The Landis Newsletter Spring, 2020 Volume 38, Number 1
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Dear Friends,
We know that these are challenging times for you.
But none of us is alone. The Landis community is strong, and we will help pull each other through this crisis.
We have cancelled the events listed in our 2020 Calendar of Events through the end of May. We will make decisions about the remaining events based on recommendations from Governor Cuomo and the NYS Health Department. We will provide updates on these decisions on our website and our Facebook page and through our Constant Contact emails.
We are confident that this is the right decision because the safety and well-being of our members, instructors, volunteers, and staff are of paramount importance to us.
Our Spring Plant Sale will not be held this year. Of course, we are disappointed, not just because the sale brings our community closer together, but also because it is our largest fundraising event of the year. As a result, we are facing a tremendous loss of revenue.
We need your help now more than ever to help us survive this financial crisis. Please continue to support the Landis Arboretum by becoming a member or renewing your existing membership. If you have the means, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.
We are certain that you, a friend of Landis, realize the healing power of nature, and we have that in abundance at the Arboretum. Our grounds still remain open to the public, dawn to dusk.
Stay safe and healthy. You are in our thoughts.
Fred Breglia, Executive Director
Jim Paley, President, Board of Trustees
You can join or renew online here, or make an online donation to the Arboretum here. You can download a membership form to mail in here. To join or make a donation using your credit card, please call us at 518-875-6935.
We know that these are challenging times for you.
But none of us is alone. The Landis community is strong, and we will help pull each other through this crisis.
We have cancelled the events listed in our 2020 Calendar of Events through the end of May. We will make decisions about the remaining events based on recommendations from Governor Cuomo and the NYS Health Department. We will provide updates on these decisions on our website and our Facebook page and through our Constant Contact emails.
We are confident that this is the right decision because the safety and well-being of our members, instructors, volunteers, and staff are of paramount importance to us.
Our Spring Plant Sale will not be held this year. Of course, we are disappointed, not just because the sale brings our community closer together, but also because it is our largest fundraising event of the year. As a result, we are facing a tremendous loss of revenue.
We need your help now more than ever to help us survive this financial crisis. Please continue to support the Landis Arboretum by becoming a member or renewing your existing membership. If you have the means, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.
We are certain that you, a friend of Landis, realize the healing power of nature, and we have that in abundance at the Arboretum. Our grounds still remain open to the public, dawn to dusk.
Stay safe and healthy. You are in our thoughts.
Fred Breglia, Executive Director
Jim Paley, President, Board of Trustees
You can join or renew online here, or make an online donation to the Arboretum here. You can download a membership form to mail in here. To join or make a donation using your credit card, please call us at 518-875-6935.
Inside this issue . . .
Click on the title below to read the entire article, or scroll down to sample the issue.
______________________________________________ A Fond Remembrance: Peter Rumora
- Anne Donnelly Landis mourns the passing of Peter Rumora, a longtime friend of the Arboretum. Peter always came to set-up for both plant sales. Peter wasn’t fond of interacting with the public - I think we had to cajole him into attending a few “Pick of the Pots” events. He sometimes supplied us with lovely potted plants for the sales. [Read more] LANDIS PORTRAITS: A Series About the People Behind the Plants at the Arboretum
- Nolan Marciniec It began over a cup of tea. For many years, Vijaya Luxmi had maintained a small garden dedicated to the memory of her parents in the Village of Cobleskill. It was a place where senior citizens rested and children played and where Vijaya and her friends sometimes danced under the big maple tree. It was, however, on municipal property, and although Vijaya’s garden had the permission and the blessing of village authorities, it was destroyed by a construction crew working on a highway. Still grieving the loss of her garden, Vijaya ran into her friend Anne Donnelly, a longtime Arboretum supporter, and invited her to share a cup of tea. Over that cup of tea, Vijaya’s vision for a meditation garden at the Arboretum took shape. [Read more] Roots and Shoots: Rare Plants Come to Landis - Amy Howansky PLEASE NOTE: A decision on whether to hold this opportunity as scheduled will be made nearer the date, based on the best information available from Governor Cuomo and the New York State Health Department. For more information, check our website and Facebook pages or contact us at [email protected]. Join us on Saturday, June 27, 2020, as Adam Wheeler from Broken Arrow Nursery (Hamden, CT) leads a full day of education and acquisition opportunities. As the nursery’s horticulture manager, Adam spends his day propagating plants and searching for new plant types. [Read more] |
From the Director's Desk: Grant Assists Buckleya Collection
- Fred Breglia, Executive Director Grant funds have always played a major role in the projects we accomplish at Landis. From concerts to renovations, trail work to interpretive signage, awarded grants have allowed us to keep our collections and grounds thriving. In late 2019, we finalized the details of a grant award from the Schoharie County Soil and Water Conservation District. These funds enable us to revitalize our rare and unique Buckleya collection and to remove invasive plant species from our wildflower and pollinator meadows. [Read more} Ethical Foraging at Home and Afield
- Anita Sanchez Lawn Foraging My favorite place to forage for wild foods is a springtime lawn. Plants like clover, dandelion, ground ivy, violets, and plantain are great to eat. They’re not native plants, so you can harvest as much as you like without disrupting any fragile ecosystems. (Do bear in mind that yellow dandelions are a very important survival food for honeybees.) [Read more] From the Garden: Pollinators in the Garden - - Erin Breglia, Landis Gardener Spring has sprung, and shortly so will the garden! Once warmer temperatures hit, gardeners will instinctively want to tidy up the beds, removing fallen debris and leftover leaf litter. But wait! Several beneficial insects have probably made their home in the debris, so wait until temperatures are consistently above 50° F in order to conserve rapidly declining pollinator species. [Read more] Just for Kids: The Frog Chorus - George Steele, Landis nature educator Winter has a hold on nature, but spring is coming, triggering changes in the plants and animals that have been inactive all winter. One of the surest signs that spring has sprung: the frog chorus. The opening choral movement will be the wood frogs with their “pick-it-up” croaks.
