What Grows On in Rhode Island News

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme; An HERB Show! ~ August 20-21, 2010

Discover the fascinating world of herbs and herbal products at this fantastic show; held for the first time ever at Tower Hill Botanic Garden.

• Educational displays on the use and culture of medicinal and culinary herbs
• Vendors will sell herbs and herbal products
• Demonstrations throughout show by herb experts

Consider entering your own plants at the show: to obtain a schedule if entries contact Gilbert Moore at [email protected]

Cost: Included with Regular Admission; $10 Adults, $7 Seniors, $5 Youth, Free to Children under 6

Gardening / Horticulture - Exhibit

Saturday, August 21, 2010 - Sunday, August 22, 2010
10:00 AM-5:00 PM

Forest Health Works Project Open House ~ August 23, 2010

This is a community event where you can meet our high school summer crew, enjoy coffee & dessert, and learn about the current and future Forest Health Works Projects! The FHWP is a project of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, in partnership between state and local organizations, to help improve the health & sustainability of Rhode Island’s forests by inventorying and restoring up to 50,000 acres of priority forestland for invasive plants. 

When:        Monday, August 23rd, 7 – 8:30pm
Where:      W. Alton Jones Campus -  Environmental Education Center, West Greenwich, RI

We welcome the opportunity to meet members of the community and showcase our work. We hope to see you there!
 
For more information, please contact us at 401-874-5800  
 
Directions to the W. Alton Jones Campus Environmental Education Center

Washington County Fair ~ August 11-15, 2010

It's time for the 44th Annual Washington County Fair, the largest agricultural event in Rhode Island located on the fairgrounds on Rt 112 in Richmond, RI!

The website has details of the activities that range from country music (including grand ladies of the Grand Old Opry) and amusements that include a 4-story-tall roller coaster (billed as the largest traveling coaster on the East Coast); Rooster crowing contest; various tractor pulls; swine, goat, and draft horse shows; dairy clipping contest; woodsmen contest; horseshoe pitching contest; lawnmower races; watermelon seed spitting contest; tug-o-war; and much more.

The photo in this post is from the Washington County Fair's slideshow for August 11. If you have never been to the Fair, the photos on the website will give you a good idea of what you'll see. Many of the farmers and young future farmers supply and will supply our local food ~ if you like the farmers' markets, this is another side of the story.  There are all sorts of vegetable and flower competitions, something to keep in mind for future years as more of us grow our own vegetables and expand our flower gardens.... I could go on and on, but go to the Fair if you can!

RI Rose Society Garden Maintenance and Photography Workshop ~ August 14, 2010

Do you want to get the most out of your Point and Shoot camera and perhaps win a place in the RIRS Photography Calendar Contest or the ARS Photo contest?  Perhaps, you just want to document your own garden and have a true representation in photos of its beauty.

Come to the meeting this Saturday for hands-on expert advice from professional photographer and Rosarian, Dave Candler. Dave will cover it all from the practical to hands-on advanced creative photography.

FIRST we will spruce up the garden under the leadership of the Garden Chair, Andy Vanable.

Please bring your cameras, manuals, tripods,  photo equipment, and, of course, your pruners, rakes, shovels, insect repellent. See you Saturday with your cameras.

This Saturday, August 14, at 9:30 AM, Victorian Rose Garden, Roger Williams Park, 1000 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI

Dacia Nickerson, RIRS President
[email protected]

BioBlitz Slide Show & Pot Luck Dessert Social ~ August 17, 2010

Survey members, friends, and the public are invited to join the RINHS staff,  event partner Roger Williams Park Zoo, and many of the BioBlitz 2010 Block Island participants for a Slide Show & Pot Luck Dessert Social!
 
If you are a BioBlitz regular but couldn’t make it this year… or have always wanted to get to a BioBlitz but haven’t been able to… or have never heard of a BioBlitz but are curious…  cross out what is already on your calendar and write us in!  You’ll be treated to fabulous photos of flora, fauna, friends, and foes! Art photos, science photos, panoramas, and macros!
 

Rhode Island Arbor Day Grants ~ April 30, 2010

 DEM ANNOUNCES 2010 ARBOR DAY GRANTS

PROVIDENCE – Department of Environmental Management Director W. Michael Sullivan, PhD announced this year's America the Beautiful tree planting grants at the state Arbor Day program held today at Central Falls High School. The grants will result in the planting of over 130 trees throughout much of the state. In the past 19 years, DEM's Division of Forest Environment has awarded more than $2.25 million in America the Beautiful grants, matched by over $3.6 million in local funds.
 
The Arbor Day ceremony featured a speaking program, a presentation by students at Central Falls High School, and the planting of a red oak tree at the school.  The program is a prelude to an Arbor Day Fair that will be held on Saturday, May 8 at Warwick City Park where the RI Tree Council, in conjunction with DEM’s Division of Forest Environment, Arpin Group and National Grid will plant 110 trees.
 
This year’s state Arbor Day program coincides with the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council’s 25th anniversary.  The Council operates on the philosophy that sustained economic development in the region must rely on sustained historical preservation and environmental protection. To that end, the Council has promoted the region to residents and visitors by emphasizing the area's rich “farms to factories” heritage, cultural diversity, and ecotourism opportunities.
 
Twelve grants, totaling $30,000 and matched by $53,882 in local funds, will be used for tree planting, educational programs, municipal tree nurseries, and comprehensive street tree inventories.

RI Forest Restoration Youth Crew Jobs ~ July 12-August 12, 2010

Earn Money & Help the Environment!!!!
 
