Garden Clippings November 2007

McMinnville Garden Club Vol. 7 No. 3

November 19, 2007

Anna Ashby, Yamhill County Master Gardener

“Winter Vegetable Gardening”

Hillside Retirement Center Community Room

Social time: 9:30AM – 10:00

Business Meeting: 11:15 – 12:00 p.m.

Raffle/Wrap-up: 12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.

President’s Message

Dear Gardening Friends,

Greetings from Palm Springs, California, where the weather is in the low 90's. You've seen the devastating fires raging across Southern California, but thankfully we are safe for now. Hopefully, the Santa Anna winds will diminish and allow the firefighters the opportunity to get these fires under control. To date 1,300 homes have been destroyed and over 881,000 people evacuated.

Last week thirteen Club members attended the Fall Pioneer District luncheon. Business items included: 1) approving the Scholarship Committee to develop guidelines for the scholarship fund; 2) voting to have a Garden Tour (this will be the District's second tour with a trial one held last year); and 3) discussions regarding the poinsettia sale and the State Convention in June, 2008 at Wilsonville. More information will be forthcoming to help members know what's available each day of their attendance. We are emphasizing the importance of everyone's attendance, particularly since our District is hosting the convention.

During the Awards portion of the agenda, it was my honor to present our own Kim Jongedyk a Certificate of Appreciation for all her dedicated work, commitment to the Club's mission, enthusiasm, support and caring for our members. We love and appreciate you, Kim!

We have a wonderful, dynamic, and forward-thinking Club and I hope each of you will plan to attend monthly meetings to enjoy friends, learn about gardening specifics (P.S. The October clematis presentation was phenomenal) and help shape our Club's goals and activities. I look forward to seeing you on November 19^th.

Sending Bouquets,

Gaye Stewart, President 1-503-831-3087

No Field Trip Planned for November

Yearbook Calendar Corrections Please make these changes in your yearbooks!

February Meeting – Should be February 18^th

May Field Trip – Should be May 28^th

Winter Wonderland Parade Action

At our October Garden Club Meeting, Gaye entertained the motion made by Kim that we be involved in the McMinnville Santa's Parade on November 23, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. The motion was seconded, Gaye ask if there was any discussion. The motion passed that the Garden Club participate in the Downtown Winter Wonderland Parade. Stay tuned for how you can help!

Where Have All The Honey Bees Gone? Janice Hudson

Have you noticed a decline in the honey bees in your beautiful garden this year? They seem to be disappearing all over the world.

The Apiary Inspectors of America have now estimated that at least one quarter of the 2.4 million bee colonies in the United States have disappeared since the fall of 2006. By 1994, 98 percent of American wild honey bees were gone. The number maintained by beekeepers dropped by half. There was a gradual decline from 1971 to 2006, (due to cumulative losses from urbanization, pesticide use, mites and commercial beekeepers retiring/going out of business), but in the fall of 2006 and on into 2007, the attrition rate reached new proportions and the term, “Colony Collapse Disorder “ (CCD), was proposed to describe the disappearances.

According to the USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, Gale Buchanan, there were enough honey bees to provide pollination for US agriculture this year, but beekeepers could face a serious problem next year and beyond. Honeybees are not native to the United States. They are responsible for pollination of strictly agricultural/ornamental crops and native pollinators fill the niche for native plants on a smaller scale.

The USDA has developed a 4 step action plan to coordinate research and identify the cause of the bee die-off. They have not yet discovered the cause but have new information and research coming in daily.

What can we do to help honey bees?

· DO NOT use pesticides indiscriminately, especially do not use pesticides at mid-day when honey bees are most likely to be out foraging for nectar.

· Plant and encourage the planting of good nectar sources such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, and Joe-Pye Weed.

Possible causes for the Colony Collapse Disorder could be new or reemerging diseases, new pests / parasites, environmental stress, poor nutrition/drought, also immunodeficiencies. UC San Francisco DNA researchers have mapped the honey bee genome and found that European honey bees do not have as many genes to fight off disease or poisons. Others cite nicotine based insecticides, genetically altered crops, change in the magnetic field of the earth, cell phones, antibiotics, and climate change.

