INFO FOR THE LURIE TRIP

Hi folks--Ben just posted a map for where we will meet on the Michiana Horticultural Alliance page--if you don't know what the MHA is--you should go there and check it out anyway--and JOIN. Its free and hopefully will lead to great things.
Here is a link:
www.michianahort.org

Check it out.
Fearless

Something very important

Hi everyone--in case you haven't seen this is your GCI newsletter, I am reproducing it here. If you agree that this cause is worthy, please support it by sending them a contribution or spreading the word by whatever way seems appropriate to you.
First off--here is a link if you want to send a contribution. My check will go out tomorrow.
http://www.ngccar.org/delawarememorialgardenproject.html

This is what this is about--I am quoting from the newsletter:
"The Delaware Federation of Garden Clubs has embarked on a project of constructing a Memorial Garden at the Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. The Dover Air Force Base has the distinctive, heartbreaking task of receiving home the bodies of service personnel killed in the line of duty. Since lifting the ban on photographs of the flag-covered caskets, nearly 2000 relatives have come to Dover for the body transfers. In January, the base opened a much needed facility called the 'Center for the Families of the Fallen'. This building is used by the families when they arrive at the base from all over the nation to receive their loved ones. Although the inside of the building is well furnished, the outside desperately needs an enclosed garden area, screened from the road, to afford the family's privacy and peace. When this garden club saw the site, they knew it was a project they wanted to embrace. Because of the special requirements posed by the base, the DFCG decided to engage a prominent therapeutic Landscape Architect, Rodney Robinson, to design and develop a plan for construction of this garden. The garden clubs of Delaware and its members now need to raise the necessary 125,000 to cover the cost of this project. It is a daunting task and they are a small state with an organization that has never taken on a project of this magnitude. DFGC is trying to reach out to everyone to help meet their commitment of providing a Memorial Garden at the Dover Air Force Base for the 'Families of the Fallen'.

Once again--the link to contribute:
http://www.ngccar.org/delawarememorialgardenproject.html

HTTD.

Newsletter

Hi folks--You should have all gotten your Fall issue of "Indiana Gardens" which is the publication of the Garden Club of Indiana. It comes as a PDF file, and you just click on the file or highlight it and click "open file" to see it. Its best to print it out, since it shows up sideways, having been formatted to print on your printer. If you want a hard copy and can't figure out how to print it, let me know and I will make one for you.
HTTD! Fearless

Photo albums

Hi guys--There are some new pics in the photo album--thanks to Bobbi for sending them along. Check them out! And send in some of your own--email me jpeg files and I will put them in the album! And don't forget your pets--we want to enjoy seeing them too.
HTTD

CALLING ALL WRITERS

Hey folks--If you are tired of me blabbering my brains out on this blog--and would like to contribute some knowledge that you have gained--type yourself up a word document and send it to me. I will be more than GLAD to post it here--this blog is for all of us--not just me. Step up and contribute. I can either edit your post for grammar and spelling, or just put it up as it comes to me--just let me know which you prefer.
Lets see what all of you know or are interested in!
HTTD!
(Hail to the dirt)

A New Idea is Born

Hi everybody--Wanted to give you all a heads up about Michiana Horticultural Alliance; a new organization that Ben is in the process of developing. This is the beginning of what we hope will become a powerful force in the gardening consciousness of our area. Founded with the hope of encouraging gardening and garden education in all of its forms, it also will hopefully be a format where small specialty growers can learn about each other and gain more visibility to area gardeners. We all want to find interesting plants and the people (either in the nursery industry or just passionate gardeners) who grow them--here is a place where both of those can come together. The organization needs members now--either to be active and involved or just to follow the growth and support events it sponsors. Its quick and free to sign up--I encourage you to head to the website and get in the loop.
www.michianahort.org

For someone who never joins anything, I seem to be making up for lost time :-)
Hail to the dirt!

Sandhill Cranes

Hi folks--Here is a link to the Indiana DNR's information about the Sandhill Crane migration.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3109.htm
Be sure to watch the slide show.

Hail to the dirt!

South Bend Beautification!

Hey everyone--wanted to give you a heads up--South Bend will be participating in this worldwide event to promote green spaces. Here is a link to the website:
www.parkingday.org

The South Bend installation will be downtown beside Fiddler's Hearth (not entirely sure where that is--is it near the old Pennys?)
Anyway--might be a fun way to spend some time!
Hail to the dirt!

LURIE GARDEN SCHEDULE

Hi everybody--I just heard back from Ben and this is the schedule for the Lurie trip. This will happen on Saturday Nov. 6th. We will meet at Lurie for the tour at 10:30 am. I will ask Ben for an exact location where we will come together. The South Shore has a train that leaves South Bend at 9 am and arrives at Millenium Station at 10:15. That is the train to take--you can go to the South Shore website for particulars. Fare one way is about 10 dollars--its a little more expensive if you buy your ticket on the train. I don't know how busy the weekend trains usually are at this time of year--you may need to arrive early to buy your ticket beforehand. There is a train that returns to SB at 1:30 and that is probably the most likely one we will ride home--but you can take a later train if you want to stay in the city longer. If you look at the train schedule online, be SURE to specify that you want a weekend schedule. Its different from the weekday one. Looking forward to seeing everybody there!

Dirty Hands can be Creative Hands too

Hey everybody--great meeting last night. Thanks to everyone for attending and contributing all the drieds and kewl stuff. Maggie--we are so sorry to have missed you--we are keeping you in our thoughts. And a huge THANK YOU to Patrick for volunteering and taking the time to teach his fascinating French wire technique. This is such a beautiful art and we are very lucky to have Patrick in our midst. As time goes on we hope to learn more from him. He was so generous with his time, temperment and materials and we really appreciate it. I know Rosie will go forward with learning this technique and hopefully some others will too.
Okay--now to the meeting--we covered a lot of ground at this one and made some good future plans.
First off--our Lurie trip--I will get with Ben--looks like the first Sat. in November is the chosen day--that way if the weather tanks we can reschedule for the second Sat. It doesn't matter how you get to Lurie--most of us will probably take the South Shore, but its really immaterial. Once I have conflabulated with Ben we can firm up our timetables and travel plans.
We also threw the idea around of making a fun trip to Jasper Pulaski to see the Sandhill Cranes. This really is something worth seeing--it should be on everyone's "Bucket List". I will get some particulars figured out and post more on this later. This trip will take place on a Sunday--we want to include Dave in the group and that will work out best for him. It will be a morning trip and we will have Breakfast together someplace.

Next--the October meeting will be at the North Liberty Library on Oct. 14th--this is a THURSDAY at 6 pm. You need to phone the library ahead if you weren't included in the head count we took at the meeting. Free plants may be involved, so be sure you are counted ahead of time. See the "Current stuff for this month" sidebar and the top banner for more info. Mary Ann A. spearheaded this whole endeavor and thanks to her for pulling this together. It will be great. After the program we will walk across the parking lot to Bluebird house for a quickie meeting. Debbie Brown will be our hostess and will tell us a little bit about how she rescued this very special house from the brink of destruction.

Next on the list was the upcoming district meeting. This will be in Middlebury on Oct. 20th. Registration forms were passed out--get in touch with me if you need one. If you want to go you need to get your registration form sent in or at least email and let them know you are coming by Sept. 30th. The fee for the day is 17.00 and you must be paid up beforehand. Rosie, Shirley and I are going--anyone else is welcome. Shirley volunteered to drive--she can haul 5 in her car. We can carpool more drivers if necessary. This will be an enjoyable day and you will meet a lot of really terrific people. Thanks to Rosie for filling us in on a lot of particulars. As a life member of the State and National clubs she knows a lot of stuff about how these things operate--and its great to have that knowledge base in such a generous club member.
In connection with this--I got a letter from Joan Stone about the State Convention in 2011 which will be held in Merrilville April 6 and 7. This is an important event that she would like as many members as possible to attend. Our district will host this in 2012 and she wants us to be informed of what the meetings are like, since all hands will be needed on deck to make our 2012 meeting a success.

