Flowers and PIE

Hi everyone--I am composing this from a hotel in Pennsylvania, and its been a few days since the meeting, so forgive me if this is a bit disjointed. The meeting was last Tuesday--we had bumped it forward by a week to accomodate the 4th of July holiday. Attendance was very light--Cindy came, along with Dewayne and Daisy, Bobbi and Dave, Rosie and Kathy. Maggie, we sure hope you are feeling better--you need to be able to get into your garden! And everyone else, I hope you had tons of fun on your various vacations. I actually floated the idea around in my head to not have a meeting in July, but Bobbi voted a big thumbs down since she enjoys seeing the daylilies in bloom then. I think at the very least the July meeting should be very light on content, since so many people have conflicting plans then. More of a fun day. PIE. Yeah--sounds about right.
Okay--so we hung out and looked at the flowers--our hoped for speaker from ND had a health issue and had to cancel. But the flowers were pretty and the garden was nice,so we managed to entertain ourselves that way. On to the meeting--no real reports--we didn't have a Treasurer or Secretary in attendance, Cindy didn't have anything to report on the travel front.
Rosie didn't have any updates for the Program book--and the planning committee for the state convention is sort of on summer vacation, so there aren't any updates there either. The one thing we did decide is that we are going to make a field trip in Sept. to the Quiet Corner for lunch and then to Defries Garden for a tour. Bobbi and Dave went there and really enjoyed it, so we all need to head over there and see it for ourselves. We will get serious about this later. This trip will happen on a week day or possibly a Saturday depending on the Quiet Corner's schedule. More on the whole thing later.
Other than that, we didn't do much other than hang out and visit. If I have missed something, please remind me so I can include it. Sorry to be so vague--just not quite myself at the moment.
And sympathy to Bobbi on the loss of her beloved horse, Lady, who was such a friend to her family for many, many years. She is now at rest on their property with a stand of Ladybells to keep watch over her. And our dear Soda Booboo is resting in the center of the circle bed, surrounded by daylilies in full flower. The bright yellow spider form flower that I have named for her will be moved to that area in the fall, where it will mark the spot.
That's all for now folks--hopefully next month will be longer. We will be meeting at Cindy's--please plan to attend so you can hear the wonderful story of the incredible Burr Oak tree, meet all the four legged family, and admire the beautiful gardens.

cooking class from New Kitchen Store

Hey everybody-The New Kitchen Store will be hosting a cooking class in Laporte with Chef Brad. Here is the info in case you are interested:

June 23 - Chef Brad Hindsley's Grilling Class: Will feature Grilled Gazpacho, Grilled Rosemary and Sweet Potato Skewers, and Maple Lime Grilled Chicken. The class size is limited so make your reservations with the New Kitchen Store. The first half of the class is instruction and demonstration and the second half EVERYONE cooks. Come join the fun. The class starts at 5:00 p.m. LaPorte time. If you need a ride from Walkerton, give us a call and you can ride with us.

