Garden Club Events & News

RIGC reconnects with Carter Burden Senior Center in 2018

12/28/2018

In May, after Louella Pais Streitz reached out to Julia Ferguson, RIGC Landscape Chair, and long time neighbor and friend, the Roosevelt Island Garden Club was able to serve again as a resource for our local Senior Center! RIGC had helped out during the season of 2016 with the Senior Center and Senior Association. Two years ago, seniors enjoyed a field trip to the garden and then started some Potluck Patio Gardening of their own that season.

This year, we began this reconnection with a planning meeting. Lisa Fernandez, Louella, and others from the Senior Center as well as with Jane Swanson, Cornell Community Liaison in June and RIGC Board members attended. Then, Outreach and Publicity Chair, Robert Ostergaard and Secretary, Jack Burkhalter carried this project through the summer into the fall. The Senior Center leadership wanted to learn more about plants and about how to help seniors manage and enjoy their beautiful patio garden. With Robert and Jack's help and teaching, they were able to do just that. The final celebration and collaboration for this season happened at the End of Summer Potluck Party at the Roosevelt Island Senior Center on Friday, September 21, 2018!

Fall General Members Meeting & Garden Awards

10/25/2018

On October 21, the RIGC held its semi-annual general membership meeting, and about 75 members turned out. Thank you! You can review all of the topics covered in the meeting in Neal Weissman's Power Point presentation here.

In addition to general business--directors reports, elections, and committee reports--the Standards Committee handed out 10 awards to gardeners and one Grand Prize for "Garden of the Year." Congratulations to all the winners.

For those wishing to tour the award-winning gardens, we've listed them here:

Garden of the Year 2018
A17 Colleen Kennedy

Awards of Merit
A12 Ann Hallowell
B22 Claire Blake / Mark Smith
B23 Kaz Bujno
B27 Julie Lipp
B25 Shelly & Paul Yu
B30 Elizabeth Bolden
B33 Michael Bieganek
C24 Johan & Lynn Marfey
D02 Georg & Corinna Kell
D07 Vera Johnson

Fall for the Arts

10/8/2018

There was a full contingent of RIGC member-volunteers helping out with the fun and festivities at the annual Roosevelt Island Fall for Arts event on October 6th.

Our theme this year was "Roosevelt Island Trees," and together we endeavored to help kids and parents open their eyes to the rich variety of trees on the island. Kids (and plenty of kids-at-heart) completed tree ID coloring pages, designed their own collages from the leaves of red maple, cottonwood, and other island trees, and colored in intricate leaf mandalas. In short, we were a hit!

Special thanks go out to volunteers Halima Aouchette, Karen Lee, Robert Ostergaard, Madeline Richard, Anthony Longo, Jenna Longo, Julia Ferguson, and RIGC President Neal Weissman. And a huge thank you goes to Jessica Murray of RIOC for asking the RIGC to be a part of this event.

Fall Gardening Experiences for Kids

9/21/2018

Following another successful, fun-filled summer of gardening experiences for elementary and middle school students, the RIGC is thrilled to announce we’re extending these free gardening opportunities for kids into the fall.

Gardener and educator Julia Ferguson will lead kids through an exploration of concepts like cycles, diversity, and interdependence. And kids will get hands on experience digging, pruning, and composting in the RIGC Student Garden (a generous donation by garden member Elizabeth Stapen).

It's free, and you can sign your kids up for one class or for all.
Space is limited, so please sign up soon!

What:

Fall gardening experiences for older kids and youth (4rd grade -8th grade) this fall

When:

Three Saturday afternoons from 3-4:30pm
Sept 22, Sept.29 & Oct.5

Three Sunday afternoons from 3-4:30pm
Oct. 14, Oct. 21 & Oct.28

How:

Send an email to rigardencluboutreach@gmail.com
Send back the permission slip-liability waiver

2nd Annual Classical Music in the Community Garden

9/5/2018

Sunday, September 30th 4:30-6:00pm (rain date: October 7)

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Once again this year, the Roosevelt Island Garden Club is thrilled to be hosting a concert of the Classical Musicians' Rehearsal Symphony Orchestra, founded by Arlene Stock, in the Community Garden.

Come join neighbors, garden club members, and music lovers for an afternoon of classical music among the late-summer flowers. Admission is free and open to the public. Bring your own chairs or stroll the paths of the garden while music fills the air!

