Garden Clippings November 2005

McMinnville Garden Club Vol. 5 No. 3

"Christmas Dazzle II"

November 21^st, 2005

With Gaye Stewart

Covenant Church 2155 W. 2^nd Street

Social time: 10:30 am-

Business & Lunch meeting: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Optional Brown bag lunch – Dessert, coffee & tea provided by hostesses:

Rosemary Vertregt-Marilyn Coats-Rosina Morgan-Rollie Goddick

Program: 11:30 am – 1:30 pm: Christmas Dazzle II

(Due to limited space, this is open only to current members.)

Gaye Stewart, one of our own Club members, returns to share more ideas to make your home "dazzle" for the holidays.  Gaye owned a floral shop called, "Roses Remembered Floral Design" for 5 years and specialized in weddings.  She is a Master Gardener, a retired 30 year public school teacher and administrator.

At this "hands-on session” members will create a beautiful holiday wreath, either on a fresh greens wreath or a silk wreath. Members who attended the October meeting ordered wreaths from Gaye. If you were unable to attend, due to time constraints, you will need to bring either a fresh evergreen or silk wreath. Supplies you will need to bring include: wire cutters (small ones), flower clippers, scissors, bead garlands (the brighter and wilder, the better!), glue gun and glue sticks if you have one. In addition, you need to bring whatever decorative elements you want on your wreath. Suggestions would be items like 3 silk flowers in your favorite color, craft birds (not the real ones, please!), fancy large Christmas balls in odd numbers, angels, feathers, etc. For questions, call Gaye Stewart. Her phone number is listed in the directory.

President’s Corner

Hello!

It’s the end of October and fall is on its way turning our trees to gold and red. This is my favorite time of the year. Cooler days and longer nights make time for our plant world to rest and gain energy to wake up in the spring with a bang! Using the winter for our down time in the garden is a great time to plot and develop a plan for next season.

Now that we are back from our summer adventures, our new club season has started with a wonderful presentation from Yolanda Wilson of Vanveen Bulbs. Yolanda was fun and her knowledge of growing bulbs was very insightful. She made us all want to go out and plant for spring. Thank you Yolanda, you were great!!!

Our field trip to Arbutus Gardens was a hoot!! Norm Jacobs, owner of the gardens was just great. Norm took eight of us for the day through his garden and showed us how to prune trees and shrubs. Norm introduced us to all the right tools that help make pruning easier.

Our November 21^st meeting featuring a hands-on workshop “Christmas Dazzle II” by Gaye Stewart should be another wonderful and fun project.

Hope to see everyone at the November meeting, take care and enjoy the season. Yours truly,

Kim Jongedyk

December 5, 2005

FIELD TRIP

Sleighbells – A Barn Full of Christmas

Car pool from Bethel Baptist Church: 10:30 am sharp

Sleighbells’ address: 23855 S.W. 195^th Place, Sherwood, OR

503-625-6052

Optional: Lunch available in the English Tea Room

Sleighbells has been in business at the same location for 20 years. In 1978 the original owners first planted Christmas trees on the property then remodeled their home into a gift store that is why there are so many nooks and crannies for exploring. The property was sold to Ken and Darleen McCoy in 2000 and they have committed to carrying on the holiday traditions year round. 

      A creative touch the Old English-style teahouse, owner Lesa Bailes has a collection of bone China teacups and pots. Her teahouse business started one year ago when she fell in love with the ambience and creative variety of the foods. Lesa has worked as a caterer for 25 years, holds an Economics degree and operates a catering service on location.  Lesa offers one, two or three-tiered platter of finger food with tea starting at $10.00 to $ 25.00. For more information go to Sleighbells’ website at:  www.sleighbells.biz

Backyard Habitat

Habitat is a combination of food, water, shelter and space arranged to meet the needs of wildlife. Even a small yard can be landscaped to attract birds, butterflies, beneficial insects, and small animals.  Trees and shrubs and other plants provide shelter and food for wildlife. 

Planting

    This is the time to plant your trees, shrubs and groundcovers for next year’s cover, shelter and food source for the wildlife that will visit and take up residence in your yard.  Evergreens and Deciduous trees provide cover and shelter, trees that bear fruits and nuts provide a necessary food source. Native species are well-suited for wildlife habitat yards because they are adapted to the location, soil, climate and wildlife. Deciduous trees planted on the South side of the house will provide summer shade but not completely block winter sun. Select smaller shade and sun tolerant shrubs that flower and fruit at different times of the year, providing colorful flowers in the spring and berries in the fall.

