NAPERVILLE COMMUNITY GARDENERS

Transcription

1 NAPERVILLE COMMUNITY GARDENERS April 2014 Purpose: To nurture the gardening interests of its members and the community through educational programs and community projects President s Letter NEXT MEETING MONDAY, April 7 KNOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 7 P.M. SPEAKER: Allen Cosnow TOPIC: Fruit Tree Grafting Allen Cosnow will raffle off the trees grafted during the presentation. All right now, Fellow Admirers of the Earth Thursday, March 20 the vernal equinox and the arrival of spring. An equinox occurs twice a year, around 20 March and 22 September. The oldest meaning of equinox is the day when daylight and night are approximately equal. It s when the sun moves across the celestial equator. Isn t this one of our most hopeful Springs? Some thoughts from others for us: "The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other." -- Arthur Rubenstein "Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day." -- Elizabeth Bowen "The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. -- Henry Van Dyke "The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day." -- Robert Frost "A little madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King." -- Emily Dickinson IN THIS ISSUE... Updates on the plant sale, to be held on May 10 at the Garden Plots on West Street. Reminders about ordering shirts and totes featuring the club logo. Photos of the Chicago Flower and Garden Show taken by Ron Ory. If you have decided that spring will never come, these colorful pictures will be reassuring. "Every spring is the only spring -- a perpetual astonishment." -- Ellis Peters "April hath put a spirit of youth in everything." -- William Shakespeare "I want to do to you what spring does with the cherry trees." -- Pablo Neruda "Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!" -- Sitting Bull "In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." -- Margaret Atwood Look forward to seeing you Monday April 7 th, perhaps with line of dirt under a fingernail! Mark Mayszak

2 2 MINUTES FOR March 3, 2014 President Mark Mayszak called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Mark asked if there were changes to the February minutes. John Polich moved, Gail Butler seconding, that the minutes as printed in the newsletter be approved. The motion carried. Treasurer Jan Gricus reported that the current balance is $14, Forty-four members have paid their dues for the current year. OLD BUSINESS Bob Elvert stated that purchases and procedures for the plant sale will be similar to those of past years. One exception is that members may pre-order flats if they do so no later than April 7. He also asked that members identify unusual plants that they would like to see at the sale. Sign-up sheets for members hours and duties at the plant sale will be available at the April meeting. In response to Carolyn Finzer s question, Linda Allison stated that she will organize by the distribution of used pots for members plants. Ron Ory presented the design for the Idea Gardens and explained which areas will be further developed in the coming year. He will appreciate volunteer time from members to plant four hundred plants and to improve walkways. Nancy Carroll suggested that recruiting Boy Scouts to help in the educational aspects of the Idea Gardens would be helpful. NEW BUSINESS Mark thanked Mary Smedegard for organizing the Harvest Banquet. He asked for a volunteer to take on the project for the coming year. ANNOUNCEMENTS Carolyn Finzer stated that an article describing her work and that of her assistant Jan Gricus at the Naperville Post Office appears in the current issue of The Herron, the periodical of the Conservation Foundation. Carolyn distributed issue of the magazine. Ben Calvert III announced that his wood cut has been accepted in the Bridgeport Art Center Annual Juried Art Competition. Betty Ference conducted the drawing; the winner of the garden gloves was Jan Gricus. JoAnn Monge moved, Linda Thompson seconding, that the meeting be adjourned. After refreshments, Carol Cichorski presented a program on Creativity in the Garden. Respectfully submitted, Eleanor Holt for Rosemary Holdredge, Secretary

3 NCGC Plant Sale Saturday MAY 10th 7:30 am - 12:30 pm SETUP - Friday May 9th - Noon - 6:00 pm It's Closer Than YOU Think!!!! Volunteers - ARE needed for both/ either day Sign UP Sheets - available at April and May meetings Special Schaefer Plant Orders - due at April meeting Participation - the KEY to another Successful Sale This is our Club's primary fundraising event, and it is vital that all available members participate in any of the many open opportunities on both Friday the 9th and Saturday the 10th. Be sure to sign up at the April meeting. Bob Elvert SEEDS, SEEDS, SEEDS, Part 3 How are your seeds coming along? Frankly, I have to say that mine are a little slow this year, but I see new baby seedlings almost every day. Don't give up. I hear some members have plants ready to be potted up into larger containers already. (Nothing has come up in my winter sowing containers and I don't expect to see anything until late April...or, whenever it's warmer than the 13 degrees it is now as I'm writing this.) I would like to encourage all members to buy one pack of seeds and start at least one small tray or a 10-pack container. Now would be the time to start cucumbers, squashes, melons, dill, zinnias and marigolds. Or start whatever strikes your fancy at the seed display. It would be exciting if everyone had some offering of an old favorite or new variety so that we can have a lot for customers to choose from at the plant sale. What will you start? Jan Gricus If you are donating plants from your garden (and we hope that you are), please use the form on the following page to identify and describe the plants that you will furnish. Linda Allison will make the tags for the plants so that they will be ready for you when you bring your donations to the Garden Plots.

