The Latest Dirt. La Plata Garden Club March 2016 INSIDE

Transcription

1 The Latest Dirt La Plata Garden Club March INSIDE CLUB NEWS AND EVENTS.... PAGES 2 9 COMMITTEE CHAIR REPORTS PAGES OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS PAGES 20 & 21 President s Message What a beautiful time of year! It s so nice to hear the birds singing again and to see the pops of colors in and around our yards. For the first time in years, I have a pair of bluebirds building a nest in a bluebird box built during a garden club workshop many years ago. I just can't wait to watch the rest of that marvel of nature unfold! Spring is also the beginning of a new year for the club and we certainly have gotten off to a fantastic start in In this newsletter, you'll read about the District II awards we recently received for some of last year's projects. I've also been invited by the State president to sit in the front row at the March 22 State meeting, as she is going to recognize us at that meeting. This certainly sounds like another award may be on the way! We've already sprung (pun intended) into action with several new projects. The planning stage of a joint project with the Crossroads of Hughesville Garden Club is in process and we're working with the Robert D. Stethem Center to help market some of their home-grown bedding plants at our plant sale. Another community beautification project at the courthouse is being researched. For our March meeting, we will be reviewing our draft bylaws and voting on the changes. If you haven t received a copy of the draft, please let me know. If you have, please read and understand these changes and come to the meeting prepared to discuss them. Mary 1 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

2 LPGC Treasurer s Report January 1, 2016 March 1, 2016 Opening Balance $19, Income Expenses Membership Registration Membership Registration Printing Supplies Rentals Presenters Contributions Closing Balance $17, Beautiful Monarch Butterflies 2 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

3 February Meeting Our first 2016 meeting was a very interesting presentation given by Karen Molines on Monarch butterflies. Karen (pictured to the left) is Educator and Division Chief for Calvert County Natural Resources. She stressed the importance of planting native plants to provide the food needed by these beautiful creatures. Also in this issue of the newsletter is an article about the Monarch Butterfly written by Gloria Groeger our bird and butterfly chairperson. On the right is the adorable table decoration created by Betty Hayes, a member of February s host committee. 3 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

4 ********BREAKING NEWS ******** La Plata Garden Club Wins FGCMD Awards ********BREAKING NEWS******** Jane Grove, Mary Grant, Sandra Mitchell and Mary Vance attended the District II Annual Meetng of the Federated Garden Clubs on March 11 at the Comfort Inn in Bowie. The fun day's activities included a variety of informational displays, vendors with a beautiful selection of wares, a raffle of "gently used" goodies donated by the district's committee chairs, a delicious lunch with optional wine, and a post lunch presentation by Teresa Godfrey complete with a raffle of her floral creations.. Oh, and of course there was the morning business meeting, during which we received several awards for last year's activities! One award to be very proud of was a FIRST PLACE award in the Civic Development category for our Tilghman Lake Beautification Project. A second award was an HONORABLE MENTION Community Service Award for the planters we did at the Charles County Courthouse. A third award included a Certificate of Appreciation for our participation in the Government House Christmas Tree Display project at the Maryland Statehouse. Four other clubs in our District participated in that event and along with our club were thanked by both our District and State presidents. Congratulations and thank you to all who worked on these projects. It is very nice to have your efforts recognized and appreciated by your peers. I was honored to go up and receive these awards on the club's behalf! Mary Grant Note: The next two pages show copies of the awards presented to our club. 4 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

5 5 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

6 6 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

7 Pictures of the District II Meeting Taken by Jane Grove (Top Awards Presentation Bottom Floral Arranger Teresa Godfrey) 7 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

8 YOUTH GARDENING OPPORTUNITY As I listened to some of the club presidents deliver their messages at the District II meeting, I realized that we have many opportunities to work with our youth to encourage and educate them about gardening, horticulture and environmental stewardship. The Federation supports youth gardening in many ways, including both an extensive youth awards program and scholarships. Many clubs are already very active with the youth in their communities. If anyone in the club is interested in discussing the possibilities of a youth gardening initiative in our club, I d love to sit down and chat! We could make our program whatever we want it to be and it wouldn t be difficult. We already have many gardening-related youth groups who might appreciate our help and involvement! MARY GRANT Bay Wise Coordinator I am looking for a club member to be our BayWise Coordinator. The responsibilities are simple -- keeping track of the members in our club who have a BayWise certified property and keeping up-to-date with the Bay- Wise Program and bringing information back to the club. Who's willing to take on the task? Thanks! Mary Grant 8 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