Next--SHIRTS from the fabulous Jan at Squirrel-de-la-Renta. Jan is a wonderful person whom we hope will join our club in the future. For now we can enjoy her terrific skill with an embroidery machine as she puts logos on our shirts for us. Cindy will act as a liason with Jan--and all you need to do is buy the garment of your choice, wash and dry it as you normally would, and then get it to Cindy. Her phone and address are in your member list, or you can just bring garments to the meeting and she will take it from there. The fee is 5.00 per garment. If you want something other than a shirt--say a tote for instance--it will depend on the individual piece as to how the logo will be applied. Use some common sense here--she probably can't stitch the logo on a piece of chain mail you want to wear at the next Rennaisance fair. Normal garment weight fabrics should be fine. Colors are up to you--keep mind the image will show up best on a light or medium color. Green might not be the best choice because some of the design elements will get lost. Many thanks to Cindy for spending the time needed to make this a reality for us.

We talked about some other meeting ideas--Thyme of Grace Restaurant for December, Unity Gardens, a JF New tour, a trip to the wonderful Botanic Garden Sue found in Elkhart, maybe a Panera dinner with our laptops sometime to make some books like the one Susan sent me. Ideas are abounding. Keep them flowing.

Rosie filled us in on details of what could be a fabulous fun weekend driving through LaPorte county enjoying the Sunflower Festival, Garwood Orchard, Barn Fest and the Botanic Boutique. Hop in the car and spend an amazing day.

Okay--at that point we quit the meeting--forgot to "adjourn" it--OH WELL. But we were focused on the fun at hand and Patrick got down to work showing how to construct the incredible beaded flowers that he learned to make in times gone by. And in truth, it is a skill FROM times gone by--having been one of the gentle pursuits of Victorian times, when gardening was at its zenith in society. We have some members, Marianne and Rosie for sure, whose skill at this kind of lovely precise work will most certainly lend itself to making these charming objects. Patrick is a wonderful teacher--friendly and patient. I know more than one person commented to me about the breadth of his knowledge. We thank him so much for contributing.

As for me--I gave a quickie demo about working with dried flowers--something I used to do a great deal of--but am kind of rusty at now. Marianne was nice enough to bring some teacups so I could show the basics of cutting and using "Sahara" foam for dried flowers. Bobbi had a darling old watering can she found in Boston and I made an arrangement for her using dried materials contributed by different folks. Thanks to Shirley for the pheasant feathers--they were the perfect textural touch and to Sue for her contributions of Helen's flower, phlox and salvia. They added another textural dimension to the piece. And thanks to Shirley for reminding me to bring the world famous pick machine; it really is a cool gadget and I am glad you all got a chance to see it loaded CORRECTLY and in action.
By the time we were all through it was quarter to ten and we piled out of Shirleys pole barn and headed home. Time with friends is ALWAYS time well spent. We are a neat group of fun, creative people, and I am really priveleged to be "large Marge in charge" of it. Thanks to all for making such a fun night.

A GROOVY NEW FEATURE

Okay everybody--I added a new page on the page links. Yesterday I pulled out a very old gardening book I have and remembered they had a really wonderful Garden Calender in it, so I am reproducing it here. You can see it under the link "Mr. Rockwell's Garden Calender". There is a lot of useful information in these calenders, and a lot of good reminders to help us keep our gardens in great shape. I hope it will be of help to you. There is also a section devoted to houseplants, and I can include this as well if people express an interest.
Hail to the dirt! FL

Up and Coming FUN in Laporte County

Hi Folks--Rosie shared information with me about the following two events--she participates in them and they are both really nice--so get on the road these two weekends and go see Rosie!
First up--the Saturday of Labor Day weekend will be the Prairie Pride Harvest Market. This event has been around for 6 years and while I haven't been, I have heard very good things about it. The location is 3883 E. 700 N. Look for signs that say "Fawn Run Farm". If you want information you can call Dailey (219) 778-2809 or email fawnrunfarm@csinet.net. Hours are 9 to 4--and remember they are an hour different from us there. Hand work, antiques, plants, strolling musicians, food. Just as much fun as the Blueberry but not as dusty and no carnival rides :-)
The second event is on Sept. 18(Sat) and 19 (Sun) at the old Finley Farm in Laporte. 3855 W. Johnson Rd. Laporte. Hours are 9-4 Sat. and 12-5 Sunday. Once again, they are an hour different. For information on this one, the phone is (219) 325-9009. The name of this event is "Botanic Boutique". The farm is now called "Keepsake Farm".
Sounds like fun times two!
Hail to the dirt! FL

Latin Made Easy

So you feel dumb trying to say Latin names? Actually its not as complicated as you might think. I was lucky enough to be able to take Latin as my language in High School and its really an easier language than English. And learning to use Latin when speaking about plants helps you to be a lot clearer in your understanding, and it helps you to communicate about plants in an unambiguous manner (of course you have to be talking to another gardener for this to work--but chances are you will be). Here is a very useful and easy to understand article I ran across:
http://www.life.illinois.edu/ib/335/plant_names.pdf

The main thing to remember when prononucing a Latin word is that the accent most often is on the next to last syllable, and even though at first the word may look like an eye chart, slow down and examine it for a second--its not just a jumble of letters after all. We tend to read by inference--we only see the first few letters of a word and our brain figures out the rest without our actually reading it. We can't do this with Latin words because they aren't familiar to us. But if you stop and look at the entire word, pronouncing it becomes a lot easier. Scientific nomenclature is meant to make things easier, not harder, and there is a lot of information contained in Scientific names if you know what you are looking at. This article is easy to read and very helpful.
Hail to the dirt (Dirtus maxiumus)!

For the Sept. Meeting--DANCES WITH DRIEDS

Hi all! Man I am writing a lot the last few days. Hope no one is getting informational overload. Sorry to dump so much on you at once--but I have to get things done right as they are in my frontal lobe or they slosh around and get lost.
Okay--since our Sept. meeting is going to come even later and fresh flowers from our gardens will be minimal, lets work with dried material instead.
I used to do a great deal of work with dried flowers--its really kind of how I started out. They have fallen from favor with the advent of ever more attractive silks, but for me the "real deal" is always the best. I am still rolling the idea of containers around in my head, but for the moment lets just leave it at "coffee mug"; thats pretty easy. If you don't have something--go to the goodwill and grab something with an opening that is roughly coffee mug size. If I have some brainwave that means a huge change from this format I will bring materials with me.
The other thing you will need to do is scout around your yard and bring material with you. You can do some basic prep work now. A lot of plants are suitable for drying--I always tell people if you wonder if something is "dry-able" cut it and hang it upside down and find out. Some things will dry, some things will get all horrible or shatter. Just experiment. Take whatever you cut, bunch it up with a rubber band and hang it up in the basement or someplace cool and dark. Preferably someplace easy to get at and sweep up if the experiment bombs. There is also some material that can be cut fresh and allowed to dry once its in the arrangement. Here is a rough (very rough) guide--the stuff I list as "dryable" should be cut and hung upside down. The stuff listed as "Fresh" should be cut the night before and put into warm water. You can condition the water with a little sugar or aspirin if you want--not vital. Take it out of the water and just bring it "as is".
Okay--here we go--email me with questions:
DRYABLE STUFF--CUT AND HANG UPSIDE DOWN AT LEAST 1 WEEK BEFORE BRINGING;
Lavender-- Pee Gee Hydrangea-- Yarrow
Strawflower--Statice-- Ageratum (pick new blooms)
Sedum-- Grasses-- Poppy, Iris pods
Sage leaves-- Silver Queen Artemesia-- Oak leaves
Joe Pye Weed--Queen Anne's Lace (pick at any stage of growth)
Echinops-- Milkweed pods-- Chive Flowers
Amaranth-- Nigella-- Armeria
Baptisia pods-- Pretty branches-- Rose hips
False Saffron-- Celosia-- Feverfew
Teasel-- Money plant-- Ferns (Christmas Fern)
Gomphrena-- Baby's breath-- Mint, Catnip, Catmint
Oregano-- Liatris-- Monarda
Dock--Chinese Lanterns-- Roses
Sedges and Rushes--Goldenrod--Tansy
Rabbits foot clover-- Dill flowers-- Mullein

