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Garden Tips: No time to slack during fall gardening

As the garden season winds down, many may think it is time to relax. But now is the time to make a checklist of fall gardening chores.

First, fertilize the lawn. Early September and late October are the most important times to do this.

During the hot part of summer, cool-season grasses become stressed. Grass shoot and root growth slows to a stop. But as the weather cools, the grass begins to grow again, establishing new roots increasing lawn thickness. Nitrogen applied in the fall helps the grass recover from the summer stresses.

Washington State University recommends using a quality fertilizer that contains slow-release or controlled-release nitrogen, such as IBDU, sulfur-coated urea or urea formaldehyde. These fertilizers release nitrogen over an extended period of time. Fertilizers with soluble nitrogen, such as ammonium sulfate or urea, are best for late fall fertilization.

Next, take care of weeds. If you just have a few weeds, take them out with a weed digger. If the problem is serious, consider broadleaf weed killers.

For weeds like black medic, bindweed, mallow, dandelions, plantain and clover, use a combination herbicide product containing 2,4 D and MCPP. A lawn product containing triclopyr will help with tough-to-control broadleaf weeds, like oxalis, prostrate spurge, henbit, ground ivy and lawn violets.

It also is a good time to buy spring flower bulbs for planting next month after the weather cools. Keep in mind that more expensive bulbs produce bigger flowers. If your bulbs are packaged in a plastic or closed paper bag, place them in an open, well-ventilated tray in a cool (50 to 60 degrees) spot.

Wait to plant the bulbs until the soil temperature drops below 60 degrees. This temperature allows for root growth without stimulating leaf growth. Don’t forget to water after planting and whenever needed during mild fall and winter weather to keep the soil slightly moist.

Other tasks include:

— raking leaves.

— build a compost pile.

— divide spring and early summer flowering perennials that have become crowded.

— cut to the ground the dead tops of perennial flowers.

— weed and clean away plant refuse in garden and landscape beds.

— aerate lawn if the soil is compacted.

— give all trees, shrubs and perennials a deep watering before the water is shut off.

— Marianne C. Ophardt is a horticulturist for Washington State University Benton County Extension.

Program Will Detail Garden Tips for Season’s End

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DERBY — Garden author, lecturer and instructor Colleen Plimpton will speak at 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 16, at the Derby Library, 313 Elizabeth St.

Good Night My Garden is a show-and-tell using visuals of tools and equipment used to put gardens to bed.

Ms. Plimpton will discuss bulb planting, what to leave up and what to cut down, composting, lawn care and bird feeding.

Ms. Plimpton’s award-winning, one-acre ornamental garden has been on numerous tours and serves as a living classroom laboratory where she teaches composition, color, composting and other gardening how-to’s.

She also runs a garden coaching business, teaches gardening at the New York Botanical Garden and works with numerous local garden clubs and non-profit groups.

This program is free and open to the public although registration is requested.

Those seeking registration or additional information may call 203-736-1418 or visit www.derbypubliclibrary.org.

Garden tips: Mapping heat can aid plant choices

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While severely cold winters have become less and less common in our region, it is obvious that we still can count on our extremely hot summers. When selecting trees, shrubs or perennial plants for local landscapes, a plants ability to withstand the stress of multiple days of high temperatures during the summer should be considered along with a plants ability to survive cold winter temperatures.

The late Dr Marc Cathey, American Horticulture Society (AHS) president emeritus, noted that heat damage is not as obvious as severe cold temperature injury that can kill or damage a plant. Heat damage typically is more of a chronic condition with plants failing over time from accumulated stress that leads to poor growth and attack by insects or disease.

Thats why in 1997 the American Horticulture Society under the direction of Dr Cathey developed the AHS Heat Zone Map. Similar to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Hardiness Zone Map, the AHS Heat Zone Map is divided into zones. The Heat Zone map has 12 zones based on the average number of days that zone experiences with temperatures above 86 degrees. Above the suitable zones, a plant will suffer heat damage.

Most of Benton and Franklin counties is rated as being in AHS Heat Zone 6 with greater than 45 days and less than 60 days above 86 degrees. However, the area immediately outside the Tri-Cities is rated in AHS Heat Zone 7, with greater than 60 days and less than 90 days above 86 degrees. Thank goodness we arent in Zone 1, with less than one heat day, or Zone 12, with greater than 210 days!