9 Design Show For the past 8 10 years (we can t remember how long) we have had a Design Show in November. The 2015 show was probably, by far, the best show that we have ever had. But, we felt that it was time for a change. After much discussion, it was decided that we would not hold a design show in 2016, but instead we wanted to do a show with Kent Russell, the Garden Guru. A number of us had the pleasure of seeing him at the District II meeting last October and he is the most entertaining speaker we have ever seen. This is a joint endeavor with the Hughesville Garden Club. April 22, 2017 is the date. This is one show you don t want to miss. So put that on your calendar! Dianne Shisler Kent Russell Presenter for our 2017 show Plant & Yard Sale Our Plant and Yard Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 7 th from 8 until 12 at Grace Lutheran Church. As spring is rapidly approaching (I m sure of it) and you re watching your bushes, trees, and perennials come to life, make a plan to divide and replant. Pot those extras and save them for our plant sale! We will also be collecting yard sale items! It is a perfect opportunity for you to clean out your closets and purge those items you no longer want, need, or have use for! Any garden items, tools, sports equipment, toys, kitchen and household items, etc., are easy to sell but please no electronics or clothing. In order for this event to be successful, we need the help of all of our club members. Additional information, flyers, and signs will be provided at the next 2 meetings. If you have any questions contact me. Cathy Cornette 9 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

10 Design Made Easy (Part I) We use design in floral arrangements, home decorating, landscape, various forms of art and in many other ways. The process can be easy and more fun if we are aware of the design components. Two major components are design principles and elements. In this newsletter we will focus on design principles leaving the discussion of design elements for the next newsletter. Design principles we use involve Balance Contrast Dominance Proporation Rhythm Scale Think about how you use these principles when you decorate a room in your house. Is the furniture balanced? Are there contrasting colors in fabrics, floors and walls. What is dominant the sofa, TV, dining table and chairs. Are the furnishings in proportion to each other? Does the room have rhythm, curves, flow, eye appeal? (these might be found in the fabrics and furniture lines) Are the various pieces in the room (picture over the table or items on the mantle) proportioned so that the design principle of scale has been used effectively? Now look at the design of the yellow iris and bronze Nandina foliage pictured on the next page. Analyze the design principles you see in this design. We will continue the analysis of design in the next newsletter when we discuss design elements. Mary Beth Chandler Artistic Design Chairperson 10 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

11 Analyze this Floral Arrangement Look for examples of the 6 design principles discussed in the article on the previous page Cherry Blossoms In the Spring 11 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

12 Committee Chair Reports The following articles are written by some of the club chair persons and officers. Each individual gives an explanation on how they do their jobs or provides pertinent information about their committee topics. Newsletter Editor Three or four times a year I request articles from club members on garden related subjects or club activities. When requests for articles are made a due date and probable release date for the newsletter is established. I welcome all subject related articles with the hope that club members will learn more about club activities and about the plant world. I publish a draft edition which I send to the president and vice president and encourage their editorial input plus any other suggestions. When I have their input I make the specified changes and send the finalized publication for club member distribution. The newsletter is distributed by Kathy Pederson, our corresponding secretary via group . Because of printing costs we ask that members download and print their own copies of the newsletter or have a friend do this for them. Microsoft Publisher, an industry standard is the newsletter formatting software used to create the newsletter. Most articles are sent to me using Microsoft Word and pictures sent in a JPEG format. If you have difficulty using word processing software just send your article in the body of the and I will take care of the rest. Thanks for all the wonderful articles you have submitted in the past. I look forward to working with future articles you submit. I welcome any questions you have about the newsletter. Carol Flowers ********************************************** Recording Secretary As the Recording Secretary, I maintain an accurate record of the Club s meetings (both Executive and General Membership). When I am finish drafting the minutes, I send them to the President and Vice President for review within one week of the General or Executive Board meetings. When the notes are approved by the President, they are then sent to our LPGC webmaster so that she can post them on our webpage. They are then approved by the general membership at a subsequent meeting. In the absence of the Membership Chairman, I keep a record of attendance at all Board and General club meetings. Kathy Hettel 12 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

