McMinnville Garden Club, PO Box 386, McMinnville, OR 97128
February 2012 503-434-4344
Monday, February20, 2012 – MEETING
Hillside Retirement Community
“Activity Room” at the Manor
900 N. Hill Road McMinnville, OR 97128
PLEASE REMEMBER TO PARK IN
THE CHURCH PARKING LOT
9:30a.m. - 10:00a.m. - Social time
10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. - Business Meeting
11:00 – 12:00 Truls Jenson and Emma Elliott of Wild Ginger Farm
“Success with Rock Garden and Alpine Plants” 1 MG ed credit
President’s Message
Winter
is such a good time to see the “bones” of your garden. One can visit each tree, enjoy the wonderful
bark and study the form to determine where pruning cuts need to be made. This is difficult when all of the leaves are
on. Wintertime provides the best view of
the berries clinging for dear life to the bushes and provides the viewer that
wonderful glimpse of color in an otherwise landscape of green and brown (that
is if the birds have left any behind).
As we
wait for the conclusion of winter and seed catalogs consume our time, it is
also a great time to read books. I have
been enjoying Diane Ackerman’s book of essays, Cultivating Delight. Let me
share a description of the winter garden from her book. “It doesn’t help that a newly frosted garden
looks as if someone took a blowtorch to all the flowers. I try to make the best of it, to find pleasure
hidden somewhere among the leavings. In
winter, I search the garden for eye-catching phenomena, scraps of life, or
remains that tell a story, but the experience of beauty is different in winter
than it is in summer, just as reading a book is different from watching a
movie.”
Other
good books you might enjoy from my list include: Heucheras and Heucherellas by Dan Heims; The Earth Moved :
On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart; Teaming
with Microcrobes:
A Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels
; Garden
Your Way to Health and Fitness by Bunny Guinness; and Plant
by Janet Marinelli.
There are several websites where you can purchase used books at very low
prices. May you all have a wonderful winter season by the fireside dreaming
with your books and catalogs!
Mark
Your Calendars:
February 9-11 Native Plant Sale: Yamhill
Soil, Water, and Conservation District, McMinnville. Pre order by Feb. 3. Visit them online
at www.yamhillswcd.org. For order help, call 503-472-6403.
February
20, Monday Club
Meeting, Speakers:
Truls Jenson & Emma Elliott, Wild
Ginger Farm, “Success with Rock Garden & Alpine Plants”
February
23, Thursday Field
Trip: None scheduled
February 27, Monday Arts and
Crafts: Tea Cups
ü Bring to the FEBRUARY 20th meeting:
PORCELAIN tea cups, saucers, and vases
so Doris’ husband can pre-drill necessary holes that will allow the set to be
fitted onto a rebar rod. The cost will be under $1 for the rebar rod. Ours will look similar to the photo on the
left, with a vase under the saucer for added color.
March
19, Monday: Speaker: Patty
Sorensen, “Birds in Your Yard; ID, Behavior, and Food
Sources” Bring your bird
books and binoculars if you have any.
March 26, Monday: from
1-3 PM, Doris Crain’s garage. (AFTERNOON
activity!)
Horticulture: Winter Protection for Plants by Cindy Flake
The starting point of winter protection
for plants is to choose plants that are cold hardy to the temperature zone
where you grow them. The USDA created a
Zone map that associates a specific number with average minimum temperature
ranges in 5° increments. It is organized from north to south with zone 1 being
the coldest and 11 the warmest. Oregon’s
topography extremes contribute to different climates, known as microclimates. Higher elevation gardens can experience
cooler temperatures. For example, it can
be 10° cooler on High Heaven Road at 1500 feet elevation, than in the heart of
McMinnville. In Yamhill County, we tend
to experience our most plant damaging cold point during a week in mid-April,
although cold snaps may occur at any time during the winter. Additionally, the hardiness zones for many
plants, such as Fuchsias, vary by species.
Our plants will live or die by our consideration of these factors! Because of the various microclimates, the Sunset Western Garden Book has its own
set of hardiness zones. Most
professional plant propagators list the temperatures and USDA cold hardiness
zones on their care and maintenance tags. However, I’ve seen tags with conflicting zone
and temperature information! The best
way to select a plant is to rely on the cold hardy temperature rating (how low
does it go?) for that plant, instead of a zone number.
Well drained soil is also paramount to
winter protection, as perpetually soggy soil can cause roots to rot. Potted plants can be grouped together along a
protected (north) side of the house during winter. Plants that are rated for warmer temperatures
should be grown in pots and moved to protected areas (garage or shed) or
mulched and provided a cover if in-ground.
Wildlife
Habitat: C IS FOR CUTE! by June Benson
A
Black-capped Chickadee is sometimes watching me as I approach the Dogwood tree.
I stop. He watches me for a few minutes. He only flies away when I reach in to grab
the tube feeder. Apparently these birds are curious about everything, including
humans. Some sources say they can be easily tamed and hand fed.
