May, 2010
503-434-4344
SAVE June 27th,
2010,
Keep open for our tenth anniversary tour/faire:
Be sure and tell ALL your
friends to save the date!!
SEE LAST PAGE FOR VENDOR LIST
June 27th is fast approaching and your various committees are working hard to be ready for company. Not only is this going to be great fun, but it is our primary opportunity to raise the money our Club needs to continue to support our many worth-while community projects. Our eye-catching posters and matching rack cards are back from the printer and our ticket booklets will be ready in the next few days.
Now is the time that we each need to be contacting our family, friends, neighbors and people we normally meet in our day-to-day living so that they too can get this date on their calendar. Some will want to Tour the 5 beautiful gardens, others will want to visit the free Garden Faire and the real gardeners will want to do both. With so many choices, one simply cannot go wrong.
If you normally get cold chills at the thought of asking someone to buy a ticket, don’t worry…just offer a rack card to everyone you meet in the next two months and invite them to attend. The bold ones will demand that you sell them a ticket and the timid ones will still be able to slip into Roth’s, Incahoots, Kraemer’s Garden Center or the Farmers Market to purchase their tickets. This is going to be too much fun to leave anyone home, but if they don’t know they can’t go! We are counting on you to share the little green cards that will keep this fun growing. Thank you for your support.
Mike
& Gaye Stewart, Event Co-Chairs
May 19, 2010 –
MEETING
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. - Linda Beutler
Linda Beutler grows a great number of plants on a simple
city lot in the Sellwood neighborhood of
She is one of two vice presidents of the International
Clematis Society. She was a founding member of the Friends of the
Rogerson Clematis Collection in 2003 and served on their board of directors
until July 2007, when she was named the collection's first curator.
Linda has been an instructor of horticulture at
She lectures nationally on numerous gardening topics, and is
a garden writer for both local and national publications, including "Fine
Gardening," "Pacific Horticulture" and "Birdwatcher's
Digest."
Linda will bring her books "Garden to Vase"
($29.95) and "Gardening with Clematis" ($34.95) for purchase.
Quilt Raffle
Don't forget to get your tickets ($1.00 each or 6 for $5.00)
for the fabulous quilt made and donated by Beryl. Drawing will be at our
next meeting in May. Last chance to get your tickets!
Flowers to Share
Don't
forget to bring your yard cuttings! This can include flowers, branches,
bulbs, etc. There will be a flower container for you to add your finds to
and help arrange. During the meeting, we’ll select someone to take home
the great bouquet all ready for their house.
*Remember: “The
Making a Difference Campaign” is a national garden club project. Our 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. They take clean bottle caps, the plastic ones that DON’T bend. No medicine bottle caps. *Also bring
your magazines to share with others.
May 3, 9:30-11:30 Library
Plant Cleanup
Time to give the plants their baths, new soil, fertilizer, etc. Bring your buckets, rags, clippers, and laughter! The library is closed Mondays so we will be able to take the plants outside and repot without disturbing library patrons. Hope to see you there!
Nursery Field Trip, May 14
Leave 9:30
from
and Farmington Gardens Nursery, http://www.farmingtongardens.com/
Time for us to do our mosaic
stepping stones again. These have been very popular with our members for
the past several years. The cost will be $30 and must be prepaid so come to our
May meeting ready to write your check out to Laura Bogh. Hope you
can join us again and enjoy the craft and great company!!!
If you would rather do a bird
bath, the cost is $75.00 if you do all the work/gluing etc. She'll take it home
and grout it. They are really pretty when finished.
The McMinnville Garden Club will be celebrating National Garden Week by providing the Public Library with Flower Arrangements. Start looking for a vase that you don’t need back and then fill it with your artistic display of flowers from your yard. Please deliver to the Public Library between 9-11. The library is closed on Mondays but you can deliver them to the service entry across from the book drop. Share your visions!
June 21 Installation Luncheon,
Michelbook Country Club, 11-2
Can you believe we are planning for our year-end luncheon? WOW! Time really is flying. We have begun collecting for the BBQ buffet luncheon. Cost is $17. We’ll be enjoying a short business meeting, a GREAT lunch with friends and a program with LIVE birds!!!