Call the New Kitchen Store For Reservations or Questions
574-586-2745

Mud pies and Cherry Pies

Hi everybody--We had a great time at Rosie's last night, didn't we? By the time we were all there the heat had dissapated a little bit, and who noticed it anyway with all the Hosta and Heuchera to admire? Kathy, Buscia and Patrick, we missed you guys and hope to see you next month.
Rosie's place is lovely, full to the brim with interesting plants, all beautifully grown. We all came away with a fresh appreciation for the design possibilities of combining plants with attractive foilage to their best advantage. From her eye popping huge Hosta all the way down to the charming minis, every hosta was admired in its turn. People were fast choosing favorites--Cindy admired "June" with its cream colored foilage, Marianne became determined to find the unique "Guardian Angel" for her garden. Rosie passed along an excellent perspective on Hosta and their need for light, pointing out that the varieties with white on their leaves lack a lot of chloropyll and thus need a certain amount of light to make enough energy to survive from one season to the next. She explained how she and Perry (aka "Diego the Lawn Boy") built box beds for asparagus, and we all admired her ingenious beds that utilized equipment tracks as containers. She told us the life story of her beautiful arborvitae hedge, that actually preceded the house on the property, and amazed us with her stellar delphinium, which unbelievably is actually a bit smaller than normal this year.
Rosie's Heuchera collection provides a wonderful look at this most decorative genus--Cindy was very inspired by the combinations and went home with ideas for her own yard. Heuchera's can be a mixed bag of good varieties and bad, so seeing which ones grow beautifully to a mature size is really instructive.
Then it was on to the business meeting. We had all our usual reports--Marianne read the minutes and Shirley had nothing new on the moola front. Bobbi is back online, thanks to the very "Dependsable" mediacom guy, so watch for email updates. Buscia wasn't there last night, but several people said they had received reminder calls--as always thanks to her for reaching out and touching us all.
Online buddies had all printed their copies of "Indiana Gardens" and since Patrick wasn't there Maggie gave her printed copy to Marianne, and Kathy can get her copy to Patrick next time. Cindy also has hers.
Rosie and I went to Das Essenhaus for a tour and another meeting of the State Convention committee, and in the interest of time, we will have Rosie update us in July. She took a lot of photos, asked a number of questions about our job (program book) and will fill us in on all of it then. When the time comes for proofreaders she will use the internet to send out files for people to check. Sue volunteered to be a reader--thanks, Sue.
A brief report on our get together at "Thyme of Grace"--yum. end of story.
In new business Gene reported that Tim Disco from Notre Dame has agreed to come to our July meeting--he just needed to let him know the date, which is July 12 the SECOND Tues. in July. Thanks, Gene, for taking care of this. We are all looking forward to meeting Tim and dancing the night away.
In addition we may be having a guest in July in the person of Joan Stone, who is the GCI district director. Joan wishes to attend one of our meetings to say hello and support us as we go along. Since she must be invited to attend, we chose the July meeting to ask her, and I will take care of this.
An exciting development--Cindy has stepped up and volunteered to be our Travel Diva. She will keep an eye out for bus trips and tours that might be of interest to members and report to us when she finds something. I will add her to the meeting agendas from now on. This is something I have been wanting to implement since the club began and I really thank her for volunteering to take it on.
We touched upon the subject of a program book--its something that I think could be easily added to the blog and accessed online. Online buddies can print a copy out for non-onliners so everyone has access to it. More on this later.
Then it was Hayden's turn to relate the fabulous "once in a lifetime" experience he had meeting Piet Oudolf. We are so glad for Hayden having had this incredible chance. We know he will make the most of it. Hayden also filled us in on what is coming up with MHA. Three open gardens this month, Rosie's open garden will combine with a sale she is planning on the 14th, so come on back and get yourself some hosta! The featured MHA nursery this month is Nancy Beadles' "Hostas and More" in Fish Lake. There is a coupon online for her shop. The next Pie Night is July 8 at my house--it will be the Garden Fail Festival. Bring the plant you hate the most and we will help you destroy it in one of several ways.
In announcements--Sue told us about a garden in New Paris owned by the DeFries family that will be sponsoring tours, we talked about the Art and Earth trail (link posted in the "Handy Links" section), the Barn Quilt trail, Gardens on the Prairie and Sunshine (?) Greenhouse and a potential fun day out to visit them, and a fun weekend at the New Kitchen Store in Walkerton. As a final note, Marianne brought some of her delicious strawberries to sell.
With that all taken care of, we adjourned (yes, Patrick--we remembered) and got about learning to make hypertufa. Rob got the task of cement mixer, and we all donned gloves and set about our sculpting. Several people decorated the edges of their containers--Marianne was doubtless thinking about PIE when she made hers, since she finished the edge with a lovely pie crust ruffle. Cindy used her thumb to shape her edges and Sue used a little stick to decorate hers. Rosie has sent me instructions and they are in the blog post before this one.
Then we all got to eat some of Rosies delicious lemon bars, death by chocolate brownies and cherry pie squares, washed down with two delicious drinks--a tea blend and a lemonade blend, both concocted by Rosie herself. Watch for recipes to be posted soon. I think I will add a recipe page somewhere--and maybe we need a recipe archivist to add to our roster of "jobs". There is just too much yummy stuff drifting on and off the radar screen. We need to keep track of it.
We were also very glad to meet Perry, who joined us for snacks, and then brought the effervescent Murphy out to say hello. Perry and Rosie have built a beautiful place and we loved getting the chance to spend some time there. Many thanks to them for such a happy evening, filled with stories, hands on work, time with friends and beautiful gardens!

Hypertufa instructions from Rosie

Hypertufa
Always wear gloves when working with Hypertufa!
A hard mix is 1/1/1 by volume of Portland cement, peat moss, and sand. Increasing sand or peat makes the mix progressively softer and weaker and more porous. Some Hypertufa recipes call for perlite instead of sand - I was taught to use sand - he said it made a stronger pot.
We used 3 small buckets of Portland Cement, 3 small buckets of Sphagnum Peat Moss, and 3 small buckets of sand. Remove any large twiggy pieces from the peat moss.
The fibers we used were from Transit Mix - they’re called Monofilament Fibers. Use 2 hands full of the fibers - rub them in your hands to separate the fibers - then rub them into the peat and sand mix.
We mixed the peat and sand - then - added the fibers. Cement was added last. Use your hands to mix the cement, peat moss, sand, and fibers together. You want everything to be mixed well and the fibers evenly distributed through the mix.
Water depends on whether sand or peat are moist to begin with. Add and mix slowly and thoroughly until mixture will stay in a ball with only slight water squeezed out when squeezed in hand. Mixture can be moister if supported from all sides in the mold.
Molds MUST be sprayed with kitchen spray before using. ALWAYS make drainage holes in the bottom of the pot/trough.
Let the pot/trough sit in their molds for a week (I let the last batch I made sit for 5 days and unmolded carefully - then I let them sit a couple more days before I turned them over) - larger troughs can take longer (if you unmold too early, the pot/trough can break). Wire brush to remove unwanted material and finish edges.
After unmolding, the pots/troughs need to sit for a total of 28 days to harden. After 28 days the pots need to be watered regularly to leach out the lime from the concrete.

