McMinnville Garden
Club, PO Box 386, McMinnville, OR April 2011 503-434-4344
April 18, 2011 – MEETING
Hillside
Retirement Community “Activity Room” at the Manor
900
N. Hill Road McMinnville, OR 97128
PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO PARK IN THE CHURCH PARKING
LOT
9:30a.m. - 10:00a.m. - Social time
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Business
Meeting and FUN
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. – Speaker- Rose Marie
Nichols McGee
"The Bountiful Container:
Food Gardening in Containers and Small Spaces"
Are you
short on space but still would like to enjoy the benefits of a garden? Then, be sure to come to the April 18 Garden
Club meeting. Rose Marie is president of
Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany, Oregon.
Her nursery is a nationally known seed company started by the Nichols
family in 1950.
Rose
Marie is the co-author of McGee & Stuckey's "The Bountiful
Container". It is a 400-page guide
to successful food gardening in containers.
She is a regular speaker on all aspects of home gardening.
She is also a Fellow of the Garden Writers Association
and an OSU Master Gardener.
Extra
bonus -- she will be bringing copies of her book and some seed packets that
will be available for purchase.
Planting
time is just around the corner. Come and
hear what Rose Marie has to say about making the best use of small garden
spaces.
LAST CHANCE TO BUY RAFFLE
TICKETS FOR THE BEAUTIFUL QUILT THAT BERYL HAS DONATED AS A FUND RAISER FOR
PENNIES FOR PINES!
April 6 & 7 Wed/Thursday, Downtown “Bag Ladies & Gents Cleanup”
Meet at the parking lot downtown across from Macy’s on 2nd
Street at 9 AM. Bring your gloves,
clippers, buckets, blowers, and enthusiasm. AND remember to wear your aprons
and dress for the weather. Sun? Our work always
makes a big impact on the winter abuse of Third Street downtown’s plant wells and we get lots of compliments from
passersby. On the 6th we will work 9-12,
eat lunch, and try to keep working in the afternoon for a few more hours. We’ve never been able to get the side streets
done the first day BUT if enough club members show up, we may not have to work
on the 7th. Otherwise, we’ll meet again
on the 7th at 9 to finish up! Hope to
see lots of you there! Bring water. We work hard!!!!!
Don't forget to pick up your volunteer application
at First Federal to get credit for volunteer hours
April 11 - Monday - Public Library Plant Spring
Cleanup
Meet at the Public Library at 10 using the entry by the parking
lot. Bring buckets, rags, gloves,
clippers and smiles. Some of us will
work outside on the patio area where the hose is located. We will be washing and repotting the indoor
plants that we take care of at the library.
Stephanie Janik and Jan Hudson take time each week to keep these plants
happy and healthy for library users.
Thanks, gals!
April 11 - Monday - The April board meeting will be right after the Library Plant Cleanup
at Golden Valley for lunch. We will be
starting work on the 2011-12 budget.
April 20 - Wednesday
- Nursery Crawl Field Trip!
Meet at the Bethel Baptist Church parking lot at 9:30
AM. We’ll stop by the new nursery in
Dundee then have lunch in Newberg. Next
we’ll be off to Ferguson’s Fragrant Nursery.
If there’s time we may head on to another nursery and then home with our
finds!
Meet again at the Bethel Baptist Church parking lot at
9:30 and we will carpool to Jacci’s.
Bring rubber gloves, acrylic paint like that sold in craft stores such
as Joann’s, brushes (fine tip for detail and thicker for overall paint color).
Some patterns will be available. Dress
warm, we’ll be in the barn. You will need to spray or apply varnish when the
design is dry later.
April 30 - 9-3 Saturday, 9-3 - Master Gardener’s Plant Sale at the
Fairgrounds. Great prices, free PH soil testing, annuals, perennials,
vegetables for sale.
President’s Message April
A BIG thank you to those of you who are
covering the Home Show in early April for the Garden Club! Hope we have lots of attendees to hand
Tour/Faire “save the date” handouts!!!!
Every time the rain stops and I almost
see the sun, I get excited. Isn’t it
amazing how much abuse plants can take and they still bounce back? My pussy willow tree is
popping, forsythia is gorgeous, bulbs are popping up everywhere, and I see the
buds on many plants swelling. AND of course, the weeds and slugs are creeping
around everywhere already! Can’t wait
for this month to progress and hopefully some sunshine pop through? Don’t want another year like last year when
our plants just sat there into mid-June due to the temps and lack of
light!!! I’m ready to get dirty and keep
improving my vista and vegetable gardening skills. How about you?
Patty
June 26, 2011
Garden tour plans are progressing well with the first order of posters and rack
cards printed, ticket booklets available by mid-April and advertising in
progress. There has been good response to volunteer pleas but yet empty spaces
to fill. You can volunteer by putting your signature on the sign-up board
at each club meeting and join in the fun (yes, time and energy too) of creating
a successful Garden Party tour.
By Marilyn Coats
Yes, I know.
Spring is now here. But due to a
little glitch (* SEE EDITORS NOTE) in the system, my article didn’t make the
last newsletter. Since this was already
written, I couldn’t see wasting it!
Seed catalogs have been arriving for over two months
in anticipation of Spring. However, I don’t seem to have much luck with
seeds whether I start them inside or outside.
