River Valley Garden Club A Place to Grow April 2017 Volume 14, Issue 7 Here s the Dirt Program: Donn Reiners, aka Mr. Geranium! 4/25 Nancy Compton, Vice President Programs Did you have any idea that the world has over 22,000 different varieties of geraniums? One of the garden s most colorful flowers, geraniums are hardy plants that grow in several zones, many blooming over long periods of time, living happily in rock gardens, perennial borders, or pots. At our April 25th meeting, Donn Reiners, known nationally as Mr. Gernaium, will provide a digital slide show entitled, A Photographic Essay of Geraniaceae, which is the Latin word for the species to which geraniums belong. A long-time lover of geraniums, Donn entered his first geranium competition at the age of 14. Interestingly, Reiners passion for geraniums is not all he focuses on, also enjoying photographic astronomy, gold prospecting, wine tasting, auto racing, photography, and landscape design. Prior to retirement, he worked as an urban planner designing residential communities and golf courses. Join us on Tuesday evening, April 25th, for a lovely program on one of the world s most beautiful flowers. As a bonus, our presenter has grown nearly two dozen specialty geraniums that he will donate for our raffle that evening. You won t want to miss an opportunity to win one of them! Dues Increase for 2017/18 Our main source of revenue for operating expenses is membership dues, and over the past couple of years they have increased. So as mentioned in the January 2017 Newsletter, the 2017/18 dues will increase to $25 for individuals, and $35 for families (members must live at the same address). INSIDE THIS ISSUE Pauline s Garden Tour...2 Summer Picnic Volunteers?..2 Organic Plant Sale...3 Rooting For You...4 Discount Nurseries...5 Garden Fair Plant Sale...5 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST Plant Sale!!...3 https://www.rivervalleygardenclub.net/
Field Trip: Pauline s Garden 5/5 Pam McCabe, Field Trip Committee Chair Pauline s Garden 3731 Dell Road, Carmichael On May 5, the garden club will visit Pauline s Garden in Carmichael. The photographs in the 1994 book, Tasha Tudor s Garden, inspired the garden design. Pauline s Garden has been featured 30 times in Fine Gardening magazine. The California Garden Clubs awarded the garden, Outstanding Private Garden of 2015. It is a natural woodland/hillside garden of about an acre. A certified National Wildlife Habitat the garden highlights Japanese maples, ferns dogwoods, native plants, numerous fountains and ponds and a natural creek under a canopy of Valley and Live Oaks. Since it is Cinco de Mayo, participants will enjoy a Mexican lunch after the tour at Carmelita s in Old Fair Oaks. We will carpool, meeting at the RMA building at 9 am. Please contact Pam McCabe (pamsaloha@gmail.com, 650-673-7712) if you have questions. In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. Margaret Atwood Looking for Summer Picnic Committee Members It s time once again to start thinking about our Summer Picnic. And the RVGC Board is looking for volunteers to serve on the Committee. At the 4/25 meeting, we ll be passing around a signup sheet. PLEASE add your name if you re willing to help out. 2
Organic Gardening Club Plant Sale 4/29 Ellison Cowles is sharing the flier below. Most 4" pots will be $2.00 - $3.00. There will be 100 potted special daylilies for $4.00. For a list of all events, please check out our Events page at: https://www.rivervalleygardenclub.net/events.html 3
Rooting For You Mary Zellem, Co-President CGCI 86 th Convention San Luis Obispo, May 30 - June 3, 2017 I would encourage River Valley Garden Club members to consider attending the upcoming state convention for CGCI. This year, the event will take place in scenic San Luis Obispo. Every year several members from our club attend the convention. RVGC has won many prestigious awards from CGCI in the past. Deadlines are rapidly approaching for both event sign up and for hotel reservations. Hotel Deadline : Thursday, April 27, 2017 Embassy Suits by Hilton, 333 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 Phone: 805-549-0800. Special Suite rate before 4/27 is $139 (2 people) Use: Code XCF to get the special rate Deadline to mail your registration form: Saturday, 4/22 The Registration form can be found online at: www.californiagardenclubs.com Registration costs vary depending on how many days and/or sessions that you will be attending. If you have questions, please contact: Bernice Jones, (our district treasurer) bjones@ranchomurieta.org, or Nancy Compton, (our district president) ncompton43@att.net. 4
Don t forget our Discount Nursery Program! The following nurseries provide our garden club members with a discount: Amador Flower Farm Big Oak Nursery Morningsun Herb Farm Pow Nursery The Secret Garden Silverado Nursery Pietro Talini s Nursery & Garden Center Village Nurseries For more details, please take a look at the flier on our website at: Link to Discount Nursery List If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life. Bill Watterson An Event Not to Miss! 5