Things to bring fresh:
Boxwood-- Lambs ear-- Ivy leaves
Ferns-- Myrtle-- Sage leaves
Lavender-- Oak Leaves-- Silver Queen Artemesia


PLEASE DO NOT BRING SWEET ANNIE--SOME PEOPLE ARE VERY ALLERGIC TO THIS PLANT
DO NOT BRING BITTERSWEET--IT IS TOXIC AND JEFF'S DOGS WILL BE IN THE BUILDING AFTER WE ARE.

This is by no means an exhaustive list--just a jumping off point. If you have something in your garden or fencerow that you want to try and dry--cut it and have at it! Please don't bring any kind of berries unless you know EXACTLY what they are and are certain they are non toxic.

Keep watching--this is all kind of fluid and may continue to change.
HAIL TO THE DIRT

FYI FROM BEN

Hi everybody--just a quick blurb--Ben sent me this in case anyone wants to attend:

Keep South Bend Beautiful is planning some exciting events for the nearfuture. To share more, KSBB will be hosting another informal meeting,Thursday, August 26th at St. Joseph County Library in the Colfax Auditoriumat 6:30PM. Please pass to all who may be interested, as this is an openinvitation.

Hail to the dirt!

HEAR YE HEAR YE!!! North Central District Meeting

Hi folks! I just got a letter concerning the Oct. 20 annual district meeting in Middlebury (see left sidebar). This is the district meeting we talked about at a previous meeting--Joan Stone, the District Director would like as many people as possible to attend this because our district will host it next year, and she wants us to know what the meetings are like. I will bring printed material to the next meeting--but for now, here are the basics:
The meeting is Oct. 20th at the Middlebury Church of the Brethren--507 W. Bristol Ave. (County Rd. 8) Middlebury
Meeting runs from 8:30 am--Registration and Continental Breakfast through 3 pm Adjournment
Buffet Luncheon will be served--Chicken or Beef Casserole
(Mary Ann--you and I will have to smuggle in some cheese or something)
The fee for the meeting is 17.00 each. You need to preregister by SEPT 30

There will be a program about the Amish Country Quilt Gardens--sounds like it will be a slide presentation.

It looks like we can register as a group--This isn't real clear--I will get with Rosie--she will probably know. There are some other concerns that we will talk about at the Sept. meeting--this is just a basic heads up for now.
Hail to the dirt--and DEATH to poison ivy (itch--itch)

Mary Ann's idea for October

Hey folks--Mary Ann A. talked to a lady (forgot her name--sorry) today who is a master gardener about a program she will be presenting in Oct. at the Liberty Library. The date is Thurs. Oct. 14th and the program is at 6 pm--PREREGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. This will be a talk about fall blooming plants--something I would like to know more about for sure. We could attend this talk in lieu of our October meeting, and afterwards walk across to Bluebird House (its right behind the library) and have a quickie business meeting. Debbie hopefully will attend the library talk and then will come over with us and tell us a little about Bluebird House. If you think this sounds viable please email me within the next week and tell me so we know if we want to proceed with a head count and registration. The program may fill quickly, so we can't mess around for too long.
Hail to the dirt!

Info about the Dove Tree

Remember at Wavecrest when Jason showed us a "Dove Tree"? I looked it up--it is a native of China. The Botanic name is Davidia involucrata and there are some legends associated with it. Its also called "Handkerchief tree". Here is a link to the Wikipedia article about it. Looks like an amazing sight when it flowers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_tree

Hail to the dirt! FL

PIES and PLANTS

Hi Everyone--Our Wavecrest trip is over now, and I hope you all had a terrific time. There were 15 of us altogether that made the trek, and I thank EVERYONE for coming. I hope you felt it was a worthwhile way to spend what turned out to be a beautiful Sunday. If anybody has photos they want to share or even if you want to write your own account of the trip, just get it to me and I will be glad to put it up here. Text documents should be Microsoft "word".
There are many additional photos already in the "Members Gardens on Parade" section. Just click on the link in the lower left hand column with that name.

Where to begin--oh yeah---PIE!!!!!!!!!! Now you have all been to one of Rob and my favorite places, and now you all know WHY we like it so much. If the decor weren't enough, the food is wonderful, and I hope you all loved your pie and ice cream. Marianne was the out of the box thinker when it came to dessert and she tried the sundae made with apple butter ice cream and caramel. Rosie came away determined to make some of the same at home. From the salads served in apple shaped bowls, to the homemade bread, to the pie that made Ronnie smile and remember his cherry picking younger days, it was a fun start to a great day. Bobbi loved the Civil War items and explained the "ninja jacks" the soldiers threw to cripple horses to us. Everywhere you look in that place is a history lesson. We all ate too much and then remedied the situation by buying MORE food to take home with us. I know the people at Rob's work are enjoying PIE today. I was sad to see the box leave the counter--but sometimes we have to sacrifice for others :-)

Then it was on to the main reason for the trip:

This sign welcomed us at the entrance to the antique barn that houses the garden shop at Wavecrest. We were met by our guide for the Nursery Tour, Jason. Jason's friendly, irreverant and knowledgable attitude were just what we were hoping for. The nursery had provided refreshments, although I don't think anyone had any, since we were all overcome with PIE. But it was a welcoming, considerate gesture that I suspect is the norm with this wonderful place.

Jason started us out by explaining that as a "Nursery", Wavecrest propagates their plants on site.They take a sort of "Cradle to Grave" approach at Wavecrest (I guess its more like "Grafting bed to Composter"); meaning that they stand ready to help with any aspect of including their plants in your yard from design inception on through. Then he began showing us some examples of their grafted stock. The things he told us about ginkos in particular and grafting in general were fascinating and very informative. Then we moved onward to see more examples of their craft--ending with the grand finale--a grafted larch that I think he told us was about 40 years old. This tree illustrated some of the principles of grafting that Jason explained to us, and was simply an amazing sight to behold. They are justifiably proud of their skills at this form of propagation, which is an art, a craft and a science all at once. Stepping inside its soft welcoming canopy that enclosed you within its friendly grasp took us all back to our childhoods.

From there we revived Hayden from the awestruck state he was in, and moved on to see the nuts and bolts of how these wonders are achieved. We strolled past production beds where we saw a number of beautiful Wavecrest developed hollies that are either on the market now or awaiting introduction. These are taller forms of hollies for northern zones; "Blue Wave" is on the market now, and we also saw "Stormy" among some others. If you go shopping for these hollies, they have names that all pertain to Lake Michigan in some way.