It is important to note that the AHS Heat Zone Map assumes that adequate water is supplied to the roots of the plant at all times. The accuracy of the zone coding can be substantially distorted by a lack of water, even for a brief period in the life of the plant. Most plants we place in our area home landscapes are not native to our region and require adequate supplemental watering. Indicating a plant is heat tolerant in our zone doesnt mean that it is drought tolerant.

Water isnt the only factor that could skew a plants ability to thrive in a particular heat zone. Soil aeration and drainage; exposure to light; air circulation; exposure to radiant heat from mulches, structures and paving; soil fertility; and soil pH all affect a plants ability to thrive in a particular heat zone.

I am seeing more and more trees and shrubs with a USDA Hardiness Zone Map rating and a AHS Heat Zone Map rating in catalogs and on plant labels. When you go plant shopping, look for these ratings to help ensure your plants will have a long and happy life.

Reminder: Our area is in USDA Hardiness Zones 6B to 7A.

— Marianne C. Ophardt is a horticulturist for Washington State University Benton County Extension.

Universal design: Homes that welcome all ages, abilities

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It seems that baby boomers get the credit and the blame for a lot of cultural trends. Those of us born between 1946 and 1964 are such a huge demographic bubble in the national population that the sheer numbers tend to result in specific and recognizable shifts in everything from consumer spending to health care issues.

One of those trends involves residential architecture that reflects and accommodates the realities of aging, either by boomers or their parents. Often referred to as “universal design,” this discipline recognizes that throughout their lives and especially in their later years, people have differing physical and sensory abilities that their living environment can and should accommodate. Through illness, accident or simply the normal changes brought on by aging, most of us will discover how things considered “standard” features in a home become barriers and obstacles when abilities we once took for granted are gone or compromised.

These changes, and the ways homes can be designed or adapted to them, are the subject of Deborah Pierce’s The Accessible Home. Pierce, an architect, offers a comprehensive look at design features that remove barriers and improve access, and that make for greater independence and a better quality of life. But more important, she uses the book’s introductory sections to provide a broad context that is about people rather than about buildings.

Probably our most iconic cultural image of “disability” involves a person in a wheelchair trying to cope with unfriendly obstacles such as curbs, stairs, narrow doorways or out-of-reach storage cabinets. However accurate on some levels, such a narrow definition of the term is decidedly incomplete, as Pierce explains. While extreme or permanent disabilities might be relatively rare, other limitations affect one out of four persons at some point in their lives, and not all the issues are related to mobility.

Conditions such as partial or complete loss of hearing or eyesight, for example, are far more common than severe spinal cord injuries or other limitations that prevent walking, and they can present numerous difficulties in coping with everyday tasks. Degenerative neurological conditions can affect balance, space perception and muscle control. Joint pain or arthritis can make it difficult to use doorknobs, faucet controls, cabinet latches and other common hardware. Even ordinary decreases in strength or flexibility can render an otherwise cherished home unfriendly, and Pierce notes that most homeowners queried want to “age in place,” that is, to stay in their home even if they become disabled.

With this broader perspective outlined, the book turns to the specifics of design. As Pierce understands and conveys it, ”universal design” aims at creating buildings and spaces that allow use by the disabled and able-bodied alike. The best features, she emphasizes, are user-friendly to all persons and don’t give the home an institutional look or a makeshift appearance of improvised afterthoughts that detract from a home’s aesthetics or value. The details of the best designs are many and varied, but some features are common to nearly all the homes featured:

• Wider traffic areas: Hallways, door openings and other “corridor” spaces should be wide enough (typically 36 inches minimum) to accommodate a wheelchair.

In the Garden: Garden Design: A Variety of Approaches

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By Charles Kidder

Gardeners love to plant shop. What they like less is returning home with the new acquisitions and trying to figure out where they’ll fit in their garden. But would a good garden design have prevented this problem? Or do we, in fact, have a “problem?”

To the committed plant-nut, the answer to the second question might well be, “Maybe not.” But most homeowners appreciate more order in their landscape, so for them garden design is worth thinking about. But where do you start?

There are many good books on garden design, as well as DIY computer software, but for now I’ll assume that you’re looking for professional help. Perhaps you don’t have a lot of gardening experience, or maybe you’ve just built a new home and are a bit overwhelmed by all the open space. So, whom do you call?

Many people would say a landscape architect or a landscape designer, using the terms almost synonymously, although there’s a significant difference. The first earns a degree in Landscape Architecture; for example, a master’s degree requires either two or three years at U.Va., depending on the student’s undergraduate background. Like other architects, landscape architects concern themselves with space and the structures that define it, as well as how people interact with those spaces. They may work at quite large scales—think New York’s Central Park and its creator Frederick Law Olmsted—down to the individual residence. If you peruse the website of the U.Va. landscape architecture program, you’ll get a better idea of the faculty’s areas of expertise. You’ll see that plants are a topic that’s certainly covered, but often just as another way to define and cover space. Still, landscape architects are aware of the benefits that plants provide to people and the environment.

To get a better idea why someone might chose a landscape architect over other design professionals, I picked a local one totally at random. I chatted a bit with David Anhold, principal at Anhold Associates in Greenwood, and he confirmed my feeling that an LA would be more focused on the spaces and overall function of a site, whereas a designer might just be concentrating on the “decorative” aspects. In answer to a question, he also guessed that not too many folks with a quarter-acre suburban lot would call on the services of an LA, although it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

And what about a landscape designer, or a garden designer? These are unofficial terms that anyone could apply to themselves, although in some cases they may have done considerable study at the university level. Most often, this would be through a horticulture department, generally at a state land-grant institution like Virginia Tech, or perhaps at a community college. A horticulture major learns all about plants—their names and ornamental features, how to grow them, their diseases and pests, etc.—and possibly how to design with them. The emphasis is definitely on the plant, and depending on the student’s interest, design may be of secondary importance. Remember that although a landscape designer may have received considerable formal training, it’s not a requirement. Anyone with gardening experience and a good eye could call themselves a garden designer. And they might be very good at it.

Landscape architects and landscape designers are often independent business people, although in some cases they may be associated with a garden center. Garden centers sometimes offer “free” design services, but usually there’s a catch. They have to make a living, of course, so the design will use the plants they sell. To some degree, the cost of the design will be built into the price of the plants. Independent LAs and designers will be charging you only for the design; then they have more latitude to deal with various contractors and plant suppliers if you also want them involved in the implementation.

Just what type of design assistance you pick will ultimately depend on your particular situation: the size and complexity of your property, the size of your budget, your interest in plants and gardening, etc. It might be best to talk with someone from each profession/business to see how they can help you. Particularly with designers and LAs, you will want to see photographs of their work and check references. Ideally, you’ll want to visit an actual property they worked on, assuming you have the owner’s permission. If you are able to talk with the owners, you can also find out how easy it is to maintain the landscape, an aspect of design that’s too often overlooked.

* * * * *

This past spring I was contacted by Sophie Laclef and Charlotte Thomas-Clarke from Girl Scout Troop 352. They wanted to undertake a project to beautify the Region Ten Community Services building on Crozet Avenue in order to receive their Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest award that Junior Girl Scouts can receive. They were dealt a very tough hand: two long, very narrow planting “beds,” really more like sunken planters, and they needed some gardening advice. Thanks to their hard work, native flowers now grace the building. Kudos to Sophie and Charlotte!

Signal Hill Council approves community garden design – Long Beach Press

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signal hillA 26-space community garden with tool sheds, work benches and granite paths is scheduled to open by April 2014, but some council members expressed concern at the fee for residents.

The City Council approved the conceptual design of a community garden at 1917 E. 21st St., adjacent to Signal Hill Park, but agreed to revisit the topic six months after the garden opens to see if the fees are too expensive.

The city has allocated $120,000 in the 2013-14 fiscal budget for developing the garden. Councilwoman Tina Hansen was absent from the meeting.

Annual costs in staffing, water usage and maintenance is $4,534, so the annual cost per space to individual gardeners would be $175.

The council last week approved the conceptual garden design, by a 4-0 vote.

Councilwoman Tina Hansen was absent from the meeting.

Previous to the council approving the design, the Parks and Recreation Commission had meetings about the proposed garden. Some residents said the $175 a year fee was too expensive, so the commission proposed a six-month and one-year contract rather than only a 12-month one.

At Tuesday’s meeting, council members Larry Forester and Lisa Woods also said the $175 fee was too high and hoped the costs would drop.

“You would have to be pretty busy to grow $175 worth of vegetables on that plot,” Woods said. “I hope we find out the price will go down.”

Mayor Michael Noll said working with nonprofits might help lower the costs.