This ducklike quacking might be heard even before the pond ice disappears. They’ll soon be joined by spring peepers and their high shrill peeping whistles. Sometimes the sheer volume will almost be painful to the ear. As the spring moves along two more frogs join in, the green frog and American toad. The green frog song is likened to a plucked banjo string “gungggg,” while the toad does a fast trill. One can imitate this by trying to hum and whistle at the same time. [Read more]
Landis Meeting House Shelter Benefits Community - Lora Tryon In 2011, Hurricane Irene brought unprecedented flooding to the Esperance area, although Landis’ higher elevation allowed the Arboretum to remain relatively unscathed. Through NY Rising and the Governor’s Office for Storm Recovery (GOSR), local communities planned to not only repair the damage but also to become more resilient in the event of future events. [Read more] |
Spotlight on Sponsors: Lancaster Development, Inc. - Gail Browning
Since 1947, Lancaster Development Inc. has been a pillar of the greater Schoharie County community. Based in Richmondville, NY, and serving upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania, this three-generation, family-owned business provides all aspects of heavy highway construction and commercial and industrial site work, and does it safely and on-time. As one of the largest area highway contractors, they are proud to handle small projects with the same integrity and attention to detail. [Read more]
Since 1947, Lancaster Development Inc. has been a pillar of the greater Schoharie County community. Based in Richmondville, NY, and serving upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania, this three-generation, family-owned business provides all aspects of heavy highway construction and commercial and industrial site work, and does it safely and on-time. As one of the largest area highway contractors, they are proud to handle small projects with the same integrity and attention to detail. [Read more]
Spread Your Wings, Flaunt Your Antlers at Landis - Nolan Marciniec
Local artists Chandra Burkhart and Jennifer Cerutti recently completed an “interactive photo op” project at the rear of the Arboretum’s historic Barn. The project, funded by a Schoharie Area Long Term (SALT) Community grant, features two larger than life nature-themed murals that have already become a big hit with visitors, young and old, to the Arboretum – and fodder for social media! [Read more]
Breathe Easy - Lee Lattimer
Oxygen. You use it every moment of every day. In fact, you couldn’t live without it. Yet how often do you consider the place from which it comes, or the process by which it’s made?
We here at the George Landis Arboretum take our responsibility of providing you with this vital resource seriously. From May to September, every inch of our over 300 acres is running at full capacity to fulfill this commitment. Even the rest of the year, during off peak production, our evergreens are hard at work. [Read more]
Attention, Please: FINAL Notice
We at Landis are grateful for the time and money donated by our community friends and family. We are also thankful for items donated to help us continue our environmental commitment. Below are a few of the items on our FINAL (Fundamental Items Needed At Landis) list:
- A Power Point (LCD) Projector
- A 4x4 pickup truck in good running condition
- Gardening tools that are in good shape; trowels, scissors, pruners, rakes, shovels, gloves
- An electric start snow blower in good running condition
- Gift cards to Staples and Office Depot for various office supplies
- A “metal scrapper” interested in taking a large heavy metal desk out of the Farmhouse office
- A 50” or larger flat screen TV (plus wall mount) to be used in the Meeting House for educational programs
Your membership dollars are critical to our economic viability and the sustainability of our collections, grounds, and educational programs. You can help by joining or renewing your membership. Consider renewing at a higher level. Encourage your friends, neighbors, and co-workers to do so as well. Give the gift of membership to the beautiful Landis Arboretum! Click here to join online using PayPal, or here to download a membership form to complete and return by mail to Landis Arboretum, PO Box 186, Esperance, New York 12066.
Our Business Members, Sponsors, and Allies
We have good friends in the community that help the Arboretum in a number of ways.
Please consider patronizing our Business Members, Sponsors, and Allies!
We have good friends in the community that help the Arboretum in a number of ways.
Please consider patronizing our Business Members, Sponsors, and Allies!
Amazon Smile donates a percentage of your sale to Landis when you click on this icon to shop!
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.
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Fred Breglia; Erin Breglia; Gail Browning; Chandra Burkhart; Wilma Jozwiak; Lee Lattimer; Nolan Marciniec and Louise Polli, Co-Chairs; Lora Tryon
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
Erin Breglia, Fred Breglia, Gail Browning, Amy Howansky, Nolan Marciniec, Louise Polli, Anita Sanchez, George Steele, and Lora Tryon
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; Chandra Burkhart; Karl Gustafson; Amy Howansky; Lee Lattimer; Ed Radle; George Steele; and Earl Van Wormer
ARBORETUM STAFF
Fred Breglia, Executive Director; Nancy Stuebner, Office Manager; Erin Breglia, Garden Manager; Russell Glass, Groundskeeper
We value your input. Please address correspondence to:
Newsletter Editor, Landis Arboretum, P.O. Box 186, Esperance, NY 12066.
Website: www.landisarboretum.org
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