13 Corresponding Secretary For the past 3 years, it has been my privilege to serve as Corresponding Secretary for the La Plata Garden Club. I keep members informed about meetings and activities of the club and share garden-related information provided by other club members. In addition, I disseminate information about other garden-related activities within the state. This includes District II activities as well as activities of other garden clubs within the area. I know people get inundated with so I attempt to just provide information that I feel to be relevant and/or interesting. I have enjoyed providing this service and hope you have enjoyed the information provided. Kathy Pedersen Info on our Website and Facebook Page Our website, and facebook page have been active for approximately one year. In November, I added a stat counter to our site and I am happy to report that in January we received 411 hits and in February 312 hits. The top pages being viewed are the LPGC Newsletter and the Blog. In February, we received two invitations using the website s contact form. The top search engine being used is Google. I am always looking for ways to refresh our website. If you find an article, photo, recipe or have suggestions that you think our members would be interested in, please send the info to me through the contact box or via my bhayes3261@comcast.net Betty Hayes 13 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

14 Monarch Butterflies Those members who attended the February meeting of our club enjoyed the presentation of our speaker on Monarch butterflies. They have the hand-out with information on these beloved flying jewels. I thought a reprint of an article I wrote two years ago would add to that experience. I recently read that twenty years ago one billion monarch butterflies migrated to Mexico. This year, 33.5 million made the approximately 3,000 mile journey to the Sierra Madre Mountains. The inhabitants of one village in Mexico are so enthralled with the arrival of the Monarchs each year that they hold a special festival to welcome them. However, there is the sobering thought that industrial agriculture has ramped up its use of genetically engineered crops resistant to the herbicide Glyphosate (Roundup basically). This practice is wiping out the monarchs habitat of milkweed. Monarch butterflies begin life as eggs and hatch as larvae that eat their eggshells and, subsequently, the milkweed plants on which they were placed. Larvae eat milkweed nearly exclusively. Fattening larvae become juicy, colorful caterpillars. They create a hard protective case around themselves and enter the pupae stage. Beautiful, blackorange-and white adult butterflies emerge. The colorful pattern makes monarchs easy to identify and warns predators that the insects are foul tasting and poisonous. Only monarchs born in late summer or early fall make the migration. This is one round trip. By the time next year s winter migration begins, several summer generations will have lived and died. It will be last year s migrators great grandchildren that make the trip. Yet somehow these new generations know the way, and follow the same routes their ancestors took - sometimes even returning to the same tree. To reiterate; life of a monarch begins with an egg, fertilized by a male. The egg is deposited on a milkweed plant. The cycle continues as eggs become larva and then a black, yellow, orange and cream striped caterpillar. An enormous amount of food is eaten by the caterpillar. Eating the milkweed transfers the plant poisons to the caterpillar making it poisonous to predators. The caterpillar attaches itself to a twig and forms a hard outer shell (green pupa also known as a chrysalis). Inside the pupa the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. A fully grown adult will emerge from the chrysalis. At this last stage, the butterfly cannot eat but has a spiral proboscis through which it drinks nectar from various flowers and milkweed. The butterfly will also suck up minerals from moist mud or sand, a practice called pudding. Enjoy all the butterflies that come your way for they have probably endured great hardships to be there. Gloria Groeger Bird and Butterfly Chairman 14 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

15 Monarch Butterfly Favorite Plants Plants that provide nectar and food for butterflies during various stages of development include, Ageratum, Mist flower (hardy ageratum), Anise hyssop, Joe Pye weed,(eupatorium), Boneset Purpureum, Caryopteris, Sedum, Dandelion, Coneflower, Liatris, Zinnia, Goldenrod, Tassel flower, Hawkweed, Artichoke, thistle, and milkweed. Gloria Groeger Monarchs Feeding In The Fields Photographer Elisabeth Rothschild 15 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

