Garden
Clippings March
2008
McMinnville Garden Club Vol. 7
No. 7
March 17, 2008
Vern Nelson:
“Secrets of a Veteran Kitchen Gardener”
and Common
Garden Mistakes”
Hillside Retirement Community “Activity Room” at
the Manor
Social time: 9:30 a.m. - Business Meeting: 10:00
a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Program: 11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Raffle & Wrap-up 12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Dessert, coffee and tea will be provided by hostesses:
Beverly
Mulkey, Arlene Kemph, Alicia Dimond, Jean Lierman, Joanne Smith
Vern Nelson, the “The Hungry Gardener” is a columnist for the
Oregonian newspaper. He has been doing radio and television shows for twnety
years. Recently he taped several segments of “Smart Gardening” with Ann Jaegar
for broadcast on OPB.
His many accomplishments include: owner of “A New Leaf” landscaping; columnist,
photographer, illustrator for Homes and Gardens of the NW Magazine; and teacher
at many northwest Colleges and Universities
Members will have the opportunity to
hear him talk about two subjects “Secrets of a Veteran Kitchen Gardener” and
“Common Garden Mistakes”.
Plan ahead!!! NEXT MONTH: April
21, 2008, Kate Parker, Katula Herbs
Dear Gardening Friends,
I
love gardening magazines! I subscribe to
4 or 5 different ones, but two of my favorites are Garden Gate and
Horticulture. Each issue brings new
ideas and plant information, which provides inspiration for me. The only problem exists in that my yard is so
small I’m considering “lawn paths” and enlarged planting beds! In a recent issue, a floating flowerpot idea
was suggested using a circular piece of plastic foam and a lightweight plastic
pot. A hole cut in the center provides a
place to hold the plastic container of flowers.
I’m hoping to experiment with this great idea to expand my water gardening.
Another idea suggested was to microwave your birdseed to prevent it from sprouting when it falls beneath the feeder. Only cook the amount you’re using to fill the feeder as it softens the seed coat making it more vulnerable to rotting.
Some of us have used tomato cages to support tall, floppy perennials, but now they come in bright decorator colors and are made with a heavier gauge of wire. Al’s Nursery has them in blue, green, yellow, magenta and more.
The next several months will be busy for our Club as we prepare for the Garden Tour and Garden Faire. Many hands helping make it more fun and builds comradery as we work on this major Club project. If you haven’t been asked to help yet, please volunteer by talking with Georgia, Jean, Julie or Joanne.
I will miss seeing you at the March 17th meeting as I’m planning on being in Palm Springs. You’ll enjoy having Cathy Burdett, Vice President, lead the meeting. Remember to wear green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and take time to enjoy your spring flowers.
Bouquets,
Gaye Stewart, Club President
March Field
Trip,
Topiary Demo
at Jan Elliott’s
Tuesday, March 18
NOTE DATE CHANGE!!!!
Jan Elliott will teach us the art of topiary in her heated green house. This will be a hands-on project and a list of what to bring will be made available at the March meeting, the day before. We'll carpool from Bethel Baptist parking lot at 9:30 on MARCH 18th.
Coming Events
ü Master Gardener Tree & Shrub Sale @ Fairgrounds, February 29- March 2 (scholarships project)
ü Washington County Small Woodlands Association Plant Sale, March 15, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. For info call Bonnie @ 503-324-7825 (scholarships project)
ü Regional Conference in Tigard. “April Showers” in early April For info check http://oregongardenclubs.org/Events.htm
ü Spring District Luncheon, April 17, Sponsor, Tigard Garden Club
ü Our club’s annual “Bag Ladies on Third” Cleanup, April 28, 9 a.m. to
noon. Mark your calendars!
ü State Convention, June 9-11, Holiday Inn @ Wilsonville (Information, tours and opportunity to promote our Garden Tour and Garden Faire)
ü Garden Tour and Garden Faire, June 22.
Start thinking about who to sell your four tickets to!
Native Plant Pins
If you wish to order a national crystal leaf pin, please call Marilyn Coats (503-472-4984). We’re only 6 pins shy of the 25 needed in order to get them for $8 each, instead of $12. These would make great gifts. We’ll be collecting your money at the March meeting so the pins can be ordered.