Jason showed us the grafting house and explained their ingenious method for growing grafts on through the winter--a method of root zone heating that was developed here at Wavecrest and is now the industry standard. Another Wavecrest innovation--a leaf valve that senses moisture and automatically controls the mister system in the cutting house--is also widely used in the industry now.

And true to their nature--the folks at Wavecrest don't grow their stock plants out in a field where their beauty would simply be wasted--they keep many of them in a lovely area that forms the yard of the home on the property. These gardens are also part of the overall nursery, and we walked and looked and admired full grown specimens of a great many things. It is always helpful to see full grown plants, especially woody plants, to get a better mental image of how they will look in our own gardens. The people at Wavecrest understand this, so they make a real effort to show people mature plants in a natural setting. This also means they have a knowledge of the plants they sell that goes far beyond reading a pot tag that comes from a wholesale grower. They live with these plants every day and can help you make informed choices that will succeed in your own yard.

After viewing this lovely area, we crossed to road to see why Wavecrest is called Wavecrest. Part of their property is on the lake, and from the Nursery office you can look out and see a breathtaking framed view of Lake Michigan. The sound and smell of the water, and the breeze coming off the lake was a perfect end to the tour. We all stood on the bluff and watched the lucky bathers on the private beach below. How fortunate these people are to be able to live in such a place, and how lucky we are that some of them have chosen to build a place like Wavecrest, where we can come and spend some very enjoyable time.

THANKS WAVECREST and JASON! THANKS PIE PANTRY!

We will see you again!

ANOTHER TRAVEL ALERT

Hey Folks--My friend Lorraine was here yesterday and alerted me to this tour opportunity:
http://www.travelstarzonline.com/
This is a trip to Meijer Gardens and the Art Glass exhibition that is going on now--the time frame is super short--the trip is on Aug. 18--but I wanted to put it up in case anyone wants to go--you can go to the website--it doesn't say the bus is full yet. I think Lorraine said its 53 dollars or something in that neighborhood.
We will need to start watching the 2011 tour schedules--I would love to go to Meijer Gardens and I am sure a lot of you would too. We don't need to charter a bus--we can just find out when a tour is going and then all sign up!
Hail to the dirt!

RED ALERT--Trip to Chicago Botanic Garden

Hey folks--Ben sent me a heads up for this trip that Fernwood is sponsoring. Anyone can go, its just cheaper for Fernwood members (maybe a good reason to join Fernwood, eh?)0ttp://fernwoodbotanical.org/webdata/education/EducatPrograms.html#cbg

The Garden with the Big Shoulders

Hey everybody--Great meeting last night! Sue thanks for bringing your girls--it was terrific to include them. We had a lightning speed business meeting due to time constraints--we really appreciate the library allowing us use of the meeting room, thanks so much to Deb Futa for helping out with this.
We tabled the minutes to speed things up--and had a quickie treasurer's report from Shirley. She told us the club balance and said she will bring the balance sheet and all the treasury paperwork to each meeting so anyone can look at it that wants to. We also now have our very own checks--so we are officially an entity now--at least from the Credit Union's point of view.
So on to business--the bulb order will be placed Friday Aug. 13--look on the website--www.vanengelen.com if you still need to shop--and get hold of me before Friday. Be sure to give me the item number as well as the plant name for clarity's sake.
It was decided that since we have our spiffy new checks, payment should be a check made out to "Dirty Hands Happy Souls" and then we will write a single check to Van E's for the payment.
And Cindy brought an example of a FABULOUS embroidered version of our Dirty Hands Logo. Her friend Jan (affectionately known as the "crazy squirrel lady") did a terrific job of translating the artwork into a stitchable design. Cindy will get a price quote from Jan, so we can bring her tees or sweats that we purchase ourselves and have her place the design on them. Thank you Cindy a million times for following up on this and making it a reality.
On to the Wavecrest trip--We decided we will meet at Cranes between 11:30 and 12:00. We will eat first and plan on getting to Wavecrest about 1:30 for our tour. The trip up will take you between 90 min and two hours. I will see about reservations at Crane's but I am not sure how workable that will be since we are all coming seperately and may arrive at varying times. I will get with Mary Ann Albert and we can conflabulate together and hopefully you will get some communication before we go so we can all get coordinated.
And if anybody wants to bring guests along on this trip--bring away. Its just meant to be a fun day out.
Now we have to think about our next meeting--I will send some emails out. Rob didn't bring it up--but our next meeting is the DAY after Labor day. This may not be good. We can cancel it, or reschedule it or something if necessary--folks need to decide what they want to do. We also didn't choose a site--I am thinking right now it would be at Shirley's but I didn't really clarify that. Yes--"Seat of your Pants Airlines" is still lurching along. Anyway--this topic will be ongoing as it develops and I will post information here--and send out blog alerts as needed.
Right now the plan for the Sept. meeting is BYOF (Bring your own flowers). Everyone can bring some cut material from the garden or the store (enough to share) and a container so we can make some fall flower arrangements. So we have some uniformity in the container size, lets say bring a coffee mug. Now this can be a big coffee mug like a latte cup, or a regular mug--or just something that is roughly the size of a coffee mug. Just use that of as your standard to measure the width of the opening that will accept the flowers. You will also want to have some clippers or a good pair of scissors--pruning secaturs would be good. I will put more stuff about this on the blog later--when we get the meeting figured out better. I am sorry to be so vague about this--right now its the best I can do.
As for the coming months, Sue and Mary Ann said they would begin to explore the possibility of a trip to Mckinley Nursery's Production field in Oct. Thanks to them so much for shouldering this responsibility. I really appreciate the help.
We also decided that a Lurie trip in November is something we would like to do--so this may take place in lieu of an actual meeting.
And speaking of Lurie and Shoulders.............
"HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders"
Carl Sandburg

Last night Ben Futa explained how that imagery along with many other symbolic references are made manifest in Lurie Gardens. He told us how Lurie came to be--introduced us to some of the amazing people who designed and executed the space, and explained the fascinating history as well as the mechanical nuts and bolts of this most innovative garden.
Lurie is a roof garden--I was very surprised to learn this--it was literally sculpted into the site it occupies. The soil is only 4 feet or so deep at its very deepest, and the earth the garden resides in was all brought to the site by trucks. Given this fact, the naturalistic appearance of the area is even more surprising. This is due largely to the skill and vision of Piet Oudolf, who conceived the plantings, and Roy Diblik, who translated the language of the plants from Dutch to American-Midwestern. These two men worked in concert to fill the gardens with native and non native plants that offer different kinds of beauty in each of the four seasons. This is an important lesson we can take away from a planting like this--gardens are not just summer places. They are havens that can heal and uplift at any time of year--even with the snows of winter upon them. The garden is meant to be viewed from a great many vantage points, and Ben was able to show us how this works with his wonderful photographs. These illustrated how the gardens can be viewed from very close up to as far away as an upper floor of a skyscraper. He also told us about the importance of lighting in this space--it was lit by a theatrical lighting designer rather than a landscaper and functions equally well as a beautiful space at night.
And we learned about the three women who were the creative force behind the overall design that created such a unique and effective space. The design firm headed by Kathryn Gustafson tells the story of the city of Chicago in unique and subtle ways that many people will only ever sense unconsciously, if at all. The dark and light plates, which symbolize the past and future are bisected by the "seam" which is a wooden boardwalk that references the walkways built when the city was in its early days--a swampy forbidding frontier on the edge of a huge inland lake. Much has changed now--even the lake shoreline is in a different place--all due to the hand of the people who settled there. The large, simple retaining wall marks the spot where the shoreline once began--amazingly it is quite a healthy distance from where the lake meets the land now. The train tracks that crisscrossed the area are also referenced in the placement of planters and benches in what at first glance appears to be a neutral area with nothing in it.
The thought and care that went into the creation of this place is evident in so many other ways--ways that we would never know without Ben's wonderful talk to enlighten us. The entire space was tilted slightly to accomodate a view from a wing at the Art Institute that wasn't even a reality yet. The arborvitae hedge, which symbolizes the "big shoulders" in Carl Sandburg's poem is softly shaped to actually resemble shoulders--and the whole shape of the design may (in Ben's estimation) reference the trapezius muscle of the human back.
Gardens can be highly personal spaces--as our own gardens are. Public gardens can be personal spaces too--but they are personal on a different level. People experience the gardens but they don't create them as we create our own gardens. The skill and beauty of this garden design lies in the fact that a great many people can go into it and come out of it with an experience that is uniquely their own--and after having that experience they are different people. Who knows how many businessmen took time out from their cell phoning and texting to go buy some pots of Stella D'oro and get some dirt on their hands after being there????
Ben closed his talk by reading us a quote from Terry Guen--Head of Terry Guen Design Associates. Terry's firm helped implement the overall design of Lurie Gardens; troubleshooting problems and shaping the ideas of the designers into reality. She overcame what must have seemed like insurmountable obstacles to pull the design out of the imaginary realm and set it down on the earth. When reflecting on her role and the hope she has for the future--she told Ben this:
"Once the designer leaves, a place takes on its own life--much like a child leaving the protection and guidance of their parent. The parent is still involved in the child's life, but the child makes its own way, evolves, and grows. it's no longer the designer's duty to direct the children once they're 'grown up' "
We thank Ben so much for giving us such a unique perspective on this beautiful place.
The Salvia River Thanks to Ben for the photos!