PIE?????? WHERE??????

At Ben's house. The first ever MHA "PIE in the Garden" night will commence on May 27 (Friday) at 7:30. You need to belong to MHA and RSVP is required since parking will be limited and they need to know how much PIE. Its just a chance to go and see someone's garden--and Ben's will be filled with a ton of new plants from Northwind Gardens.
To join MHA go to www.michianahort.org and sign up. Its free.
This event comes one week before the much anticipated appearance at Fernwood of Piet Oudolf--the world famous (and I am not being hyperbolic by using that term) landscape designer. You can go if you are not a Fernwood member--but you need to register and soon. This event begins at 6:30 with a wine and cheese "do" and then a talk by Piet. Roy Diblik will also be present, so you will have the chance to meet this legendarily (is that a word?) terrific person as well. There will also be a book signing. This may be your one chance to have a chance to actually meet these two people who are a huge part of a real sea change in American landscape design. Hopefully I will see you there!!!!
HTTD
fearless

North Liberty Garden Party

Hey everyone--I just heard about this Garden Event in North Liberty!
On Thurs. May 19 at 6:30 pm there will be a Garden Presentation by the Purdue extension service "Take your Garden to the Next Level". This event will be held at Dogwood Designs in Liberty and is sponsored by the Liberty Merchants and Chamber of Commerce. There will be some light refreshements and they will announce details about a garden contest.
Way to go North Liberty!

Daffy Michael eats PIE

Hows that for a header title? Was last nights meeting AWSOME or what?????
Michael--we know you are not daffy--but its the only way I could fit everything we did last night into one sentence. Just try to rearrange the words Michael, Pie and Daffy and you come up with some very strange mental images.

Tons of thank you's to Bobbi, Dave and Michael--if you want the poster children for a tranquil and beautiful home and life you have to look no further than the little brick schoolhouse on Kenilworth to find it. Martha Stewart may have her chows and himalayans, but Bobbi and Dave have Bud D, Lady and Chrome, a wealth of antiques that are full of meaning and love to them, a yard and land full of beautiful trees and flowering plants and all the ecosystem that comes along with it, and the icing on the cake is Michael, who raises it all to the level of the sublime.
And we had PIE.
OH SO MUCH PIE. And guests--Debbie and Gerry Brown , Wanda came again with Kathy, and Carol Line, the director of Fernwood also stopped by. Thanks so much to all of you for coming--you are always welcome.

To start off with we all arrived early, put on boots of various and sundry types (mine were pink equestrian numbers) and headed off through the wildlife area. Bobbi and Dave put a lot of time and energy into developing this area, and it is maturing and becoming a real sanctuary for animal, vegetable, and people alike. We all got to view Bobbi's infamous "oar-house", the pond, the woods, the daffodils and all the young trees as they were budding out. Michael was quick to identify and clarify any plant mysteries that cropped up, and Dave and Bobbi told us the story of how the area has evolved over time. From the migratory narcissus that came from Bobbi's dad, to the white pines that were foraged from the property to become a large screen on the side yard, every part of their property reflects their love and care for the place they call home.

Then it was back to the "yard", time to pat Lady and feed her some grass and then gather round as we learned the story of the Dosmann trees as only Michael could tell it. Starting with the history of the gigantic Dawn Redwood (and having met it, we had to say we liked it) , he walked us through the yard and taught us a great many things. The different Katsuras--whether carefully raised from seed, or rescued from a neglected spot at Fernwood or relocated here from China, each one of these diecious (only one gender on each plant) beauties was exceptionally lovely. Katsura is one of those trees that should has as a field mark the fact that whenever you see one you say "WOW--what kind of tree is that???"

He showed us Bottlebrush buckeye and we marveled at how those huge leaves came out of small buds, he told us the story of the journey of Kolkwitzia to this country and how all the plants of this species in cultivation are descended from a single line that emigrated here in the early 1900's. Pictured here is the reason why this somewhat humble (yes--"quietly interesting") bush earns its rightful place in the garden:

If anyone would like a baby Kolkwitzia there are many at my house to share. Just ask.

As we worked our way around the house, we learned about Golden Rain tree, which differs from Golden Chain tree--on the Rain version the yellow flowers orient upward, like the Bottlebrush, where the Golden Chain flowers hang down.

We admired the lovely Pagoda Dogwoods, the regal Stewartia, the fascinating color of the Maackia leaves just emerging, the fabulous blooms on the saucer and star magnolias--at their beautiful peak right now--including the Easter eggs that were blooming on the Star mag.