Yearbook Calendar Corrections
Please make these changes in your yearbooks!
May Field Trip – Should be May 28th
Club History Dorothy Mathieson
March 18, 1935
Meeting
was called to order in home of Mrs. Cook
Fifteen ladies answered roll call.
Mrs. Wortman reported some investigation on tagging and naming trees and shrubs in City Park – will be investigated further.
Per capita tax and Convention fee has been sent to Mrs. Jean K. Warrens, stats sec. for 1934-35.
“State President Mrs. Dorothy Seymore was at this meeting – she is very pleasing and had some very interesting things to tell us, which were of benefit to us from some of the other garden clubs.
Under new membership contest new members paid dues for remainder of the year. Fifteen cents total.
No further business – meeting adjourned. Marie Hartzell, secretary 1935
Interest
Groups Info
The Flower Arranging breakout interest group
will meet on April 30th, soon after Gaye has returned from
vacation. Gaye will be teaching the
class and I have volunteered to call and/or send e-mails to let group
members know when meetings will be held, supplies needed, and so on. Gaye has kindly offered to hold the sessions
at her home.
Because
16 women signed up for Flower Arranging, Gaye suggested dividing the group in
half and holding two sessions for each class. On April 30, one session
will be from 10 a.m. – 12 noon
and the other from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
I will
send out an e-mail in the next week or so and let you know which session to
attend, or if you have a prior commitment and will only be available morning or
afternoon, please e-mail or call me to let me know. Be sure to
circle April 30th on your calendar!
The Garden Art breakout interest group will
meet on Wednesday, March 12th from 10-12 at Patty Sorensen’s home,
1666 NW Medinah Drive, to create decoupage tin buckets. Please register with Kathleen Bennett, superdupergramma@hotmail.com, prior to March 10th. Cost is $1 for glue and brushes. Bring your own tin bucket and scraps of
fabric if you have them.
Sweet Honey Jan Hudson
Honey
comes in all different kinds of flavors and colors. This depends on the bees forage. One source of honey is called single source, monofloral
or varietal, which comes from a single flower source. This is accomplished by hive placement or the
season it is collected. Some examples
are lavender, mesquite, carrot blossoms or blackberries.
Some honeys are subtle, some striking and not what you would expect. Blackberry honey doesn’t taste anything like blackberries but is light and sweet.
Plants that produce darker and sweeter honey are usually
weedy plants like clover. That is the
typical basic grocery store honey. Most
of the single source honey found in specialty stores is imported. But more
Wildflower honey means a little bit of everything.
In order for beekeepers to use the label “Organic”, the bees cannot have foraged in plants treated with synthetic pesticides or had their hives sprayed with the same. This is hard to find with Colony Collapse Disorder spreading throughout the world.
Here is a short list of unusual honey sold in the local Portland area:
To learn more you can contact:
Oregon State Beekeepers Association or Portland Beekeepers Association
New Sprouts Kathleen Bennett
We had two new members and one guest join us at the February Club Meeting. Please
welcome Linda
L. Propst from McMinnville, Birthday 12/1
and
Roselyn Mostafa - Husband,
Mike from Carlton, Birthday 9/3 to the
club!
Garden
Tour/Faire 2008
Georgia and Jean are right on track with
their leadership activities for this year’s Garden Tour/Faire, “Something Old
and Something New.” Be sure you have
marked your calendars to help with our one major fundraising event for the
year. As a club member, you are encouraged to help by selling your four tickets
or more, volunteering for one activity that supports this event prior to the
actual day and to work in some capacity on the tour/faire date. All profits are used to support out club’s
community horticultural projects.
Committee chairs had their first meeting
early this month and will be looking for help with their various projects. A BIG thanks to each and every one of the
chairs who go the extra mile to support this activity by sharing their
leadership skills. Remember, JUNE 22, it will be sunny and 65
degrees! Our luck has to be better this
year than the last two!
Websites
to Check Out
ü http://GardenGateMagazine.com for weekly plant profiles, reader tips, ideas and more
ü http://GreatGardenPlants.com
McMinnville Garden Club, Organized in
1926,
PO Box 386, McMinnville OR 97128,
http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org
Information: 503-434-434