You
probably see Chickadees regularly at your feeder now although they don’t like
to stay long. They usually grab a seed and eat elsewhere or they hide the seed
to eat later. Scientists say the chickadee can remember thousands of hiding
places. Chickadees enjoy suet, black-oiled sunflower seed, and peanuts. Of
course, they are also looking for food in tree bark as well as on the
ground. They don’t mind using tiny
hanging feeders that swing in the wind and are willing to visit window feeders.
How can such a tiny bird break into a hard sunflower seed shell? They peck a
hole in it, chip it out, and eat bits of seed, while expanding the hole.
Chickadees are
almost acrobatic and associate in flocks. When a flock arrives, they often fly
across roads and open areas one at a time, a rather distinctive behavior.
Flocks have many calls with specific meanings, communicating information on
identity and recognition of other flocks as well as predator alarms. For
example, the more dee notes in a chickadee-dee-dee call, the higher
the threat level. During the winter other species associate with chickadee
flocks and respond to chickadee alarm calls, even when their own species
doesn’t have a similar alarm call.
Garden Tour
Update by
Judy Wilkerson and Elsie Carpenter, Garden Tour Coordinators
We
are thrilled that all 2012 Garden Tour Committee Leader positions are filled,
and with a great roster of folks. We
know that by working together and with all club members’ help, we can achieve
another successful fund-raising event.
The first Committee Leader Meeting is February 20th,
following our regular club meeting, in the “Activity Room” (same room as club
meetings). Leaders: Please bring your
notebooks and any questions/concerns you may have. JOB DESCRIPTIONS Check these out to see which ones you can
volunteer for!
Garden Faire
Update by Mike & Gaye Stewart, Garden Faire Co-Chairs
June
24th seems so far away, but we have already received registrations
from 15 of 113 potential vendors. Our
club’s goals are 50+ vendors with net proceeds from the Garden Faire of
$5,000. The challenge each year is to
keep our vendors and our loyal customers coming back for more.
Our
vendors appreciate the professional way the Faire is conducted and the friendly
spirit of Garden Club members who rally to help them get set up for a day of
great expectations. They are encouraged
and challenged by the competition from fellow vendors and they love to be
around “real gardeners” who are looking for “just the right plant,” new garden
ideas, or perhaps a bit of whimsy to brighten their yard. The delightful charm of being in historic
downtown McMinnville is also an important ingredient in this successful
recipe.
As
club members, you will be presented with lots of options for helping with the
Garden Tour and Garden Faire. Your
active participation is vital to our fundraising success and we promise you
won’t “go wrong” no matter what assignment(s) you accept. If you already know the assignment you would
like to volunteer for, now is the time to sign up to join in the fun!
Doris
is one of our newer members, but she has chosen to get right in and join the
fun! She is already serving as co-chair
of our Arts & Crafts Committee with Patty Sorensen. But the real story starts in Philadelphia,
PA, where Doris was born to hardworking Italian parents. Her grandfather had come to America in 1910
with $20 in his pocket. Her father worked painting houses and then in the
shipyards, but they all grew weary with east coast winters. Move choices were California or Florida and
cousins in southern California convinced the family that a move to the
"West was Best!” In California,
Doris's Grandfather worked at a large estate, managing buildings and rental
properties and caring for the extensive gardens. He loved taking long walks in the area, and
soon met another Italian family. Doris often visited them as a young girl. Little did she know that they were the
great-grandparents of her future husband!
Doris graduated from St. Anthony Girls High
School, and attended Compton College.
While serving punch at her boss's wedding reception, Doris met a nice
young man who turned out to be? You
guessed it, Michael Crain! He hadn't
wanted to come to his uncle's wedding, except for his Nana’s meatballs! Doris says that it was love at first
sight--or as Italians say, "The Thunderbolt!" They chatted, they dated, and they
married. Michael opened his own dental
lab, while the couple raised two sons, Brian and Andrew, in Newbury Park. Doris worked for a hospital, Mobil Oil, TRW,
and finally, 22 years at Conejo Valley Unified School
District.
Michael
and Doris are in McMinnville, since their son Brian, along with his wife and
two children, Michael Jr. 10 and Julia, 6, are here. Brian is the principal at Wascher
School, while Andrew is married and working on his doctorate in stem cell research
at UC, San Diego.
After
Michael and Doris arrived here, they couldn't find a house. So, they rented for a year, planned,
designed, and then built their own---really!
Doris is a watercolor artist and volunteers at St. Vincent de Paul. She loves Italian cooking, gardening and
reading. What she wants from Garden Club is to learn. When asked what specifically, she answers:
"EVERYTHING!"
Web links:
Yard, Garden and Patio Show 2012
http://www.ygpshow.com/
Poisonous Plants http://www.hortmag.com/plants/poisonousplantslist
Sharpening Your Tools
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntS_vpw7jgI&feature=player_embedded#!
Seeds Starting Timetable http://kitchengardenseeds.com/tips.html
(scroll down to view it)
The color
of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the
imagination. ~Terri Guillemets