Ihave an admission: I am an urbanforager. In April I take note of

white blackberry blooms beside thehighway so that when July comes Iknow where the wild blackberriesare likely to be found. Mygrandmother taught me toput a little sulfur in my socksto keep the chiggers away but Istill get scratched up.

A week ago I had apple butter onmy mind. I usually buy half-pricedeer apples at the Farmer’s Market to make it but a Crabappletree whose limbs were about tobreak under their load of fruitcaught my eye and urged on myhunter-gatherer gene. The tree ispart of the landscaping at mymother-in-law’s retirement home.

Yellow jackets were busy finishingoff the crab apples that littered theground so I focused on the limbs to fill my two grocery bags. Thecrabapples made the most beautifuljelly and a very tart butter. The fun

thing about the jelly is that itcould be made with reducedsugar and no added pectin. I’ve saved some crabapple

seeds to bring to the January seedexchange at the club meeting.Seeds of lots of things are piling upin my basement. (Hopefully you aresaving some as well.) I am excited about trading them with therest of you delightful gatherers.

— Mark Boone

There was good attendance atthe October 15 meeting of

Gardeners of Wake County. CaroleJohnson reports that we have 13new members so be sure to wel-come them at our next meeting. Allare from Raleigh and their names

are listed in the “new member” column.

Those who did not attend misseda very interesting slide presenta-tion by one of our members. Victorand Shirley Ahlberg joined the clubin 2006. Their gar-den on LeadmineRoad contains waterfeatures that attractwildlife as well as createbeauty and a sense of serenity forthe neighborhood. Victor gave aneasy-to-follow description of thedesign and build processes thatwere used to construct the pondsas well as the decks and gazebos.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

OCTOBER MEETING

Inside This IssueWish List Books . . . . . . . . . Page 2Club Membership . . . . . . . . Page 2Planting Trees . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2Annual Awards Banquet Reservation form . . . . . . . Page 3

Membership Application . . . Page 3New Members . . . . . . . . . . Page 4

Volume 29 Edition 11 Gardeners of Wake County, Inc. – Raleigh, NC NOVEMBER 2013

CLUB MEETINGSMeetings are at 7:30pm at the

JC Raulston Arboretum

Nov. 19 Christmas Trees

Dec. 10 Awards Banquet

Gardener Gone To Rest

Marie Bumgarner and herhusband, Tom, joined

the Men’s Garden Club ofWake County in 1984. Bothwere active gardeners whohelped found the TriangleCamellia Society and wereactive members in TriangleHerb Society, The Hemero -callis Club and The NCSU Arboretum (now the JCRA)until Marie’s health deterio-rated in recent years. We de-pended on the Bumgarner’shelp at the NCSU State Fairin the days when the Clubran the Flower Show — andMarie could sell an Azaleaplant to anyone. Her obituaryappeared in the News andObserver on October 13.

Fall is a good time to add treesto the landscape. Trees can

also be moved at this time ofyear if you have the ability todig and move them yourself orhave someone who is willing to

do the job. Keep a good layer ofmulch around the tree — butkeep it away from the trunkbark. The mulch keeps the

soil temperature from fluctu-ating quite as much so the

roots have a better chance of get-ting established. A number of gardeners in this area

are reporting problems with tentcaterpillars and other web-forminginsects in trees and shrubs. Clearout the webs and remove any eggcases that you can reach. This is agood time to treat such problemswith a dormant oil spray. It smothersthe over-wintering problems. You willwant to re-spray the area in earlyspring for additional control. Rosesseem to have been visited by someweb-forming creatures and thoseneed to be treated the same way.

There are lots of catalogs for bulbsarriving in the mail this fall. Pre-

chilled bulbs being sold in local gar-den centers can be planted now inour area. It is fun to “tuck” a few crocus bulbs in warm season lawns.My technique is to stick thepoint of the trowel in thelawn, open a space and in-sert the bulb “pointed endup” then press the soilback in place. The bulbs willbloom before the grass greens up —and you will enjoy the look of bewilder-ment when your neighbors see thespring color in your lawn.

Early spring flowering bulbs can beplanted under the canopy of decidu-ous trees. There will be enough light

Page 2 NOVEMBER 2013 The Clod-Hopper

The Clod-Hopper

Published monthly by The Gardenersof Wake County, Mark Boone,President; Anne Clapp, Editor.

Formatted and printed by Piedmont Litho, Inc.

For membership information or to change your address contact Carole Johnson, membershipchairman at the address publishedin the membership directory.

Club Website:www.gardenersofwakecounty.org

WISH LIST BOOKS

This is being included for those ofyou who may want to drop a gen-

tle hint about a gardening book thatwould make a nice addition to yourcollection. There are several booksthat have been reviewed in some ofthe gardening magazines and someyour editor has perused in localbookstores. A ”paperback” copy of“Gardening for the Birds — How toCreate a Bird-FriendlyBackyard” was addedto my own bookcaseafter a trip to Barnesand Noble. The authorand photographer isGeorge Adams. It was pub-lished by Timber Press in2013 and sells for $24.95.

