Long Island Horticultural Society
October News & Notes
President's Message...
Fall is really here, and that always puts me in a bittersweet frame of mind. I am such a “summer person”, and hate to let it go. That means I often have frozen toes because I wait too long to switch from sandals to loafers!
On the other hand, it is lovely to sit outside in the brisk, dry air and admire the remaining summer flowers and the new fall additions, which provide plenty of color and a sort of fading, ragged beauty which I find appealing. I allow myself the luxury of just sitting and enjoying, while tuning out that nagging little “you should be doing this, and this, and this” voice. There will be plenty of time for cutting back, cleaning up, and planting bulbs - but not quite yet!
And even though I claim to “hate winter”, I find myself looking forward to the holidays, upcoming events, and indoor activities which get us through the cold, dark days!
Here at LIHort, we are already starting to plan our Holiday Party, and you will be hearing more about that. Meanwhile, we can look forward to exciting speakers, member tutorials, and all sorts of interesting activities to keep us inspired, informed, and forward-looking.
I have been especially pleased with the wonderful day trips which are planned, organized and conducted by Toni and Courtney. I go on most, and continue to be amazed by all the wonderful gardens, farms, and other destinations in our area which I never knew about or never got to visit. And in the coming year we will be “spreading our wings” and venturing a bit further afield, as members suggest and offer to plan trips to Manhattan and the East End of Long Island. West and East, fascinating new adventures await us! Stay tuned!
Finally, our Monarch Butterfly Planting Crew is still hard at work preparing the next quadrant of the garden, designating planting areas and getting in as many plants as possible to get established over the winter.
In my (not so humble) opinion, LIHort is a unique, exciting, and outstanding organization, and I’m delighted that we are all a part of it!
See you soon!
Ronnie Branczio
September 13 Meeting
Speaker: Mary Pigliacelli
Topic: Winter Gardening
For more information please visit the Meetings page
Doors open at 12:30pm
Place Horticultural Competition entries by 1pm.
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1pm Tutorial: Levente Hajdu Lake District UK Tour
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​​1:30 - 2pm LIHS Business, Announcements​
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​​Speaker starts at 2pm​​
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Please consider donating
refreshments to the hospitality table. If anyone home-bakes a refreshment please add your name as people would like to know who to ask for the recipe.
2027 Slate of Officers for Long Island Horticultural Society Board of Directors to be voted on at the November 15, 2026 meeting
President: Patricia Jarrett
1st Vice-President: Ronnie Brancazio
2nd Vice-President: Kathy Readinger
Treasurer: Maria Hoffman
Recording Secretary: Janet Kielbasa
Corresponding Secretary: Connie Knies
Membership Secretary: Pat Martin
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Directors Term 2026 - 2029: Russ Gorog, Frank Lomuscio, Wendy Lomuscio
Directors: term 2025 -2028: Carlos Taborda, Andrea Gibson, Marty Nyear
Directors Term 2024 - 2027: Ronnie Wagner, Laura Borsellega, Jenny Holmes
To Everyone who has volunteered their time to serve on our Board of Directors!
September
Horticultural Competition
Div 3 Class 1 Watercolor
Div 2 Class 6 Section B Bromeliad 'Guzmania Mirador'
Div 2 Class 1 Section A rare pure white Hibiscus
Div 3 Class 1 Watercolor
Click on gallery to view slideshow
Horticultural
Maureen Wawrzonek 1st Place Div 2 Class 6 Section B Bromeliad
Ann Wetzel 2nd Place Div 1 Class 4 Section C Tablescape
Debi Goldfisher 3rd Place Div 1 Class 1 Section B Arrangment
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Botanical Arts
Ronnie Brancazio 1st Place Div 3 Class 1 Watercolor
Shelly Maines 1st Place Div 3 Class 2 Photograph Water lilies
Art Papayanopulos 2nd Place Div 3 Class 2 Photograph Cosmos
Anne Cognato 3rd Place Div 3 Class 2 photograph Cosmos
Welcome new Members
Valerie Ghitelman
Serena & Paul Kusserow
Linda Ruso
Kathleen Vetter
BRING HOUSEPLANTS INSIDE
When the daytime temps are between 50-60°F its time to get your houseplants ready to come back inside.
First move them to a shady location to get them used to lower light levels.
Clean up the plant remove any dead or damaged leaves and clean up the pot as well.
Check for pests. Check the tops and bottoms of the leaves, on the stems, the crown of the plant and the bottom of the pot. You can submerge the whole pot in water to drive bugs out. This works especially well for spiders as they can't swim and will flee the plant. Let the plant dry in a shady location.
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Spray the plant with insecticidal soap on tops and bottoms of leaves and lightly spray the soil. This will get rid of small pest problems. You can also water the plant with a 10% bleach solution: 9 parts water to 1 part bleach. This will kill any eggs that maybe in the soil. Soak soil for 15 mins then rinse the plant thoroughly with fresh water.
If you have the space keep newly brought in plants separate from established houseplants just in case any pests are still on the plants.
Cut back on water and fertilizer as the plants won't be growing as much indoors.
A short preview of Leve's Presentation: The Lake District, UK
From the editor....
I made the most of the beautiful weather days we had this year and ventered out to revist some public gardens on LI that I had been to in the past and see how they have changed over the years. As we gardeners know very well gardening is a journey and gardens are always evolving. Large public gardens evolve also. I will be writing a series for upcoming newsletters: "Then and Now" showcasing changes to the various gardens I have visited over the summer here on LI: Landcraft Gardens in Mattituck, Bridge Gardens in Bridgeport, Madoo Conservancy in Bridgeport, Longhouse Reserve in East Hampton, NY, and Bayard Arboretum in Great River, NY.
