Flower Arranging Class... 1

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1 October 2013 Flower Arranging Class Gayle Brooks Provides Expert Instruction by Debbie Beauvais On Tuesday, Sept. 17, a number of us joined Gayle Brooks for a delightful class on basic flower arranging. We reviewed some written materials on ways to preserve/dry flowers and pressing flowers. Then Gayle proceeded to give us various tips and pointers on what supplies to use, how to trim your flowers for the longest vase life, what to use in the vase, and much more. After a few minutes, Gayle began demonstrating how to put together a rounded arrangement. She continued to provide valuable instructions as she deftly put together a beautiful, evenly rounded flower arrangement. Next we all started working on our own rounded arrangements with Gayle s help. We all did well with her help. Later, Gayle instructed us on how to put together a vase arrangement. It was a great evening! We became more knowledgeable on arranging flowers, had a great time doing that, and brought home our creations. I hope you have the opportunity to take one or more of Gayle s classes. You can t do better than professional instruction for the cost of materials which you get to keep. Thank you, Gayle, for sharing your time and expertise with us. Inside the Gardener s Scoop Flower Arranging Class... 1 Meeting Minutes Winnowing Seeds... 5 Schedule of Activities... 6 From the President... 7 Gardener s Scoop October 2013 Page 1

2 NELA Master Gardener Association Meeting Minutes for September 10, 2013 Program At 6:40 p.m., President Debbie Beauvais welcomed everyone to the meeting, and introduced Master Gardener Jerry Hunter who presented information on planting and maintaining roses. His slide show gave information on the history of roses; how to plant, care for, and prune them; and photos of different types of roses. One very important step is to do a soil test and select the correct site before planting. Consider the type of soil and the amount of sun the site will receive each day. Prepare the soil and add suggested amendments. Raised beds are also an option. Study the characteristics of the roses that you want to purchase. Planting is a critical step. Don t plant a $15 rose in a $1 hole. Watering, fertilizing, pruning and mulching are equally important steps in growing roses. There was information on the Earth-Kind roses. Both Earth-Kind and Knock Out roses are more disease and pest resistant, and also drought and heat resistant once established. Jerry also showed photos of some different roses that he has grown successfully. Afterward, there was a period for questions and comments. Jerry also handed out 2013 catalogs he had obtained from Chamblee's Rose Nursery in Tyler, Texas, which contain good information on the different classifications of roses, general information on rose care, a reference chart, and history of the Earth Kind roses. Debbie then turned the floor over to Midge Willis and Rita Albritton who discussed the need for everyone to save seeds from their plants in order to provide free seed packets at the upcoming Gardening Seminar in January. Midge explained that we had such a positive response to the free seeds from previous seminars, that she felt it was very important to continue this. Everyone was encouraged to save flower seeds. Midge and Rita demonstrated how quick and easy it is to make seed packets. Midge showed us how to make packets from a sheet of paper (4 per sheet). Rita had copies which she had printed out on the computer of the premade packets she uses, if anyone wants one. Debbie advised that we had a gift basket donated by Rita for a door prize, as well as two large photographic prints donated by David Chin. Rita had also brought a large container full of some cuttings of Wandering Jew for anyone who wanted them. Old Business Minutes Debbie asked if there were any corrections or additions to the August 13 Minutes as printed in the September newsletter. There were none. A motion was made and seconded to accept the Minutes as presented. Motion carried. Treasurer s Report Jack Battaglia asked that some of the members volunteer to help with accepting payment from those purchasing bulbs on October 12 at the Bulb Sale. There were no changes in the Treasurer s report. Flower Arranging Class Several people have signed up for the evening flower arranging class on September 17. Debbie said it was not too late to sign up and has registration forms. Bylaws Review The Board is in the process of reviewing the Master Gardener Bylaws. Debbie has to retype them for another review before presenting the revised copy to the members. Meeting Minutes continue on page 3 Gardener s Scoop October 2013 Page 2