The American Horticultural Society has published a new soft-cover edition of their 480-page “Encyclopedia of Gardening Tech-niques”. It has step-by-step guidesfor planting, pruning, propagatingand composting. It might be just thegift for a new homeowner/gardener.The illustrations are much betterthan the ones in the gardening bookI got when we built our first house.

Our club president might be inter-ested in “Backyard Foraging” by EllenZachos and published by Storey Pub-lished for $17 or “The Quick Guide toWild Edible Plants” by Lytton Mussle-man and Harold Wiggins published inhardcover by Johns Hopkins Pressfor $25. One of the reviewers forthese two books suggests that theaddition of a book on identifying poi-sonous plants would also be helpful.

Cool Springs Press published“Container Gardening for All

Seasons” by Barbara Wise in late2012. The containers are both“outdoors and indoors” types andthere are very good descriptionsfor designing the plantings and

taking care of them.Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

published Amy Stewart’s “WickedPlants, The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other BotanicalAtrocities”. There were a few copieson the sale table at Barnes and Noble. I still don’t know “who”killed Lincoln’s mother but the ma-jor crime families in the plant worldare named Nightshade, Cashew,Nettle, Spurge and Parsley.

Our president, Mark Boone, wouldlike to have the membership

directory printed and ready for distribu-tion at our January meeting. Thatmeans we need your membership renewal, or new member application, inour hands before the end of December.A copy of the membership applica-tion is included in this issue of theClodhopper. If there are changes inyour address or contact informationyou may also use the form to make iteasier for our membership chairmanCarole Johnson to make the correc-tions.

Your checks are made payable toGardeners of Wake County. They maybe mailed to Carole at the addresson the form or you may bring them tothe November or December meeting.New members who have joined sincethe August meeting do not have to renew their membership until Decem-ber of 2014. Carole will contact mem-bers whohave not renewed by the endof the Banquet on Deceamber 10 andgently remind them to get the applica-tion form and check to her as quicklyas possible. The Banquet reservationform is also included in this issue butremember that the banquet form andcheck are to be sent to Ginny Parkerbefore December 6.

CLUB MEMBERSHIP

BULBS

(continued on page 4))

PLANTING TREES

The Clod-Hopper NOVEMBER 2013 Page 3

GARDENERS OF WAKE COUNTY ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET

Reservation Form – Awards BanquetDecember 10, 2013 • NC State University Club, Hillsboro Street

Member’s Name ________________________________________________________________________ $20.00

Guest’s Name __________________________________________________________________________ $20.00

Additional Guest ________________________________________________________________________ $35.00

Total Amount $______

The registration deadline is December 6, 2013Checks are made payable to Gardeners of Wake County. The check and reservation form are to be mailed to:

Ginny Parker, 1801 Ridley Street, Raleigh, NC 27608

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Name _______________________________________________________________________________

Spouse ______________________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________________________

City_________________________________________________ State ______ Zip Code_____________

Phone (h) ___________________________________ (w) _____________________________________

E-mail _______________________________________________________________________________

Occupation ___________________________________________________________________________

Gardening Special Interests ____________________________________________________________

Membership dues are $15 for individuals and $25 for families for the 2014 Calendar Year. Makechecks payable to Gardeners of Wake County. Mail application and check to:

Gardeners of Wake CountyCarole Johnson, Membership Chairman5346 Lake Wendell Rd.Zebulon, NC 27597

for the buds to emerge and theblooms to open before the treecanopy leafs out. Remember to fertil-ize the bulbs before the foliage dis-appears if you want the bulbs tobloom next year.

We have had our firstfrost and dahlia foliagehas been killed back so itis a good time to dig,divide and replant them. Youmay need to add organic material tothe planting hole and be sure tomulch the planted area to reduceproblems from cold weather and“animals”.

If you are buying bulbs from a cat-alog you might be able to get them inthe ground before it freezes but it ismore likely that you will need storethem in a protected area and keepthem at the temperature recom-mended by the supplier.

Remember that bulbs should not

be stored in a refrigerator with ripen-ing fruits and vegetables. Read thecatalogs carefully for information onchilling and planting times. It mightbe better to order the bulbs and askfor shipping at the correct time forplanting in our area.

There are several clumps ofperennials in our gardens that havebeen in the ground for several years.The center of the clump is a ringwithout growing plant material. It istime to dig the clump, divide it andreplant. You do not have to “let theroots dry” before you replant.

The salvias and ferns in my gar-den do not get cut back to neaten upthe garden for winter. They seem towithstand the cold better if they areleft intact and mulched at the baseto prevent the soil heaving. After thestems have dried out they some-times get a few drifts of paint from aspray can to add a bit of winter colorinterest. The hydrangea blooms getthe same treatment.

Page 4 NOVEMBER 2013 The Clod-Hopper

GARDENERS OFWAKE COUNTY

5346 Lake Wendell RoadZebulon, NC 27597

Change Service Requested

Bob and Judy AllenRaleigh

Leslie Cohen and Mark Duerst, Raleigh

Reed and Christine Elliott, Raleigh

Paul HoffmannRaleigh

Philip and Lee LowdenRaleigh

Dale and Sharon MillerRaleigh

Mahesh ParanjapeRaleigh

Smith Primm, Raleigh

BULBS (continued from page 2)