Who: The Rhode Island Natural History Survey (RINHS) & Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) are recruiting High School Students & new graduates (age 16-19) for restoration crew positions through the Forest Health Works Project (FHWP). Students interested in jobs in the environment, forestry, etc. should apply!
 
What: Crew members will work as a team on projects for government & NGO partners. Work will include controlling invasive plants, improving wildlife habitat, light carpentry such as signs and fences, native seed collection, community outreach, & more. The work will be intense & challenging, but very rewarding. Hardworking teenagers should apply.
 
When: 5 weeks, July 12th – August 12th (except Victory Day, 8/9), M-Th 8:30-5pm
 
Where: The crew will work all over the state, but will focus on state forestlands in western RI (e.g. Arcadia). Students from these areas are especially encouraged to apply.
 
Why:
● Spend your summer outdoors!
● $9.50/hr
● Hands-on experience towards college/job
● Make friends and have fun
 
How: Please contact James Barnes ([email protected]) at RINHS for more details or visit the website www.rinhs.org for an application (coming soon!)
 
This program is part of the Forest Health Works Project (FHWP), a new state effort to control invasive plants that threaten forest health. It is a partnership of the RIDEM and the RINHS. The FHWP is funded by the U.S. Forest Service through a grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
 

GreenShare Day ~ April 3, 2010

This Saturday is Greenshare Day at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, and the Rhode Island Rose Society is part of the day. 

Greenshare day is like a mini-convention with amazing classes for the public on all kinds of gardening themes, and with local horticultural societies on hand to provide information to the public.

If you aren't registered for a class, entrance to the Botanical Center is $3, and the day is fulled with activity, whether or not you take some of the fee-based classes.  There are classes for adults and classes for families. The information tables are incredibly informative and devoted purely to gardening, no commercial vendors of mops, ladders or anything like that. Here are the groups on display:

• Ask a Master Gardener
• Ask a Master Composter
• RI Begonia Society
• The Worm Ladies
• RI Water Lady (rain barrels)
• RI Rose Society
• NE Carnivorous Plant Society
• RI Wild Plant Society

There is also  free soil testing provided by URI Master Gardeners. Simply bring a sample(s) of your soil in a plastic bag or container to the event. Soil testers will analyze samples throughout the day. URI's Learning Landscape program will provide a children's activity all day.

Here are the classes ~ fees run from $30 for half-day that includes two classes (for the family classes, that fee covers 1 adult and 1 child per $30 -- there are lots of take-home materials) to $45 for the whole day and 4 classes. Preregistration is over, so just show up!

For families:

• “Bucket Gardening”
• “Carnivorous Plants”

For adults:

• “Compost 101”
• “Companion Planting”
• “Nurturing the Organic Bounty”
• “Harvesting, Cooking & Preserving” with local cooking celeb Frank Terranova
•  host of NBC’s “Cooking with Class”

See this link to find out more about the classes and activities.

Poinsettia Sale and Exhibit ~ December 2009

Reminder that the URI Master Gardener Poinsettia Sale of experimental fabulous, unusual experimental varieties is at East Farm on Saturday at $12 each including tax, December 5 from 9 am to 12 Noon at East Farm, Route 108 (1 mile form the intersection with route 138) Kingston, RI.

AND ~ Through the month of December see the poinsettia exhibit at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence. When it's cold outside and snowy the Botanical Center is THE place to be ~ among palms, orchids, banana trees.... Every time I go it's different, as plants take turns showing off their colors. One of my favorites is the Bismarck Palm in the background of this photo. Lots of social events and weddings are held here, but the public hasn't yet discovered this welcoming, warm place within the city's premier park. Only $3 ~ so much less than even a Southwest ticket to Florida!

See What Grows On in RI Calendar for this and other upcoming sales and holiday celebrations.

 

The Wonderful World of Poinsettias ~ November 21, 2009 - January 3, 2010

From the URI Master Gardeners:

Unique plants cultivated by URI Master Gardeners will be the centerpiece of a seasonal exhibit at the Botanical Center. 

Every year, the URI Master Gardeners participate in Poinsettia growing trials to aid plant breeders in determining the growth habits and the viability of newly hybridized Poinsettia varieties.  This year, as one of only 30 trial sites in the country, the Master Gardeners volunteered hundreds of hours of their time to plant and cultivate over 1200 Poinsettias in their Kingston, RI, greenhouse facility.  

Consisting of 65 different varieties, these are not your typical, everyday poinsettias!  Plants can have varying shades of red, white, pink and green; some have combinations of one or more of these colors giving them a  "paint-splashed" or "tie-dyed" appearance,  while others may feature curly leaves or other unusual textural features.

This exhibit, the result of a partnership between the City of Providence, the Master Gardeners and the URI Outreach Center, will also feature an educational poster presentation outlining details about the plants such as their history, the myths that surround them, their intricate growing process, and their botanical "peculiarities".  The posters will also highlight the Master Gardeners and their roles as horticultural and environmental educators, researchers and highly dedicated volunteers. 

**** Exhibit opens Saturday, November 21, 2009  ****    and runs through Sunday, January 3, 2010
   ************************************************
Botanical Center Hours: 
Tuesdays - Sundays, and Monday Holidays, 11:00AM - 4:00PM
LAST TICKET SOLD AT 3:30PM
The center is also open on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Botanical Center Admission Fees:
Age 13+ - $3.00
Age 6-12 - $1.00
Age 5 & under - free