    A few ideas of some trees and shrubs for your backyard habitat: (all have different growth habits so keep this in mind while planning out your landscape.)

Trees:   Flowering Dogwood, Crape myrtle  & Honey locust

Shrubs:  Hollies (evergreen & deciduous) Pyracantha, Viburnums and Callicarpa.

Vines:  American bittersweet, Strawberry, Trumpet Creeper and Honey Suckle. 

Bird Houses

    If you have bird houses that were up this year now is the time to clean them out, before they have new occupants next spring.  Clean out any nests or debris. You can disinfect them using water and bleach. Mix one part bleach to 10 parts water. Rinse extremely well and then let them dry before returning them back to their place.

Just a thought

    Although its been taught to the most of us that fall clean up is a must to settle in our yards for the long dismal days of winter, try to keep in mind that those little quiet helpers need to have shelter. Many of the beneficial insects such as pollinating bees, ladybugs, lacewings and wasps are protected by snuggling into the stems of the perennials and grasses of your garden. Under that layer of leaves are the winter homes for the smaller critters that help keep down the beetles and grubs that ruin many a shrub’s root system.  So with the understanding of your neighbor about your intentions to NOT clean up everything, try to leave those plants alone till spring. Julie Maahs

Hort. Beat

Take a quick look now or the magnificent fall color will soon be gone. If you anticipate planting trees with fall color, a drive through our city will inspire you. There are many in the range of 20-25 feet which are suitable for small gardens. The maples (acer palmatums) are favorites. This family includes both the cutleaf and laceleaf varieties,.with summer leaf colors of both green and red. The native Vine maple (Acer circinatum) has red-orange leaf color in the sun, gold in the shade. Two flowering dogwoods have spectacular late color. Cornus florida with plum red foliage and the Japanese dogwood, Cornus kousawith a color change to scarlet. Stewartia monodelpha has bright red autumn leaves following white summer blossoms. Japanese snowdrop, Styrax japonicus, flies with red and gold fall colors, and it too bears white summer blossoms. The American smoke tree (Cotinus obovatus) has leaves which turn shades of yellow, orange, red and purple, sometimes all on the same leaf. They cover the hillsides in their native southeast, but just one in a landscape is a must. The fiery-red color of Sourwood (Oxydendron arboreum) with its dried flower panicles sweeping into a waterfall movement is stunning. It is an all-season tree, with sprays of flowers that cover the tree in the summer. For a drive-by look, there is one between Baker Creek Rd. and 19^th, a street location which is easily spotted. For the tall trees, Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) is one of the most dramatic. If you have avoided planting this tree because of its spiny fruits which drop in fall and winter, plant the non-fruiting variety, ‘Rotundiloba’. Its leaves have rounded lobes, as compared with the species which has pointed lobes. The White Ash (Fraxinus americana) has a range of subtle colors. The selection ‘Autumn Purple’ has deep-maroon fall color. It is fast growing to heights of 50 to 80 feet. A tree in my garden which one thinks of as a swamp tree is the Bald cypress. It is perfect in wet surroundings but it is happy in our garden soils, perhaps because the winter saturation lasts well into summer. It is now in its glory, the orange to russet needles spreading outward from the trunk before they drop. In spring they flush out in a soft, bright green. It will reach a mature height of 50 to 70 feet. There are maples, too many to mention, as well as other autumn colorful trees of which you know, but perhaps I’ve mentioned a few you hadn’t thought of as fall color.

Enjoy the color while it lasts. Evelyn Mundinger

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them. John Ruskin

Club History

January 21, 1929

The Garden Club met at the home of Mrs. Apperson. Eleven members were present. Mrs Sly, our president, presided. Minutes of November meeting were read and approved. On account of so much sickness the December meeting was postponed. A letter was read from Mrs. V.A. Good of Stayton, Oregon offering to send free to Garden Clubs a series of “Inspiration” articles to be run in local papers to interest people to beautify their homes and city. Motion made and carried we accept offer. Motion made we ask Telephone Register (note: now the News Register DM) for space. Matter turned over to Mrs. Sitton, Publicity manager. The yearbooks of the Federated Garden Club were passed and commented on; correspondence read in regard to pay. Motion made and carried we sell all we can and return the unsold.

