Mill Creek Towne Garden Club and guests enjoyed Claudia Kousoulas’ presentation about her book: “Private Gardens of the Potomac and Chesapeake”. Claudia Kousoulas’ talk focused on design, architecture, urban planning, and plant materials. The gardens spanned the vast expanse from the vibrant Washington, DC, Metro Area to the serene Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. We delved into the enchanting realm of 15 exquisite gardens, carefully crafted by renowned designers, as they unveiled the captivating landscape style of the Capital region. We were able to ask questions during the presentation to learn more about these various types of gardens and how they were developed. Garden locations included:
Washington, DC
Bethesda, Maryland
Alexandria, Virginia
Montgomery County, Maryland
Arnold, Maryland
North Shores, Delaware
Falls Church, Virginia
Annapolis, Maryland
Easton, Maryland
Following her presentation, we had the opportunity to purchase her book. We also enjoyed refreshments and talked to guests and members of the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club. We hope you will be able to join us in future events in 2024! Stay tuned, as we will post events on our website, Facebook, and NextDoor.
This May seems more like April, but we’ve had some nice warm days and spring doesn’t seem to last long here before summer arrives. 🌞🌼 Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for May. This includes some events from 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 upcoming events include Backyard Gardening Zoom Sessions, The Great Grow Along, Summer Garden/Landscape Classes at Montgomery College, Mill Creek Garden Club events including our Backyard Beekeeping event on Tuesday, May 24th, and Mill Creek Village and Mill Creek Garden Club’s Walk Around the Towne event with two garden tours on June 4th!
Check out garden centers for discounted house plants.
Take an inventory of pots and containers; clean or replenish potted soil.
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):
Thank You to All Our Volunteers for Our April Mill Creek Spring Cleanup!
New Gardening Books
See our December list with 10 recently published books. This cumulative list for 2021 has more than 120 titles and serves as a great resource for holiday gift ideas. Visit our Gardening Books Resources page for gardening ideas.
Online Gardening Resources
Here are some online gardening resources focused on the MD/DC area:
There are many resources for recipes to make from your garden crops including seed companies, local farms, and online recipe cookbook catalogs. If you grow vegetables, these are very useful resources as the recipes feature the very plant you are growing. Here are few links to recipes you can make from your garden crops
Local Farms
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
The 2022 MoCo Food & Beverage Guide is here! The 4th edition of the Guide from the Montgomery County Food Council is out – delicious baked goods, prepared foods, condiments and more. The craft beverage list grows each year and find two dozen local and amazing farms:
Download Montgomery County’s Office of Agriculture 2022 Farmers Market Flyer to find a farmer’s market near you.
Flowers and Groundcovers
After the last frost date, plant warm-season annuals and tender bulbs (calla lilies, dahlias, gladiolus) in the ground and containers.
Cut back spent tulip an daffodil blooms, but not the foliage!
Feed your roses and new plantings with slow-release fertilizer sparingly.
Remove last of spring flowers, replacing with transplants or seeds.
Do not set out seedlings or tender annuals until after Mother’s Day (traditional last frost-free date for our entire area).
Plant and prune roses.
Check for black spots on your roses – remove and discard any affected leaves in the trash, never back into your garden or in your compost – apply fungicide with Neem oil every two weeks during the growing season.
Provide supports for fast-growing perennials such as delphiniums, peonies, and lilies.
Tie up clematis and other fast-growing climbing vines.
Plant summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums).
Download vegetable planting calendars from University of Maryland Extension, in English and Spanish. This page also has a link to a frost/freeze date calculator.
Questions about your label? Call us! 800-858-7378 M-F 8am-12pm PST
What Gardeners Should Know about Avian Influenza
The types of perching birds that frequent your garden do not normally comingle with waterfowl and are considered a low risk for avian flu. As always, keep bird feeders clean and disinfected.
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:
Montgomery County Master Gardener Virtual Question & Answer Program
“In the Garden”
Streaming on Facebook Live on the First and Third Tuesdays of the Month. Next “In the Garden” session is on May 3, 2022 on Facebook at 12 Noon ET. Recording available at:
Join UMD Extension for “Backyard Gardening Zoom Sessions” this spring! This 7-part series will be held on Tuesdays at noon. The first talk will be on March 8: Cole Crops & Spring Gardening with vegetable specialist Jon Traunfeld. For details and registration visit: https://go.umd.edu/get_growing
A free 10-day virtual festival connecting gardeners with the influencers, taste-makers and cutting edge content of today’s gardening world.
Over 40 workshops, virtual tours of inspiring public and botanic gardens nation-wide and Houseplant Happy Hours… join real time and connect with presenters plus other attendees or watch at your convenience for six-months.
