Garden Clippings September 2009

GROWING TOGETHER THROUGH GARDENING -McMinnville Garden Club

503-434-4344

September 12 – 20  Le Tour des Plants http://www.letourdesplants.com/

September 19-20 Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Fall plant sale.  Portland Expo Center. 

http://www.hardyplantsociety.org/plantsale.htm

September 21^st – FIRST MEETING OF THE NEW YEAR,

900 N. Hill Road – Hillside Community manor in the “Activity Room”

Social time: 9:30a.m.- 10:00a.m.

Business Meeting and FUN: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Hillside Retirement Community “Activity Room” at the Manor 

900 N. Hill Road McMinnville, OR 97128

Let the FUN begin anew!

DON’T FORGET TO PARK IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT

*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. No medicine bottle caps.

*Also bring your magazines to share with others.

September 23 - Our first Field trip of the year – Mike Darcy’s Garden

Date – PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE:

Wednesday, September 23

Time: 9:30 a.m. Bethel Baptist Parking carpool

Where: Mike Darcy’s garden in Lake Oswego

It will take us close to an hour to get there and he is expecting us at 10:30 a.m. Be on time please. We’d hate to leave you behind. I’ll need drivers for this trip. If you’re willing to drive, please let me know. Judy Eggers 503-434-1435

September 25, Leaf Castings Arts & Crafts Activity

Evelyn Mundinger will be once again helping us create our own leaf castings on Friday, September 25^th   at Rosemary Vertgret’s. We will carpool from Bethel Baptist at 9:30.  Cost will be announced at the September meeting. ($4?)  Wear warm clothes that you can get dirty.  Supplies you’ll need to bring include a box like you get from a nursery to bring home your plants in (the castings get heavy so if you have a board to put under the box, that will help with transporting it), some plastic gloves, and leaves such as hostas, gunneras, etc.  Additional directions will be shared on the 21^st. We’ll need to know who is coming so we can purchase the correct amount of supply material. Please call Patty S. if you won’t be at the Sept. 21 meeting and plan on coming to this activity. Otherwise, we’ll sign up the 21^st.

September 24-25 The Dirt on Soil held at the Oregon Garden Resort

A talk and walk presented by Tim Cramer, Head Gardener, Oregon Garden Resort

Includes overnight accommodation for two Dinner for two (2 entrees and a bottle of House wine)

Thursday 7 PM Lecture and Friday 9-11AM

The Dirt on Soil Talk and Walk for two Full American buffet breakfast for two

Admission for two into The Oregon Garden - $119, plus tax

Tim will discuss blending the physical properties of soil, biological components, weeds/pests/diseases and soil improvement into a coherent whole.   He will talk about how  biology, chemistry, climate and people all need to be in balance; that each has an effect on the others.

Space is limited.  Please call for reservations 503-874-2500 or visit our website at http://www.oregongardenresort.com

PLAN AHEAD:

October 12, Library Plant Cleanup 1:00 We’ll go out for coffee when we finish. Let Patty know if you can help!

October 15, Pioneer District Garden Club’s Fall Meeting and Luncheon

“Welcome into Fall” Thursday, Oct. 15 at the Meriwether National Golf Club in Hillsboro.  $15 for the buffet luncheon must be paid to our treasurer before Oct. 7^th.  We will carpool from Bethel Baptist Church at 8:30 AM.  The speaker is Ann Nickerson, APLD, on Ornamental Grasses…the Ten Best and How to Use Them.” 

October 19, McMinnville Garden Club Meeting

9:30-12:15 Hillside’s Activity Room

Speaker : Roger Gossler: “Fall the Forgotten Season” Born and raised in Oregon, Roger Gossler is considered an expert in Northwest woody plants. His interest in plants has been lifelong. In partnership with his family, he co-owns Gossler Farms Nursery, which specializes in magnolias, winter-blooming trees and shrubs and many other beautiful plants. He is a frequent lecturer throughout the United States and a member of the Magnolia Society, American Rhododendron Society, Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, Willamette Valley Hardy Plant Group and the Royal Horticultural Society.

https://secure.gosslerfarms.com/home.php

Membership

Our Membership Yearbook and Directory will be published in October.  For those who have not paid their dues, be sure to bring your $15 to the September meeting.  We also have several new members that need their pictures taken.  Be ready to SMILE into the camera at the September meeting!!!  If you have changed your email address, phone numbers, etc. be sure to share the new ones with Jan Clay for publication before the end of September.

Budget Prepared

The McMinnville Garden Club’s 2009-2010 proposed budget has been prepared for you by the club’s board.  It is located at: http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org/budget10.pdf   This is not a publically searchable address and will be deleted after our Sept. meeting.  (You won’t be able to locate it on the website without using the link above.)  If you would like a print copy because you don’t have access to the Internet, please call any of your board members and ask that they mail you a copy. 

Information given to the board from our year-end surveys indicated that the membership wanted us to book more big name speakers, add $ to scholarships, and do at least one major project.  In response to that we have incredible speakers for this year AND we’ve added a speaker for June.  Usually we tour members’ gardens in June, but this year our tour is going to be at five members’ gardens SO we have added a FUN speaker for June. We are also proposing adding one more scholarship and have two community project opportunities:  helping the city renovate a downtown covered bench (we asked for the one by the bookstore where we have our light pole) and working with the Yamhill County Historical Museum to provide some plantings and hardscape. 

We’ve also tried to reorganize the budget presentation so it is easier to understand what category expenditures support. Please feel free to contact any board member if you have any comments or questions about this prior to our Sept. meeting.  We will be discussing it in detail then and voting.

