+20895

Native plantings are gaining in popularity but also face severe challenges. Examples of failed projects are plentiful and hurt the image of the native plant movement. We won’t solve these issues if we continue to compare planting design to painting on canvas and perceive plants as individual objects in space. It is time for a new approach—a plant community-based method which has evolved in the world of ecological science. Join us as we translate ecological principles of wild plant communities into design and management tools that will help you create better native planting. This presentation will introduce you to the science behind stable and lasting plant combination. Let’s dive into the work of several European ecologists and planting designers and define how their findings can help you create and manage the native plantings you envision.

No Bees No Thanksgiving

In time for Thanksgiving and the holidays, the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), the most trusted source of data on the health of America's honey bees, has launched a campaign to raise public awareness of the vital roles that honey bees and beekeepers play in pollinating and producing many of the foods we love -- especially at this time of year. Continue reading

Looking for gift ideas? How about a new app? Penny Morrill mentioned an app that uses crowd sourcing for identifying plants - currently it can identify over 4,000 plants from any photo you take with your smartphone and will identify more each day as more people post plants to the site. It’s fun! http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/03/10/the-shazam-for-plants-will-identify-any-plant-from-a-picture/

Allium Alert From Sarah Salomon

Thanks to everyone for a fabulous painting party today! Thanks to my sister, Corky for coming down, and to MV for providing the yummy lunch. And thanks to everyone who grew, cut and dried all the alluim for this project. This will be spectacular!