It is hard to believe that our Garden
Club year is coming to an end. It is time to renew your membership. The
membership is $15. Remember to write on your check that you are paying for
membership. If you are paying with cash, please use the envelopes I have
available. While you are renewing, check the directory and make sure everything
is correct. If you didn't get your picture taken this year, we would like to
get it taken at the meeting. I will be sitting at the membership table so you
can find me easily.
It is time to sign up to be a
hostess/host for the Garden Tour. We are trying to do 2 hour shifts to
make it a little easier if we get enough people to sign up. The list
will be going around again at the next meeting. Don't forget this is
our only fund raiser, so we are counting on as many as possible to
volunteer.
April President’s Message
“Dig In”
Develop Skills, Increase Civic Service, and Grow Friendships
by Involvement & Nurturing
Can you believe it? We are headed for May. Planting time! I must admit that I’ve already broken my New Year’s resolution to not buy plants that I can’t get in the ground within two weeks. BUT you see, these plants don’t go in the ground! I bought them from our Sedum speaker, they are going to improve my old living wreath. Knowing that they would last ok in the pots, I’ve been busy getting in lily bulbs of all kinds. Some are supposed to grow up to 5 feet tall. WOW!
Speaking of May Day, remember when we used to give our neighbors May Day baskets of flowers? Here’s a resource if you’d like to surprise yours. http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/mayholidays/l/blmaydcn.htm Unfortunately I won’t be home for May Day, I’ll be on the bus garden tour with the senior center. Know I’ll be seeing some of you there. Maybe my neighbors will have to be surprised on May 2.
We have LOTS of choices of activities to participate in this month.
Be sure to check out the full list. The library plants are in desperate
need of a good bath. We’ll take a field trip to Extra Perennials and
And if you are interested in being involved in the budget discussions, please plan to attend the board meeting on June 7th at Patty’s house. We want to have a preliminary budget available for acceptance at the June meeting. Seems like we need to approve expenditures from July to September when we will do a final vote on the budget.
BENEFICIAL
INSECTS -
There are many beneficial insects that help
out in our gardens. Sometimes it is hard
not to squash every bug that startles you, but it helps to learn which ones are
good and should live after all. Some of
the more common ones include:
Ladybugs
– Very identifiable with
little round bodies that range from pale yellow to dark reddish orange and
black spots. They feed on aphids, scale
insects, mealy bugs and mites and can eat up to 1000 aphids a day!!! They require a source of pollen and are
attracted to specific types of plants such as the mustard plant, buckwheat,
parsley, cilantro, clover, dill and yarrow.
Green
Lacewings – Delicate insects
with translucent green wings and bright green to greenish-brown bodies. They feed on pollen, nectar and honeydew
supplemented with mites, aphids, and other small arthropods. The larvae are voracious predators, attacking
aphids, caterpillars and other insect larvae.
Yellow
Jackets – ½” – ¾” wasps with
yellow and black striped abdomens and two pair of wings. Good predators on flies, caterpillars and
other pests. They like to feed on sugary
solutions such as flower nectar or juices of ripe fruit.
Praying
Mantis – Strange looking
large, elongated green or brown insects with prominent eyes and up to 4”
long. They catch and devour both pests
and beneficial ones, eating virtually any insects they catch.
Ground
Beetles – ¾” – 1” blue-black
iridescent. During the day they hide
under stones or other cover. There are
more than 2500 species of ground beetles.
They prey on slugs, snails, cutworms, cabbage root maggots and many
other pests that have a soil-dwelling stage.
Horticulture
101 - Norma Parker
Our unsettled spring weather with its mid-April frost challenges those
of us eager to launch full-bore into our gardening projects. But hard
experience has taught me the value
of trusting my soil thermometer. (A
most wise investment if you don’t already have one.) The soil should be
consistently above 60 degrees before planting corn or beans and above 70
degrees before planting tomatoes, squash, peppers or melons.
Soil is never ready to be worked
until it ruptures easily when crushed in your hand. Expert gardeners increasingly
advise against over tilling. Soil is habitat for billions of living
organisms which are vital for plant growth and health. These organisms
work miracles taking whatever was once alive (organic matter) and digesting it
so that it becomes available to the plants. Nothing we put in or on our
soil is of value to our plants until these microorganisms have worked on
it. Plant roots are entirely passive when it comes to taking up
nutrients. It’s those organisms (there are over a billion in a tablespoon
of soil) that work the magic. Over tilling not only destroys the soils structure,
it wreaks havoc on the diverse balance of those organisms. I used to give
credit to green thumbs, but I’ve since learned the true credit belongs to the
vast active soil habitat that is working wonders. The health of your
soil, and consequently the health of your plants, is determined by the number
of diversity of the organisms that live there. Feed the soil and the soil
will feed the plants. Of course, it’s never to early to hand pull
those nasty winter weeds. Just be careful to avoid compacting the soil
any more than necessary.
Internet
Links:
Pioneer
District Newsletter
http://gardencentral.org/oregon/pioneerdistrictnewsletter/
State
website
http://oregongardenclubs.org/default.htm
May links:
http://www.barkboys.net/FAQsBarkGravelSoil.htm
Bark Dust FAQs
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/acidsoil.html
acid or alkaline soil tips
http://blog.oregonlive.com/homesandgardens/2009/04/postbloom_tulip_care.html
tulip care after bloom
http://www.birdcare.com/birdon/birdcare/tipsheets/cats.html
Protecting birds from cats
GARDEN TOUR VENDOR LIST
The following is a list of 45 vendors that
have already registered as of April 19th. Every year we like to add a
variety of new vendors to the mixture of our old favorites, in order to keep
our faire an interesting, delightful shopping experience. We have 15 new
vendors, so far, this year! Registrations will continue to come in. You won't
want to miss this great event. See you at the Faire! *denotes new this
year. (lighter print color and don’t
start with capital letters)
Adele O'Neal Bird feeders from
recycled dishes
All Decked Out Glass
Art Fused glass wind chimes and garden
art
Amys'Herb Wreaths * herb
& floral wreaths; baskets & boxes for the garden
Artistic Gardener * rare
& unusual perennials, woodland plants, clumping bamboo
B&D Enterprises Lawn & garden furniture
& accessories
Bar-A-Pottery Stone vases
& functional pottery
Barbara Love Irish * hand
painted baskets & flutes, prints & note cards
Ben Dye Sculpture * sculpture
with reclaimed metal base
Buggy Crazy * native
Plants, unusual perennials
Coral Belle Designs * digital
floral cards; lavender wands ,pillows, sachet; jewelry
Cowdawg Creations Beautiful copper garden art
Creations by Stan Garden art made with metal and
rocks
Daryll's Nursery Ornamental grasses,
eucalyptus ,rockroses, cistus, perennials
Deezines Gates,
arbors, and garden sculpture
Dymond Gaphics Garden signs, outdoor mats,
paintings on old windows
Embroidery Expressions
* custom embroidered
shirts, caps, aprons, etc
Forever in Stone
* custom engraving on stone,
rocks, pots, etc., & Glass etching
Garden Color Wide
selection of perennials.
Garden Thyme Nursery Ceonothus, Artemisia, Veronica.
Godfrey Nursery Hanging baskets &
containers, perennials
Hedgerows Nursery Perennials & shrubs
Heirloom Roses Potted roses and
miniature roses
Just Beachy Glass * glass fusion indoor/outdoor art -
wind chimes, stakes, etc.
Katula Herbs Variety of Herbs
Kenneth Strean Bird &
squirrel feeders, wishing well, windmills, etc.
Klangsound * home & garden metal sculpture of recycled materials
Little Trees * bonsai, and other plants
Maggie's Creations Sun catchers - bird houses
N&M Nursery Herbs, tropical's,
specialty perennials
Paula's Petals &
Perennials Unique perennials
& hardy tropical's
Petal Heads * new, unusual annuals, perennials, and
shrubs
Salmon River Greenhouse * hanging
baskets & succulents
Sebright Gardens Hostas, ferns, and shade
perennials
The
Three Sisters Nursery Recycled Metal art -
Japanese maples & dogwood
Tin Man Whimsical
birdhouses; cement steppingstones
Unique Yard Art Metal trellises
Van Hevlingen Herb Nursery* lavender, fuchsia, herbs, perennials
Wendy Thompson,
Artist Nature art; pendants & brooches
Wild Ginger Farm Rock garden,Alpine,tropical & woodland plants from around world.
Woodshed Creations by
Skip Wine barrel furniture