Michael told us the ways and mysteries of Hydrangeas, how to correctly prune viburnums (thanks for that one, Michael--I now know I have been doing it wrong!) The gender issues of Ginkgo (I go you go we all go for Gink go--and PIE) and the amorous adventures of the Katsuras in their yard. Well--what with the oarhouse being there, who is surprised????

We learned how to "coppice" woody plants like willow and dogwood to keep the brightly colored bark at its best, how to distinguish and deal with rootstock growth on grafted plants, and how to tell boy larch parts from girl larch parts.

It was so instructing and informative, and a real pleasure to watch someone in the process of doing exactly what they were born to do.

Then we went inside to warm up and eat the epic amounts of PIE that were scattered across the kitchen. Did anyone count how many there were? Without thinking too hard I count 7 pies with the wonderful bread that Kathy brought. Whatever the number, it was a PIE fest to rival all gastronomic events in the state. How many places do you get to go where you are encouraged not to have A dessert, but ALL OF THEM. So we scarfed on PIE and had our meeting. Here is the rundown of what we talked about:

(First of all I apologize if the meeting was run in an even more haphazard way than usual--I was running on the last reserves of my energy and coherence for the day).

Marianne read the Secretary's report--and Shirley didn't have anything to report. No news from the contact Czarinas.
We will be at Thyme of Grace this Friday at noon. Menu choices were made and a head count taken. Mary Ann will take care of getting in touch with Michelle.
Once again--remember our next meeting is on a WEDNESDAY (June 7) at Rosies. More on this later.
Rosie and I attended the State Convention on the final day. We went to the scholarship and awards luncheon and had a very nice day. I gave Joyce the pin that Patrick made on behalf of all of us and she was very touched by such a lovely handmade keepsake.

Our job tor the upcoming national convention in Middlebury has been chosen. Thanks to Rosie for stepping up--we will be in charge of the program book. We discussed ways for all of us to get involved so Rosie won't have to bear the entire burden herself. Among jobs that need to be done are proofreading, and there may be other ways we can help.


The Indiana Gardens Magazine will no longer be available in print--only as an emailed PDF. For those who have difficulty retrieving files this way, a buddy system was put into place and members will be responsible for printing one copy of the publication to give to one person--the breakdown is this:

Kathy will print a copy for Marianne
Shirley will print a copy for Buscia
Maggie will print a copy for Patrick
I will print a copy for Cindy.


With all that blah-blah out of the way, we got on to announcements. Rosie and Cindy's current situations were brought up, and people encouraged to drop notes to both of them. Private mail me if you need their contact info. www.robfraney@aol.com

Hayden gave us an update on events impending for the MHA. Its free to join--go to http://www.michianahort.org/ and sign up. Lots of fun stuff happening, and they are considering a second luncheon, since the first one was such a huge hit.

If you haven't subscribed to Indiana Gardens, you might want to consider it. They have a 10% off card you can present to participating sellers (Rosie and I both participate) and its a lovely publication, full of information specific to Indiana. Subscriptions are 19.95/year and you can get in touch with them at http://www.indianagardeningmag.com/
or call: 1-888 265-3600.

There are some upcoming events at Fernwood--Mothers Day is iminent which means their wonderful plant sale, as well as the chance to just spend the day soaking up the magic that is Fernwood.


The New Kitchen Store in Walkerton is still sponsoring cooking classes--now in Laporte. I will get a schedule of classes and post it here.

Debbie's daughter Kirsten is going to be spearheading the new Unity Garden in North Liberty. We hopefully will be able to act as a resource for her. As needs and issues arise Debbie will get in touch with me and we can put them up on the blog and/or take them up at a meeting--whichever is more expedient. We also briefly discussed the idea of the group becoming involved in some garden maintenence at Bluebird House. More on that later.

In nature news--there is a frost warning out for tonight and now IS the time to go to Potato Creek and view the ephemeral wildflowers.
With that we all dragged our Pie infused carcasses to our cars--and TRIED to head home--no thanks to me and my fabulous driving. Poor Kathy got blocked in and then attacked by the same shrub that had ambushed my car. (I AM BUSH--I KILL YOU).
A great time was had BY ALL. THANKS EVERYBODY!!!!!!

HTTD!

