Join us and learn how to use the iNaturalist app in this informative talk by Guest Speaker, Deborah Barber, member of the Maryland Native Plant Society and Director of Land Management for the Maryland/D.C. Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
Get a kick out of learning aboutthe iNaturalist app.
Use the Compare function to find out what’s in an area based on visual similarity, taxonomy, or occurrences.
Learn to do bulk identifications and precise identifications.
Use the filter to look for…anything in the world.
You will benefit most if you have the iNaturalist app set up with a user account on your laptop or smartphone. This will give you a chance to try some of the tricks Deborah will share. The iNaturalist app is quite easy to download and it’s free.
Registration is required.
About iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a not-for-profit program unlocking the world’s biodiversity for curiosity and conservation. It’s free to use, but not free to operate.
The days are getting shorter and cooler. We can now enjoy the fall harvest. Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for October. There are some online events, check out U.S. Botanic Garden, Master Gardeners of Montgomery County, and Maryland Gardens. A lot of gardening events are announced on Facebook and we share them on our Facebook page as well as on our mctgardenclub.org website. Some live events have been set up for online preordering and limited to ensure everyone’s safety.
Planning
Begin fall plantings.
As beds empty, make changes to shape and size of beds.
Collect plant seeds for next year’s planting and for trading.
Take garden photos and make notes in your garden journal.
Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
It is harvest time and also a good time to start taking stock of what worked well for you this season and what didn’t.
Gather seeds and carefully label them. Store in dry location.
Keep an eye out for the first frost date. In Zone 6, it is expected between September 30 and October 30. In Zone 7, it is predicted to be between October 15 and November 15.
Start shopping for spring bulbs.
Go on a virtual garden tour to see what plants are thriving in other’s area home gardens.
Visit our Gardening Books Resources page for gardening ideas.We are so thankful for our local farms each and every day. During this challenging time, consider supporting your local farms, whether they farm produce, flowers, animals, or specialty. Our food supply is safe and secure, and many farms are continuing to offer delivery or curbside pickup. #LocalIsTheNewNormal#BuyLocal
“During shelter-in-place, farmers’ markets remain open as an essential service, providing a vital source of fresh fruits and vegetables and food staples for our communities in a spacious, open-air setting. But our community and our farmers’ markets could be jeopardized if we don’t each do our part to stay safe during this public healthy crisis.
In good times, farmers’ markets have been places to gather and converse, however, now is the time to follow public health and safety advisories and resist the urge to linger and socialize. We all have a critical role to play in preventing the spread of COVID-19.”
For the fall season through December 19 you can still get your market groove on with online ordering from all your favorite farmers and vendors using our curbside pickup or doorstep delivery to 20855, 20850, 20878 & 20880 on Saturday for doorstep delivery and/ or curbside pickup at the front yard of Neighborhood Church, 16501 Redland Rd, 20855. Pickup happens from 9am until 11am through December 19. Turkey orders coming soon! Get started here: MilkLadyMarkets.org/preorder
Turn your thumb green! Join Smithsonian Gardens’ horticulturists for a series of free lunchtime webinars on gardening basics on Thursdays 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm.
October 22 – Prune with a Purpose: A Gardener’s Guide to Thinking Like an Arborist October 29 – Have you ever wondered how Smithsonian Gardens’ horticulturists choose the plants used in their gardens? November 5 – Winning the War against Weeds
The Mill Creek Towne Garden Club has been making great progress beautifying the entrances to our community. Once again, we thank Imas General Services LLC (https://www.imasgeneralservices.com/) for the outstanding job of refurbishing the walls at the Miller Fall and Roslyn Avenue entrances. Inmar Samayoa, the general contractor provided masonry services on the entrance walls, which included power washing, grout repair, pointing, resurfacing, installing new letters, and clean up at Miller Fall and Roslyn Avenue entrances. We also appreciate the huge cleanup (mowing, mulching, landscaping, and pruning) Kevin Murphy (301-391-6555, kvnmrphy@aol.com) and his crew completed at both entrances. What an eye-catching difference all this work has made!
Video and Masonry Work by Imas General Services https://www.imasgeneralservices.com/
Finally, the MCT Garden Club has recently planted new shrubs and perennials at the Miller Fall entrance to further beautify this site. We will also be adding more plantings at Roslyn and eventually at Shady Grove entrances as well. This club is working to make our community even more inviting and we thank you for supporting us!
Mill Creek Towne Garden Club – Derwood, Maryland
Flowers and Groundcovers
Leave seedheads on Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Goldenrod, Sunflowers, and Thistles for the birds to enjoy over the winter.
Divide and move many perennials.
From mid-October through November, plant hardy bulbs for spring flowering.
Cut foliage of irises to 2″.
Pull out spent summer annuals.
Plant hardy mums and fall season annuals.
Collect dried flowers and grasses for an indoor vase.
After hard frost, sow seeds of spring-blooming hardy annuals and perennials then mark beds.
Walk your garden — look for early signs of fungal disease.
Weed—especially look for fast-growing vines such as honeysuckle, autumn clematis, bittersweet, wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy.
Do you know what you should plant in October? Rhubarb, shallots, and potato (multiplier) onions. Check out the UMD Extension Home & Garden Info Center for more details: https://bit.ly/2XTe0yG
Plant cover crops in vegetable gardens and annual beds (e.g., rye, clover, hairy vetch, and winter peas).
Set up a cold frame, then plant lettuces, radishes, and carrots from seed.
Bring in tender plants before night temps dip to 60 degrees.
Take cuttings of plants you want to overwinter inside and place in water.
Begin conditioning the Christmas Poinsettias and Christmas cactus to get them ready for the upcoming holiday season.
Force the buds on Christmas cactus by placing in a cool (55-60 degree) room for 13 hours of darkness.
Bring Amaryllis indoors before a hard freeze. Repot every other year at this time. Store in a cool, dark place and do not water until flower buds or leaves emerge.
Prune potted bougainvillea or hanging baskets that will overwinter inside.
Begin hardening off prior to putting outside in shade for summer.
Repot and fertilize houseplants when new growth begins.
Rotate houseplants to promote even growth.
Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
Pinch out growing tips of leggy cuttings and plants that are overwintering.
Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film build-up.
Start to fertilize with 1/2 strength houseplant fertilizer (every 2 weeks).
Maintain moisture in pots wintering indoors, but do not over water!
Pests to watch for: aphids, spider mites, mealybug, scale, whitefly
This year’s Guide lists over 70 MoCo Made food and beverage producers and farmers, with products ranging from honey to craft beverages to artisanal meats and more.
Plant Clinics are held at several sites in the county on a weekly basis and at special events such as garden festivals and the county fair. Regularly scheduled Plant Clinics are located at public libraries and farmers’ markets throughout the county as well as at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase. There are also clinics three days per week at Brookside Gardens. The busiest season is April through September, but some clinics are open year-round. Bring your plant samples and questions to one of these locations in Montgomery County, MD (see link below to find a location near you):
CSAs can take many forms, but essentially they are community supported farms in which members contribute to farming projects, usually by way of membership fees, in exchange for fresh, local produce. The concept came to the United States from Europe in the 1980s. They are a great way to take advantage of fresh, locally grown fruit, vegetables, herbs, and more while supporting nearby farms. Each one is different, some offer pickup locations in urban areas, some offer only farm-based pickups.
There are multiple CSAs located around the County offering a wide variety of products. CSAs begin taking sign-ups for spring and summer seasons in the early part of the year, and they tend to fill up FAST! Know of another CSA not on our list? Let us know! Montgomery Countryside Alliance also maintains a list:
