Gardening for Pollinators handouts

I've posted the handout essay and plant list on http://debbieangelgarden.blogspot.com/ from my November presentation on Gardening for Pollinators. Here are some of the photos from slides.

Butterfly Garden Tips

¨  Sunny area (6 hours sun)

¨  Sheltered from wind

¨  Lots of native plants

¨  Variety – for spring to fall blooms

¨  Drifts (scent)

¨  Single flowers

¨  All stages: eggs, larva (caterpillar),
pupa (chrysalis), & adult

¨  Stones for basking

¨  Moist soil or mud for puddling

Christmas Party

The club party is December 18 at Judy McDonald's house. If you haven't RSVP'd, do so right away to Maxine Ranta.

Bring an appetizer or dessert and a gift for the exchange.

Collecting recipes for Chinook District Cookbook

Please share a few recipes that you've enjoyed that originated between family or friends. Bring to club meeting. We will compile about 100 from our club to test and provide for new recipe book the district plans to publish.

Free table setting workshop

The Chinook District Judges Coucil is offering a free table setting workshop at "The Cove" in Normandy Park Sept. 19 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Refreshments will be provided. Bring your lunch.

Blue Star Veteran's Marker

The blue star marker has arrived! We are now working on finding a good location for the marker and plantings. This is to honor past, present, and future members of the US Armed Forces. We hope to be part of a new Veteran's Memorial being planned for Federal Way.

This photo shows the marker temporarily staged in my garden:

Summer potluck

Here is a photo of most of us at the August 15 summer potluck at Debbie's house.

Awards

Marine Hills Garden Club (MHGC) did very well with awards for the last year. The State and District Awards were presented at the June 20 Awards Luncheon. Here are our results:

State (Washington State Federation of Garden Clubs):
Civic Development (club 30 - 49 members) 1st Place - MHGC
Lois Donahue Award of Achievement 2nd Place - Radhika Kumar
Horticulture Essay 1st place - Debbie Angel
Publications - Other Media (Blog) 1st place - Debbie Angel

Longevity Awards:
Garden Club 50 years - MHGC
Member 41 years (didn't get a 40-year award last year) - Arlyce Pearson & Valerie Roloff
Member 25 years - Lila Knox

Washington Consultant Council Awards:
Landscape Design 1st place - Debbie Angel

Chinook District Past Director Awards:
Shirley Lins award for most outstanding novice design - Diana Giannoulas
Dottie Wilson award to outstanding contribution to her garden club 3rd place - Radhika Kumar
Jeanette Pruin award for most new members 3rd place - MHGC
Sara Jane Rants Honor Club - Honorable Mention - MHGC
Best Attendance at District Meetings 1st place (club with 21 - 35 members) - MHGC

Plant a Tree awards:
Club award 3rd place - MHGC
Individual award 1st place - Debbie Angel

Chinook Awards Luncheon June 20

Mark your calendars for 11 a.m., June 20, for the Chinook Awards Luncheon. RSVP to Debbie. There is no cost for this event. Let's fill a table or two! I think we will win some awards this year.

Garden Tour to The Bloedel Reserve

We had a great day touring The Bloedel Reserve, followed by lunch at the New Rose Cafe at Bainbridge Gardens nursery (and some plant shopping).  I will post a group photo from the gardens soon.

Photo of club at February meeting

We are smiling because we just heard a terrific presentation about butterfly gardening.

Flower Design by Diane Goss

Diane and I are taking the Flower Design class offered by the Chinook District and taught by Diane Green. This photo is one of Diane's first arrangements - well done, Diane!

Plant sale dates

The 2012 Marine Hills Garden Club plant sale will be May 4 for pre-sale orders and May 5 for the open/public plant sale.

Canceling the January meeting

Due to severe weather forecasts, we will not have our January meeting.

Please let Debbie know if you plan to attend the February 1 Chinook General Meeting and Flower Show. We need two clerks to help, and we need to submit 8 - 10 designs and at least one craft. The program is a presentation about hardy ferns.

web link with information from Cisco segments

Radhika shared this link with information from Gardening With Cisco shows:  http://www.king5.com/on-tv/gardening/Gardening-with-Ciscoe-show-information-89520297.html

Hardy Fuchsias

In preparation for our club's 2012 growing project, here is an essay I wrote about hardy fuchsias. We plan to select a variety for each member to grow and report about.

Every Puget Sound region garden can benefit from the addition of some hardy fuchsia plants. There is a size, color, and type flower to suit everyone. The small (shorter or low-growing) varieties are particularly useful placed near the front of a border or scattered in a small garden bed.  They won’t outgrow the space or require pruning to control size. Planting three or more (an odd number) of the same variety provides repetition for unity in garden design.  Hardy fuchsias also perform well in a pot, as a single plant or in a grouping of other plants.

Very hardy (or truly hardy) fuchsias may be labeled as VH or H3. Hardy fuchsias may be labeled at H or H2. The very hardy varieties will bloom from June to November. The hardy varieties will bloom by July.

A few of the many great smaller (shorter) varieties of very hardy upright fuchsias are Golden Herald, Santa Claus, Rufus, Pat’s Dream, Army Nurse, and Drame.  Golden Herald has beautiful golden foliage, and its single flowers have red sepals and purple corollas. Santa Claus is a prolific bloomer, and its flowers have red sepals and white corollas. The large flowers of Rufus have sepals and corollas in a beautiful shade of coral-red. Pat’s Dream has lots of single flowers with red sepals and violet corollas. Army Nurse’s double flowers have red sepals and purple corollas. Drame’s foliage is a golden color and its semi-double flowers have scarlet sepals and violet corollas. All of these have been strong performers in my Puget Sound garden for at least four years.

Plant hardy fuchsias in the spring after danger of frost (generally early May). Before planting in the ground, acclimatize them for a week, giving them a little more sun each day. Select locations with reasonably well-drained soil in part sun or full sun (preferred by most of the hardy fuchsias). Plant fuchsias a little deeper than they were in their original pots. Add a balanced slow-release fertilizer.

Water your fuchsias deeply once a week. Water them in the morning. Fuchsia will be happy to receive some additional slow-release fertilizer a couple times during the summer. Cut branches freely to add to flower arrangements.

Leave most of the bare branches on the plants to provide some winter protection. You may trim a little for neatness. When new growth begins to appear in the spring, trim to within a few inches from the ground. The plants will generate all the new growth needed for a beautiful show in summer and fall.