The Hawthorn

Spring 2010

Merryspring Plant Sale Needs Your Help:Looking for Volunteers, Plants, and Garden- Related Items

Do you have time to volunteer at the Plant Sale or during set up the week before? Do you have perennials that need division orextra seedlings? Are your shelves groaning with unused garden books and your shed bursting with duplicate tools?

The donations and efforts of our members always add a special touch to our annual sale, so please help us make this year’s fu

nd-raiser an exciting and successful event.If you have donations of books, magazines, serviceable tools, and garden ornaments, they may be dropped off at the Ross Centerany week day.Plant donations can be dropped off during the week of May 17. Labels should indicate species and color. Donors of perennial divi-sions are asked to place divisions in plastic bags with adequate soil to keep roots cool and moist. Volunteers will be standing by toaccept donations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the days before the sale. If a volunteer is not available, seedlings may be placed in-side the greenhouse on the potting bench or floor and perennial divisions may be placed in the shade near the greenhouse.

Merryspring’s annual Plant Sale has been offering Midcoast gardeners

professionally grown and locally dug annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees forthree decades.Our featured plant will be false indigo (

Baptisia australis

), the Perennial Plant

Association’s 2010 Plant of the Year. This shrubby, easy

-going American nativestands about four feet high and flaunts foot-long racemes of deep blue, pea-like blossoms for three weeks in the spring. Eye-catching inflated seedpodsturn charcoal black

—

great for flower arrangers. Deer give it a pass.We also have hellebores (

Helleborus orientalis

)

—

wonderful as a ground coverin Maine gardens. The strain we are offering, Royal Heritage, sports gorgeousblossoms in shades of pink, cream, and yellow in early spring. Foliage staysevergreen beneath the snow and looks great all year long. Plants self-sowfreely yet politely. No deer or slug problems. This is

the

perfect plant for high-shade fringe areas at the edge of woodlands.Other highlights include perennial divisions and dahlias from the gardens of

Merryspring and its members; divisions from the Maine Daylily Society’s

collection; trees, shrubs, and perennials generously donated by Plants Unlim-ited; and vegetable seedlings, tomato plants, and herbs.

In conjunction with this year’s Plant Sale, the Maine Rhododendron Society will

be holding its annual auction of select rhododendrons at Merryspring on Satur-day, May 22. This will be a wonderful opportunity to purchase hard-to-findvarieties.Children are welcome and are certain to have fun making their own flowerpots out of folded newspaper and planting them with a choice of fast-growingseeds.

Merryspring’s perennial and herb gardens are the source of

many Plant Sale divisions. (photo by Rachel Potter)

2010 Plant Sale

The sale begins

Friday, May 21 (4 to 6 p.m.,Merryspring Members Only)

and continues on

Saturday, May 22 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

. There willbe no sales before 4 p.m. on Friday. For moreinfo call 236-2239 or visit www.merryspring.org.

The Hawthorn Spring 2010Page 2

Plant Sale 1Environmental Educator 2Wish List 2Education Calendar 3-4Kitchen Tour 5New Board Members 5Volunteer Handbook 5Donor Thanks 6-7Skunk Cabbage 8

Inside this issue:

MerryspringNature Center

P.O. Box 893, Camden, ME 04843Tel: (207) 236-2239Fax: (207) 230-0663Email: info@merryspring.orgwww.merryspring.org

Mission Statement

Merryspring’s mission is to practice,

teach, and advocate sound principles of ecology, conservation, and horticulture inorder to protect our natural environmentand to provide natural landscapes andcultivated areas for public enjoyment.

Hours of Operation

The park is open free of charge fromdawn to dusk every day of the year. Ouroffices and library are open Tuesdaythrough Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., orby appointment.

Membership Fees

Individual $35Family $50Business $50-100

Board of Trustees

Ray Andresen, PresidentKathleen Kull, Vice PresidentMargaret E. Barclay, Vice PresidentRichard Ailes, TreasurerFrank Callanan, SecretaryRebecca ClappSusan DorrCynthia DunhamJoanne FagerburgJames SadySusan ShawCarol Woodbury -Witham

Staff

Toni Goodridge, Administrative Mgr.Gail Sutton, Buildings & Grounds Mgr.Bill Sutton, Buildings & Grounds Assist.

AmeriCorps EnvironmentalEducator

Leo Maheu

Wish List:

Vinyl Venetian blind slatsCraft supplieswine corkswhite birch barkgrapevine wreathsFolding chairsLoppersHand pruners

Visit Merryspring’s Facebook

page, where you can check onupcoming programs and events.Go tohttp://www.tinyurl.com/merryspring-facebook/.We hope

you’ll become a fan.

You can sign up for our

eUpdates

www.merryspring.org

to re-ceive the latest news on pro-grams and events.Leo Maheu is the new AmeriCorps EnvironmentalEducator at Merryspring. A native of Berkeley,California, Leo began his 10-month volunteer term atMerryspring in early February and will be with usthrough mid-December.