The Truth about Tulips

Hi everybody! I am looking out my window at today's version of the biblical rainstorms and it seemed like a good time to write something about tulips--since their season is fast approaching. We all love tulips--they give us brilliant color when our eyes are desperate to see it. They come in such an array of forms and shapes, heights and colors. Want over the top baroque? Tulips can give it to you. Ruffled and girly--no problem. Simple and tailored? Exotic and mysterious? Yep. Ever since the Turkish ambassador made a gift of bulbs to Flemish botanist Charles de l'Ecluse in 1530, these wonderful bulbs have filled the world with their color and magical beauty.
There is a fair amount of mystery about tulip culture--and that's what got me thinking about this. I am doing a bit of research into this and will make a post in the Spiffy tips about that---but what I want to talk about here is how tulips fit into history. Most people have heard of the "Tulip Mania" that supposedly siezed Holland in the 1600's and ultimately destroyed the economy--but the fact of the matter is, things didn't really happen that way. Thanks to Wikipedia I have a better idea of what Tulip Mania really was.
After Charles (okay--Chuckie the Botanist) grew the bulbs and they were seen to thrive in their new home in Holland, they became an object of fascination and a status symbol in that country. Classed by color, the broken colored varieties especially the pink and white and purple and white combinations were highly sought after. It takes 7 to 10 years for tulips to bloom from seed, and several years for new clone bulbs that form on the parent bulb to reach maturity, so its easy to see that the supply was limited for these plants. Add to that the fact that when tulips achieve maturity and do bloom, the main bulb disappears, and clone bulbs form in their place--meaning that the plantings of the tulips were not entirely permanent.
Now you have a sought after plant, and a limited supply. Prices go up.
As this began to happen, people began to begin to grow tulips as a source of income. The traditional school of thought is that people of all economic levels from Millionaires to paupers began dabbling in tulips--but research has found evidence of tulip culture for money only in the middle class or higher echelons. People began to purchase futures of tulip crops--and the speculation began. A lot of religious institutions looked upon this practice as a form of gambling and wrote some highly sensational pamphlets about the evils of tulip "mania". These pamphlets formed the basis for the historical perception that all of Holland was staggering around in a tulip induced haze, arresting people for accidentally eating tulip bulbs, trading their estates and lands for a single bulb etc.
What really happened was interesting, but not nearly so cataclysmic. People traded futures and some small fortunes were made or lost. Something quite similar happened when Hyacinths first hit the market. However, when the bottom dropped out of the Tulip market, it really crashed and burned in a way that Hyacinth values did not. Some of what happened was related to the ending of the Thirty Years War, and an uptick in available money in circulation because of that; some of it was related to a legal change in the futures contracts for the tulips. The contracts at first were legally binding--if you agreed to buy 100 bulbs at 5 bucks apiece and when they were ready to go they were only selling for 1.00 apiece--tough toenails for you. Pay up and enjoy your stupidly expensive bulbs. But the florists guild got parliment to change the way the contracts were administered--and they all became option contracts. This meant if you agreed to pay 5 bucks and they were only worth 1 at harvest, you could pay a penalty and the contract would be voided. Add to that the bubonic plague was flying all around and people were generally freaked out, and you have the recipe for a strange set of circumstances, and an even stranger set of reactions to the phenomenon.
So the "Tulip Mania" of old may not have been the first "speculative bubble" as many people have claimed, but it was a period of time when flowers went about doing that voodoo that they do do so well--and people spent some time being hypnotized by a plant. When Holland awoke from the trance, she had a bit of a hangover, and the psychological effects of the rise and fall in prices for a PLANT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD reverberated in their society for a long time. Fortunately for us, they have never lost their adoration for this beautiful genus, and the tulip growing business is alive and well in Holland. Now each winter we can open the pages of those glossy catalogs with their highly colored (and sometimes disingenously photoshopped) photos and dream of melting snow and brilliant colors fluttering in the warm sun. YES I SAID SUN!!!!!!!! THERE WILL BE SUN!!!!!!
Now go eat some pie and wait for the rain to stop!
Hail to the Dirt!

PROGRAM AT FERNWOOD FEATURING MICHAEL--but no pie :-(

Hey folks--this program will happen the Sunday before we get to see Michael at Bobbi's--sounds like it would be really interesting and educational!


Modern Plant Exploration: Boondoggles or Legitimate Science?
Dr. Michael Dosmann, a former Fernwood employee and present Curator of Living Collections at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, will present a program at Fernwood on Sunday, May 1, at 1:00 pm. The connections between people and plants are some of the strongest bonds known. We eat plants, we use their fibers and wood, and we admire them in our gardens. Toward those ends, intrepid plant explorers have long searched the wilds for the rare, the unusual, and the magnificent. These adventurers have brought back exclusive 'new plants' as well as amazing stories. However, in this modern age when nature is dwindling and invasive plants are on the rise, many rightfully ask if the goals for plant collecting should change - or if the activity should even take place at all. Dr. Michael Dosmann returns to Fernwood to share his own experiences as a plant collector and botanist. He will talk about how plant collecting might be different than it was in the time of Ernest Henry 'Chinese' Wilson 100 years ago, but it is no less important. In fact, efforts to explore and document biodiversity are more important now than ever before.
This lecture is free to Fernwood members - non-members are $20. Register by Saturday, April 30, by calling 269.695.6491. You must have a reservation to attend, so don't delay!

