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Lockerly Newsletter March 2016
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Volunteers of the Month
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| Colby Sanford (left) and Tyler Lightner (right) |
Our Volunteers of the Month are Colby Sanford and Tyler Lightner. Colby is in the seventh grade at GMC, and Tyler is in the sixth grade there.
Both boys want to earn a community service badge this school year, and they chose Lockerly for their service hours. This school year they have worked about 20 hours after school, coming out on Friday afternoons.
Their time has primarily been spent in the back of the Arboretum clearing trails. On afternoons when the weather hasn't cooperated, Greg Eilers, our Education Director (and Senior Camp Counselor) has used their help on indoor projects. They have enjoyed learning how to use loppers and preparing beds in the teaching garden.
For the past four summers Tyler and Colby have been Lockerly campers. They are coming back for Camp Oliver Worley in June this year for another session. We consider them volunteer members of our Lockerly Public Relations Team- Colby and Tyler have recruited their siblings as Lockerly Summer Campers, too!
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Spring Plant Sale Details
Staff, Dirt Diggers, and Trustees have shared ideas to make our Spring Plant Sale a great event for our members and the public. Our Member Plant Sale will be held on Thursday, April 21st. On Friday, April 22nd, and Saturday, April 23rd, we'll have plants available for the public to buy.
Special Date for Friends of Lockerly
On Thursday, April 21st we will have a selection of plants for sale to anyone who is a
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| Mark your calendar for our plant sale in April, including a special event for Friends of Lockerly. |
current Friend of Lockerly as of Friday, April 15th. If your membership has lapsed, or you've never been a Friend of Lockerly, you can
renew or join here. If you have questions about your Friend of Lockerly status, please contact Vicki Folendore by email at [email protected] or call 478.452.2112.
During our three day plant sale we'll organize our inventory so we have some quantity of every plant for sale each day. No plants will be sold, or set aside, before our plant sale hours on any of these three days.
We're also inviting vendors with yard and garden supplies ranging from pots and garden tools to yard art, to set up a space to sell items that will make your work easier, and your yard unique. Check back to see who will be joining us.
If there is a particular plant you would like for us to try and have for our sale, we need to know by March 15th. Please send your suggestions to our Horticulture Director, Debbie Foster, at [email protected].
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Register for our summer camps!
The days are getting longer, which means it is time to sign your child or grandchild up for one of our summer camps. We scheduled Camp Oliver Worley at the Worley
Outdoor Education Center for June 6-10 (rising 6th-9th grades), and June 13-17 (rising 3rd-5th grades). These camps are from 8:00-5:00 and provide campers with a full day of exploring and learning.
Camp Discovery is a half-day camp held at the Arboretum. Campers begin their adventures at 8:30 and finish at noon each day. Camp Discovery will be held June 28-July 1 for rising 1st-2nd graders.
We keep our camper to adult ratio low, so our camps fill up quickly. Ninety percent of our activities are outside. We provide a list of supplies to bring including sunscreen, hat, bug spray, etc. Camp Oliver Worley campers bring their lunch, and we provide
snacks during all of our camp sessions.
Your camper will
come home with stories about archaeology digs, water eco-systems, map reading skills, and new microscope skills. Register online and put our camp dates on your calendar. If you prefer to pay with a check, email Vicki Folendore at [email protected] for a registration form.
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One staffer, many roles
If you have attended Science Night at a local school, brought students to the Arboretum for field trips, picked up a child at one of our summer camps, or occasionally seen someone in town who looks an awful lot like Judge Daniel Tucker or JohnnyAppleseed,
then you've seen our Education Director, Greg Eilers, sharing his enthusiasm for outdoor education and natural science.
In the spring Greg is always asked to serve as a Science Fair judge. Greg enjoys that part of his job because he gets to talk with students who are doing imaginative research.
Last month Greg was a judge in the Regional Science Fair held at the Centennial Center. The fair included elementary, middle, and high school students who will go on to state competition soon.
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March Garden Tips
Lockerly Horticulture Director
A new growing season will soon be upon us. These warmer winter days make gardeners anxious to cultivate the soil and plant this year's garden. While it might be a little too early to plant outside, this is a great time to start plants from seeds indoors.
Growing your own transplants from seeds indoors can give you a head start on the growing season. If seeds are obtained well ahead of the actual sowing date store them in a cool, dry place. Storing them at room temperature over time will damage the
embryo inside the seed. A good storage location would be an air-tight jar or a sealed zipper type bag in the refrigerator.
Many species have minimum, maximum, and optimum soil temperatures at which they germinate. Generally, 65°F to 75°F is best for most plants. The soil temperature is often cooler than the temperature of the air; as moisture evaporates it cools the soil. For seeds that require warmer soil temperatures try using a waterproof heat mat underneath the pots or trays. Heat mats can be found online and come in various sizes.
The planting medium should be rather fine in texture and of uniform consistency, yet well aerated and loose. It should be capable of holding moisture, but drain well. Do not use garden soil to start seedlings. Garden soil is unsterile, too heavy, and it does not drain well. Commercial soil mixes have low fertility, so seedlings must be watered with a dilute fertilizer solution soon after germination and emergence. Use ¼ to ½ of the recommended fertilizer rate.
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Saw it, heard it, counted it
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| Blue-headed vireo, photo by Andre Coquerel |
A group of experienced and beginning bird watchers bundled up and spent about two hours looking and listening for birds during the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) on Saturday, February 13th. We were fortunate to have Trustee Joe Mangum, who knows our grounds well, along with Ocmulgee Audubon Society members led by Andre Coquerel, spend time in the Arboretum.
We had field guides and binoculars for people to use, and several bird posters with common Eastern birds. In addition to Education Director Greg Eilers, staffer
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Jordan Budnik, student staffer
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ordan Budnik, a self-defined "bird geek," was on-hand to help people identify what they saw and heard. One birder had counted forty red winged black birds at her house near the Oconee River before heading to the Arboretum to join us.
The Arboretum is a popular spot of both nesting and migratory birds, especially in the spring. With new benches added in the gardens, we have plenty of places where visitors can relax and enjoy the cacophony of birds on pretty days. Come out soon!
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We appreciate our sponsors
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Lockerly Arboretum 1534 Irwinton Road, Milledgeville, GA 478.452.2112
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