4 NCG Member Plant Sale Donation Form 2014 Please list the name and variety of the plant, sun/shade requirements, color, height/spread, bloom time, number of plants being donated, anything that would help with growing the plant. 4 No. Name: Plants donated by Mail to Linda Allison, 1012 Kennebec Lane, Naperville, IL lalli52253@aol.com

5 5 SHIRT? OR TOTE? The tote bag will be perfect for shopping, whether it be at your favorite garden center or at the farmers market. It is a subtle bit of advertising for the club. Order yours from Vicky. Need a shirt to wear to the plant sale? Order one from Vicky Polito at the April meeting. If you can t attend the meeting, Vicky at politomv@comcast.net or call her at (815) OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE LEADERS Executive Board 2014 President.Mark Mayszak Vice-President Linda Thompson Secretary...Rosemary Holdredge Treasurer..... Janice Gricus Past President....Janice Gricus Committee Chairs Correspondence.....Carolyn Finzer List Moderator....Eleanor Holt Facebook Page....OPEN Flower and Garden Show.... Vicky Polito Flower and Garden Show Guide....Vicky Polito Harvest Banquet... OPEN Historian.....Carolyn Finzer Membership.....JoAnn Monge Meeting Refreshments...Cricket Cressman Mini-Show Angel Whitt Naper Settlement Gardens...Pat Thompson Newsletter......Eleanor Holt Newsletter Distribution......Mary Wright Photography......Ron Ory Picnic/Garden Walk.....Betty Ference Plant Sale......Bob Elvert Plant Sale-Members Plants.....Linda Allison Ogden Ave. Post Office Gardens....Carolyn Finzer Publicity.....Vicky Polito River Walk Clean Up/Gardens.....Bob Elvert T-shirt Sales.....Vicky Polito Website..Peter Klassen Stay in Touch Visit our website: napervillecommunitygardeners.org. Peter Klassen does a great job of keeping things up to date. Send us mail (dues?) GREEN EARTH FAIR SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2014, 12:30-5 P.M. AT THE McDONALD FARM, KNOCH KNOLLS RD., NAPERVILLE SPONSORED BY THE GREEN EARTH INSTITUTE "Celebrating Sustainability" is the theme for this educational and fun event. Speakers, exhibits, music, food, kids' activities, tours, demonstrations a celebration of Spring, Earth Day, organic food, combined with learning more about how you can live green! (Visit greenearthinstitute.org for more information.) Naperville Community Gardeners P.O. Box 9555 Naperville, IL Submit your ideas for the newsletter (photos??) eleanorholt@gmail.com (Thanks in advance!)

6 6 IMPRESSIONS OF THE 2014 CHICAGO FLOWER & GARDEN SHOW RON ORY The theme of this year s show is DO GREEN DO GOOD. Although the main entrance was less than impressive with a meandering path of wire arches, an interior wall was tagged in a more striking manner. The pastel and tropical colors were more dominant than most of the green foliage, except Rich s Foxwillow Pine Nursery s 50 Shades of Green exhibit. I visited on St. Patrick s Day, March 17 th, so it was apropos that I noticed his picture in the stained glass exhibit on my way to grab a bite of lunch. You can get a panoramic view of the exhibit hall when you go up the escalator to the second floor. As you see, the hall did not have any imposing exhibits like some past years. It provided a more open appearance; this also may have conveyed the impression that there were fewer exhibitors.

7 7 This 20-foot tall waterfall with its changing color at the top was a vertical highlight, as was the exhibit of recycled filing cabinets. Vertical structures were also highlighted by the many living wall gardens. Here are a couple of samples.

8 8 As a volunteer for U of I Extension, I always stop by their booth, usually hosted by Cook County Master Gardeners. They had samples of some exotic critters, like the spider below and the famous Madagascar hissing cockroach! I also am partial to the blue and orange colors, as you can see above. I attended a couple of the seminars, including Carol Cichorski s Plan for Winter Interest Now. I also noticed a couple familiar faces as I wandered the exhibit hall: Rich Eyre gave me the evil eye as I caught him napping in his rocking chair; Shawna Coronado (fully clad and in green) was on the floor giving a presentation on Front Yard Vegetable Gardening. This exhibit with a Farmall tractor and red-barn chicken coop is the first I ve seen of either tractor or chickens at the show. The show was well done, low-keyed, and not crowded on a brisk Monday in March.