- Morgan McClary Courtney Little’s goal was to learn how to snowshoe this winter. The Alabama native moved to New York State in August and is currently experiencing her first “actual” winter. She was interested in finding an outdoor activity to enjoy during the colder months. Courtney and David Sampson, who also moved from Alabama, saw road signs for the Arboretum and decided to visit during the Second Sunday Snowshoe on February 13. Landis volunteer Susan Strangia led the event—which had a dozen participants. She has been interested in the outdoors since youth and began volunteering at the Arboretum in May 2021. This was following her retirement from the New York State Office of Mental Health. She began snowshoeing about 15 years ago. “Snowshoeing is so much like hiking, but allows access to trails with deep snow,” Susan said. “Snowshoeing preserves trails for cross-country skiers as well, since winter hiking in boots can result in holes where you sink in.” Landis’ volunteer coordinator Anne Donnelly, who has guided the Second Sunday Snowshoe previously, also attended. She was available to answer questions while preparing for the walk and throughout the event. Anne smiled while holding up a pair of old wooden framed snowshoes with rawhide (babiche) webbing. She wanted to show the group an example of what snowshoes used to look like compared to the aluminum ones typically used today. “I’m from the North Country and hunting on snowshoes was part of my childhood,” she said. Susan helped outfit the attendees with snowshoes near the red barn. She provided a brief history of the winter sport, as well as some safety tips prior to guiding the trek through the glistening snow. A majority of the group had tried out the winter activity at least once previously. However, Susan said Landis is a great place to try out snowshoeing because there are a variety of trails for different interests, skill levels and terrain. Following the event, Susan said, “I hope folks will have a basic understanding of how snowshoes work, how to put them on and take them off, walk comfortably as well as how to ascend and descend,” she said. While on the Fred Lape Trail, Anne pointed to the Crab Apple and Lilac collections, enticing the participants to visit during the spring months while the trees are in bloom. Jenny Harris, from Voorheesville, had never visited the Arboretum. “I really enjoyed the hike and the views,” she said. “I’m definitely going to visit during each season to experience it in different ways,” she continued. “I never realized how much history the Arboretum holds and how active they are globally.” Not only did Courtney and David enjoy their first visit, Courtney was confident she would accomplish her goal of learning to snowshoe by winter’s end. We've planned lots of fun and educational events and workshops for 2022. You'll find activities that will intrigue kids and families, gardeners, naturalists, and music lovers throughout the 2022 season. Because we are in the midst of shifting to a new and improved website, only activities through March are active for online registration currently; as soon as we have made the switch we'll let everyone know through our Constant Contact emails and on our Facebook page. In the meantime, click here to see what's planned. We'll be adding more information on music performances and a few more activities throughout the season.
We hope to see you at Landis this year! As winter winds down, many gardeners are eager to find out what plants will be featured at Landis’s popular spring plant sale – hundreds of perennials, shrubs, grasses, and trees for a range of conditions, including many unusual varieties. Gardeners return year after year to our spring and fall sales for for strong, vibrant plants — and expert advice. Books and baked goods too. Check our website and Facebook page for updates. See you there! See the poster below for details.
- Anne Donnelly It’s mid-winter as I write, but the days are lengthening bit by bit, and the colorful seed catalogs are arriving. Spring is in the air, and I love trudging about on my snowshoes, knowing that under the snow dormant bulbs await. Spring ephemerals and spring flowers in general are a powerful incentive to visit Landis during the season of renewal. Spring ephemerals appear from snowmelt to leaf-out in the woodlands. For several reasons, they are rare and becoming rarer. Most of them are slow growing and do not spread readily. Just picking the flowers for a bouquet or stepping on a plant may damage or kill it. Deer graze them, and high deer populations have wiped out many wildflowers. Invasives like garlic mustard outcompete the natives. I was lucky to have hiked with Ed Miller. If they were there, he’d find them! I was also fortunate to have known Holly Emmons when she had a SUNY class on propagating wildflowers, and some of those plants we propagated flourish in my own woodland garden. Dutchman’s Breeches, Squirrel Corn, and Bleeding Heart (all Dicentra sp.) are all native, though I’ve never found them in the wild. Unlike most ephemerals, these plants transplant well. Nick Zabowski has glorious Bleeding Heart available at our spring sales. Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginiana) is delicate pink and white and readily found in Nan’s Fern Glen, as are Hepatica (Hepatica sp.) and Wild Leeks (Allium tricoccum). I’ve also seen Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) there. Trout Lily, or Dogtooth Violet (Erythronium), with its nodding yellow flower and dappled leaves reminiscent of a brook trout, are sometimes found throughout the woods in large patches, often with Trillium (Trillium). Brilliant yellow Marsh Marigolds or Cowslips (Caltha palustris) are abundant in the ditches at the bottom of the Glen and throughout the Native Plant Trail, thanks to Nan and Ed. They aren’t technically spring ephemerals, but they are spring flowers. Another is Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), a perhaps unlovely arum found in woodland swamps, and its relative Jack-in the-Pulpit (Arisaema sp), both not, strictly speaking, ephemerals, since the foliage persists past spring. Additional interesting woodland flowers of early to mid-spring are Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), Goldthread (Coptis groenlandica), and Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense). I’m particularly fond of Woods poppy or Celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), with its lush lobed leaves and deep yellow flowers. This native is easily confused with Celandine (Chelidonia majus), an invasive that looks nearly identical. Celandine spreads easily and blooms even in deep shade all season, making it hard to hate. Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) has a dusty lavender flower and foliage that appears water spotted. Not a show stopper, but a lovely shady woodland addition. Spring is always a marvelous time for a treasure hunt, and Landis is a perfect place to do it. Just remember to tread carefully and leave the precious riches for others to discover. - Geoff Miller No garden is really complete without a solar timepiece. Early sundials were important tools for determining planting and harvest dates, as well as providing time-of-day. The perfect blend of science and art, sundials connect us to the heavens in a quantifiable way. The Landis dial, prominently installed on the front of the Barn, is a vertical declining dial, set to display Eastern Daylight Time (March to November). During Eastern Standard Time, subtract one hour from the dial readings. The 'Hour Lines' are diagonal lines radiating from a spot near the top of the dial. Lines corresponding to whole hours are solid, and half-hour lines are segmented (to avoid confusion). Time is read where the shadow of the top edge of the gnomon (called the 'style') falls among the hour lines. This dial can be used to accurately set one’s watch to within a minute or two, if one knows how to read it! To do so, read the dial and apply the 'Equation of Time,’ a variable quantity that needs to be added to (or subtracted from) the dial reading to obtain 'Mean Time.' This is necessary because sundials show 'Apparent Solar Time,' while watches keep 'Mean Solar Time.' The 'Equation of Time' (EOT) is simply the difference between the two. An EOT plot is included in this article. It shows, for a given date, the correction, in minutes, to apply to the dial reading. If the EOT is negative, that means the dial will be slow relative to watch time and that the number of minutes must be ADDED to the dial reading. If the EOT is positive, SUBTRACT it from the dial reading. In lieu of a 12:00 hour line, there is a funky figure-eight curve on the dial that contains tick marks at the first day of each month. This is an analemma. It basically makes the EOT correction for you. When the center of the tip of the gnomon's shadow is exactly on the curve (between the appropriate month marks associated with the current date), it is precisely 12:00 EDT (11:00 EST). The two sweeping curved lines on the dial are solstice lines. On the winter solstice (ca. 12/21) the tip of the gnomon's shadow will follow the upper curve throughout the day. The shadow tip will follow the lower curve on the summer solstice (ca. June 21). The diagonal line that cuts through the middle of the dial is the equinox or 'equinoctial' line. On the equinoxes, when the Sun is in the equatorial plane, (ca. 3/20 and 9/21), the tip of the gnomon's shadow will follow that line. Geoff Miller’s avocation is “gnomonics,” the science of sundials. A former resident of the Capital District, he now lives in New Mexico, returning to the area in the summer. He ran in the Arboretum’s 5K race several years ago and offered to construct a sundial for Landis.
- Lee Lattimer, Landis Historian Well, to be accurate, it’s not “in town”, it’s at the Arboretum. And I’m not exactly new to the Arboretum. But I do have a new position. For several years I have had many roles here: historian, Board member, Communications Committee member. And for even longer I have been a volunteer. You probably have seen me at the plant sales, 5Ks, and other events. In my capacity as one of several “traffic controllers” at plant sales, I might even have told you where to “park it”! And now, as of last October, I have served the Arboretum as office manager, taking over the position from Nancy Stuebner, who held the position for 10 years. The George Landis Arboretum is very special to me. I enjoy walking its trails and examining its plants and wildlife, especially the birds. But more importantly, I admire all the people that make Landis such a great institution. Everyone I’ve encountered here is dedicated to making the Arboretum the best it can be. And I look forward to helping them achieve that goal. My time in the office varies, but usually I am available Mondays and Thursdays starting at 11 AM. During the busy spring and summer months I will also be there on Tuesdays, same time. But I check the phone messages (518-875-6935) and emails ([email protected]) regularly, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. - Erin McKenna Breglia, Landis Garden Manager I often find myself looking through my small library of store bought packets and randomly collected seeds. Just looking at my seed collection inspires me. I think about the upcoming season and all the plants I hope to grow. Over the years, I have learned that, if stored properly, seeds can have a much longer shelf life than most gardeners expect -- especially if you are as hopeful (and as frugal) as I am. Faced with the demands of childcare, running a household, and a relatively short growing season, I am not one for wasting time with seeds that are no longer viable, and so I’ve learned of an easy way to verify the viability of my seeds before spending time digging in the dirt. This tip will be helpful to determine which seeds in your collection will germinate – before you start filling those containers with potting medium and before you are disappointed.
