From the Chair

The calendar plays cruel tricks with my mind. Here we are, just days away from March which psychologically at least signals the beginning of spring. Yet winter seems to have a relentless hold on me. My rational side tells me that we still have a good three months of nasty weather ahead – clouds, snow, cold, followed by clouds rain, mud - before I’m anywhere near content with my choice of homestead. Ugh! That doesn’t mean I don’t complain about summer weather – after all, that’s the stuff that Iowa-born-and bred folks, like myself, thrive on, But in summer, there’s no better place on earth I want to be.

Meanwhile I must content myself with the little hints of what’s to come – a flock of migrating robins arriving in my neighborhood this week (February 19th – what were they thinking?), ordering then planting my NARGS seeds (and awaiting the miracle of sprouting), looking forward to attending a garden show (despite vowing to get to the Philly show it will be lower-budget Rochester again in mid-March), and, last but not least, enjoying our Chapter’s programs.

Last month we enjoyed wonderful remembrances of Ithaca gardens (Nari Mistry’s rock garden), a historic Adirondack work-in-progress rock garden (Mary and Dick George’s White Pine Camp), the forbidding but exotic environment of South Dakota’s Badlands (Suzanne Lipari), and David Mitchell’s quick glance through Les Quatre Vents, Montreal Botanic Gardens, Alpine Mt. Echo in Quebec and Cady’s Falls Nursery in Vermont – over 300 breathtaking slides in 20 minutes (retracing the Chapter’s trip last June enjoyed by 13 of us). Thank you all for sharing and, for me at least, bringing me hope and renewal.*

Our March program promises to be plant-filled as well. Jon Lonsdale of Edgewood Gardens and a true plant collector will be sharing not only his expertise but plants for sale (our plant-of-the-month) from his nursery as well. Come join us and bask in the plush world of green. If you can’t wait, I invite you to enjoy the 4,000+ photos he has posted of his gardens on his website – no doubt a good way to chase away the doldrums when the need arises.

See you at the March meeting!

Carol

* I also want to thank Craig Cramer many times over for his seamless (to us anyway) technical expertise enabling the computer interface of these presentations and for presenting, in his own right, information about navigating our exciting new way of getting information out to you all through blog (something he designed and set-up as well). It’s very cool - check it out!