Garden
Clippings
GROWING TOGETHER THROUGH GARDENING -McMinnville Garden Club
503-434-4344
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January 2009 Calendar |
January 19th
Social time: 9:30a.m.-Business
Meeting:
Program:
Closing activities
Meeting/Program:
“Beginning Bonsai” presented by Elizabeth Estacio.
DON’T FORGET TO PARK IN THE CHURCH
PARKING LOT
“The Making a Difference
Campaign” is a national garden club project. The
Pioneer District is collecting inkjet, laser printer cartridges and cell phones
that will be recycled. If you have any
that you wish to contribute to the project please bring them to a meeting and
we will forward them to the Pioneer District.
Wear
comfortable shoes, bring your lunch or buy it there. This is the show to rev up the plant lust in
all of us at the Portland Convention Center. We’ll leave Bethel Baptist parking
lot
BIG THANKS TO:
Thank you to
everyone who participated in the “Santa Claus Parade”.
Thank you to Kim
and Beryl for organizing the event.
Thank you to Jan
Hudson for creating and designing a beautiful Christmas hat for me to wear in
the parade. It was admired by many.
Thank you to
Jacci Reed and crew who arranged the “wreath making class at her home. What fun we had! I believe that the final products were
superior in quality to those available in local stores.
Thank you to
Beverly Mulkey who was my “teacher” instructing me in “how to assemble a
wreath”. It is not true that “you can’t
teach an old dog new tricks”. This old
person (me) learned a lot.
Thank you Norma
Parker and her husband who kindly delivered a truck load of greens that were
used in the “wreath making” process.
Thank you to the
club hostesses who continue to provide wonderful snacks each month for our
meeting.
Thank you to
Patty Sorensen for updating our web page.
Also for donating 5 poinsettias to the library on behalf of our club.
Thank
you to each member for your faithfulness in attending meetings and interest
groups…so ready or not…welcome 2009!
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Thyme after Thyme
Presidents Message – Cathy Burdett
Now that the beautifully wrapped presents have been opened and enjoyed and the good tidings of the season have been given and received it is “time” to reluctantly move forward to an unknown new year. 2009…a new year…a new beginning…a new opportunity for growth and renewal of caring and sharing among the membership of the McMinnville Garden Club.
Although the garden club has a long history of community projects and programs I think it has also survived since 1926 because the members have developed friendships among each other. I have observed “time after time” many expressions of true friendship among our members.
I would encourage you to retain the friendships that you have developed but also to reach out to some of the new members of the club. In 2009, look for opportunities to connect and also add to your circle of friends. My problem is that there are so many wonderful, talented motivational members that I want to be “friends” with everyone but of course that is not possible. However, the investment in time and energy that I have made in developing friends among our members has enriched me enormously.
I have been blessed by a
gift that is not decoratively wrapped in box and tied with a beautiful
spectacular ribbon yet it is a unique gift of rare value…it is your gift of
friendship. Thank you.
Thank you, members, for your understanding when we had to cancel our Christmas
luncheon. Obviously, we did not consult
the weather!
Thank you to the Executive Board for the time, energy and creativity in
preparing and planning a fun and enjoyable event that did not happen.
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Congratulations to the New 2009 Yamhill County
Master Gardeners’ Association Board President: Cathy Burdett
Backyard Habitats Marilyn Coats
WINTER TIME
BIRDS
The only good thing about all this snow is watching the birds. My husband has cleared a path to our birdfeeders several times as I don’t want the birds to go without food. It is so much harder for them to find food with everything covered in snow.
The first
ones I notice when it gets colder are the juncos. They are usually scavenging around the
ground. Chickadees are cute, funny
little birds. They take a seed from the
feeder, fly off to a tree to eat it, then come for another seed, and fly to a
tree. The nuthatches do the same going
back and forth. I’ve seen different
sparrows such as chipping, white crowned, golden crowned. Also there are the house finches, pine
siskins, and lesser goldfinches (pretty yellow) along with towhees. And, of course, our resident blue jays with
their peanuts. There are even more birds
that come to just get a drink from our waterfall (which didn’t completely
freeze). Patty sent an email to everyone
with pictures of many of the birds.
http://picasaweb.google.com/macbirds1666/BirdsInMcMinnville?feat=directlink
My husband, Garry, made a good size platform feeder that is working out so much better than what we had before. The bottom screen comes out and it is so much easier to clean. The birds seem to enjoy it. Even the juncos hop up there for their seed.
Even though I bought the hulled millet (a little more expensive but worth not having all those growies coming up), the winter birds are not as enthused. I bought the smaller hulled sunflower seeds and some half peanuts, mixed them together—that seems to be disappearing quite rapidly and there is nothing on the ground!
Surprisingly, I have even had two hummingbirds that are enjoying the hummingbird feeder. I didn’t have much luck during the summer, so I put it away for the winter. After it turned cold, I noticed a hummer on my rosemary plant and decided to try it again. I’m glad I did as the two have been coming to the feeder often. When it got really cold, I placed the feeder in the house at night and then returned it in the morning. That way I had no problem with it freezing.
I try to keep the feeders filled (and cleaned) as the birds are my fun entertainment. Even my husband has started to pay attention to them!
Internet Links
Pioneer District
Newsletter
http://gardencentral.org/oregon/pioneerdistrictnewsletter/
State web site
http://oregongardenclubs.org/default.htm
Garden Time’s Online Blog: with videos on Winter Tool Care and Winter Tree Care
http://gardentimetv.blogspot.com/
How to Keep Your
Garden: January
http://growingwisdom.com/index.aspx?pid=0&sid=0
Backyard Gardener’s
list of Catalogs and Magazines