Is everyone ready to start the gardening season?

The MBGC is set; our board has lined up a very nice schedule for this year. Our first meeting will be at the Center Moriches Library, 1 p.m. on March 17. That is St. Patrick’s Day, and so be sure to wear green. 

We will have a catch-up as to what everyone has been doing over the winter and will also have Erika Haberkorn, a speaker from Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons. Haberkorn will have a slide show and information on rescuing turtles. Turtles are important to our ecosystem and Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons rescues approximately 200 turtles a year. We will find out a lot more about this organization. I hope you can join us; it’s free.

Other events coming up are our annual fundraising plant sale at the Haven’s House April 30. Bayard Cutting Arboretum has planted 2000 daffodil bulbs in an open field and we plan a trip there in April or May. We will have information on the Philadelphia Flower Show, “In Full Bloom,” June 11-19.

If you are a vegetable gardener, St. Paddy’s Day is the time to plant those snap peas. You can get a head-start by sprouting them in the refrigerator today. Just keep them between wet paper towels; they will sprout in time to plant outside in mid-March.  

Betty Ronston sent a photo of her helleborus. Take a minute to see if you might like helleborus in your garden.   Ronston’s is potted, but you can plant them in the ground. They are an easy perennial to grow; they come in whites, pinks and mauves. The best is that they are blooming now, outside in the snow.