Gardens are for Giving

Hi folks--Great meeting last night! Many thanks to Kathy for giving us all a chance to meet Sara Stewart and learn about the phenomenal transformation that Unity Gardens is bringing about all around the area. More on this later--first the boring stuff (i.e. business meeting). We dispensed with the Secretary's report and Shirly only had one thing to report--that after some minor confusion she took care of business and got our district dues paid. We didn't realize we owed district dues--or we forgot--who knows. If it was anyone's fault it was probably mine--but thanks to Shirley's diligence its taken care of now. Thanks, Ms. Rynearson! In old business--Mary Ann reported back, and our lunch outing to Thyme of Grace will be on Friday May 6 at high noon. We will meet before this and get our menu choices finalized so Mary Ann can call them and give a heads up so they will be ready for us. This will not be a meeting--just a fun day. Plan to attend and enjoy a wonderful lunch. In state club news--Rosie and I will be going to the convention in Merrilville this Thursday. This is the day of the awards banquet. We will do a little recon to help with the "jobs" assignment that as a club we need to iron out. More on this in new business. From MHA--the spring kickoff luncheon was great--you can join MHA for free--just go online to http://www.michianahort.org/, I asked if people still want to try and make a trip to Lurie Gardens--I will get in touch with Ben and see if he wants to make the journey. (I know--is the sky blue???--come on!) With that, we dispensed with old business and went on to new. First off was picking a new date for the June meeting at Rosie's--we don't want to conflict with the other garden club she has coming, so we will meet on WEDNESDAY the 8th of June. Hopefully we can get organized and she can teach us all to make hypertufa planters. On to state convention news, Patrick was nice enough to make a beautiful beaded pin on behalf of all of us to present to Joyce Bulington, the state president. Joyce was a big help to us as we went about forming our club, and I wanted to give her a small momento of our group from all of us. Thanks so much, Patrick, for this beautiful and unique gift. And in more convention news, we all examined and discussed the list of available "jobs" for the club to choose from to help with the 2012 convention. There was some consternation and a lot of varying opinions as to what task would be appropriate for our small, inexperienced club. Rosie had a lot of good insight to contribute that helped us feel more informed. Shirley suggested that we ask for help in deciding and Sue suggested that we see if we can "pair up" with another club to share a task. Everyone felt that these were good ideas, and I will do my best to implement them at the meeting next Thursday with the planning committee. Be warned folks, I am entirely out of my element here--but I will try to get the right thing done. Thankfully Rosie will be there too--and I know her help will be invaluable. With that, we dispensed with new business, and there were a few announcements: "Indiana Gardening" magazine is a terrific new publication available. http://www.indianagardeningmag.com/ or phone them at 1-888-265-3600. Prairie Pride Folk Art Show is April 16-17 from 10-5 Laporte time. Address is 3883 E. 700 N. in Rolling Prairie. Sue had some print material from Rockford regarding public gardens and a shuttle tour. Dave bought some fish emulsion that is putting the evil asian carp to good use. Who remembers "BASSOMATIC" from Saturday night live?? River Street Flowerland is having twig furniture classes. You can visit their website http://www.riverstreetflowerland.com/ Unity Gardens opening day is Sat. April 9 from 12-2 at the LaSalle Square Unity Garden 3701 Prast Blvd. Website is http://www.theunitygardens.blogspot.com/ Which brings us (finally) to our speaker, Sara Stewart, the driving force behind and creator of Unity Gardens. This amazing idea which arose from Sara's experiences as a public health nurse has quickly gained momentum to become a real community wide phenomenon. The simple concept of healthy food grown by a community for a community has taken hold and rapidly become a real force for good in St. Joe County. Along with nutritious produce that is lovingly grown and freely given to anyone, came education about healthy food preparation and meal planning, learning the art and science of gardens for many age groups, as well as opening doors for people both socially and economically. Unity Gardens is a young endeavor, but already they have a legacy they can call their own that is manifest in the partnership of people from diverse backgrounds who come together to create a common good. Sara is to be applauded and helped in this undertaking, and many groups both public and private have stepped up to grow this program. Anyone can create a Unity Garden--there are some criteria that need to be met; for information you can call 574-315-4361. Thanks again to Sara and her beautiful technical support personnel (daughter, Leigh) for an inspiring and informative presentation. We wish them every success, and hopefully we can be a contributing factor to that success either as individuals or as a group. With that, Patrick adjourned us and those of us that hadn't already glommed on to the terrific treats that Shirley provided (as always--thank you, GF) did so. Thanks again to Kathy for her friendship with Sara and providing us all with this chance to meet her.

Maggie found a plant sale!

Hi folks--Henslers is having their annual plant auction--check the link:

http://www.kasersauction.com/images/nursery.pdf

Thanks Maggie!

Up and coming STUFF--get ready for spring!