Leo’s primary role at Merryspring will be working withour volunteers and staff to expand the park’s environ-

mental education offerings to include more hands-on,in-the-field programs for children. He will also beavailable to lead school field trips at Merryspring and tosupervise our existing educational programs andevents.Leo is a 2008 graduate of California State University atChico, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree inTheatre and Certification in Environmental Education.An Eagle Scout and Merit Badge Counselor for BoyScouts of America, he previously served as the NatureProgram Director at Camp Wolfeboro in the HighSierras of California. Among his varied interests areastronomy, backpacking, and scuba diving.

“As a Boy Scout, I learned at a very young age the

importance of environmental values, and I amconstantly striving to assist others in finding their own

love for the outdoors,” Leo said. “This opportunity to

work as an environmental educator will enable me tocontinue to educate others through exhibits, festivals,hands-

on activities, and other events.”

Leo comes to Merryspring via the Maine ConservationCorps (MCC), which places AmeriCorps volunteersthroughout the state to work with non-profits andother organizations with a focus on conservation andenvironmental education.

Create a Lasting Legacy forMerryspring Nature Center

Merryspring has a permanentEndowment Fund to ensure thatfuture generations will continueto enjoy the wonders of natureexhibited and taught atMerryspring. We encouragedonors to consider making be-quests that will increase thisfund.Please consult your personalfinancial and legal advisors onwhat method or methods will bein your best interest and fulfillyour wishes.If you would like more informa-

tion on Merryspring’s endow-

ment fund, please call us at (207)236-2239 or send us an email toinfo@merryspring.org.

Welcome Leo: New AmeriCorpsVolunteer Joins Merryspring

The Hawthorn

Spring 2010 Page 3

2010 Spring/Summer Education Calendar

SPRING TUESDAY TALKS

Noon on Tuesdays; bring a bag lunch. Members & Children Free, Others $5

April 6 Grow More, Work Less with Square-Foot Gardening

—

Shelley Johnson, Breatheasy Farm

April 13 NO TALK SCHEDULEDApril 20 Going Green: Small Changes for a Big Impact

—

Keith Crowley, Chewonki Foundation

April 27 Trees for the Maine Landscape

—

Doug Fox, Unity College

May 4 Alpine Primula

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Richard May, Evermay Nursery

May 11 Plant Fever: Tips for an Organized Growing Season

—

Rebecca Jacobs, Gabriella’s Gardens

May 18 NO TALK SCHEDULED

SUMMER TUESDAY TALKS

May 25 Soil Health in Plain English

—

Mark Hutchinson, UMaine Cooperative Extension

June 1 Tending the Perennial Garden I

—

Wendy Andresen

June 8 Butterflies and Lupine

—

Richard Lenfest

June 15 NO TALK SCHEDULEDJune 22 Sustainable Landscaping

—

Dr. Lois Berg Stack, UMaine Cooperative Extension

June 29 Rose Day 2010

—

Glenn Jenks

July 6 Tending the Perennial Garden II

—

Wendy Andresen

July 13 Mushrooms

—

Greg Marley

July 20

Growing Greens in Maine All Winter Long

—

Judy Berk

July 27 Invasive Insect Species

—

Rebecca Jacobs

August 3 Tending the Perennial Garden III

—

Wendy Andresen

August 10 Japanese Gardens

—

Lee Schneller

August 17 NO TALK SCHEDULEDAugust 24

Ferns and Mosses

–

speaker to be announced

August 31

Planting and Care of Rhododendrons

–

speaker to be announced

FREE PUBLIC EVENTS

Green Fair at Plants Unlimited: Saturday, April 17, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

—Visit Merryspring’s family educational activity booth to

make a biodegradable newspaper flower pot and plant it with a seed of your choice.

Astronomy Evening co-sponsored by Central Maine Astronomical Society: Saturday, April 24, 8 - 10 p.m.

—

Mark your calendarfor this annual event when astronomers share their joy of astronomy with people of all ages.

Film “Lurking in the Trees”: Wednesday, May 19, 4 p.m.

—

A 30-minute documentary about the devastating effect of the Asianlonghorn beetle in Worchester, MA, followed by a Q&A about invasive species in Maine with District Forester Morten Moesswilde.

What’s Bugging You? co

-sponsored by Knox County Soil & Water District: Wednesday, June 23, time TBA

—

Entomologist MarkDarlington will be on hand to discuss problem insects and their control. The public is invited to bring samples for identification.

Daylily Day co-sponsored by Maine Daylily Society: Saturday, August 1, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

—View the Maine Daylily Society’s spec-

tacular demonstration garden at its peak, learn about daylily breeding and propagation, taste daylily foods, and more.