BEAUTIFUL HIBISCUS

 Sylvia is sharing some of her finds at Kroger's that were only $14.95.  Some very pretty hibiscus if you need replacements!

Enjoying the Butterfly Garden ?

The only financial support the Norchester Garden Club gets for the Butterfly Garden in Matzke Park is from ABCS through the Kroger Reward program.  It takes just a few minutes to sign up and link your Kroger card to the number WT732. Getting a Kroger account also provides you with generous monthly coupons for Kroger. It does not impact your fuel points.

You need a digital account to register your card for the garden support. You likely already have a card; you may need to create an account for it. 

Create or log into your Kroger account at www.kroger.com

here is all you need to do

         Sign into your Kroger Digital Account   

1. ·        Select ‘My Account’.
2. ·        Scroll down to the ‘Community Rewards’ section of your account page.
3. ·        Select ‘Enroll Now’ or ‘Edit’.
4. ·        Enter the number of the organization that you wish to support.
                Ours is WT732 Association for Better Community Schools (ABCS)
5. ·        Select it and click on ‘Save’.

You can tell if your signup is active and current by checking the very end of your Kroger Grocery Receipt.  If all is well, it will say you are linked to Association for Better Community Schools.

Kroger sends a check, four  times each year to ABCS, which then sends it on to the Garden Club Treasurer .   With only 5 or 6 loyal gardeners signed up this past year, the checks have been for  $33.51,  $37.42, $44.56, and $39.53.    Every little bit helps.   Please sign up and remind your friends and family. Your fuel points are not impacted by this. But it has a big impact on the garden. The money ABCS gives to the garden club is used exclusively for new plants and maintenance like repairs to the extensive watering system.

Texas Legacy Trees

Norchester Garden Club members have volunteered to adopt a needy child for the next two years.  The Texas Legacy Tree project was looking for individuals to care for some of the seedlings being raised by Mercer Arboretum.  And these babies really look like they need some loving attention, having barely survived our recent freeze.

NGC nursemaids are Kathleen, Joan, Janet, Cathy, and Carol.   

The trees are Sweetbay Magnolia. Carol picked them up from the Mercer Arborist, Laura.  Laura is managing this project for Mercer. 

Ms Laura is an A&M graduate and has been the Mercer Arborist since 2016.

(Masks removed for the picture at the request of the photographer)

The Legacy Tree project is fully explained at this link to the Mercer website..

 Once you open it, be sure to scroll down to the pictures and individual stories about the historic Texas trees that are being preserved through this work.

Click Here

The Sweetbay Magnolia Tree (Magnolia Virginiana) has glistening dark green leaves with a silver underside that has a frosted appearance. The 2"-3" creamy white flowers have a light lemon scent and are visible in late spring and early summer. It is very elegantly shaped and is a good choice for a specimen or patio tree. Bright scarlet-red seeded fruit ripens in late summer attracting many birds. Prefers moist, acid soil with sun to partial shade. They grow at a medium rate, with gains of anywhere between 13 to 24" per year, and will reach 10'-20' high at maturity with an equal spread. Magnolias can be trained as a tree form as well as a hedge or shrub, depending on your liking. The fruit is eaten by gray squirrels, white-footed mice, turkey and quail as well as a variety of songbirds including vireos, towhees, northern flicker and blue jays.

HEIGHT: 10-20'
WIDTH: 10-20'

Prefers full sun to partial shade

The sweetbay magnolia grows in acidic, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, silty loam, well-drained and wet soils. It will tolerate periodic flooding.

Could it snow in Tomball?

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No snow but some north of Houston. This is alyssum self seeded and Heliotrope Marine.
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Behold! Winners of the 2020 Christmas Cactus Challenge, Congratulations

 Thank you to our participants of this year's challenge.  See you again in 2021.

It is Getting Chilly Outside

 Yes.. great weather now, but for our plants it is a preamble to something much cooler.  It is not too early to start thinking about how to protect them  In her Norchester Garden Club reports in the past 5 years or so, the Horticulture Report Chair has produced three that are useful to review before a freeze sets in again.  

You may find all three combined into one PDF report you can open, download, or print.  It is good to have on hand.   The link is here: https://tinyurl.com/FrostProtect

Here is what we have constructed in our own backyard for this season.. 

For larger plants and/or areas... a simple frame of 1/2 in electrical conduit or 1/2 in PVC pipe works well with frost cloth over it.   1/2 in PVC Fittings for the corners.

The clamps are on Amazon...   (Don't know why they are called Muslin) 

FUDESY 10-Piece Heavy Duty 4.5 inch Muslin Spring Clamps

Planting Amaryllis bulbs for a Christmas Bloom

 Amaryllis bulbs are a favorite Christmas gift for Gardeners

    Amaryllis can be "renewed" with gorgeous flowers ever year.  Check out the Norchester Garden Club Horticultural Report for March 2020 listed here on how to "renew" an Amaryllis every year.

http://bit.ly/20-03AmaryllisRenew

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Left to right: Red Lion, Minerva, Bight Nymph, Showmaster and Baby Bright Nymph in front.

Bulbs are storage vessels, and the bigger the bulb, the more stored energy it has.   This is why a small amaryllis bulb can produce a single stem with 2 or 3 flowers, while the largest size bulbs is able to produce 3 stems, each with 4 or 5 flowers.

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Stem strength also varies depending on bulb size. Larger bulbs produce thicker, stronger stems.

Here are how many stems and flowers each size bulb is likely to produce:

26/28 cm – 1 stem (occasionally 2) with 3 to 4 flowers

28/30 cm – 1-2 stems with 3-4 flowers per stem

30/32 cm – 2 stems with 4-5 flowers per stem

32/34 cm – 2 stems (occasionally 3) with 4-5 flowers per stem

34/36 cm – 3 stems with 4-5 flowers per stem