In this Issue:
Click on the name of the names below to read the entire article, or scroll down to browse.
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From the Director's Desk:
Prehistoric Plants That Stand the Test of Time -Fred Breglia, Executive Director While it is true that, sadly, one in five plant species is currently at risk of extinction, approximately 2,000 new plants are discovered each year, as The Guardian reported in 2016. Though few of these newly found species are “prehistoric” -- meaning that they have existed for millions of years -- once in a while such a species is actually discovered. This is the story for two such prehistoric plants at Landis, Sciadopitys verticillata, Japanese umbrella pine, and Metasequoia glyptostoboides, dawn redwood. Sciadopitys verticillata is an evergreen conifer that dates back to the Triassic period (250 - 199 million years ago). [Read more] |
From the Garden: Plants to Dye For - Erin Breglia, Garden Manager
On an unseasonably mild mid-January morning, Landis Garden Club members gathered at the Farmhouse to meet with some local fiber artists to discuss the art of making dyes from plants for handspun wool.
Laurel Shaver and Maya Gaasche, from Thorn Apple Acres in Fort Plain, and Cece Tkaczyk, from CeCe’s Wool and Farm Store in Esperance, showed us multiple samples of colors created from local backyard grown plants. The women explained how wool from their own animals is spun to create high quality, backyard-grown natural fiber. These fibers can then be used to create clothing, hats, gloves, blankets, bags -- or whatever the heart and mind desires. [Read more]
On an unseasonably mild mid-January morning, Landis Garden Club members gathered at the Farmhouse to meet with some local fiber artists to discuss the art of making dyes from plants for handspun wool.
Laurel Shaver and Maya Gaasche, from Thorn Apple Acres in Fort Plain, and Cece Tkaczyk, from CeCe’s Wool and Farm Store in Esperance, showed us multiple samples of colors created from local backyard grown plants. The women explained how wool from their own animals is spun to create high quality, backyard-grown natural fiber. These fibers can then be used to create clothing, hats, gloves, blankets, bags -- or whatever the heart and mind desires. [Read more]
Some Like It Cold -Anita Sanchez
This winter, the winter of 2017-18, was a real winter. It was cold. I mean cold, as in chapped lips, scarlet ears, aching toes. Slippery sidewalks and frozen pipes. The cold went on and on, with no let-up, no mild weeks of January thaw to give us a much needed break. And we got lots of snow, too, piles of the stuff. I’m sure this is no news to anyone, and you well remember your aching back as you shoveled the driveway or wrestled with the snowblower. Winter this year was a real one, all right: long, hard and bitter. [Read more] |
In Memoriam:
Art Coleman (1939 - 2018) - Nolan Marciniec More than a decade ago, Art Coleman and I had an appointment to meet at the Arboretum so that I could interview him for the newsletter. I found him strapped into a harness and more than halfway up a huge white pine, pruning saw in hand. Art was clearly in his element. To be honest, it was a difficult interview. Art, soft spoken and humble, was reluctant to talk about himself. Although I knew that he trained as a chemist, I had no idea his degrees were from Harvard and RPI. [Read more] |
Landis Portraits: A Series about the People Behind the Plants at the Arboretum
- Nolan Marciniec There was always something “spiritual” about the Landis Arboretum, Amy Howansky said. She recalled an advanced level pruning course at the Arboretum, replete with harness and ropes and all the requisite gear, that she took several years ago. Suspended many feet off the ground and clinging to the tree’s trunk, she felt “the power and energy in a living creature” more acutely than any other time in her life. [Read more] |
View From the Meeting House Deck:
A Young Mother’s Perspective - Janis Hart “Nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and the full use of the senses… In Nature a child finds freedom, fantasy, privacy…” from Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. It has been a long, cold winter and the view from the Landis Arboretum’s Meeting House Deck now looks out over an expanse of snow. As any young mother can tell you, kids are active in any weather and the Arboretum offers children plenty of opportunities to work off some of that energy. Erin Breglia, the Arboretum’s gardener, and her two sons, Mikey, age 2, and Freddy, age 7, share their insights about the Arboretum. [Read More]
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Ann Bevins’ Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake
After sampling the violet-topped tea cakes Ann Bevins brought to a recent Pick of the Pots members-only pre-sale, many people asked about the recipe. Ann was kind enough to share it with us -- and honest enough to tell us she got the cake recipe online at www.onceuponachef.com. She found the raspberry filling she used to make it extra-special for her son’s wedding at www.geniuskitchen.com. [Read more] |
Gardening Apps: Getting Techie With It!
- Wilma Jozwiak So many of us have smart phones now and use them for everything from getting directions to searching out great places to eat or shop. Now, for the garden-minded among us, there are a number of plant applications. Here is a small selection of some interesting ones. For apps listed below, click on the app name, or for the Home Outside app, on iPhone or Android to visit the appropriate application store. [Read more] |
Although Fred Lape’s poetry often links the human and the natural worlds, “Central Park Zoo” offers us a humorous and satirical view of that connection. The poem is delightfully gossipy in tone, filled with brilliant color and replete with some quite wonderful verbal puns. Central Park Zoo: The Macaw Takes a Bath
The macaw is fuddled, she goes to the water,
silly old bird with blue wing feathers, fire red breast and an orange body, a jet black beak and a gear shot voice. [Read more] |
A Great Oak Thank You!