This timely content will help you up your plant game or inspire you to try new ideas in 2022. A unique opportunity to be encouraged and educated by some of the biggest influencers, educators and taste-makers in today’s gardening world.
Join us for our May meeting featuring Karen Henderson, beekeeper. Karen Henderson, co-owner of Glass Bee Apiary, has been a beekeeper since 2013. She will talk about the practical aspects of backyard beekeeping using a real hive (no live bees) and assorted equipment. Before retiring in 2016, she worked at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 32 years.
Karen will have Glass Bee Apiary honey and skin care products made with apiary beeswax available for sale after the presentation.
In-person event precaution measures: We ask that everyone age 2 and older wear a mask, and offer options for social distancing. Please arrive early to provide contact information with our greeters for contact tracing. This is so we ensure the safety and well-being of all our community and members. Please do NOT attend this event if you are or have been experiencing symptoms of illness.
This event is FREE. Donations of $10 or whatever you can afford are appreciated. Donations pay for landscaping, repair and maintenance of the Mill Creek Towne Entrances, and our garden-related programs at our community meetings.
NOTE: If Montgomery County Schools are closed due to inclement weather, the Garden Club meeting will be cancelled.
Location: Mill Creek Parish United Methodist 7101 Horizon Terrace Derwood, MD 20855
Due to severe thunderstorm conditions forecast for this weekend, the May 14 GIEI Open House has been cancelled. Refunds for Workshops will be issued through Eventbrite.
May 14, 2022 (Rain date May 15th) Attendees will comply with COVID public health recommendations – applicable at the time of the event.
Visit the Montgomery County Agricultural History Farm Park for all things edible at the University of Maryland Grow It Eat It Spring Event on May 14, 2022, from 10 am-4 pm! All parts of the event will be in outdoor spaces. The rain date is May 15, 2022, from 10 am-4 pm.
Entry to the event is free and tickets are not required for entry into the event. Fees charged for tickets as noted for some workshops and children’s programs. The Master Gardener Plant Shoppe will be selling Spring plants for your garden and vendors will be at the event.
The preliminary schedule of the day is as follows (all programs with links require registration):
Throughout the event:
Plant Clinic: Get one-on-one answers to your gardening questions
Visit the Demonstration Garden to view what is possible in your garden
Children’s Activity Table
Seed Swap, bring your extra seeds and pick up new ones
Classes, Workshops, and Children’s programs (see below)
Master Gardeners will be available to answer your questions in the garden
Master Gardener Plant Sale to purchase your spring transplants
Many vendors will be on-site selling items for your home and garden
Summer Garden/Landscape Classes at Montgomery College
Its Class time at Montgomery College this summer. Janet Johnson will be teaching a great class on Garden Design. Learn about Conserving Monarch Butterflies in your backyard, or learn about perennial and annual herbaceous plants!
Horticulture Classes | MC Lifelong Learning Summer 2022
This class meets on campus. Students attending face-to-face classes or using on-campus student support services are expected to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or request a medical or religious exception.
CRN 46711: This class will not meet in the classroom. Instruction will be offered remotely during the times indicated. Must be taken with Lab LNTP 244L 46712. For more information, contact Prof. Dubik, SA 220H, 240-567-7803, steve.dubik@montgomerycollege.edu.
CRN 46712: This class meets on campus. Students attending face-to-face classes or using on-campus student support services are expected to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or request a medical or religious exception. This lab will meet on campus during scheduled class time. Must be taken with Lecture LNTP 244 CRN 46711. Requires three mandatory Saturday field trips: 06/18/22 to U.S. Botanic Gardens in Washington, D.C., 07/09/22 and 07/23/22 to Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD. Contact Prof. Dubik, SA 220H, 240-567-7803, steve.dubik@montgomerycollege.edu. (Class meets 1x – Increased mandatory field trip time to shorten lab time).
Walk Around the Towne
Saturday, June 4th, 9:30am – 11:00am
Meet your neighbors on Saturday, June 4th! Neighbors from Mill Creek Towne are invited to join Mill Creek Village and the Mill Creek Garden Club for a walk in our neighborhood! We will visit two gardens for a quick tour during the walk. The walk will start at the Mill Creek Towne Elementary School, 17700 Park Mill Dr., Derwood, MD 20855.
Let’s Talk Gardens
Thursdays 12 to 1 p.m.
Smithsonian Gardens
“Grow” your gardening know-how! Our free online gardening program, Let’s Talk Gardens, covers a wide range of topics presented by our own professional staff, as well as guest speakers.
