THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270086
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING REMINDERS
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
THE VIRGINIA CAMELLIA Society holds it 49th annual show in Chesapeake Square Mall on Saturday. Plant sales begin at 10 a.m. and the show opens at noon. Both end at 8 p.m. Many hard-to-find camellia varieties will be available, all locally grown by members and costing only $7 each.
Anyone who joins the Virginia Camellia Society during the sale, ($15 family , $10 single) receives three free camellias. Anyone joining the American Camellia Society ($22.50 family, $20 single) receives six free camellias. Call 625-0374. MORE ON CRICKETS AND BOOKS
One of the rewarding experiences from book signings, in addition to meeting a lot of friendly gardeners, is that you learn new solutions for old problems. At a Barnes & Noble signing, more than one gardener told me the best cricket control is those ``sticky traps'' used to catch mice. The traps are little pans or pieces of paper coated with a highly sticky scented, glue-like substance, that mice crawl onto and can't escape. Readers tell me they're also attractive to crickets and other pests, so if you put some around your garage or wherever crickets are a nuisance, you can catch a lot of crickets. They're available in hardware and garden stores under several brand names, including Mouse Glue Traps from Enforcer.
I'll have more book signings this week including Friday night at the Flower Festival at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Norfolk, admission by $10 ticket only. Saturday will be my first trip to Elizabeth City in years, and I'll be signing at Bracy Books from 9 to 11 a.m., followed by a trip to Manteo for a signing at Manteo Booksellers from 1 to 3 p.m.
For folks on the Eastern Shore, my book is now available at The Book Bin in Onley. LISTERINE KEEPS FLOWERS FRESH
There are many prescriptions for keeping cut flowers fresh. Here's the latest from Jim Johnson of Texas A&M's department of horticulture: ``A tablespoon of Listerine mouthwash to a quart of water greatly extends the life of cut flowers.'' Listerine contains three ingredients that cut flowers need, Johnson says. The first is citric acid, which enables flower stems to take up water more easily. The second is glucose, which provides food to the stems, flowers and buds. Finally, it has a bactericide that inhibits the bacteria that turns water rancid.
Johnson says there's no value in adding sugar, pennies or aspirin to cut-flower water. They don't contain ingredients flowers need to stay fresh. He says Listerine works best of the mouthwashes he has tried. CONSERVATION FORUM
The Garden Club of Virginia's annual Conservation Forum will be in Williamsburg on Thursday. It is open to the public, for a fee of $25, which includes coffee breaks, lunch and the forum. Speakers include Pete Myers, State Pesticide Control Board, and William McDonough, dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture. On Wednesday, there will be a workshop with Bill Kelsol, chief archaeologist at Jamestown. For reservations, call Mrs. J. Westbrook Parker, (803) 562-4804 or write to 108 Lake Crescent Drive, Franklin, Va. 23851. TIPS ON FLOWER ARRANGING
If you're not a professional, you probably can use a new brochure title ``Easy Steps to Flower Arranging'' from the California Cut Flower Commission. It's free and contains a packet of flower preservative. To get your copy, send a self-addressed, legal size, stamped envelope to CCFC, 2339 Gold Meadow Way, Suite 101, Gold River, Calif. 95670-4467. FEED THE BIRDS
The Cape Henry Audubon Society holds its annual bird-seed sale on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Princess Anne Farmer's Service, now called Carey's Farmers Market, 5651 Virginia Beach Blvd., Norfolk. This annual event helps support the seven-acre Weyanoke Sanctuary in West Ghent and more than 50 Audubon Adventures classrooms each year. It's a good time to buy bird seed for the winter and bird feeders are on sale for that day only. Call 464-5833. by CNB