RED ALERT----MEETING CHANGE

Hey everyone--The place for the next meeting has been changed. Ben is going to do a powerpoint presentation for us, and he has secured the North Liberty Library Meeting Room for us. Meeting time is the same--7 pm--just the place is different.
Hail to the dirt! See you then!

Something ever so fascinating

Hey everybody--Here is something for all the junior scientists.
My friend, Susan, who is a dedicated gardener north of Chicago, sent me an article that a friend of hers had mailed to her. It seems this friend is a Botany chair at the University of Iowa or someplace (I will have to verify his exact title so I don't seem too ignorant or disrespectful). Of course in my usual lame attempt to be organized I put it someplace and now it's evaporated into thin air. But I can at least pass along the gist of the content, because it is truly remarkable.
The article was about plant evolution and genetics; how flowering plants evolved and the impact the "act" of flowering as a behavior had on the earth and everything that came after. In explaining this concept, the article delved into the science of plant genetics. Did you know that plants are genetically much more intricate than we are? Their genes are subject to mutation and adaptation at significantly higher rates than ours. The belief is that plants evolved to be this way for a very simple reason--they can't (for the most part) move. The junior scientist term for this is "sessile". If they are in a bad spot, they can't get up and go somewhere else. But what they can do over time is set seeds which will contain babies that have a higher rate of mutation than animate creatures do. This increases the probability that a baby with altered genetics will sprout and be able to tolerate the poor conditions, or the seeds are designed in a way that allows them to be moved to a better spot--either by birds, the wind, the fur on our dogs or our pantlegs. Plants can't physically change locations, so they compensate by changing THEMSELVES to better exploit the location they find themselves in.
Now don't get confused by the semantics here and think this is a conscious process--it's not. Plants don't stand around and say "I have a headache--I think I will mutate into a plant that grows aspirin in its head so that doesn't happen". Its more of a numbers game. When the plant reproduces, the genes get shuffled and copied into the new seeds, and the probability that the copying process will get a glitch in it that causes an innacurate copy to result in a seed is higher. So the chance of a seed having a spontaneous mutation is fairly high (the term "fairly high" is relative--one in a few thousand maybe). And in a certain number of cases, the mutation will be one that gives that particular baby an advantage, so it will thrive in the site where it happens to land and sprout. The other babies that landed in that spot will be less happy, so over time they will die out and the thriving baby will be left to rule over the space. As it reproduces, the altered gene will be copied into its babies, and they in turn will be successful. And on and on it goes; all because they don't have the ability to have a tantrum and storm out of the room.
Is there a lesson for people here too?
Just like Dorothy said--"Theres no place like home".

A perfect use for a garden

Hey everybody--last night's meeting was just terrific--and it reminded me that I wanted to post about the week before. A fellow garden club, the Iris Elm Garden Club of Winimac came to visit the garden. I sat next to Darlene Fritz, the club president, at the board meeting, and we hit it off immediately. Darlene is a wonderful down to earth person--you don't have to be around her long to KNOW she is a gardener deep in her soul. She remembered me from several years ago when Mary Ann McG and I attended a garden show in Winimac, and asked about coming to spend some time at our house. Of course they were more than welcome, so on a very fine Thursday morning, they arrived. Darlene and 4 other members spent several hours here, looking at the gardens and flowers. Then they unpacked a picnic lunch and we all ate together in front of the little house. The weather was simply perfect, the flowers were blooming beautifully and we had such a terrific visit. One of the members was Edna, who is in her 90's. I want to be Edna when I grow up. She walked most of the garden with the help of her trusty cane, and enjoyed every inch of it. Her love of gardens flowed from her like a river--she asked questions and made notes about daylily eyezones so she could pass on what she learned to the club, and told me all about her daughters, who it sounds like were also passionate gardeners. Meeting Edna was a vivid reminder of how important it is for us to impart our love of gardens by mentoring others. After spending time with her I don't know how anyone could restrain themselves from heading to the nearest garden center!
Our lunch on the lawn was delicious--Darlene had prepared it and brought enough for everyone--the friendship these ladies feel for one another is so infectious I felt like I had been a part of the group for years. When they left there were hugs all around, and a firm desire to see each other again. It is my hope that we can spend some time doing a fun activity with this terrific bunch in the future.
The more dirt, the merrier!

Wavecrest and Crane's hours

Okay everybody--here are the hours for the places we are going to visit in Michigan on Aug. 15th.
Wavecrest is open 12 to 5
Crane's Pie Pantry is open 11 to 8. Just think about all the plants you can buy and all the pie you can eat in that length of time!
If you look back through the blog archive you will find a post that is titled "Mark your calenders (sort of)". The links to both places are listed there. Check them out.
Hail to the dirt!