Bring Back the Pollinators

8/14/2018

The Roosevelt Island Garden Club is pleased to present this persuasive essay on native plants from our guest bloggers Lauren Hynes and Penelope Mascia. As Girl Scout Troop 3001 Juniors, their Bronze Award Project is focused on "Aiding Pollinators and Monarch Butterfly Habitats & Increasing Local Species of Plants."

Are you a part of the RI garden club? Are you planting non-native plants in your plot? Well let me tell you why you should plant natives in your garden. Pollinators are essential to our ecosystem. The pollinators--like beautiful butterflies and lovely ladybug--that are from here can only rely on native plants for food and nectar. Because of this, the butterflies and other pollinators may become endangered on our island and possibly extinct if we don’t start planting more natives on our beautiful island.

What is a native plant and why does it matter to our ecosystem?
A native plant is a plant that has been in the area for hundreds of years, evolving to co-exist with the other native plants and animals. This makes them necessary to our ecosystem, because the local animals can get more food and nectar from them as opposed to a non-native, or invasive plants. Now you might be thinking, “Well I see butterflies and bees on non-native plants, too!” While that may be true, native plants are much more helpful. According to the Audubon Society, the oak tree, native to North America, shelters and feeds about 500 species of native caterpillars, while the ginko, a tree indigenous to Asia, hosts only 5 species that live here. Therefore, the native tree, the oak, is one hundred times more useful to the environment than the non-native, the ginko.

Why are pollinators so important? What is pollination? What is a pollinator?
Pollinators are creatures that go from flower to flower drinking nectar and carrying pollen from plant to plant. This is essential because in order for the plant to reproduce, bugs and birds must pollinate plants. The way this works is the pollinators go to drink the nectar from the flower, and pollen from the anthers gets stuck on their bodies. When they drink nectar from another flower, the pollen rubs off on the sticky stamen which brings the pollen down to fertilize the plant. This makes it possible for fruit to develop and for seeds to be produced and planted. This is why pollinators are essential to our ecosystem, because without them the plants would not be able to produce seeds, making that plant go extinct. Also we would not have all the food we need like corn, tomatoes, squash, apples, peaches, and more.

Now, you may be thinking “But I don’t want bugs in my garden!” I have 3 things to say to you.

1. What about butterflies and hummingbirds? Those are pollinators and ones that most people would want in their garden.
2. Many of the beautiful flowers growing in your garden need to be pollinated in order for them to grow again next year.
3. One third of the crops we grow and eat are pollinated by insects. And guess what? If it weren’t for fly pollinators there would be no cacao beans, which means that there would be no chocolate!

If you’re thinking, “Well native plants are just too much work!” you are incorrect. Because natives have adapted to the local environment, they have also adapted to how much rain the area gets and the type of soil and other things like that. In fact, the Audubon Society says, “Because native plants are adapted to local environmental conditions, they require far less water, saving time, money, and perhaps the most valuable natural resource, water. In addition to providing vital habitat for birds, many other species of wildlife benefits as well.”

If you’re thinking, “Well all that stuff to find and buy it seems like a lot of work,” let me tell you; it’s not. It can be just like shopping for something online. You have a picture in your mind of what it will be, you find something you like, and you pay and order it!

‍In conclusion, we all should plant some native plants in our gardens because they are beautiful, they help the environment, and they attract native pollinators like monarch butterflies and ruby throated hummingbirds. I hope you decide to do this kind thing for yourself and the environment by planting natives in your plot.

Still not convinced? See these articles from other resources.
National Wildlife Federation
Prairie Nursery
North American Native Plant Society

Have you been persuaded to add some native species to your plot? Would you like to take the next step? Where do you go from here? This is really up to you. Generally seeds need more care, more watering at the beginning when they sprout and start to grow. Some are harder to get growing from seeds. So if you are looking for the “easier” way, buy starter plants and make sure they get enough water at the roots so that they can establish themselves. And remember, native plants adjust to their climates conditions easier than non-natives. The plants generally re-seed once established. So get your hands a little dirty put a few natives into your plot, water, and watch the flowers grow! When you do this you can revel in the thought that you are helping to save our pollinators!