- Nolan Marciniec Floyd A. Guernsey III remembered tagging along when his father pointed out a dwarf hemlock, developed and grown at their nursery, planted at the Arboretum. He was just a boy then, but that was his first of many visits to Landis over the years. Floyd earned an associate’s degree in agriculture applied science from SUNY Cobleskill and continued his education, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in ornamental horticulture from Cornell University in 1987. He is the current owner of Guernsey’s Nursery in Schoharie, a family-owned business incorporated in 1889. He said that Guernsey’s Nursery was “working on six generations” now – his grandson, Floyd A. Guernsey V, is just four. His sons, Floyd V and Braden, as well as his cousin, Ross Guernsey IV, are also in the family business. He hopes that his grandchildren, Floyd V and Adelaide Poppy Guernsey, will carry on the legacy. The Guernseys have a longstanding reputation for dedication to the Schoharie community. Floyd, like his father before him, serves in public office. He has been town councilman for 7 years now. His father was the mayor of Schoharie for an impressive 28 years, one of the longest mayoral tenures in New York State. Floyd is a stalwart supporter of village projects and events, including organizing and maintaining the community ice skating rink at Fox Creek Park since 2012. As a source of quality plant material and professional landscaping services, Guernsey’s has been a loyal friend of the Landis Arboretum. Floyd noted that, over the years, numerous trees and shrubs at the Arboretum came from Guernsey’s. The nursery provides plants for the Arboretum’s annual spring and fall plant sales. Most recently, Guernsey’s designed and planted the Arboretum’s new Shanti Vun Meditation Garden. It is his hope that generations to come will enjoy the waterfall, the walking path, stone gardens, and labyrinth as much as he enjoyed creating them. Does he garden at home? Floyd cited the proverbial “The shoemaker’s children always go barefoot.” Floyd views the Arboretum as another valuable community asset and is fully committed to its support. The Arboretum’s several hundred acres of largely undeveloped green space provide the public with a place to learn – “a real way to understand ecology,” he said. In addition, Landis offers the current generation an opportunity to unplug from “electronic stimulus” and plug into “nature stimulus.” Donating time and expertise to benefit the community is in Floyd’s DNA. It is very much a family tradition, one spanning several generations. According to Floyd, his and his family’s service to the community repays itself “1000 percent.” - Chandra Burkhart In the fall of 2021, Landis added yet another sculpture, “Bracing Stone,” by local artist Kristen DeFontes-Wells, to its collection. This sculpture, made of limestone, steel, and reclaimed lumber, sits near the Meeting House, majestically overlooking the Schoharie Valley. As an artist looking at another artist’s art, I was intrigued by this piece. To me, it spoke about the precarious balance between man and nature. The natural pieces weigh in at a massive 2,275 pounds and dwarf the manmade pieces of steel and reclaimed lumber, perhaps suggesting the enduring stability and power of the natural world. The Landis Arboretum has a history rich in the arts since its inception. In the 1950s, it was a meeting place for writers of poetry and novels, dancers, painters, actors, and musicians, all using its location and the beauty of nature as the backdrop. Fred Lape, the Arboretum’s founder, was himself an accomplished poet and musician. The Arboretum continues to be a haven for creative minds, welcoming artists of all media: sculptors, painters, musicians, actors, writers. Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review Anita Sanchez, illus. by Luisa Uribe. Clarion, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-358-38144-0 A poetic text delves into the intricacies of a puddle’s ecosystem in this buoyant picture book by Sanchez, which introduces a child who watches a local puddle over the seasons, observing its visitors, which include bats, birds, insects, mammals, plant life, and toads and tadpoles. In-depth facts append each lyrical line: “Swallows loop the loop,” reads one spread, portraying four swallows sweeping around the puddle, which is surrounded by verdant plants. Smaller text beneath reads, “Barn swallows grab a beakful of mud. They’ll raise their babies in a dried-mud cradle.” Intricate, thin-lined spreads by Uribe clearly mark the changing seasons and weather in harmonious color palettes studded with sweetly stylized creatures. A curiosity-stoking exploration of the way even the smallest bodies of water sustain life. Back matter includes an author’s note and suggestions on making one’s own puddles. Ages 4–7. (Mar.) |