Upcoming events:

Unique Spring Gardens of Michael Hannen

Saturday, May 31, 2014 at 10 AM                

             (carpool from Sly Street lot behind the Ontario County Court House at 9:20 am)

For those who are interested in unique garden species, Michael Hannen’s gardens at 171 Laburnum Crescent in Rochester are a must see.  Come enjoy hundreds of unique and spectacular spring blooms and consider purchasing some for your own gardens. 

To get to Michael’s gardens: travel north on 332 then west on the NYS Thruway 90 to 490 West.  Take 490 W to exit 18 NY 31 (Monroe Ave).  Make a sharp left onto Monroe Ave and then a right onto Laburnam Crescent.  Park along the street near 171 Laburnam Crescent which is the last house on the right just before the Field Street Park also on the right.  If you get to Pinnacle Road, you’ve gone too far.

                                      Plants available: growboy22@yahoo.com

Click here to see Michael's summer 2013 gardens:

http://canandaiguabotanicalsociety.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-unique-gardens-of-michael-hannen.html

Maya Hobday Bench Dedication and FLCC Arboretum Walk

     Saturday, June 7, 2014   10:00 AM

Maya Hobday was an avid Canandaigua Botanical Society member from 1953 until her death in 2011.  She served as president, secretary, species recorder, event host, and constant attendee throughout nearly sixty years.  June 7, 2014 marks the 90^th anniversary of Maya Hobday’s birth: a fitting day to dedicate a bench in her memory followed by a walk through the Arboretum led by Dr. Bruce Gilman.   Enter Finger Lakes Community College from Lakeshore Drive onto Marvin Sands Drive. The Arboretum is on the right as you enter the campus.  Park in the main lot to the west of Marvin Sands Drive and walk over to meet at the Arboretum archway.    

There’s no such thing as poor weather, just poor dressing -Maya Hobday                                   

  

Tour of Lagoon Park Restoration with Jim Engel

     SUNDAY, June 8, 2014 at 1:00 PM

     Jim Engel has worked passionately these past several years to restore native species at the Lagoon Park Wildlife Preserve on Lakeshore Drive in Canandaigua.  The Canandaigua Botanical Society and the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association worked together to raise funds towards Jim Engel’s efforts.  Join us as Jim gives us an informative walk through the 34 acres of wetlands and walking trails explaining the species were removed and planted. Plans are in place to add a covered information center and natural log benches.

FELLENZ FAMILY FARM TOUR

 

CSA shares are still available for the 2014 season for pick up in Canandaigua, Geneva, and Pittsford.

Check out their website: Fellenz Family Farm

• Certified Organic since 2005
• Sustainably growing vegetables and fruits since 2002
• CSAs in Pittsford, Canandaigua, and Geneva, New York
• Farmstand on the farm
• PYO strawberries
• Vegetables and herb transplants

In July 2010 Andy showed us the paper pot transplanter process

seeds planted in the paper pot honeycomb

 Here is a video they posted on facebook using a paper pot transplanter:
Paper pot transplanting video

We enjoyed a tour of the Fellenz Family Farm on Saturday, May 17th.  Transplant plants are available for sale at the farmstand along with spring vegetables.  Strawberries should be available early to mid June.  Here are some photos I took - in no particular order:

Farmstand from distribution garage.

Chester will often greet you when you visit the Fellenz Family Farm

Walking to the hoop houses/high tunnels.  Irrigation work and recovering first hoop in process.

Plantings between hoops.  Hoop on right will have double layer of plastic with pocket of air between to better protect without wind noise.

Looking over chicken yards to high tunnels

Inside a hoop house - white covering to manage pests

lettuce and greens

Kale along the outer edge of a high tunnel

Rhubarb and garlic growing in lower field

Chester checking on the strawberries

 

asparagus...a perennial

Smaller high tunnel with irrigation lines, netting and string anchors

Andy shows Thomas how to best transplant his new strawberry plants

Bird Walk on Ontario Pathways with Leona Lauster and Eaton Birding Society

Almost two dozen people gathered to watch for birds along the Ontario Pathways trail head on Route 96 in Phelps, NY on a cool and sunny morning.  Leona Lauster lead the group with folks from the Eaton Birding Society and Canandaigua Botanical Society.

Bird species spotted (and heard) include: Tennessee warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Gray catbirds, Philadelphia vireo, Swainson's thrush, chestnut sided warbler, brown headed cowbird, rose breasted grosbeak, red-bellied woodpecker, nuthatch, robins, and an American cardinal.

Leona gave this helpful hint to those new to birding: To best see a bird with your binoculars, first get the bird in your sight then while keeping watch of the bird, raise your binoculars up to your eyes to see the bird through the binoculars.  

I am not guaranteeing I have the photos captioned correctly until I receive confirmation from Leona or more knowledgeable folks than me. I did realize that I would need a better lens for my camera to get better shots of the birds.  I did find if I enlarged the photo on my computer to 200% I could scan through to locate the bird in each image.

Tennessee Warble

Robin holding nesting material for all to see

looking south from the Route 96 trail head

Gray catbird

Betsy showing Thomas the Common Yellowthroat warbler who has a black mask and sings, "witchety, withcety,witchety"

song sparrow?

approaching the first bridge on our walk

same photo as below - wider view

Thomas was very intrigued by the water

Nuthatch coming from its hole

nuthatch - (not at all camera shy)

Red bellied woodpecker

listening and watching for birds

cowbirds on the left, rose breasted grosbeak on the right

rose breasted grosbeak

Philadelphia vireo

American Robin

Perfect sunny morning

High waters evident along trail on both sides - even waterfalls

and debris across the trail

goldfinch in flight

Magnolia warbler

fast in flight

checking references

I loved that everyone was looking up for birds as Thomas was checking things out down on the ground

Chestnut sided warbler

Squirrel seen as we headed to out to our visit of the Fellenz Family Farm