So I have been checking out the Perennial catalogs and see way more
plants I want than I have room for. I am
guilty of sending off for some plants that I just have to have and then trying
to figure out where I am going to put them when they arrive!
Right now my yard has the winter blahs. There is a little color from the purple
heathers. But the brightest color comes
from the Nandinas. They are great small
shrubs with brilliant reds in the winter.
Since they are scattered around my yard, it helps to provide some color.
NANDINA is an evergreen or semievergreen shrub. I really like the smaller shrubs that only
get 2 to 3 feet high (because I have a small yard). They are slow growers and need regular water,
taking sun to semishade plus they are very low maintenance.
The dwarf variety ‘Fire Power’ grows to 2 feet tall
and wide with red tinged summer foliage that turns bright red in winter. The
‘Nana’ grows to 2 feet tall, 2-3 feet wide.
The coarse foliage is purplish green in summer, purplish red to bright
red in winter.
There are quite a few other varieties to enjoy. The smaller Nandinas give the garden color
the whole year and, the best part, take very little maintenance.
Wildlife Habitat
June Benson
MOURNING DOVES
Mourning Doves are a popular
songbird that live in our
They
are at home in virtually any habitat: farmlands, open woods, roadsides, and our
suburban gardens. They usually locate their nests in a tree or shrub, but the
nest could be on the ground or on a building ledge. You may be able to see
their eggs in the nest because the nests are flimsy. Like any other songbird,
Mourning Doves are attracted to your backyard if you provide food, water, and
cover. They prefer a platform in a tree rather than a traditional bird house.
They eat a variety of seeds, grains, and insects. They look for food on the
ground although you have probably seen them at your bird feeder as well.
Mourning
Doves are perhaps not the most colorful of birds but they are entertaining.
They win the bird prize for the funniest walk. While most songbirds will
scatter when jays or crows arrive, Mourning Doves will just ignore them and
continue eating. One summer we had a single dove take afternoon naps in our
backyard under the pear tree, and I could watch him from my kitchen window. One
afternoon the dove woke up, took a few steps down the slope, and to my horror a
hawk swooped down to confront that poor dove. The hawk was small and apparently
the dove was strong. After a very few seconds, the hawk gave up. The dove
returned the next day for another nap.
Meet Barbara Pehrson
(Written
by Barbara; edited
by Rosemary)
the main reason Tom and I moved here.
Never having lived in a real house, I rented a tiny
cottage with a very teeny garden area. I
fell in love with the idea that you could put nearly anything into the ground
and it would grow! Later, I bought my
very first house, and friends brought me several climbing roses as a
housewarming gift. I planted them along
the white picket fence around my l926 cottage.
That began my love of roses. (Ed. Note:
She has many roses!)
My new
neighbors, who loved to prowl through antique shows and flea markets, began
dragging me along--and that’s how I met Tom, who was selling antique
glass. After a few years of being a
customer of his, and a lot of flirting, I invited him to my annual Hannukah
party--and he came. He stayed after
everyone else left to “help clean up”, and, as they say, “that was that”! We’ve been together ever since. Neither of us had been married before, and
friends were amazed that was our plan, but they joined us for our beautiful wedding in
the Rose Garden in San Jose. We are as
different as chocolate and vanilla (he’s chocolate), but it works! Originally, Tom is from Pennsylvania, by way
of Modesto, CA. He is retired from
working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (in Alaska). He discovered a passion for antique glass,
and has turned it into his own business.
He runs me around antiquing, and I drag him around to gardens and
nurseries.
I took an early
retirement, and we came to McMinnville in search of a house that had a huge
garage, (for our business inventory, not vehicles), and a huge garden area so I
could plant whatever I wanted. I still
love my roses, but am fascinated by so much more now, and can’t resist plants
I’ve never seen before. To say that I
have a hodge-podge garden is an understatement.
I joined the garden club because Rosemary made me. I was at the Post Office one day waiting on
line when I met this chatty lady who insisted that since my new garden was
empty, I must come so I could learn about plants in Oregon, and so I could meet new friends. That pushy (friendly) person has been sharing
plants with me ever since.
Member Hint: Looking for protection for water damage under pots? You can purchase a set of 2 flexible chopping
mats at the dollar store. Then cut them in half and put on window sill or
under pots elsewhere for protection! They are located on the left side of
the store with kitchen stuff.
Internet Links:
Pioneer District Newsletter
http://oregongardenclubs.org/pioneer/
State website
http://oregongardenclubs.org/default.htm
Club Calendar of Events
http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org/yearbooks/2009-10/2010-11calendar.htm
Yard of the month
http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org/Yardofthemonth_files/yards11/april2011.htm
Starting Seeds Indoors
http://www.gardenguides.com/3021-starting-seeds-indoors.html
April Gardening Chores
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/calendar/
Very charming video...be sure to have your sound on. The song in the
background is almost as good as the video itself.
http://www.wimp.com/babyhummingbird/
Garden How To
Videos
http://www.hgtv.com/the-edible-garden/video/index.html?nl=HGIdeas_v435_HT-Edible
* Editor's Note:
The editor claims no responsibility for the loss of this article. Computers have a mind of their own.