16 Star Memorial Garden 2016 Sunday, April 28, 2002 a devastating tornado whipped through the Town of La Plata and parts of Charles County. Sunday, April 28, 2007-dedication of The Star Memorial Courtyard and Garden. Between those two dates, a garden club was formed and the dream of a memorial was realized. The resourcefulness, creativity, hard work and determination by club members along with lots of humor and some false starts resulted in something of which we can all be proud. Now we have to make sure the garden is worthy of its purpose and all members of the club can do that. How? Visit the garden. Bring family and friends to the garden-maybe with a bag lunch or even a glass of wine. Volunteer for a week of garden maintenance. Offer suggestions for changes and improvements. Maybe even donate a special plant or decorative item for the garden. Mary Beth, Patti and I would love to hear from you with your ideas. Happy Spring! Sherie Zimmer 16 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

17 Fourth Year of Scholarship Awards Launched by LPGC For the past three years, the La Plata Garden Club (LPGC) has awarded two $1,000 scholarship awards to local high school graduating seniors. In past years the recipients of the scholarships have been selected by Dianne Shisler, Cindi Barnhart, Rose Markham, Judy Thomason, Mary Beth Chandler, Mary Ann Wade, Mary Grant, Sandra Mitchell, and Marge LaMar. Graduating seniors apply for scholarships through the Charles County Scholarship Fund using application forms from their school guidance counselors or from the website The seniors review the scholarships offered from a multitude of sponsors who provide awards in their particular fields or areas of interest -- particular fields such as Nursing, certain traits similar to the person being commemorated, financial need, etc. The LPGC scholarships are designated for a graduating senior with a minimum 3.0 GPA, Charles County resident & U.S. Citizen who plans to major in Plant Science, Environmental Science, Animal Science or Horticulture at an accredited college or university. The board members of the Charles County Scholarship Fund read all the applications seeking LPGC awards and select those who meet our criteria. Those applications are forwarded to us and, using an objective evaluation form to guide our selections, we determine the most qualified recipients for the scholarships. The awardees are then invited to their school s Senior Night, at which time they are surprised when their name is called out as the recipient of the La Plata Garden Club scholarship Scholarship Recipient In 2013, we selected Reema Domadia as our recipient because she maintained a 4.0 GPA in school and participated in many school and community activities. Reema planned to study environmental engineering, beginning at CSM because she didn t want to burden her family with the cost of a 4-year degree. Subsequently, Reema received a full scholarship through STEM at the University of Maryland. 17 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

18 2014 Scholarship Recipient This was the first year that our club decided to present two $1,000 scholarships. The 2014 recipient of the La Plata Garden Club s first two awards of $1, (both awards) was Kaitlin Sandy of Lackey High School in Indian Head. The club decided that Kaitlin s grades and activities were outstanding, but what resulted in a double award for one recipient was her career goal of Wildlife and Fishery. Kaitlin received several awards from the other 65 awarding groups that same evening Scholarship Awards Dianne Shisler presented a $ scholarship to Imani Wilburn at the 2015 La Plata High School Senior Awards night. Imani plans to study biology at Spelman College. Imani had a 3.65 GPA while holding down a job as a cake decorator and participating in the school color guard. 18 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

19 2015 Scholarship Award 2 Margery LaMar presented a $ scholarship award to Rainey Southworth at the 2015 Thomas Stones Senior Awards Night. Rainey will study marine biology and oceanography at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Rainey traveled the country with her U.S. Navy family & still held a 4.5 GPA. Our 2016 scholarship selection process will occur soon. We are looking for a few new people to help evaluate the candidates, select our two winners and present the awards. If you are interested in participating in this very gratifying process, please contact Marge LaMar so she can notify you when the applications will be reviewed. Marge LaMar Scholarship Chairperson 19 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

20 Youth Gardening Opportunity Spring gives us an opportunity to branch out in new directions. As I listened to some of the other club presidents deliver their messages at the District II meeting, I realized that we have many opportunities to work with our youth to encourage and educate them about gardening, horticulture and environmental stewardship. The Federation supports youth gardening in many ways, including both an extensive youth awards program and scholarships. Many clubs are already very active with youth in their communities. If anyone in the club is interested in discussing the possibilities of a youth gardening initiative in our club, I'd love to sit down and chat!! We could make the program be whatever we want it to be and it wouldn t be difficult. We already have many gardening-related groups of children who might appreciate our help! Mary Grant 20 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor

21 21 Published by the LaPlata Garden Club P.O. Box 214, LaPlata, MD 20646, Carol Flowers Editor