3 Meeting Minutes continued from page 2 Committee Reports Kiroli Park Christy Francis advised that we had received 2,700 seed packets from Walmart. She said that Walmart has been good about donating things in the community, and they actually have money set aside to provide grants to different organizations. This will certainly be beneficial in getting plants started for the spring plant sale. Christy reported that Allen Dunn, from Friends of Black Bayou, will be at Kiroli Park to give a propagation demonstration of wildflowers on Sept. 28 or Oct. 18 [now set for Oct. 26]. Seeds will be given away at this demo. At Kiroli: Bark in the Park will be on Saturday, Sept. 14, and Celtic Festival will be in the Park on Oct. 5. Chennault Aviation and Military Museum Debbie reported that there will be a volunteer gardening day to plant fall annuals soon. Volunteers will be needed to help complete this job. Monroe Zoo Linda Tubbs reported that she and Ginny Chin had done some work a while back, but felt the beds would again need some attention. A volunteer gardening day is scheduled for October 19. Butterfly Garden A new committee and project leader for the garden will be announced soon. Please let Debbie know if you are interested in working on this project. Bill Albritton and Buck Bounds have been spraying the Bermuda grass and weeds. Christy reported that the rose bushes there need pruning, so it could be an opportunity for a pruning demo. Susan Aguettant and Reba Cummings were thanked for all their past hard work on this project. Their considerable talents and efforts in the Garden will be missed. Scholarship Committee Dawn Jordan advised that the committee has been working on the criteria and application forms. The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a 4-H member majoring in any of the environmental sciences. The first scholarship should be available to present to a graduating high school senior in April, The application and guidelines are expected to be finalized soon. Activities Committee Auction Debbie advised that we had discussed having a charity auction sometime in the near future, but there are so many other activities planned for the rest of this year. Also, we will be having a silent auction at our Christmas party; this is always fun and a good fundraiser. Debbie asked if any were interested in helping with a charity auction. No one indicated their support, so the charity auction idea will be dropped. Bulb Sale Committee Linda Williams advised that we will be using cellophane bags which should be arriving by Wednesday. She advised that the bulbs will be prepackaged for the sale in different quantities, and different sized bags have been ordered for this purpose. Volunteers will be needed to bag bulbs the first week in October. Christy will send an about the time and place of the workday. Laura Hardin reported on the advertising for the sale. Information has been dispersed to the media about the October 12 Bulb Sale. A reporter will be sent out to do a piece for the News Star, and the Farmerville Gazette will also do an article. We still have fliers that need to be given out at businesses. Telephone Committee Debbie advised that we still need volunteers to sign up for the telephone committee; thus far these people have volunteered--linda Tubbs, Linda Williams, Debbie McClain, Margot Johnson, and Myra Lawrence. The purpose of this committee is to make phone calls to people in emergency situations where notice is short, as well as to those people who do not have Internet. Please see Debbie to volunteer. Meeting Minutes continue on page 4 Gardener s Scoop October 2013 Page 3

4 Meeting Minutes continued from page 3 New Business October Meeting Nominations for new officers will be accepted next month. Officer positions are one-year terms and Members-at-Large are three-year terms. We will need replacements for at least the positions of Treasurer, Secretary, Recorder, and one Member-at- Large. For information on the duties of each position, please see your NELAMG Handbook. We do not yet have a Historian and nominations will be open for that. This position will involve keeping a record of activities of the club, including photos. January Seminar Melinda Myers, columnist and contributing editor for Birds and Bloom magazine will be our keynote speaker. Jeff Landry from Landry Vineyards will be talking about the vineyard, and Jimmy Dean from Farmerville will be discussing bluebirds and martins. Exhibitors are being contacted about booths. The West Monroe Convention Center has been reserved. The Committee should have a draft of the flyer by the end of October. Plans are being made to get as much advertising as possible through newspaper, TV, and other clubs MG Classes Steve Hotard announced that he has held Master Gardener classes for five years, but has decided there will not be a Master Gardener class next spring. Instead, he plans to offer advanced classes to the current Master Gardeners. He is asking for input from the members on what topics they are interested in having. He has had feedback from members who say they do not yet feel comfortable in their knowledge of certain aspects of gardening and want more training. These classes will either be once or twice a month, probably starting in February, at the AgCenter. The classes will be free. Please Steve with your topics of interest. Announcements The November meeting will be presented by Christy Francis on fall planting and propagation. A volunteer gardening day will be at the AgCenter building on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 7 until 10 a.m. Cathy McGuire will be leading this project. Bring your tools for pruning, moving plants, and spreading mulch. Kerry Heafner reported that Bonnie Plants is sponsoring a contest for third graders across the country, and Carver Elementary students will be participating in growing cabbages to try to win a $1,000 scholarship. We will need volunteers to go to Carver Elementary to hand out the plants to the kids. Kerry will send out a notice as to the date and time. Susan Poe reminded Master Gardeners that there will be a Water Sweep on September 21st to help clean up the Ouachita River. Master Gardener State Conference will be in, October You can register to attend on their website at Door prizes of the gift basket, photographic prints, and two Stokes Seed gift certificates were given out by random numbers. Winners were Mary Sue Tiller, Steve Thomas, Steve Walker, Christy Francis, and Yvonne Scalfano. Debbie thanked everyone for bringing their old magazines to swap and urged everyone to take what they wanted. Any magazines remaining will be donated to the ULM Library. Hospitality Committee Thanks to Team 5 for refreshments this evening: Yvonne Scalfano, Leader Lanell Armstrong Judy Grant Tamara McCready Virginia Lee Debbie Beauvais Linda Williams Linda Tubbs Team 6 will be responsible for October s refreshments. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Gardener s Scoop October 2013 Page 4