Mahonia Subscriptions

It is time to renew subscriptions to the Oregon Garden Federation of Garden Club’s quarterly publication.  Cost is $3.  Payment must be made by October 20^th.  Samples of the publication will be at our meetings. 

Please remember that it helps our treasurer if you either bring cash and put it in an envelope labeled with your name/what the cash is for OR write separate checks for various payments.  It is so confusing when she is collecting for three different items like this month: dues are for our club, the Pioneer District Luncheon funds go to the district, and the Mahonia subscriptions to the state!  Any interest group activities will be collecting their own funds. 

MASTER GARDENER TRAINING COURSE

Registration for the Master Gardener Online basic training course is now open for Option 1: Online Course Only.

Students who successfully complete this course earn a Certificate of Home Horticulture. The online course, which runs from Sept. 7 - Dec. 14, 2009, does not require on-site volunteer hours and can be completed conveniently from your own home.
Please note that space in this online class is limited to 75 individuals.  After a week of open registration, nearly half of these 75 spots have been filled.  All previous offerings of the Master Gardener Online basic training course have filled to capacity before the end of registration.  Thus, if you would like to register for the online Master Gardener course, please submit your registration form and payment as soon as possible to ensure your spot in the fall class.
If you are interested in earning your Master Gardener™ badge, you will want to explore Option 2: Online Course and Volunteering.  This option includes the online Master Gardener™ basic training course and will require participants to complete volunteer hours at their local OSU Extension office in order to become a certified OSU Master Gardener™. This course will begin in January 2010.
Feel free to contact Extended Campus if you have questions about registering. Or, visit the Master Gardener™ Online web pages for more details on this sustainable gardening program offered through OSU Extension Service in cooperation with OSU Extended Campus.
We look forward to helping you reach your gardening goals with the help of online learning.
Extended Campus : Oregon State University ecampus@oregonstate.edu
800-667-1465 or 541-737-9204

The Latest Dirt! President’s Message

Can you believe September is here already?  I sure didn’t get enough days in the 80’s and nights in the 50’s. Staying nearby this summer has actually been quite a trip.  With the weather we’ve had I feel like I’ve traveled to scorching Arizona in July, hot New Mexico in August and at that end of August with the recent low morning temps I must be in Alaska.  I’m sure my plants have felt like they’ve been traveling too!  (I don’t mean in my car from the nursery to my yard….) They’ve dried out, been dumped on by the rain, eaten by the deer, burned up, and tricked into feeling like it is Fall in August.  The summer of 2009 has been quite an adventure for all! I’ve got several “opportunities” to do some redesigning.

It has been so much fun to run into many of you out and about.  Even though we haven’t had a meeting this summer, many members have kept busy with club activities.  A presentation to the Habitat families took place in July; the Yard of the Month selections continued.  (http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org/Yardofthemonth.htm ) ; a committee is working on selecting Garden Tour yards; the Post Office committee continues to maintain their areas, the library plants are happy but dusty, and the board has been busy planning your year.  I’m also betting many members have new travels and learning adventures to share!

Speaking of adventures, it is time to quickly get several dates on your calendars! It looks like we are going to make up for our three month break in one week in September.  The week of September 21^st we have three remarkable activities planned.  Our first Fall meeting on Monday, September 21, will again be at Hillside from 9:30-12:15.  We’ll be sharing all “the dirt” about our 2009-2010 year. Then Wednesday, September 23, is our much anticipated field trip to Mike Darcy’s garden.  AND Friday, September 25, the arts & crafts group is planning another leaf casting session out at Rosemary’s house.  If you can’t make the meeting on Sept. 21^st, feel free to contact any of your board members for additional information on these and other planned activities. 

October brings the Pioneer District’s Fall Luncheon on Oct. 15^th at Meriwether Golf Course.  Our October 19^th meeting will feature Roger Gossler from Gossler’s Nursery in Eugene.  His topic is “Fall the Forgotten Season”.  AND finally October 26^th will find us heading to  Bailey’s Nursery for an educational field trip tour.

I sure hope these preview of events for the year will prompt you to mark your calendars for our meetings and activities.  Watch the website too for updates.  http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org

Patty Sorensen

Hydrangea Tips

* Hydrangeas need consistent moisture, although they may be strong plants in times of drought.  Water them at the base.  A wilted plant will recover with deep watering and shade.

* Do NOT clip the flowers after their summer show. Leave the dried flowers on until late winter or early spring to protect the new buds from winter weather conditions.

* Choose a variety for its color.  Although many will change their bloom color based on soil pH, there are also many varieties which will bloom true to color.  With these, it should be unnecessary to add soil amendments for a particular color preference.

* To encourage blooms of containerized plants, give the roots plenty of room and don’t overfertilize which leads to lots of early material and very few blooms.

(Info from Digger magazine written for the Northwest Nursery Industry published by the Oregon Association of Nurseries, http://www.oan.org )

Internet Links

Pioneer District Newsletter: http://gardencentral.org/oregon/pioneerdistrictnewsletter

State website http://oregongardenclubs.org/default.htm

Check these out too: http://www.realtor.com/home-garden/gardening/default.aspx

Includes several interesting articles to read including Deadly Poisonous Plants, Carnivorous Plants Slideshow, How to Attract Wildlife, etc.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/homesandgardens/2009/08/post_18.html

Help the Honey Bees

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt.
Author Unknown

A BIG thank you to Sharon, Judy, Joanne, Julie H. and all the club members who helped make our Garden Tour/Faire a success! We look forward to what Gaye, Mike, Elsie and Joanne will do for our 10^th Anniversary Tour/Faire on June 27, 2010. Mark your calendars now!