June is such a lovely month with Royal Poinciana billowing into bloom in all our older neighborhoods, afternoon rains, southeast sea breezes and a calm ocean to walk beside in the early morning.
I move all my plant containers into the shade, even the ones that have seen a lot of sun during the past few months. They can survive a week of neglect that way if a little trip comes my way. I notice the begonias getting "fatter and fluffier". They like the nutrient-full rainwater they are getting from my rain barrels, courtesy of Mounts Water Palooza in April and subsequent programs.
The Begonia Society took a leadership role, as you all know, in the elegant work on the Shade and Color Garden on the Island in Orth, Phase 1 of Mounts Master Plan. Now several of our members are actively involved in fund-raising for Master Plan Phase 2, the enlargement and enhancement of the Herb Garden, through the Rummage at Mounts Spring Plant Sale, which was based on similar events at other botanical gardens, such as Fairchild and Heathcote.
Outstanding Begonia Society volunteers on the Rummage Committee, which I co-chaired, were Arlo Prior, Vickie Denton, Maureen Hicks, Linda De Santi, Brenda Skaggs, Ann Cavalieri, Bev Lichtenstein, and Jennifer Obrien. Jennifer's husband, Ray, became an honorary member of the Committee when he gave us an apartment in his Palm Beach Company's building for our "headquarters".
With the help of a great deal of fun and food, we collected enough treasurers and upscale gardening stuff, and sold enough Begonia odorata, both alba and rosea, donated to us by Steven Dauber of Life Force Nurseries, to bring in over $10,000, which goes directly to the Herb Garden. There will be “memorial” odoratas in the Herb Garden now, since the flowers are edible and edible flowers are considered herbal. I thank all of our Begoniacs, both volunteers and generous rummage donors, for your help and support.
Cheers and Congratulations to Vickie Denton. The Garden Club of Palm Beach gave Vickie an award for Excellence in Horticulture. Vickie, you are a horticultural treasure and wear a fine gardening hat.
Our May program with Colin Friedrich of Excelsa Gardens and his presentation of new tropicals was a treat, and the subsequent auction was lively, making a lot of members quite happy about adding to their plant collections. Excelsa donated the proceeds of the auction ($250 net) to the society. Thank you, Mark, Colin, and Excelsa for your generosity. What a nice gesture!
Our May raffle table from Kitty Philips and Betty Ahlborn was a big knockout and so was the refreshment table from Lynda and Michael Evans, Candy and Jim Curran, and me. Thank you for being so generous.
Looking forward to our June meeting. Johanna Kitson will talk about begonias in the landscape, and didn't her landscape look wonderful at Mounts Connoisseur's Garden Tour?& ow Wellington Begonia Society members, Norma Grimm and Linda DeSanti's gardens were also showcased on the Tour.
And as for the July meeting, our annual Auction and Picnic, it's not too soon to start choosing and prettifying those begonias and shade-loving plants you'll want to auction off. Don't forget gardening things are welcome too, if you've got anything left over after donating to the rummage sale.
We miss our co-president, Nancy Cohen and all our other members who are enjoying a cool, non-Florida summer, but we've got a good begonian summer to look forward to.
Donnie Brown, Co-President
Monday, June 9. Doors open at 7 p.m., meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Our own Johanna Kitson will talk about landscape begonias.
Refreshments: Ed Whalen, Linda Desanti, Suellen Solodar
Raffle Table: Doris Happel
Badge Plant: Doris Happel
Exchange Table: Bring a plant, take a ticket, and bring home somebody else’s plant. se bring an attractive plant that you are proud to share.
The meeting began at 7:30 p.m. with a welcome by Co-president Nancy Cohen. There were four new members (Ronald Boender, Bob Peters, and Ronald and Karen Parvu. There were eleven visitors. Maria Mitsinicos gave the Treasurer's Report.
Nancy thanked those who provided refreshments: Cathy and Jim Curran, Donnie Brown, Brenda Diaz, Lynda and Michael Evans. She also thanked Kitty Phillips and Betty Ahlborn for handling the raffle table and Johanna Kitson for supplying a badge plant.
Old Business:
Co-President Donnie Brown thanked members who contributed items and plants to the Rummage Sale in support of Phase 2 of Mounts Botanical Garden's Master Plan: Herb Garden Renovation. More than $9,000 has been raised already and some remaining items continue to bring additional funds.
Doris reported on the 2009 ABS Conference. The Hilton Hotel contract will be finalized after it receives ABS approval.
Nancy added that the Begonia Show will include a Junior class. Nancy and Shawna are currently putting together materials that provide rules and guidelines for that. The search is on for a class of 14 year old students with a teacher who will make sure there is follow through. There will be classes given for the kids, and the Junior class will be great for PR. The Convention takes place April 29 – May 3 at the Airport Hilton. If anyone has any questions, they should contact Doris Happel (434-3745) or email Nancy Cohen (petcoh@msn.com).
The theme for the convention was submitted by Christine Shwartz: “Bewitched, Bewildered, and Begonia'd.”
Speaker: Colin Friedrich from Excelsa Nursery presented a short slide show on a recent trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show and side trips to Longwood Gardens and Phipps Conservatory. Afterwards he spoke about, showed, and later auctioned a sampling of new varieties of tropicals being sold at the nursery. Some of them included: the begonias 'Belle Fire' and 'Bon Fire' and the dark purple leafed alocasia 'Black Fancy'. Others included a new banana 'Cyan Ruby' from Thailand, the shade-loving ground cover Selaginella 'Ruby Red',’Alocasia 'Sting Ray', Cristata cordatai, Piper magnificum, Neoregelia 'Inferno', and more. Colin announced that Excelsa Nursery has an annual plant sale in July.
All proceeds from the auction were donated by Excelsa Nursery to the Begonia Society.
Respectfully submitted by
Sandy Sklar
Recording Secretary
The flowering trees in other parts of the garden are spectacular and the fragrances nearly overpowering. The Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata), Stemmadenia, and Michelia champaca have truly wonderful flowers and smells. The Oil Palm and Bismarcki Palms are also blooming.
Directions: Go east on Okeechobee Blvd into Palm Beach (the middle bridge). Turn left at the first street, which is named Four Arts Way and park on the North side of the library (the building on your right) in the private parking lot. Time: We can meet at 10:30 a.m. outside the greenhouse area adjacent to this north parking lot.
Doris