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| One of the Gardening Books at the Library |
Library Project Begins
Special Display on Gardening Books
By Benita Howell
Last week Steven Cox, head of Special Collections at the
UT-Chattanooga Library, was in Rugby for the first of two three-day work
sessions to document cover designs of books published in the 1870s and 1880s.
Hughes Library is the ideal location for this research because we have such an
extensive collection representing most of the leading publishers of the late
nineteenth century. Many bindings in the Hughes Library collection are
decorated in the Eastlake style. For examples of Eastlake applied to book bindings,
see “Publishers’ Bindings Online: http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/gallery/eastlake.html
If you have an opportunity to visit the library between now and
June 15, you’ll see various books on gardening published by Orange Judd Co. of New
York, on the display table. Engravers’ initials are sometimes hidden in the
pictorial illustrations stamped in gold leaf on these covers, a clue to
learning about the mostly anonymous artists whose work embellishes these
bindings. Thanks to the digital database created just last year, it was easy to
assemble all Orange Judd publications for examination and answer other
questions about the contents of our collection.
By Benita Howell
Here's the group attending attending Saturday's wildflower walk workshop, gathered on the Webb Cemetery Road
(County Line Road) off U.S. 27, the new destination that we explored Saturday morning. After lunch they returned to the pond at Clear Creek Farm to see what water-loving species
were in bloom.
Editors’ Note: Read
more about the wildflower walk in Nature Notes below.
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Rummage Sale Thank You
By Benita Howell
Many, many thanks to everyone who donated
goods for the Christ Church rummage sale. This was our biggest sale ever. It
brought in well over $600 for Christ Church community outreach activities. What we didn't sell we passed on to Appalachia Habitat ReSale Store in Sunbright or Bread of
Life in Elgin. Thank you to everyone who supported this effort, especially to the many
folks who pitched in to process, organize, and price the merchandise, staff the
sale, or help with the cleanup and hauling this week.
Rugby Events Coming Up
Lantern Tour - May 26
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| Group Listening to a story at last year's Lantern Tour |
| On Saturday, May 26, Historic Rugby
will bring back some of Rugby's dearly departed to tell their stories in
Laurel Dale Cemetery. It's the "Lantern Tour," when costumed
portrayers tell about nine of Rugby's most colorful characters of the past.
This year for the first time you'll
meet a Rugby gentleman born in England whose claim to fame was this: HE NEVER
SHAVED AND NEVER MARRIED! You'll hear what he did do, why he paid particular
attention to the Tennessee weather, and about his relations who chose
different careers, like the Bishop of Calcutta!
The tour is limited to 40
people because of the outdoor setting on sacred ground. So please make
reservations soon 888-214-3400. 5:30 Eastern/ 4:30 Central - Tickets: $15
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June 9
Saturday, June 9 - Tour Rugby's private gardens, attend a
"sun-to-shade" design workshop and see big-screen photos from Rugby
gardens of the past! Lunch at the Harrow Road Café. Afternoon garden tour ends
with a tea at one of Rugby’s private gardens. Time: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT.
Tickets: $40, including lunch and tea. Reservations: 888-214-3400
Here is a scene from the Jackson garden at Zenith Cottage which will be part of the garden tour.
Thanks for the Comments
We received lots of very
thoughtful and constructive comments and suggestions about Spring
Festival. Thank you. We are going to
pass them on to the folks at Historic Rugby. We're sure they will be very helpful
as they review this year’s festival and plan for the future.
BIRTHDAYS
May 23 - Tyler Myers and Louise Brewster
May 23 - Tyler Myers and Louise Brewster
May 27 - Don Barkman and Irving Martin
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturday, May 26 – Lantern Tour of Laurel Dale Cemetery – The tour is limited to 40 people because of the outdoor setting on sacred ground. So please make reservations soon – 423-628-2441 or 888-214-3400. 5:30 Eastern/ 4:30 Central - Tickets: $15
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturday, May 26 – Lantern Tour of Laurel Dale Cemetery – The tour is limited to 40 people because of the outdoor setting on sacred ground. So please make reservations soon – 423-628-2441 or 888-214-3400. 5:30 Eastern/ 4:30 Central - Tickets: $15
Saturday, June 2 – Community Potluck –
7:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 9 - Cumberland Plateau
Gardens at Historic Rugby - Tour Rugby's private gardens, attend a "sun-to-shade"
design workshop and see big-screen photos from Rugby gardens of the past! Lunch
at the Harrow Road Café. Afternoon garden tour ends with a tea at one of
Rugby’s private gardens. Saturday, June 9 - 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT. Tickets:
$40, incl. lunch and tea. Reservations: 423-628-2449 or 888-214-3400
June 30 – Independence
Day Picnic - at Lizzie's Place (home of John and Kathy Hicks) will be held on
Saturday June 30 from 6-9 p.m.