Hey all--here are a couple upcoming things to help put some SPRING JOY into our lives.

http://riverstreetflowerland.com/component/content/article/1-news/26-third-willow-class.html

http://theunitygardens.blogspot.com/p/our-mission.html

Thanks to Kathy for the Unity Gardens update!
FL

HYPERTUFA AT ROSIES????? FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday Rosie stopped by with a wonderful idea. We have to change the date of our June meeting at her house--we were thinking maybe Wednesday the 8th instead of Tuesday. And if we do this, we can converge under Rosies circus tent and she will teach us to make HYPERTUFA troughs! This is a wonderful way to make gorgeous planters for your yard and garden and I would love to learn. We need to know if this day change will work for everyone so Rosie can begin getting her head wrapped around what we will need to do this. I am sure we can all pitch in to pay for our own materials, or bring stuff or do whatever is required. Please email me or phone and let me know if this date change works for you. I will also have Buscia do some phone calling. HTTD! (and the hypertufa!)
FL

Time to start getting DIRTY

Hi everyone--thanks to all who made the meeting last night. We didn't have a lot of business to take care of, which meant we had plenty of time to visit and stuff.
As for business--we didn't have any minutes read--Shirley has been keeping track of what goes on though. She also shouldered the burden of recording and submitting everyone's dues to the state. This is a time consuming and fiddley task and I really appreciate her stepping up to be responsible for this. Our state dues have been paid, and we all have little ID cards now from the Garden Club of Indiana.
We also discussed our plans to meet for lunch at Thyme of Grace. Mary Ann will look into this further, with the intent of doing this the first Friday in May (May 6). The tenative plan will be to meet at noon. This will not be a meeting--just a fun outing. Our meeting will have happened Tuesday of that same week at Bobbi's. We may have Pat McCauslin from ND as a speaker if his schedule permits--or if we are all VERY GOOD and bake LOTS OF PIE we may be lucky enough to get a visit from Michael Dossmann. I know his mom and dad would be thrilled if he could make it home but its a very busy time for him. In any case there is plenty of beauty to drink in and enjoy at Dave and Bobbi's. In fact Bobbi suggested that people arrive early so we can trek back to the woods to see the zillions of daffodils she has planted. Be sure to bring boots--I have been back there and you will need them. But its a beautiful sight for sure, and something well worth the hike!
That pretty much took care of the old business. As for new business--Sue passed around some literature about some worm casting products available from the Farmer's market and information about a Garden Show on Mar. 19-20 at Ginger Valley.
We discussed the upcoming MHA tailgate flower shows, which will take place at Beutter Park on June 11, July 9 and Oct. 1. The theme for the first one is "Blast from the Past" and we decided that if Dwayne is amenable we will use "Homer" the vintage pickup truck for our display and do a retro "Sanford and Son" type display, complete with costumes. More on this later. Shirley volunteered her Prius for the July show, which is themed "Think Green".

We had a reminder from Shirley about the upcoming Chigago flower show trip. She has a fairly large group going. Date for the trip is Sat. March 12.

The Sept. meeting will be held at Marianne Kemp's house. She is going to tell us about her food preservation adventures, including winemaking.

Our next meeting is Tues. April 5 at Shirleys. Sara Stewart will be telling us about Unity Gardens. Thanks to Kathy for setting this up.

As for announcements--Don't forget the benefit for Unity Gardens at http://www.naturescrossroads.com/. They are donating a portion of the proceeds from any seed sales.

March 5 is the day for 2 great garden events--a Symposium at Fernwood featuring some heavy hitter speakers including Roy Diblik. This event is $90.00 for members and $110 for non members. Also the Warsaw master gardeners symposium is that day featuring Paul James. Late fee for that is 40.00.

And a reminder to check your "Indiana Gardens" for signup information regarding the state convention in Merrilville. The deadline is fast approaching if you want to go. There is a discount for early registration.

After that we talked about seed starting basics. I will write a longer blog to recap everything I covered in that discussion. Suffice to say there were a lot of interesting questions, and I hope that everyone will think about trying this very rewarding pursuit.

When we got done I forgot to ask Patrick to adjourn us--so we actually are still meeting.
We can't be done until he says so!
HTTD!

CAN IT BE??? SPRING?????

Hey everybody--Bobbi just sent me this pic of SNOWDROPS. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anybody else that has spring babies, run out and have them smile pretty for the camera and send 'em along. We can all use the happy!

Hail to the (still frozen but getting better) dirt!