In addition to the fee, a $100 refundable deposit would be charged to each gardener. The deposit would be returned if, after leaving the garden, the space is clear of plants and ready for the next tenant.

If a garden space is abandoned and left with plants, the deposit would be used to pay the city’s landscape contractor for clearing the area. If the cleanup cost is less than $100, the balance would be refunded to the gardener.

The parks and recreation commission has established a set of rules and guidelines for the garden regarding operations, approved planting and care and maintenance.

Bids for the project are scheduled to be accepted in October and awarded in November. Construction is scheduled to begin in January, Community Services Director Pilar Alcivar-McCoy said.

Contact Phillip Zonkel at 562-714-2098.

Tucson Garden Hosts Welcome the Public for the Garden Conservancy’s Open …

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On Saturday, October 5^th, visit six private gardens in Oro Valley and Tucson, open to the public to benefit the Garden Conservancy. Admission to each garden is $5, the Open Day is rain or shine, and no reservations are required. Call 1-888-842-2442, or visit www.opendaysprogram.orgfor more information. Each garden is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and visitors may begin the tour at any of the following locations:

The Sublime Desert Connection, 10200 North Cliff Dweller Place, Oro Valley – designed to support native pollinators with brilliantly colored sages and other blooms,
accented by agave and cacti, a shady riparian stream bed, and views of the Pusch Ridge.
Desert in Color, 4501 North Arroyo Vacio, Tucson – a contemporary desert style garden with amazing views and unique water features, including a fire pit, raised patio, colorful seating and pony walls, custom screening trellises, and an extensive planting palette of cacti.
A Desert Gem, 5452 Thunder Sky Way, Tucson – features flowing flagstone patios and walkways that link outdoor living areas, low water-use plants to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, a gurgling spring, and numerous handmade pots.
The Peter’s Garden, 2645 East 7^th Street, Tucson – participating in the National Phenology Network which tracks the life cycles of natural plants, and using arid landscaping, innovative shade areas, a water feature, artistic trellising, and traditional vines and other plantings.
Zona Gardens Studio, 5331 South Civano Boulevard, Tucson – landscape designer Scott Calhoun’s modern graphical garden, which boasts more than 150 plant species within an 1,611-square-foot space, floating shade screens, fifty-five-gallon drums repurposed as pots, and punctuated with dwarf agave and yucca species.
The Jackson’s Dreamscape, Tucson – an arid native garden with a water-salvaging system, specialty cacti and succulents, and winner of the 2011 Desert Museum Xeriscape Contest (directions to this Tucson garden will be provided at other locations).

These Open Days gardens are featured in the 2013 Open Days Directory; a soft-cover book that includes detailed driving directions and vivid descriptions written by
their owners. The directory includes garden listings in eighteen states and costs $21.95 including shipping. Visit www.opendaysprogram.org or call the Garden Conservancy toll-free at 1-888-842-2442 to order with a Visa, MasterCard or American Express, or send a check or money order to: the Garden Conservancy, P.O. Box 219, Cold Spring, NY 10516. Discount admission tickets are available as well through advanced mail order.

The 2013 Open Days program isgenerously sponsored by Fine Gardening magazine as its National Media Sponsor. Fine Gardening magazine brings you breathtaking design ideas, helpful techniques, and the know-how to get great results in your own garden.

The Garden Conservancy introduced the Open Days program in 1995 as a means of introducing the public to gardening, providing easy access to outstanding examples of design and horticultural practice, and proving that exceptional American gardens are still being created. The Open Days program is America’s only national private garden-visiting program, and is made possible by the work of hundreds of volunteers nationwide. Visit the Garden Conservancy and its Open Days program online at www.gardenconservancy.org.

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Curator’s Corner — What’s next?

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When visitors come to the museum for their second or third time, the question that usually pops up is: What’s next? Of course there is always the nagging problem of finances and if small independent museums like ours aren’t careful, that’s all they will ever work on. Fortunately our board of directors keeps evolving and with that comes fresh ideas and lots of new challenges for me. We have an excellent core group that is concerned about the future — next year, maybe even the next five to 10 years.

I must admit that when I started this project over 18 years ago, I never dreamed that we would have come this far. Just this week, we had a large group of visitors from Germany that had come to spend time with the people of their sister city, St. Marys. We had a large group of sisters who toured the museum as part of their annual family get together. The organizer was from Dayton and she chose to spend a few days in Delphos. She had sisters from Arizona, Colorado and California.