5 The Gatherers by Midge Willis I have been winnowing seeds all day. Now there's a brand new word for me. Did you catch it in Steve Hotard's weekly article in the newspaper recently, or did you already know that word? I had never heard it until I read it in his article. In that article he tells all about gathering seeds, what to do and what not to do, in order to have viable seeds for next year or pass on to friends, or to save for us to give away at the 2014 January Gardening Seminar. You didn t forget the seed and plant giveaway did you? Winnow: To examine something such as seeds in order to remove the bad, unusable, or undesirable parts. To separate the seed from the husk. I am in the process of collecting seeds and propagating new plants for the Seminar s Seed and Plant Giveaway table we have every year. I make the small packages to hold the seeds from spare paper. With one sheet of paper cut into 4 equal pieces, you can get four 2 ½ x 3 ½ packets to use by folding and taping 2 sides of each piece, filling with seeds, then labeling and taping the top shut. Start now propagating new plants that can be given at this time too. The Seed and Plant Giveaway table is the happiest table in the building when they find out the plants and seeds are free. Everybody goes away smiling, seed packets in hand, and dreaming of spring. It's just one more thing we do to interact with the public. The Giveaway table also gives us a chance to hand out fliers about the Master Gardener program and how to join. We also sell our From the Garden to the Table cookbook at that table, and there are always a ton of questions that need to be answered. If you ever volunteer to work at that table you will wish you could do it every month. Gathering seeds and giving them away is a very old tradition. Farmers are proud to share seeds that have been gathered from the fields they tended all summer. These seeds are handed to their guests with pride. More often than not their guests brought seeds with them that were gathered from their fields as a gift for their host. Of course, all of these seeds were winnowed very well. Rita Albritton gets fancy with her packets and prints things on them to make them look pretty. Either way we make a lot of people smile when they get our free seeds and plants. You can make the packets any way you want to, but please save and package seeds for the Master Gardeners to give to the members and public as they come into the Seminar. If you don't have time to make the packets, use sandwich bags with a zip top. Next MG Meeting October 8 Program by Paul Jackson Dr. Paul Jackson, La. Tech, Dept. of Ag and Science, will speak on seeds: general seed biology, structure, environmental factors, how to store seeds, seed sowing, seed testing, and other related topics. Winnowed seeds and chaff NELA MG Board Members Board Officers President Debbie Beauvais Vice President Kerry Heafner Secretary Elaine Smith Treasurer Jack Battaglia Recorder P. J. Board Members at Large Christy Francis Mel Kallal Casey Stevens Gardener s Scoop October 2013 Page 5

6 October 2013 Activities Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat MG Meeting 6:30pm Fall Bulb Sale at WM Farmer s Market Zoo Volunteer Gardening Day 20 Newsletter article submission deadline Wildflower Propagation Class at Kiroli Park Reminders Don t Forget! We need small potted plants and small seed packages for the January seminar giveaway table. We need your donated plants for a successful spring plant sale. Please prepare several pots of each plant you raise from seeds or cuttings. Gardener s Scoop October 2013 Page 6

7 From the President by Debbie Beauvais Although I m not a lover of really cold weather, after the temperatures we ve had recently, I m ready for cooler temps and more rain. We should be getting cooler temps soon. I m sure you re like me, in addition to all the things to do for our association preparing plants for the January Gardening Seminar s giveaway table as well as collecting and packaging seeds for it; helping at the AgCenter, Zoo, and Chennault Aviation and Military Museum; preparing plants for the spring plant sale; the bulb sale; and January s seminar there are things we need and want to do for our own yards. I never seem to get it all done, but work in what I can. I have several things to plant in the next five months, but first I ll need to gather some pine straw and leaves to replenish the mulch around some plants. Be sure to mulch around any tender perennials. I ve heard that the Farmer s Almanac is predicting a colder winter than we ve had for a few years. Volunteer Service Hours As of September 15, Volunteer Service Hours 141 Continuing Education Hours This time last year: 1321 Volunteer Service Hours 186 Continuing Education Hours Do not forget to record your hours! The next MG meeting is Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at the LSU AgCenter. The Louisiana Master Gardener Program is a service and educational activity offered by the LSU AgCenter. The program is designed to recruit and train volunteers to help meet educational needs of home gardeners while providing an enjoyable and worthwhile service experience for volunteers. Contact: LSU AgCenter 704 Cypress Street West Monroe, LA (318) I found an interesting blog recently and wanted to pass it along if you haven t already found it. This was created to distribute Louisiana Master Gardener information, and contains updates about the LMG program and also consumer horticulture information from the LSU AgCenter. It also has Master Gardener events around the state! Check it out! Jerry Hunter, NELA Master Gardener, presents information on growing roses at the September MG meeting. Gardener s Scoop October 2013 Page 7