Time for Trees

Hey folks--we had a great time at the Soil and Water Conservation program last night--thanks again to Bobbi for spotting this opportunity. The speaker was from Hensler's Nursery--and he clearly had a deep love for and immense knowledge of trees. He covered everything from selecting appropriate species for the yard to planting tips and disease management. Some of the tidbits I came away with were the fact that municipalities have "tree boards" that you can consult with to help you choose recommended species for your area, root systems can extend out as much as three times the size of the canopy, most tree roots are within 18 inches of the surface, there is a bagworm that appears on arborvitae, and other trees that are recent migrants to our areas. The caterpillars hatch in June and as they go through their life cycles they can do a fair amount of damage. Air temps below minus 18 will kill them off. There are pesticides that will control them, or the bags can be picked off and drowned in soapy water. This works best if its done before June.
There were a lot of interesting questions from the audience as well, and he answered everyone in great detail. He emphasized the importance of uncircling roots in potted plants, careful attention to drainage patterns--especially clay soils, and proper fertilizing and watering of newly planted trees.
We were also provided with a lot of helpful handouts that covered a wide array of subjects.
And they had cookies--what could be better than trees and cookies. Oh--I know--trees and PIE. Or maybe trees and cookies and PIE.
Everything is better with PIE.
Shirley handed out a sheet with info about the upcoming excursion to the Chicago Flower Show. She is sending emails out about it as well. This is basically something Shirley and her family do each year, and she has been nice enough to invite us all to glom on to it. Personally I want to see Buscia's girls dance at the blues bar:-)
It was great to see everyone--as this old fashioned winter maintains its grip on us, it really helps to get a reminder that garden season IS coming and WILL get here.
We will see you all in March--until then stay warm.
And get some PIE.

FLASH FROM ROSIE!!!! GREAT EVENT COMING UP

Hi everyone--Rosie just sent me this on facebook. She has the registration form--Who wants to go????
Kosciusko County Master Gardener Symposium - Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 9 a.m. EST at Lakeview Middle School - 848 East Smith Street, Warsaw. The featured speaker is Paul James of "Gardening by the Yard". Tickets are $30 if purchased by February 23 - includes Continental Breakfast and Lunch.
HTTD

New link

Hey folks--I put a link in the "Handy links for dirty hands" to Debbie Brown's new blog about Bluebird House. If you need a beautiful place for guests or a party--think about Bluebird House. Hopefully Debbie will join our club soon and then she can keep us updated in person with all thats going on!

EVENTS A Plenty!

Hey everyone--thanks to our recent visit to the Porter County Master Gardener show, as well as a newsflash from Ben, I have a lot of upcoming stuff to tell you about. Check your calenders for empty days that you might have free to attend one or all of these fun things! And don't forget the State Convention for the GCI is coming up in April as well.
Here they are in no particular order:

APRIL 2 AT THYME OF GRACE RESTAURANT!!!! Ben and the Michiana Horticultural Alliance will be throwing a mini symposium. The guest speakers will be Ben, who will talk about--what else--GARDENING--Helloooooo--is there anyone surprised by this? The other guest will be someone from River Street Flowerland in Kalamazoo (my FAVE NURSERY) and they will do a hands on demo about container gardening. This place has some of the most beautiful containers you have ever seen--and their design people should have a lot to teach! If you aren't a member of the MHA yet--its free and super easy to join--just go to http://www.michianahort.org/ and sign up. Times and particulars aren't in the newsletter--I suspect they will be put out later.

MAY 7 will be the Garden Party--this annual event put on by the Four Winds Garden Club will begin at 8:30 on Saturday. You can purchase a ticket for the full day or half a day. The festivities end at 3:30. This lovely event takes place at St. John's United Church of Christ, 2701 E. Bristol St. , Elkhart. Tickets are 27.50 per person for the full day (includes continental breakfast and lunch) or 15.00 for a half day, which would frun from 8:30 to noon or from noon to 3:30--and include only one of the meals. There will be vendors, speakers and a make and take activity. For more information you can contact Judy Cook at inbert@msn.com . Reservations must be in by May 2.

Another event on SAT MAY 7 is the 11th annual native plant sale at Gibson Woods in Hammond IN. You can visit their website at gw-wildones.org. This runs from 9 to 2 and the flyer says for the best selection arrive early.
Another fun event is the Garden, Pond and Patio Expo in Crown Point at the Lake County Fairgrounds. This shindig costs 5.00 to get in, but its a very nice show. It runs from 9 to 5 in the Industrial Building.

From Rosie--The Northwest Indiana Hosta Society has their next meeting Sun. Feb. 13th at the Brookstone Estates Condod at 7507 Taft St. in Merrillville.They meet at 1:30 (their are an hour behind us) and their speaker will be Barb Ziolkowski, a master gardener and owner of a terrific place in New Carlisle. She will be talking about Daylilies in the Garden. Barb is a super person--if you haven't met her, now would be a great time!

Gardens on the Prairie in Lowell IN. is a place that must go on the radar screen of totally kewl places to go. They have events going on all season long--visit their website:
http://www.gardensontheprairie.com/ to learn more.
Thats all for now--HTTD!!!

Latest issue of Indiana Gardens

Hi folks--The latest issue of Indiana Gardens is out--let me know if you didn't get it and I will forward the document to you. There is a lot of information about the State Convention in it, so be sure to check it out.