Riding the Rails with Rob

Hey folks! We had a great time at the meeting. Thanks so much to everyone who attended, the daylilies were nice enough to put on a lovely show. It seems like peak bloom officially started just today and I am so glad you all got to see it. We were lucky enough to have two guests, who became new members--a nice big dirty handshake and a sweaty hug to Hayden and Rosie. You will get your membership packets in due time--just like Maggie said--wait about a month. That will give me time to loose and find the papers and stuff at least twice. We send best wishes to Marianne for a quick recovery from her summer bug. There was a lot of business to cover and thanks to the fact that nobody is real big on being ultra businesslike, it didn't hurt too much. We voted in our bylaws, so now that is taken care of and I don't have to keep trying to remember not to forget it. We didn't have a Secretary's report thanks to the fact that I am a complete spacehead, and Shirley didn't have anything to report as Treasurer either, except to say that next week she and I will have a conflab and get our club its own bank acct. I attended my first ever board meeting, now that we are officially federated, and tried to impart what I learned there in a manner that approaches coherence. Sue asked that I post the dates of the upcoming district and state meeting, and suggested that we make an effort to attend these events so we can begin to learn about how our club fits into the overall group. So the dates are as follows (I will also put them in the "upcoming events" section in the left sidebar): The North West District is hosting the State Convention in 2011. This will be held in Merrilville on April 6 and 7 of 2011. Joan Stone (our District Director--North Central District) would like as many people as possible to attend this meeting so that when our district hosts this event in 2012 we will begin the process with a good idea of what has been done in the past. I did forget to say that the initial idea for location of this (2012) event is to have it at "Das Essenhaus", although the exploratory process is still ongoing.
The Annual District meeting (the one our group is slated to host in 2016) will be held in Middlebury on Oct. 20 of this year. This is another meeting that we should make an effort to attend--the people I have met so far are really just wonderful. Dirty Hands Happy Souls doesn't describe only us. And if we are going to have a positive impact as a club, we need to start making these connections, so we can learn how to effectively contribute to the organization in the way that suits our group's personality. The link to the state club's event calender is:
http://www.gardenclubofindiana.org/stateeventsgarden_club_of_indiana.htm
There isn't a lot there yet that is specific--as the dates draw nearer, there will be more information about each event.

We also talked in brief about ideas for future meetings, and Sue came up with some great ones: a visit to an Amish garden in Rentown (hopefully one of this fascinating sounding family will attend a meeting so we can get to know her) a haywagon tour of Mckinley Nursery's Production fields, a trip to a Christmas tree farm, like Hunzikers,visiting another perennial grower in the Plymouth area. Other ideas that floated about were a possible travelogue from Cindy about her recent FABULOSO trip to Alaska, where she smuggled rocks and probably made friends with all the squirrels and bunnies in the far north, maybe a trip to Lurie Gardens for a tour of the area, a night time walk at Fernwood, and a trip to Nelson's Herb Farm. And now that Rosie is a member, I see programs from her in our future too! Keep the ideas coming! This group is filled with intensely interesting, creative people and the more everyone throws in the pot, the more fascinating the stew becomes. Think about what you can contribute yourself too--we are all friends here and nobody could care less about acting snooty and official than us. If you know something fun or interesting--we all want to hear about it. And we want you to tell it in your own way--with your own personality shining through.
We also decided on the date of Sunday, Aug. 15th for our Wavecrest trip. We will meet once more before that time and we will firm up the travel times and exchange cell phone numbers and get transportation sorted out then. Right now the plan is to leave here at 10 am and converge either at Wavecrest or Cranes Pie Pantry. I need to get a firm grip on the hours of both places--which I will do and post it here. Then when we meet next we will get it all figured out.
Sue asked about posting pictures to the blog--its fairly simple--if you can send me jpeg files, please do that--I can probably manage if you send something else, but jpegs make my head hurt the least. Just send the files as attachments to robfraney@aol.com and I will take it from there. If you send me pet pictures, please label the pic with your pet's name so I can put it with the pic.
Patrick--Betty and Betty are pets, so take their pictures pleeze:-)
And Bobbi reminded us that we should be thinking about making up a bulk order for bulbs--if you haven't gotten catalogs yet--check for a previous blog post with the links to Van Engelen and Scheepers, and come to the next meeting with anything you want to order figured out. Come bearing funds so we can place and pay for the order as a group and save shipping.
I think I am going to have to get someone to "volunteer" to coordinate this--if I think about handling this myself, very bad pictures come into my head.
After all that--my brain was exhausted and I was very glad to have Rob take over so he could tell you all about the Clumberton and Lilyfield Railway. Rob has wanted to do this project for a very long time, and it pleases me no end to see his dream realized. Its also great for him to be able to tell his friends about it and have them be interested and appreciative. A lot of thought and hard work has gone into the little world he is building--and its always good for people to see the evolution of a project like this. Any time you listen to how someone made something, you celebrate their creative spirit and further your own. The train brings movement and sound to the garden in a way that is different from moving water or rustling grasses. Its just another layer of interest that can be added--and you can be as simple or intricate as you like with it. A garden should be the fulfillment of one's spirit--and while all of our gardens are expressions of both of our spirits, the train is the most significant to Rob. It represents a lot of things about who he is and how he has come to this point in his life. When I look at that train, that is what I see--just like when all of you look at your gardens you see that part of yourselves that was speaking when you made it. Its what makes our souls HAPPY (that and fingernail grime, which is also a necessary ingredient).
Hail to the dirt! THANKS TO SUE F AND BOBBI D FOR THE PICS!!!!

Just a quickie--Garden Walk in Porter County

Hi folks--Yesterday I got this email about an upcoming garden walk in Porter County. The date is July 17, tickets are 6 bucks each in advance. You can follow the link for more information. This is a very active chapter of Master Gardeners, and the events of theirs that I have attended have been very nice.
http://www.pcgarden.info/
If someone wants to coordinate a road trip--Have at it! Get in touch with me and I can post the particulars here. If there is a group that wants to go, I can get to Valpo and buy tickets.
Hail to the dirt!

GET READY FOR AUGUST

Hey everybody--mark your calenders for the August meeting--it will be Tues. Aug 3. Ben Futa will be home then and he is going to come and talk to us about the wonderful, amazing, and world famous Lurie Gardens in Chicago. Ben did his summer internship with them last year, and it has carved a space out in his heart that will remain there always. He is going to give us an overview of the History of the garden, explain the symbolism and structure of the garden and introduce us to some of the people who conceived the design and made it happen. Its my hope that in the future we can all climb aboard the South Shore, which conveniently stops right at the garden, and take a guided tour so we can see everything Ben tells us about in real life. And if all the stars align right, our Tour Guide (Ben) can take us to the Art Institute to see the beautiful plantings that inhabit it as well.
Sounds like a whole lot of learning and a ton of fun in our future!
LINK TO LURIE GARDENS:
http://luriegarden.org/

Hail to the dirt!

New link

Hey folks--There is a new link in the list to "Tree Help.com". I stumbled across this site while trying to diagnose a problem on Rob's new baby fir tree. This a commercial site--they sell stuff--but there is also a LOT of good information here about trees, so I am including it in the link list. If you have a tree with a problem or want information about a specific tree ailment, this would be a good place to start.
Hail to the dirt!

ANOTHER plant sale--KEWWWWWLLLLL!

Hey folks--here is a heads up to another plant auction put on by a fellow garden club. The Michiana Garden club has a fundraiser auction and here are the particulars:
This is from an email sent to me by Val Bartels:

We would love if you attended our plant auction on Wednesday, June 23, starting at 10:30 a.m.

It will be held at the home of Sue Loughridge, 17484 Green Oaks Court in Granger. Her phone number is 272-9241. You can also call me at 271-3637.

If you'd like to contribute plants to our auction, that would be OK with us too, but you don't don't need to do that. We serve home-made cookies and iced tea and lemonade and have a wonderful time bidding on all the wonderful plants that our members donate.

I hope some folks can get together and attend this--it sounds like a great time!
Hail to the dirt!

ONE SMALL STEP FOR DIRTKIND

WOOT! We're Federated!

We are now part of a group of the nicest, most fun folks it has been my pleasure to meet in a long time (with the exception of US of course!)

Ahhhhhhh--Spring Bulbs

Okay guys--make sure you know where your bulb augers are. If we all band together we can get some serious bulbs for our gardens. Last night Bobbi had her copy of the John Scheepers and Van Engelen catalogs; otherwise known as the "drool books". You can request your own catalogs by going to :
http://www.johnscheepers.com/
or call 860-567-0838.
If there are some bulbs that several people want; and we can come up with enough quantity, we can place one order with either entity for all of us, and get a bunch of bulbs for a very good price. The quality of bulbs these places ship is extremely high--so its a very good value, and with a single shipping address, the cost of that should be cheaper too.
If you think this sounds like a good idea, email me to let me know you want to participate. Get yourself a copy of the catalog and we can hash out the particulars at the next meeting. This is something else I would like to develop as a benefit of being a club member--to expand and increase our buying power by purchasing larger orders as a group.
Think about it and let me know if you are interested.
Hail to the dirt!

