HSNY 15th Annual Fall Luncheon

The Horticultural Society of New York held its 15th Annual Fall Luncheon at The Metropolitan Club with guest speaker Carolyne Roehm. Carolyne worked as a designer for Oscar de la Renta before launching her own fashion house, Carolyne Roehm Inc. Since then, Carolyne has written eight books on subjects ranging from floral design, table tops, food, gardening, interiors, gift wrapping and party planning. This fall she will release her ninth book, A Passion for Blue and White.

CeCe Black, Carolyne Roehm, and Chris Giftos

Mrs. Charles A. Dana, Jr. was presented the HSNY award of excellence in honor of her outstanding contributions to horticulture and conservation. Norma Dana is the co-founder of then Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy, an Honorary Trustee of The Wildlife Conservation Society and a member of the New Canaan Nature Center Advisory Board.

Norma is a long-time supporter of the HSNY.

Norma Dana accepting HSNY award of excellence

Green Team speaker Jeffrey Barrow

Shelia Stephenson and Suzette de Marigny Smith

Betty Scholtz, Tony Smith, and Faity Tuttle

Chris Giftos and Dominique Buaron

Wendy Keys and HSNY Chairman of the Board Bobbie Margolis

HSNY Used Book Sale

(Just a few of the many titles you will find at the HSNY Used Book Sale)

For those of you that used to frequent The Horticultural Society of New York at our old location on 58th Street between 6th and 7th you might remember the ongoing book sale Katherine Powis ran in the HSNY Library reading room. The HSNY Library accepts donations of horticultural and other related publications to be incorporated into our library collection, which is open to the public and now well over 10,000 volumes. Sometimes, however, there are duplicates of books which we already have in our collection and those books can be sold at heavily discounted prices to the public.

It is my pleasure, on behalf of Katherine and the HSNY Library, to announce that we have reinstated the HSNY used book sale at our new home here at 148 West 37th Street on the 13th Floor. We have one full case of used books devoted to the book sale and anyone here can direct you to those when you visit. The books are priced to move and we can accept all forms of payment. The topics and titles vary greatly, so it is best to simply come in to HSNY and see for yourself. We are located on West 37th Street between 7th Avenue and Broadway, and you will find #148 on the south side of the street. We are open to the public 10am - 6pm Monday through Friday and Katherine Powis, HSNY Librarian, is here Monday through Thursday. To learn more about the HSNY Library click here, and for general information about The Horticultural Society of New York, click here.

Gardening help in Buffalo, New York

Question:
I live in Buffalo, New York, and would I like to plant some shrubs, bushes, etc. in front of my house. I have nothing at this point. Could you recommend some books, info, that might help me in this particular area of the country regarding planting in cold weather zones.

Answer:
First, you should make yourself familiar with your hardiness zone. Hardiness zones are determined by the average annual minimum temperature in a given region. In other words, this tells you the amount of cold that a plant can tolerate and still live in a given area. Buffalo to the best of my knowledge is Zone 5. Depending on your proximity to the water and if you get strong, freezing winds off the lakes then perhaps your area is colder, which would be a Zone 4. If your house is well sheltered then perhaps it is slightly warmer, Zone 6. The USDA hardiness zones do not take into account possible microclimates. Therefore, when shopping for trees or shrubs at your local nursery make sure that the plants you are buying are hardy to Zone 5. With this information, you can enjoy looking through reference books and seeing what you like, as long as it’s hardy to Zone 5.

Katherine Powis, the librarian here at HSNY, was able to find for you these titles that are sure to give you lots of great ideas. Cold Climate Gardening (a Taylor Weekend Gardening Guide) by Rebecca Atwater Briccetti. Tough Plants for Nothern Gardens by Felder Rushing. Northeast (SmartGarden Regional Guides) by DK Publishing. DK Publishing has a number of publications by the American Horticultural Society and they are all fabulous books.

Also, do not hesitate to contact your local cooperative extension to find out more site specific gardening information. Cornell cooperative extensions across the state are great places to turn to for city- or county-specific gardening tips and help. Go to http://www.cce.cornell.edu/ and once on the website, click on the tab labeled “In Your Community”.