Everyone seems to have their own theory on CCD. Some scientists say it is due to an Asian bee parasite, Nosema Ceranae, spreading to the bees in Europe and the Americas. CCD has been reported in 28 states in the US, Canada, British Isles, Europe, Asia and the Southern Hemisphere. Asian honey bees are less vulnerable to this parasite than our honey bees but there have also been recent reports of CCD in China and Taiwan.

In May, 2007, Science Daily announced that Bee mites, known as Varroa Destructor mites, suppressed Bee immunity. This opens the door to viruses and bacteria. Penn State researchers think that this is the combination of factors that trigger CCD. One sign of infection is deformed wings. Also, sometimes seemingly healthy colonies become ill and the complete hive collapses in about 2 weeks.

Then, in September, a team led by scientists from the Columbia University, Pennsylvania State University, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Arizona, and 454 Life Sciences has found a significant connection between the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and CCD. This is the first report of IAPV in the U S. IAPV was first described in 2004 in Israel where infected bees presented with shivering wings, progressed to paralysis and then died just outside the hive. Importation to the U.S. of bees from Australia began in 2004, coinciding with early reports of unusual colony declines.

Treatment has to be found but first there has to be a consensus on what causes CCD.

Jan Elliott educated us about composting.

Great displays

this year!

2008 Garden Tour/Faire Jean Lierman/Georgia Queen

The 8^th ANNUAL Garden Tour committee had its first meeting and we feel so fortunate to have such an experienced and enthusiastic group to work with. It was a pretty informal meeting and we just went through the new updated procedure notebooks and chatted about new ideas to make the Tour even more fun and informative than it has been in the past. Several wonderful suggestions were made for the ticket booklets and also information that will be sent to the vendors. It was suggested that the homeowners be contacted about special plants in their yards so the vendors could have these plants available for sale at the Garden Faire.

IF you want to join this great group of volunteers for the Summer Garden Tour, we do still have a few openings on the committee. The following positions are still open:

Publicity (Posters and Flyers); Reader Boards; and OF COURSE WE ARE STILL LOOKING for an Assistant Chairman. If you are interested in any of these positions, please call either Georgia (503-472-2618) or Jean (503-472-2054).

Plants to Share? Marilyn Coats

Don't forget, if you have any plants that you would like to find a home for--let me know and I will put them in this column. However, you can still bring them to the meetings whenever you have some extra plants to share.

Club History Dorothy Mathieson

November 19, 1934

Meeting was called to order by President Mrs. Robison at the home of Mrs. Frank Wortman. Twenty-one members were present.

Flowers had been sent to Chamber of Commerce rooms for the tables on Monday of each week, their regular meeting and dinner.

Mrs. Robison sent flowers, in the name of the Garden Club, to Miss Hendrick during a recent illness.

The Roadside Committee reports a meeting to be held at the Benson Hotel in Portland, Dec. 5, 1934. Some discussion as to our Garden Club meeting place proved to be more in favor of homes, as we have been doing in the past, rather than the new suggestion of the Library’s basement. A donation of $5.00 to be paid to the Women’s Club for new curtains was allowed. {D.M. Note sure who was getting the curtains, the basement of the library of Women’s Club who may actually meet in the basement!}

A $1.00 donation was given to the Art Exhibit held in the Oregon Hotel recently.

A homecoming idea is to be carried out in the near future at Cook School. Flowers to be furnished by the Garden Club.

The Librarian reports that Arranging Flowers Throughout the Year is back on file for future use.

Program: Mrs. Pearson read and started a general discussion. Mrs. Wortman asked questions of interest to everyone. Mrs. Fleshauer, local florist, talked on window gardening which is interesting at this time of year. Miss Stout talked on rock gardens and extended an invitation to see her rockery in winter and early spring. It is an array of early blossoms such as crocuses, snow drops and other early bulbs.

A chrysanthemum display was unusually good for so late in the season.

A redwood has been offered the club as a gift by the historical gardens at Newberg, this will be welcome. Mrs. Watkins.

Four members paid dues of 50 cents each. Total $2.00. Two of the ladies were new members this meeting. There were several visitors at this meeting also.

Submitted by Mrs. Marie Hartzell

(*Note: When growing up here in McMinnville I knew Marie and babysat her grandchildren! She had a flower shop in her home on the southwest corner of 13^th/Evans. Patty Sorensen)

P.S. Flower Arranging books are located at the Public Library in the 745.92 section upstairs.