Can you imagine someone planning a family vacation to visit Delphos, especially if they don’t have any relatives in the area? You would be surprised at how many people have stopped in while traveling the Lincoln Highway as part of the 100th anniversary of the highway’s completion.

OK, so you are still waiting for an answer to “What’s next?” The answer is quite simple. It is time we, as a town, get organized. Many years ago, I wrote an article about all the attractions in Delphos, the hidden gems that would bring people to our hometown. I heard you chuckle. Attractions you say? Where shall we start? How about with the two museums? Do you realize in order to see everything there, you would need an entire day? Need a place to stay? The Microtel is right here — clean, well appointed and at a reasonable cost. For each tour we have run from MPH tours, there have been people who have come to spend the previous night at the Microtel. They always say it is a relaxing way to start a vacation.

What else do we have? Restaurants that will satisfy so many different tastes: Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Greek, steak houses, delis, coffee houses, specialty chicken, all the major fast food chains and local pubs, saloons and watering holes.

Have any of you been to all the parks in Delphos lately? Stadium Park, the town pool, Garfield Park, the Hanser Pavilion, the shelterhouses and how about the Westrich Little League fields? Have you seen all the new equipment and landscaping that was installed by our local Kiwanis Club? How about the running track at the high school and the enhancements made by the Stadium Club? We have treasures in our midst like the Zane Grey birthplace, the Ostendorf Hotel, the Dienstberger House and let’s not forget about the magnificent church buildings and Oscar Velasquez’s outdoor murals. Just take the intersection of the Lincoln Highway and State Route 66 where you will find the Veterans’ Memorial Park, a Lincoln Hwy control station sign and the full-size murals on the Best One Tire and Delphos Herald buildings.

Have you checked out the library and its new annex? I was just there the other day and even with all the cutbacks, there are free services you don’t normally find in communities our size.

You have an interest in art? It’s all around us from Mike Bendele’s magnificent metal doors on St. John’s Church to the restorations of the late 19th/early 20th-century architecture of numerous buildings on Main Street.

Have you seen the awesome three-dimensional murals done by the Delphos Area Art Guild that are in the Postal Museum? Just stop and look at the Central Block Building, the former Remlinger Drug and the Shenk Lang buildings, the offices of JoAn Smith, Ace Hardware, the former Phelan Hotel and how about the Museum of Postal History?

Anyone interested in antiques, coins and collectibles? Check out the Trading Post, the two antique malls or the boutiques and specialty stores of clothing, furniture, consignments and restaurant supplies.

You’d never guess how many places you can find pizza, baked goods or ice cream in Delphos. We are fortunate to have social clubs and banquet halls fit for a party of any size and they are fully-equipped, clean and reasonably-priced. We have a recreation center open 12 months a year. Our cemeteries are visited by genealogists and they are the final resting places for people like “Dummy Kim” and canal boat Captain Crenshaw. Canal enthusiasts have walked the banks of the waterway and climbed on the locks that were part of that history. Everything I have mentioned is just inside the city limits of Delphos.

So what’s next? We need to gather all the principal people involved with these attractions along with the ones I may have overlooked and we need to develop a travel and tourism organization right in the heart of Delphos. Every homeowner, every business person, everyone who can see what I am talking about needs to come forward to lend a hand, some time and maybe even a few dollars to put Delphos’s star on the map and bring people from all over the world to see how great life can be in America’s Friendliest City.

What do you say? Will you join me? If you are interested, drop me a note, put a note on our website (www.postalhistorymuseum.org) or give us a call at 419-204-5315 and leave a message. If we all did just a little, what do you think could happen?

Last but certainly not least, we have several seats still available for our trip to Monticello and Williamsburg slated to depart on Sept. 28.

Fast Pitch competition puts on brakes

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Posted: Saturday, September 7, 2013 10:00 am

Fast Pitch competition puts on brakes

By Shaun Zinck

szinck@beloitdailynews.com

beloitdailynews.com

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The Rock and Walworth County Fast Pitch competition has been canceled.

James Otterstein, economic development manger for Rock County, said there were “unavoidable conflicts” that would have impacted the pre and post competition activities.

He added the competition will be back in the spring.

“It was a collective decision and on that note, the partners look forward to assembling a quality 2014 Fast Pitch Competition,” he said.