- Gail Browning The first Great Oak Hunt in 2017 could not have taken place without the generous sponsorship of the following:
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The Best Plant, Book, and Bake Sale in our Area is Only Weeks Away!
Save the Date to help our neighbors celebrate their Bicentennial!
Landis Out and About
If you were around the community in the past few weeks, you may have seen our Fearless Leader and our volunteers letting everyone know about Landis!
If you were around the community in the past few weeks, you may have seen our Fearless Leader and our volunteers letting everyone know about Landis!
Our Business Members, Sponsors, and Allies
We have been very fortunate to be associated with wonderful people throughout the history of the Arboretum. Our volunteers are unbeatable, as anyone can tell who sees them in action. So are our Business Members, who join the Arboretum at the corporate level; our Sponsors, who help us with financial or in-kind support for one of the many activities or learning experiences Landis brings to the community; and our Allies, members of the business community or membership organizations who provide outstanding service to the Arboretum. Please consider patronizing these great folks, and if you are interested in becoming a member of this group through membership, sponsorship, or as an ally, please contact us at (518) 875-6935 or [email protected].
We have been very fortunate to be associated with wonderful people throughout the history of the Arboretum. Our volunteers are unbeatable, as anyone can tell who sees them in action. So are our Business Members, who join the Arboretum at the corporate level; our Sponsors, who help us with financial or in-kind support for one of the many activities or learning experiences Landis brings to the community; and our Allies, members of the business community or membership organizations who provide outstanding service to the Arboretum. Please consider patronizing these great folks, and if you are interested in becoming a member of this group through membership, sponsorship, or as an ally, please contact us at (518) 875-6935 or [email protected].
Not Yet a Member of the Arboretum?
We invite you to consider joining us. You will be doing your part in ensuring the continued existence of the George Landis Arboretum, hidden gem of the Schoharie Valley. For more information, visit our website, call us at 518-875-6935, or email us at [email protected].
We invite you to consider joining us. You will be doing your part in ensuring the continued existence of the George Landis Arboretum, hidden gem of the Schoharie Valley. For more information, visit our website, call us at 518-875-6935, or email us at [email protected].
THE LANDIS ARBORETUM NEWSLETTER is published quarterly for its members.
The Arboretum’s mission is to foster the appreciation of trees and other plants and their importance in our environment.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Fred Breglia; Erin Breglia; Gail Browning; Janis Hart; Wilma Jozwiak; Lee Lattimer; Nolan Marciniec, chair; and Louise Polli
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
Erin Breglia, Fred Breglia, Gail Browning, Janis Hart, Wilma Jozwiak, Nolan Marciniec, and Anita Sanchez
NEWSLETTER WEBSITE MANAGER
Wilma Jozwiak
PRINTER
Miller Printing and Litho, Amsterdam, NY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Jim Paley, President; Wilma Jozwiak, Vice President; Nolan Marciniec, Secretary; Carolyn Edwards, Treasurer; Louise Polli, At Large; Ann Bevins; Karl Gufstason; Lee Lattimer; Jeanne Post-Sourmail; Ed Radle; and Earl Van Wormer
ARBORETUM STAFF
Fred Breglia, Executive Director; Nancy Stuebner, Office Manager; Erin Breglia, Garden Manager; Eric Roberts, Groundskeeper
We value your input. Please address correspondence to:
Newsletter Editor, Landis Arboretum, P.O. Box 186, Esperance, NY 12066.
Phone: 518-875-6935, Fax: 518-875-6394
The Arboretum’s mission is to foster the appreciation of trees and other plants and their importance in our environment.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Fred Breglia; Erin Breglia; Gail Browning; Janis Hart; Wilma Jozwiak; Lee Lattimer; Nolan Marciniec, chair; and Louise Polli
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
Erin Breglia, Fred Breglia, Gail Browning, Janis Hart, Wilma Jozwiak, Nolan Marciniec, and Anita Sanchez
NEWSLETTER WEBSITE MANAGER
Wilma Jozwiak
PRINTER
Miller Printing and Litho, Amsterdam, NY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Jim Paley, President; Wilma Jozwiak, Vice President; Nolan Marciniec, Secretary; Carolyn Edwards, Treasurer; Louise Polli, At Large; Ann Bevins; Karl Gufstason; Lee Lattimer; Jeanne Post-Sourmail; Ed Radle; and Earl Van Wormer
ARBORETUM STAFF
Fred Breglia, Executive Director; Nancy Stuebner, Office Manager; Erin Breglia, Garden Manager; Eric Roberts, Groundskeeper
We value your input. Please address correspondence to:
Newsletter Editor, Landis Arboretum, P.O. Box 186, Esperance, NY 12066.
Phone: 518-875-6935, Fax: 518-875-6394