-Ann Wetzel
Check out the Garden Calendar page this month for All the jobs that need doing
Day Trippin'
A group of nine members met at Youngs Farm, and learned about the history of Youngs Farm and how it transitioned over the decades to become what it is today. Everyone also learned about the Asteraceae (or Compositae) family of plants from Courtney; a Suffolk county master gardener. Members also learned the basics of how to grow both zinnias and sunflowers from direct sowing as well as how to grow and transplant seedlings. Finally, they browsed the charming Youngs Farm Market and bakery to bring some goodies home.
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Back in August the planned trip to Orkestai Farm at Planting Fields Arboretum had to be canceled due to high temps. Courtney Quinn; one of the Day Trip organizers, went there previously and learned a lot about the farm: To the casual observer, Orkestai Farm looks similar to many other small organic farms found on Long Island however Orkestai Farm is so much more than that!
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Orkestai Farm is operated as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit charitable organization. It was founded in 2014, by three individuals who still actively manage and farm the land today. Numerous volunteers have since joined them.
The meaning of Orkestai is derived from the ancient Greek word "orkheisthai" meaning to dance or to set in motion. Relating it to Orkestai Farm, it means " a community collaboration- an orchestra of farmers who work together to grow healthy food and merry people."
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Orkestai Farm grows organic vegetables, flowers and herbs on a one acre fenced site at the rear of Planting Fields Arboretum, not far from our own Monarch Butterfly Garden. It is USDA and Real People Certified Organic.
Orkestai farm offers a focus on "Agriculture, Arts and Community" as well as numerous enrichment
programs. The agriculture focus is on human size farming using hand tools rather than machinery and a no-till living soil agriculture model. Hopefully this trip will be rescheduled in 2027.
Check out the list of upcoming trips here
Ronnie's Recap
One of the goals of our LIHS Speaker Program is to educate us about new and innovative developments in horticulture, especially as they relate to improving our natural environment.
Our September speaker did exactly that, with his fascinating talk on KELP FARMING! Garrett Chelius has taken on many roles in and around Huntington, LI, all dedicated to studying and caring for the environment, particularly when it involves the Waterfront. One important goal of his work is to restore habitat and vitality to the watershed.
Very few of us in the audience knew that Kelp Farming can be an important way to meet that goal, and we were surprised to learn that Sugar Kelp is effective in removing large amounts of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, and is in fact 10 times more effective than trees! We also learned that kelp can be farmed and harvested, and then dried and processed into a powdery product to be used as an organic soil amendment, biostimulant, and “steroid” for growing plants. Harvested kelp is used around the world as a protein food source, and can be made into nutritious tea.
We learned that kelp products are used in planting native gardens and rain gardens, especially in areas subject to flooding. The Town of Huntington has received permits to cultivate sugar kelp in the Huntington-Northport waterbody this winter to be harvested in April and then processed for use. The project is being carried out with the help of Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI) and Re-Wild Long Island.
Garrett’s talk prompted many thoughtful questions from the audience, which he answered clearly and thoroughly, adding still more interesting information. He also assured us that the kelp soil amendment would be available for us to use in our home gardens!
2027 LI Hort Scholarship
The Long Island Horticultural Society will offer a $3,000 award in 2027.
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​For the 2027 Scholarship award, applications will be accepted between November 1, 2026, and April 1st, 2027. The winner will be notified by May 16th, 2027, and the scholarship will be awarded at the LIHS June 13th, 2027, Meeting.
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Eligibility Requirements:
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Resident of Long Island
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Matriculated student (part-time or full-time) in a horticultural program
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GPA of 3.0 or higher
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Interest in pursuing a career in horticulture
If you know of a student that meets the above criteria please have them fill out and submit the application. Please see the scholarship page for more information
Thank you to Maureen Wawrzonek for the Hospitality Table Centerpiece
Donations to the Hospitality Table: Suzan & Dale Goldstein, Laura Weill, Toni & Stuart Germain, Sharon Rubin,
Maureen Wawrzonek, Fran Andino, Ronnie Wagner, Mike Gornicki, Wendy Lomuscio, Judy Basse
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Donations to the Raffle Table: Russ Gorog, Laura Weill, Joan McGillicuddy, Patricia Getter, Kathy MacLeod, Shelly Maines, Laura Weill, Toni & Stuart Germain, Fran Andino, Kathy Readinger
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Try Something New!
By Anne Cognato
Last year, for Christmas, my son bought me seeds. Broccolini, Shiso and Blue Kuri pumpkin. It would be a gardening and culinary adventure! I started the seeds mid to late spring. The broccolini and pumpkin sprouted- I was excited. I transferred them to the vegetable beds in May.
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The broccolini, which I like and was looking forward to, turned out to be shiso. The shiso did very well in my garden, but I did not know what to do with it. I looked for recipes, and what I found was – add to stir fries and salads. It did give an interesting taste to my salad, gingery, peppery and green. It is still going strong now in my garden, and it has little white flowers. The bees like it, too!
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I started out with 4 pumpkin seedlings. Two died in transplant, and an animal got the third. One left. It did well in my garden. The same insect that affects zucchini (you know the one – when the stems all rot) affected the pumpkin. What was odd, the stem broke away as it rotted, but the vine continued to live. It must have rooted along the vine somewhere. I did get one pumpkin and it was delicious roasted with some butter. I will grow this again next year.
Membership Form
Dues for membership are:
Single $35, Household: $45, Student $5
Please fill out the Membership Form here on the website, when renewing or joining. Just type your information into the form and print it out. Bring it with your dues to a meeting or mail it to the address on the bottom of the form.
Cook's Corner
Apple season is upon us-
This month's recipe Is from Courtney Quinn, Applesauce Cake