MAGGIE FOUND THE PEONY LINK!

PINK is for Peonies.
Maggie found a couple links about the storage tip she was telling us about at Bobbi's. This link actually will take you to the other link she sent me, as well as to the TV segment where Maggie saw this. And hopefully the gal that posted this will update with her results, so we can find out how well this works.
THANKS MAGGIE!!!! (her husband may not be happy about this, since his beer fridge will have to help out with the research)
http://sweetchicevents.com/blog/storing-peonies-in-the-fridge-an-experiment/
HAIL TO THE (pink) DIRT

MARK YOUR CALENDERS (SORT OF)

Hey folks--at the meeting last night we decided we are going to take a trip to Wavecrest Nursery one of the last two weekends in August. We will be going on a Sunday. We will talk about this more later at the next meeting and firm up the dates and get carpools figured out and stuff. This will be a 90 minute to 2 hr. drive, and we will have lunch up there at Crane's Pie Pantry.
Here is a link to Wavecrest:
http://www.wavecrestnursery.com/

and one to Crane's:
http://cranespiepantry.com/

get ready for some serious PIE. Lots of fun shopping ahead!

Bobbi and Dave's Tree Paradise

Hey everybody. We had a great time last night at Bobbi and Dave's house. Got through the business meeting without too much pain--being the great leader I am, I forgot to have us vote in the bylaws. Ooops. Well--we will do it next time. The feedback I have gotten so far is that they are fine with people. Low turnout due to holiday traveling and misc. things--Happy Birthday to Ronnie from everybody. Sue, hope you had a good trip. Mary Ann--hope you managed to rest up after your busy day with the kiddies, Marianne, hope everything got planted before the morning rain washed it all in. Ruth, we missed you, and Patrick too. Cindy--well--she is having the time of her life, we can't wait to hear all about it.
Okay--so we had a fabulous time. The weather was fine--and Bobbi even had cookies and lemonade--bless her heart. Maggie came with news of an incredible flower tip she saw MARTHA THE MAGNIFICENT do--she will look into it more for next time. Basically it involved cutting peonies when in the bud stage--after they have shed their waxy green outer coating. These are then wrapped in the cellophane florist sleeves, then in newspaper and put in the refrigerator (in a vase of water or just plain???? I forget now). According to MARTHA--these blooms can be stored in this stage of bloom for up to SIX MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!! How amazing is that?????????? Peonies flowering in October or November? Who wouldn't want that???
Of course now we all have to go out and buy ourselves a walk in cooler so we can participate in this miracle. Or for those poor slobs like me that can't grow peonies worth a darn, we first have to learn to grow the plants. Or go to Bobbi's house and cut some of the amazing heirloom varieties they grow there.
And speaking of Bobbi's--she and Dave gave us a wonderfully informative tour of their gardens. The two of them are simply mad about nature and the outdoors and it shows in every step you take. Bobbi's collections of watering cans, antique garden planters, nautical memorabilia, garden art, and everything else underscore her deep love for family and history and her strong commitment to living a beautiful life in every way she can. Dave's knowledge about all the plants and his obvious affection for them all show how plants can preserve and continue family memories and traditions, while at the same time building new ones. He has a large plot of family peonies that have come through several generations and will continue forward from him. Bobbi has a large planting in the front yard of plants from her father. Its amazing how such deep affection for someone can be preserved in a garden. The plants are a constant reminder of the person you loved so much. These plants that were watched by their eyes and touched by their hands now in turn add Bobbi and Dave's eyes and hands to the collective memory they hold within their leaves and flowers.
And that was just the beginning. Bobbi and Dave have a fascinating collection of trees, which showcase the interests and expertise of their son, Michael, who is the curator of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard. And everywhere there are plantings, the hand of their son, Jamie, is in evidence, since he is a constant source of help to them. Two species of Katsura tree, an amazing Striped Maple, two types of Golden Rain tree along with Bottlebrush Buckeye, and other assorted Buckeyes, pagoda dogwoods all over the place, a Dawn Redwood of beautiful proportion, a wide ranging collection of viburnums, numerous St. John'sWorts that were amazing to me for their huge size, simply gorgeous plicata Viburnums, native Witch Hazels and "Arnold's Promise" Witch Hazel, Serviceberry, Hydrangeas I can't begin to remember the names of--"Nikko Blue" among others, a gorgeous climbing hydrangea--and what may have been the highlight--an amazing Kousa dogwood in full bloom. Woody plants are often something that we forget about in our mad rush to have flowers. But Bobbi and Dave's garden is a perfect example of why these plants matter and what they bring to an area. I know I haven't mentioned everything we saw--there were so many to see. For those of us that live in more suburban or urban areas, it is possible to include some of these exceptional plants because there are dwarf forms available. I know I have several dwarf viburnums, and there are numerous dwarf conifers, and dwarf forms of dogwoods, as well as weeping or contorted forms of several other species that would fit very well in a smaller setting. Dave and Bobbi's house is also a wonderful lesson about overstory development and how a garden changes over time under the influence of large maturing trees. Planning for size is an important part of landscape design, and seeing so many beautifully grown specimens really helps visualize the impact these plants would have in one's own yard. We thank Dave and Bobbi for their generosity of spirit both in planting these gardens in the first place, and for sharing them with us.
Hail to the dirt--and WOOOOOT! for trees! (the image is not from Bobbi's--its a photo of my Kousa Dogwood. If Bobbi can get some photos to me of her own garden I will change this--just wanted some "pretty" to put in the post).

Okay folks--lets see your gardens!

Finally I have gotten around to figuring out a way to let everyone share garden photos. Its kind of clumsy, but it will work. It seems I can't create a second album the way I would like to in Picasa--one that will link into the slideshow. I have come up with what I am certain Rob would call a "klugey" workaround (programmer lingo for--"well it works but it stinks"). If you go to the "Handy Links for Dirty Hands" section (lower left--scroll down) you will see a new link there that says "Member Gardens on Parade". If you click on this link it will take you to a new Picasa album.
Here's what you will need to do to get photos up on here. Send me Jpeg files of your photos--please Jpegs. I know that sounds like a broken record, but it makes the process go faster, and therefore more likely to get done in a timely manner. If you want the caption to say something specific, just tell me what. I will at least captionate them with your name, so people will know whose garden it is. My hope is to organize everyone's garden into sort of mini files within the album--we'll see how long it takes me to beat that idea into submission. Anyway--then I can copy some of the pictures into the other album, so some of them will show up in the slideshow.
Hope this idea works--I want this blog to be something fun that everyone can participate in. Just need some photos from you all now.
Hail to the dirt!

REDNECKS AND BLUE LUPINES

For those that couldn't attend, you missed a lovely day at Mary Ann and Blackie's house. The weather was perfect, the company amazing and the lupines were incredible. Upon arriving, everybody had a chance to admire Mary Ann's beautiful yard and garden, which is full of Asian influences. The tranquil beauty of it put us all in the mood to relax and enjoy the day. All the recent interior work they have done on their house was much admired as well.

