Spring has been squatting for all of June...
But it got the notice that the solstice is here, so happy Summer!
I’m good with saying goodbye to spring. Even today, as I start to write this it was another soggy Saturday. Someone mentioned we have had a string of saturated Saturdays for several months now. The overcast sky and lack of sun certainly make things seem so much cooler. When we do have sun, it’s as if the thermostat has been dialed way up to tropical temperatures with heat and humidity trying to get a foothold into summer. I’m guessing many folks who put their tomatoes and other hot crops into the cool soil are dealing with seedlings that should be more robust, but just haven’t been able to really root into cool soil. On another note, my spinach has never lasted this long into June.
JUNE Save the Dates!
Sunday, June 22 – Ulster County Open Days & Digging Deeper classes co-sponsored with The Garden Conservancy.
Explore these private gardens, open to the public exclusively today! To learn more and to purchase tickets, please click here.
June 28th - The 5th Annual Art in the Garden event - 12-4pm
Lori Merhige is the featured artist this year!
There will also be several pop-up artists doing their thing on that day that include,
Come meet all the artists, and walk through the gardens!
This is a free event, and donations are welcome.
JULY Save the Dates:
July 6th - Walking Tour: Join us for our monthly guided walking tour highlighting some of our favorite edible and ornamental plants. There may be gooseberries, and currants to try! Reserve here.
July 13th - Mycorrhiza: A Thriving Community Beneath Our Feet with Luke Sarrantonio
This will be a general class, covering the major types of Mycorrhiza, where they’re found, who they associate with, why they’re so important and how we can partner with them in our growing practices. Then we’ll walk the land, looking at examples of plants that form these relationships and examine some root tips. Bring all your mushroom questions!
Summer Residency for Visual Artists - August 4th - August 11th 2025
Deadline to enter – July 11th 2025 -
The 2025 Juror is Yihsuan Sung ~ 2025 Spring Artist Resident
Visit here for more details.
Okay lets talk about where are all this years Cicada’s?? Having missed last year’s two large periodical broods, XIX and Xlll, mostly because I live in New York. Don’t doubt for a second that I did contemplate taking a roadtrip to go check it out, but best laid plans…Someone tried to make me feel better about the fact that broods happen all the time (not true), and last years emergence of both these broods at the same time had not been seen since 1803.
“It’s sex, drugs and zombies,”. This is referring to this year’s brood of Periodical 17-year cicadas in Brood XIV that were/are expected to emerge late May into June. This brood is one of the largest 17-year cicada broods! The last time they emerged was in 2008!
After spending those years slowly growing underground, they emerge when the soil surface temperatures reach 64 degrees, which is just beginning to happen now. Check out this cool app that shows you the approximate soil temperature for your area. As taken from Scientific America, above ground, flightless cicada nymphs transform into black-bodied, winged adults, ready for a month-long bacchanal of song and sex. But for many cicadas—possibly tens of millions—mating will be a gruesome parody of procreation in which their body is turned into a disintegrating puppet by the deadly fungus Massospora cicadina, which only infects 13-year and 17-year cicadas.
An infected insect will try to mate even though its genitals have been consumed by the fungus and replaced by a plug of fungal structures called conidiospores, which spread their “zombification” effect on contact. The fungus also floods cicadas with cathinone, a stimulant that also occurs in khat, a plant chewed as a recreational drug in some parts of the world. In cicadas, cathinone may boost hypersexualized behavior.
Do you live in one of these states? Did you see a big Cicada outbreak already?? Or was spring still squatting in your area? Here is a great sources to learn more about Cicadas!
With all this precipitation lately, certain genera are showing off some very floriferous blooms!
Now emerging in your front yard, your backyard, your neighborhood park, rooftop garden, and so on..
..the larvae of the Spotted Lantern Fly is out and about. I swear this one was following my movements! Do what you can now to prevent them from becoming adults!!
Thank you to everyone who was able to order plants from the Online Plant Store, as well as those who were able to shop up in person. It was a great “first” time plant sale that we will continue to do this way in the future!
However, we always have a small selection of plants available for sale at the arboretum, so if you’re planning a visit ask us whats currently available.
Work continues in the conifer garden, also know as a Pinetum by continuing to remove Barberry, Multiflora Rose, and Asian Bittersweet to name a few of the “woody” plants that have been allowed to grow there as a type of a “fence” before we got actual deer fencing put in this past winter, thatnks to the virtual fundraiser we held that allowed us to accomplish this!
By doing a combination of pruning the branches down, weedwacking and then digging up the root system, as much as possible, we are starting to eradicate these plants. However, this is not a one time task. You too can do this at your home too, but remember it is a process and expect that this is something you will be doing over a period of a season or two, maybe even three. But you will see each successive time that the plants will grow less and less robust!
As I close out this newsletter, Summer has hit hard with just a few days left before the solstice hits. Not complaining, just observing. Get outside and do some.
Thanks for reading along and see you in the gardens,
Allyson