A letter from Mrs. Valliant was read asking Director to send the list of our finished work and plans for future.

Motion carried to ask Billboard Committee to meet with County Commissioners to urge that no billboards be allowed on county roads. Wayside Planting Committee to confer with Mr. Ed Peterson, Street Commissioner, in regards to planting in the street plantings; also, to write Mr. Gilbert Wells of Memory Garden Highway Association for the best way to beautify triangle where highways meet north of Dayton.

A burst of hilarity from Mrs. Hendrick and Miss Stout almost broke up the meeting when it was discovered that Mrs. Hendrick, in her hurry to attend, had worn an oxford on one foot and a satin slipper on the other. No action was taken on this matter.

Treasury balance $10.40 Mrs. E.N. Tibbetts, Sec. Pro Tem.

Dorothy Mathiesen

Websites to Check Out

Portland Online has a great poster on invasive plants which lists several informative websites on this subject. Check it out at: (This may take awhile to load on the computer due to the color, etc.)

http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=50021

Blackberry Eliminator

At the October Field Trip, Norm Jacobs suggested that the best way to eliminate extremely invasive broadleaf plants like blackberry is to cut them close to their original source or to large roots then paint them with the following mixture. BE SURE TO NOT GET THIS ON YOURSELF!!! It is very dangerous! Wear waterproof gloves. Mix two ounces of Crossbow with one quart of diesel fuel and brush onto the plant’s open cut. Do not allow the mixture to be introduced onto your soil either. It sounded like Sandy Ford might be trying this one at her place!

Trip to Monnier’s Country Gardens

On our field trip to Monnier’s in September, I learned at least three interesting bits of information that I would like to share with you.

1. Fuchsias can be in full sun when planted in the ground!

2. To help make the fuchsias ‘hardy’, plant the crown 4-6” below the surface in well-drained soil. Add a layer of mulch to winterize.

3. Even though you water your hanging baskets in the hot weather and they still look bedraggled, it’s because their roots don’t like to be hot!

They had a couple of unusual varieties that were very dark purple, almost black. Very attractive. Ron Monnier is trying to hybridize the black with a white fuchsia to get one that is black and white!!

I hadn’t planned on buying more than one fuchsia as my shady area is very limited. But I bought 5 different ‘hardy’ ones (they didn’t have any more of the black ones) and have them planted in different locations—sun and part sun. I’ll see how well they all survive! M. Coats

A gardener is the spirit of the garden, the organizing force, the heart and soul of it all. Jeff Cox

McMinnville Garden Club Organized in 1926 PO Box 386 McMinnville OR 97128 http://mcminnvillegardenclub.org Information: 503 434 4344 Meeting Information Meeting Day: Third Monday September through June 10:30-11 AM Social Time 11 AM – 1 PM Optional Brown Bag Lunch Covenant Church, Fireside Room, 2155 West 2^nd, McMinnville, OR Meetings are open to the public. Executive Board President Kim Jongedyk Vice President Sandy Ford Secretary Judy Eggers Treasurer Marilyn Coats Conservation Pledge I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of the planet Earth, and promise to promote education, so we may be caretakers to our air, water, forests, land, and wildlife. Ongoing Projects Summer Garden Tour The Oregon Garden Support Scholarships for Horticulture National Garden Week Garden of the Month Blue Star Memorial Marker City Beautification “Garden Clippings” is a monthly publication of the McMinnville Garden Club. Contact Kim Jongedyk, (503-434-9130), or 503-434-4344 for info.

Committee Chairs Backyard Habitat Julie Maahs Garden Tour 2006 Judy Eggers Patty Sorensen Garden Faire 2006 Gaye Stewart Historian Dorothy Mathiesen Horticulture Eveyln Munsinger Hospitality Rosemary Vertregt Membership Sandy Bolmer Newsletter Patty Sorensen Anne Silverthorne Parliamentarian Gaye Stewart Publicity/PR Sandy Ford Scholarship Cindi Miller Sunshine Joan Friese Telephone Mary Whinery Yard of Month 2006 Linda Coburn Yearbook Kim Jongedyk Sandy Ford The newsletter deadline for submission of articles for our monthly newsletter is the last day of the previous month. Please send them to Patty Sorensen. Do you know of any prospective Garden Club members? Be sure to let Sandy Bolmer know names and addresses. We would love to send them our newsletter for three months.