Are you a beginner gardener or an advanced gardener? What plants grow without a lot of help? Try spring violets, lupines, and amsonia, summer coneflowers, liatris, and phlox, fall goldenrod and asters.
If I were you I wouldn’t get too worried about how much care you have to put in but pay attention to what the plants need. Does it need to be in a dry and sunny place? Or does it like a shadier and moist home? Prairie Moon Nursery website (below) provides great information for all gardeners as well the Audubon Society for state specific native species information (https://www.audubon.org/native-plants.)

Where can you even buy plants or seeds?
Here is a list of nurseries where you can find all sorts of information & as well as make orders:
Greenbelt Native Plant Center https://www.nycgovparks.org/greening/greenbelt-native-plant-center
North Creek Nurseries https://www.northcreeknurseries.com/
Prairie Moon Nursery (great info on their website) https://www.prairiemoon.com/
Long Island Natives https://longislandnatives.com/t/butterfly-attractant
Want to learn more? See the articles below.
https://www.prairienursery.com/resources-and-guides/getting-started/
http://nanps.org/native-plants-to-know

Executive Board News & Fall Membership Meeting

8/8/2018

There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes at the Roosevelt Island Garden Club this summer. If you haven't seen them in their own garden plots lately, it's because the RIGC Executive Board and committee chairs have been especially busy elsewhere!

Most recently, the RIGC Board has:

Welcomed Curtis Lowry as a new Director
Organized several Community Service Days (next up: October 13. See you there!)
Scheduled a "Music in the Garden" event (September 30; 4:30-6pm)
Begun planning a day of gardening classes for members (TBD in September)
Coordinated with partners on various island events (Coler Hospital, the Historical Society, RIOC, and Cornell)
Begun a new gardening partnership with the Roosevelt Island Senior Center
Hosted summer classes for elementary and middle school students twice a week!

And Remember
The Fall Membership Meeting is October 21 at 6:30pm. Mark your calendars!

RIGC Continues at Coler Hospital Campus

7/26/2018

Building on the success of our June collaboration with idig2learn, Green Roosevelt Island Neighbors, and Citizens Committee for New York City, members of the Roosevelt Island Garden Club have continued to volunteer and work this summer in the newly refurbished gardens at the NYC Health + Hospitals/Coler campus.

Many mornings you’ll find Julia Ferguson weeding between the new plantings and Anthony Longo mulching the beds. In fact, Julia Ferguson snapped a few recent photos (above) that show just how well the gardens, trees, and containers are flourishing thanks to the care (and frequent watering) by Coler residents.

One Beautiful Hungry Caterpillar at RIGC!

7/23/2018

We have been waiting and watching. Welcome to our community!

A Monarch butterfly caterpillar has been seen in the gardens. This is important after several years of planting native milkweed varieties (Asclepias tuberosa, Asclepias incarnata, and Asclepias syriaca) which are host plants for the caterpillars of these butterflies threatened by by habitat loss and pesticide use. One young gardener at RIGC who is learning about pollinators suggests that we should change the common name of these plants to "Milk Flowers" because they are not weeds!

Bring Back the Monarchs is one of many campaigns in the U.S. that has been working for these butterflies since 2005. iDig2Learn began important habitat restoration in 2015. The Monarch Corridor beds now located on the east side of the Island at Light House park and other native plantings all across Roosevelt Island are doing well. This is making a difference! Last fall we sighted many Monarch butterflies in October stopping for nectar on native and heirloom plantings during their migration south to Mexico.

RIGC rules that prohibit pesticide use are making a difference! Maybe our garden can be counted along with many other habitat restoration spots in NYC since we are participating in these important planting practices for biodiversity. Small changes can make a difference for our fellow creatures.

Front Gate Area Project and Remember to Lock Up

7/6/2018

Inch by inch, row by row...a group of landscape committee members, board members, and general volunteers have been sprucing up the front gate area and will continue.

They started with some much needed pruning and some weeding because there was an infestation of bindweed and even some poison ivy on the west. Next, Citigroup employees got us started on stone borders with pavers that liberated street tree pits. Then, with a member donation, RIGC able to source some native plants at wholesale prices from LI Natives. These specific plants like hot dry environments and will also add in some season color and feed many pollinators once established out front near the gates, in some of the tree pits on Main Street, and in our landscape beds.

Remember also to lock the gates during the week. The gardens are open to the public on weekends only from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

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