Quilters’ Group - Wednesdays and Saturdays, 2–4 p.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House behind Christ Church
Rugby Yoga – Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House.
Christ Church Episcopal -- Sunday morning services, 11 a.m. Eastern, year round; all are welcomed.
Historic Rugby Workshops
Cumberland Plateau Gardens at Rugby - On Saturday, June 9 tour Rugby's private gardens, attend a "sun-to-shade" design workshop and see big-screen photos from Rugby gardens of the past! Lunch at the Harrow Road Café. Afternoon garden tour ends with a tea at one of Rugby’s private gardens. Instructor Bob Washburn, co-owner of Wolf River Valley Growers in Pall Mall, will be joined by Rugby’s own Rick Murphy and Barbara Mitchell for this very special event. Register early – this is a day not to be missed. Time: 9:00 am to 5:30 pm EDT. Tickets: $40, incl. lunch and tea. Reservations: 423-628-2449 or 888-214-3400
Show Your Spirit Basket Workshop - Create a generously sized Spirit Basket
that is perfect for tailgating or carrying with you. This is an intermediate
level project. The workshop is Friday, June 22 from 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Eastern and Saturday, June 23 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Eastern. Instructor Beth
Hester is the owner of The Basket Maker’s Catalog. She has been teaching
basketry workshops locally and throughout the southeastern U.S .for many years.
Workshop fee is $99 ~
register early!
To register for workshops, call toll-free 1-888-214-3400 or 423-628-2441. Lodging may be available at 1880 Newbury House and Rugby's cottages at a 10% discount to students. Food service is available at the Harrow Road Café.
NATURE NOTES
Devil's Spit
Devil's Spit
We saw a great variety
of wildflowers on our Rugby wildflower walks with Jack Carman Saturday. And of course, where there are wildflowers there are zillions of insects. One of the more interesting insects wasn't
actually seen, but we saw plenty of the unusual homes of their nymphal
stage. A couple of people asked me about
the snow-white foam wads on stems of grassy plants. No doubt we've all seen these. The foam is
created and lived in by the nymphal forms of spittlebugs. Years ago, when I was new to Rugby, a friend
and I were picking black raspberries, and she said the foamy stuff was devil's
spit. She said her grandmother, an Appalachian woman, had told her you would die if
you touched devil's spit. Being somewhat
skeptical by nature, I touched the foam and didn't die... at least not yet!
Since then, I've learned
that the foam is created by Spittlebug nymphs. Though there are about 23,000 species of Spittlebugs (Froghoppers)
worldwide, there are 54 kinds of Spittlebugs in the U.S. and Canada, all having
similar life cycles and habits. These
tiny winged insects start out as wingless nymphs that suck juices from plants'
xylem, the tissue that transports water from the roots of the plant to the
stalk and leaves. Absorbing the
nutrients, they then excrete the excess fluid. So the fluid actually isn't spittle because it's coming from the
opposite end. What's unusual is that as
they excrete, while in a head-down position, the liquid flows over the 7th
and 8th segments of their bodies where air is exhaled from paired
openings. The air makes bubbles in the
fluid, creating foam.
Mother Nature knows what
she's doing. The foam keeps the nymphs
from becoming dehydrated, insulates them, and protects them from ultraviolet
radiation. Though the spittle hides the
nymph from most predators, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers sometimes probe the Pine
Spittlebug foam on pine trees to eat the nymph inside.
This morning I spotted
several frothy Spittlebug masses on some vegetation in the churchyard. I plucked a grasslike stem and wiped some of
the foam away, revealing a pale green bug with two black pads where its wings
will soon be. The nymphs go through five
instars (stages), and the wing pads are more evident in the later instars. So, if you're interested, you can look in the
flowerbed directly in front of the Friendly House in Rugby to see the
Spittlebug foam with nymphs inside. You can also check out: http://bugguide.net/node/view/145/bgimage
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