The competition was scheduled for Oct. 2 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Otterstein did not elaborate on what the conflicts were that caused the event to be canceled.

The Rock County Alliance website still lists the event at UW-Whitewater with a tentative times scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Final presentations were scheduled to start at about 5:30 p.m. No exact date has been set for the competition.

The competition allows entrepreneurs in any phase of their business to pitch an idea to a panel of business owners. The contestants have three minutes to make their pitch. Both high school and college students can enter in the “student” category.

The panel of judges then chooses the finalists, who get additional time to pitch their idea again and answer questions. According to the Rock County Alliance website finalists also get to pitch their ideas to the general public.

The winner receives $5,000. Second and third place also receive a cash prize. Students also can enter their business ideas for a chance to win $2,500.

Local vendors also are on hand to help the potential business owners with ideas on how to further their pitch.

This summer Eigerlab hosted the Stateline Area Fast Pitch competition in Rockford. Eigerlab has done the FastPitch competition for seven years. Charles Meyers won the $5,000 prize for his “String Gator.”

The tool cuts string needed for landscaping tools such as a string trimmer to the right length. Racine and Kenosha recently held their competition in August.

Last year, the Rock/Walworth County Fast Pitch competition was held at Blackhawk Technical College’s central campus between Beloit and Janesville.

While a date has not been set for the Rock and Walworth County competition this spring, Otterstein said details would be forthcoming.

“Interested contestants are encouraged to check back online at www.rockcountyalliance.com within the Business Resources section, as those details will be posted and updated accordingly,” he said.

More about Rock County

ARTICLE: District divides on party lines
ARTICLE: Center to close by 2015
ARTICLE: First shots fired vs. flu
ARTICLE: City disputes property decline

More about Walworth County

ARTICLE: Walworth County Fair draws large crowds
ARTICLE: Walworth County kicks-off Fair starting Wednesday
ARTICLE: Beloit unemployment drops
ARTICLE: Quilts dress up countryside

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Garden club elects officers – Lake County Record

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LAKE COUNTY — The Clear Lake Trowel Trellis Garden Club (CLTTGC) recently elected its officers for the year: President Carol Dobusch; vice presidents Marva Brandt and Susan Buckles; Treasurer Debra Watson; Secretary Helen Turley and Parliamentarian Jo Shaul.

Dobusch said she wants to begin her year by extending an invitation to prospective new members to attend a meeting. In addition to her skills as a gardener, she has been an elementary and college drama teacher in the area for years, Watson stated.

“This is a club for everyone who loves gardens, gardening and landscaping, whether you have many years experience or need advice or cheerleading toward getting started in your own yard. We have so much fun together, and we do so many wonderful things for the community,” Dobusch said.

Members can choose to work on several community beautification projects, including planting and upkeep of the club’s garden at the Hartley Cemetery Chapel; flower beds at the Lake County Library and Library Park in Lakeport; the Blue Star Memorial garden honoring past, present and future U.S. Military personnel at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport and the native garden at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum in Kelseyville. “This group is made up of all ages and levels of gardening knowledge; it is incredible how much I’ve learned from some of the members who have belonged to this club for decades, and it is so much fun to interact with other new members, too,” Watson said.

The group also donates seedling trees to the Mendocino National Forest every year.

Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month except July and August with lunch at noon at the Scotts Valley Woman’s Clubhouse, located at 2298 Hendricks Road in Lakeport, and open with a “Flower Roll Call” period.

“Every member brings a plant they need identified or that is of interest to the rest of the group and one-by-one, these are presented to the group for roll call,” Brandt said.

Buckles adds, “Oftentimes, there is a fascinating or funny story attached to the plant and other times we all are just awed by a particularly beautiful specimen or learn to identify a plant we had not previously known about.”

The two vice presidents have also lined up guest speakers for the meetings as well as field trips, which include special garden tours to public and private gardens, as well as garden-related festivals and events. Other CLTTGC activities are what Dobusch refers to as “gifts to the community” and include the club’s November Chrysanthemum Show, the March Daffodil Tea and the Ka-Ba-Tin flower arranging group.

The club has meetings with lunch at noon on the third Tuesday of the month except July and August at the Scotts Valley Woman’s Clubhouse located at 2298 Hendricks Road in Lakeport.

For information, visit www.CLTTGC.org or call President Carol Dobusch at 279-1169.