Ebbie, the bassett, escorted us all around, baying her commentary as we went along.
Then everybody rode back through the woods in the old hay wagon--pulled by our tour guide, Blackie and his vintage Allis-Chalmers tractor. Saw many wonderful things--beautiful old trees and woodland understory, lots of low hanging branches :-) ,the uncommonly complex ecosystem that is home to the lupines, and a fern bog where Cinnamon Ferns make their homes at the top of tall hummocks. Still in the fiddlehead stage, Blackie told us that by summers' end the ferns will be towering very tall overhead.
Bobbie got some starts of skunk cabbage, so she was a very happy camper, and we all got to smell it (lucky us--UGH). Fortunately the lupine was filling the air with its very gentle perfume nearby. There was hawkweed beginning to flower among the lupine, studding the lavender blue carpet with points of brilliant yellow. Then we piled back into the wagon and headed for the campfire, where the carnivores among us roasted hot dogs on sticks, and everyone enjoyed veggies and dip, chips and queso and a wide assortment of cookies and goodies. Then we all bombed around the pond for awhile, examining the plant life and looking for the elusive turtles. All in all, a wonderful way to enjoy the spring time.
Many thanks to Mary Ann and Blackie for this terrific idea to share the beauty of their home and land with us. Maybe it can become an annual event--what a wonderful way to begin the summer!
Hail to the dirt!
Thanks to Bobbi D. for the pics!

NEW FRIENDS IN LAPORTE!

Hey everybody--thanks to all of you that attended breakfast here and the plant sale in Laporte. For those of you that weren't able to make it, you missed some WONDERFUL instant coffee (yes I am being sarcastic). At any rate--it was a fun way to spend the morning and we all came home with some nice bargains to boot. I really appreciate your going to help me show our appreciation to the Four Seasons Gardeners, which is our sponsoring club. They have been really welcoming and positive, and it was great to be able to give them some of the same back. All our new babies are planted, and hopefully they will get nice and big so when the time comes we will be able to share them and keep the circle going.
And on the way home we found a nice new place to buy plants--Rosenbaum's nursery off of Joliet Rd. in Door Village. For club members of the hosta persuasion, she has about 300 cultivars total; not all are for sale yet, but she had some excellent crowns in 5 dollar pots, and some other nicely grown stock. She is not open Monday and Tues. except for wholesale orders, but the rest of the week is okay.
And we had two guests go along--Hayden and Sherri, both of whom we hope will join the club at some point.
Didn't take any photos--someone needs to get on the ball and start taking pics for me to post--of course you would think that someone would be ME, but since I can't be counted on to remember my own name, much less to carry a camera, its not surprising that nothing has happened yet. If nothing else I could have taken a photo of the KILLER house we saw on the way! Hayden already has dibs on the barn, and Rob and I will rent a room from him. The rest of you can fight over the house!
Hail to the dirt! See you tomorrow at Mary Ann McG's. Anyone needing direction can stop here on the way and follow us.

Added TWO Links

Hi folks--Its raining and I am putzing around in the house. Was hunting for some information for Ben about clay soil and came across this excellent website. This gentleman is in Canada, so he is familar with COLD winters, and he has run a nursery and used organic practices for a long time. There is a ton of free information here--it looks like you can subscribe as well and get even more. Just look in the links for "Dougs Garden Site".
And Ben just sent me an update to his new site, Plan-T so the link to it is here too. Be sure to check out what Ben has to say--his interest in sustainability and biodiversity in the garden is an important message. The fact that a garden is created by human hands doesn't make it any less of an ecosystem over time. This is an important aspect of gardening that should be considered, and Ben is passionate about it! So click on over there and see what he has to say.
Hail to the dirt!

WE ROCK!!!!

Hi everybody! We had a great meeting last night. Applause to everybody for sticking with the workload and contributing so much. We have a good, workable, sensible set of by-laws now and that is thanks to all of you. I have rewritten the by-laws and standing rules and emailed copies to everybody. Please get in touch with me if you didn't get yours. They are attached to your email and will open in Microsoft Word.
And way to go with the "Show and Tell"--Sue it was great of you to bring a plant and give it as a gift. This sets a great precedent for an ongoing climate of friendship and sharing--one of the many benefits of being a member of this terrific group.
Buscia--thank you so much for helping with the dues. You have no idea how much that helped me. I really am all at sea when finances are involved.
The "favorite nursery" portion of the meeting was terrific--I think we all learned about at least one new place to add to our shopping itinerary. For me--I can't wait to get up to Sawyer and check them out.
As reminders--be thinking about when you want to go to Mary Ann McG and Blackie's house for the redneck garden party and hayride. The field of lupine really is a sight worth seeing. And Mary Ann has lots of other garden treasures to check out as well. Her 'goddess of the garage wall' (my disrespectful name--not hers) is exquisite.
Some other things to keep in mind:
We need a volunteer to take charge of the "Retailers Roundup" page of the blog. Remember the hope is that we can build good will with area nurseries to benefit both the nurseries as well as club members.
If my guidelines for getting photos to me for the blog were unclear--please communicate this with me so I can clarify them. We all want to see your beloved BABIES.
We will discuss in more detail our possible trip to Fennville in August.
The subject for our next meeting will be TREES. Bring something that shows what trees mean to you--either some leaves or a branch off a favorite tree, a picture of a tree you love, a poem, whatever. If you have experience with certain types of trees, come prepared to contribute. Bobbi is going to see if she can line up a speaker, but even if she can't we have enough interesting ideas between us to entertain ourselves.
Guess thats all for now--watch your email and let me know if there is anything you want posted here or if you have any suggestions.
as always--hail to the dirt!

Get your Bird Eyes On

Hey dirty handers! We are right now on the threshold of a very special event in our spring season--the onset of the "warbler wave". Every spring, thousands of these chickadee size birds move north to their nesting grounds and we are along the migratory path. The "wave" refers to the fact that these birds move in multi species groups in large numbers. Often flying at night for thousands of miles, many of them come to rest and refuel in our area. A few species stay here and nest, but a great many of them continue on northward after a short stopover to eat everything they can get ahold of to replenish their energy.

Warblers are attracted to areas with very high insect populations and can usually be found in mature forests, especially if water is nearby. Many species are drawn to moving water like streams or rivers. They often stay high up in the tree canopy, and can be difficult to spot or identify for this reason. Birders often complain of "warbler neck" which refers to the many hours spent with your head cocked back as far as it can go while you scan the treetops for these little flying jewels. Fortunately, since nesting time is near, these birds are tricked out in their brilliant plumage, and usually sing like crazy. Often they can be spotted as their bright colors flash among the trees, or located and identified by their songs. Binoculars with the largest lenses are best for viewing this quick little birds--they let in more light and make it easier to get your eye "on the bird".

While places like Potato Creek attract huge numbers of warblers (and people to watch them), we can make our own gardens hospitable to them. If there are a number of mature trees in your yard and surrounding neighborhood, you can sometimes attract them with a source of moving water, like a gently flowing fountain. The first fountain we ever built (a watering can that spilled into a basin) was up and running for about an hour when a Scarlet Tanager came down from the trees to see it and get a drink. Suet--especially the kind with dead bugs in it--will sometimes attract a hungry Pine Warbler. Some warblers have a real affinity for certain conifers--the Bay Breasted Warbler is closely associated with Norway Spruce--and we have seen them in exactly those trees at our house.

So keep these beautiful little birds in mind at this time of year--and if you see a small bird moving quickly through the trees, get some bino's out and spend some time looking. When conditions are just right you will be treated to something you will never forget. We have seen as many as 10 different species in our yard in active years, and more than that at Potato Creek.

And did you know that cell phone towers are taking a very hard toll on migratory bird populations? Its something to think about.