MONTHLY PROGRAMS  

                                            MEETINGS BEGIN: 9:30AM

                                              at the Presbyterian Church

                                      400 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY

SPECIAL EVENING PROGRAM: SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 @ 6:30P

Light dinner, coffee and dessert served 

Program: “Ask a Master Gardener”Presenters: Carolyn Ramsey, Mitzi Weissman, Ed Impara, Susanna Kwong, Michael Inglis

Introduction by Senta Stich

At Presbyterian Church 400 Bedford Road, Pleasantville,

We will have a panel of the Club’s Master Gardeners who will talk about their gardens and gardening experience over the years and will answer questions. We especially invite members who is not able to attend our usual Thursday morning meetings. Come and meet the experts and the other garden club members. All members are encouraged to come to this social event to meet and greet one another and share garden information as we move into the last season of the year.

OCTOBER 6, 2022

Program: “Your Garden Bouquet Enriched with A Dash of Asian Flavor” . Presenter: Jan Gordon

Program description: One of PGC’s own members, Jan is the owner of East Meets West Flowers in Pleasantville where she creates contemporary designs that incorporate traditional Japanese floral principles that echo nature’s beauty. She will demonstrate and guide us as we each create our own handheld bouquets by incorporating the clean line of greens and/or branches with the varying heights of flowers. Bring your seasonal bounty from your gardens. Jan will supplement with a few Asian accents she can find. Time permitting, we should be able to create two bouquets to take home.

NOVEMBER 3, 2022

Program: “Pot Luck” . Presenter: Abbie Zabar

Program description:  Abbie is a published author, accomplished artist, designer, speaker and, always, a gardener. She gardens on a NYC rooftop now in pots and in spite of the odds. Every nook and cranny, every single plant, every last container is accounted for, and accountable. The possibilities are limitless for this creative spirit! Abbie will delight us with tales of plants in every conceivable type of container, from traditional pots made of stone and terracotta, to an enduring little lichen-covered log overflowing with Sempervivum arachnoideum. 

JANUARY 5, 2023

Program: “Winter Seeding Workshop”

Presenters: Julie Sootin and Eva Thaddeus

Julie Sootin is a life-long gardener and nature enthusiast who developed a love of native plants while raising butterflies with her young children. Julie has been rewilding her yard since 2015 with pollinator beds, shade gardens, grassy slopes, and a backyard that went from turf grass to wildflower meadow. She also organizes a local native plant and seed swap community group.

Eva Thaddeus is a former elementary school teacher and environmental educator who has gardened in places as varied as New York City, the high deserts of New Mexico, and here in the Hudson Valley, learning a lot about plants and their ecosystems in the process. Eva has been trying to restore healthy biodiversity for several years on a property that has been taken over by unwelcome invasive plants.

Julie and Eva met back in 2015 when they both worked at Teatown Lake Reservation in Ossining, NY.

Program description:

The owners of Wild Gardens Nursery will lead us in a winter seeding workshop using seeds harvested from their nursery. Learn about seed stratification and seed dormancy and how to work with Mother Nature. Bring your own pots (preferably 1 gallon milk/water jugs) and try your hand at growing native perennials from seed.

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

Program: “Two Thirds for the Birds” 

Presenter: Edwina von Gal, Founder of the Perfect Earth Project

Program description: Our obsession with tidy, "clean" landscapes is proving to be harmful to the things and the ones we love. How can we step away from the need for ‘neat’ and let nature play a role in how we perceive, design, and maintain our human-dominated landscapes? Join celebrated landscape designer Edwina von Gal for a lecture that considers the rewards of gardening with nature -- not against it. She will also discuss the new Earth Equity movement, which seeks ethical, social and environmental equity for human and non-human lives, and the systems that support them, and Perfect Earth Project's initiative Two Thirds for the Birds, a call to action to landscape and environmental professionals to make all their projects habitat friendly. 

MARCH 2, 2023

Program: “Groundcovers for the Northeast”

Presenter: Duncan Himmelman

Biography:  Duncan Himmelman, Ph.D., received his doctorate at Cornell University and has more than 35 years of experience in practicing and teaching horticulture and landscape design. Additionally, he has developed and delivered a broad range of classes for Adult Education at the New York Botanical Garden, focusing on real-world gardening advice. He recently retired as the Education Manager at Mt. Cuba Center. 

Program description: Tired of hauling home mulch from the garden store?  Learn about groundcover plants that grow well in our region and how to use them to suppress weeds by creating a carpet of "living mulch" in your yard. 

APRIL 13, 2023

Program: "Promoting a Living Soil in your Garden"

Presenter: Daryl Beyers

Biography: Daryl Beyers is author of “The New Gardener’s Handbook: Everything you need to know to grow a beautiful and bountiful garden”, available from Timber Press. As gardening certificate program coordinator at the New York Botanical Garden, he helps guide the program’s curriculum, teaches the popular Fundamentals of Gardening course, and courses in garden design. He has more than thirty years of professional landscaping experience, specializing in residential garden design and development. As a staff writer, photographer, and editor for Fine Gardening magazine, he authored two special issues on garden design, and he served as contributing garden editor for Martha Stewart Living. His articles on gardening and garden design have also appeared in Horticulture and HGTV Magazine.

You can follow Daryl on Instagram at thenewgardenershandbook, or visitthenewgardenershandbook.com to find out more about his work and life in gardens.

Program description: Soil is a dynamic, living organism and the very foundation of sustainable horticulture. This talk focuses on the relationship that exists between soil, water, and plants. The speaker will explain how soil, organic matter, and microbiology relate to plant health and soil conservation.