Martin Karl sent these pictures of the Holiday Magic Winter Flower Show and Light Garden at Phipps Conservatory. Timed tickets are required to spread out the crowds, making it enjoyable for all. The show closes on January 7th and the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai show opens January 13th.
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As vice president of LAGC, Marlow M. made arrangements for us at Dee Jay's BBQ Ribs & Grille in Wexford. Since our president Nancy M was ill, he gave a summary of our 2023 activities and donations after welcoming us to the lunch. He also thanked the officers and committee chairs for their efforts. Bill G had been asked for a prayer and he said:
Dear God,
We thank you for water, soil, air and sunlight….all things that enable plants to grow. Your mysteries of photosynthesis astound us as they are the very source of life on earth. We, as gardeners, see your miracles of growth and life and are witnessed each day of each new growing period. For this, we are grateful. We are humbled by your Creation and we ask that you make us good stewards of your bounty.
Thank you for everyone gathered around these tables today and also for those who could not be here today.
We ask your blessing on the food that is before us, knowing that it has come from your very hands.
We ask this in your holy name, Amen!
Below are some pictures from Rose Mary H.
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| Marlow M welcomes the group |
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| Linda K |
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| Chris K, Lynn B, Helen D, Terry S |
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| Evan F, Coleen F, Peggy E, Mary Ann K, Claudia H, Mary J. |
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| Bill Goff, Mary Jo |
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| Linda K, Jeanne S, Helen D, Debbie S |
What’s blooming in your garden? Monkshood, dahlias, witch hazel, bearded iris and asters
President Nancy thanked Mary Ann for arranging last month’s dahlia tour at the home of Amy Krut in West View. Thanks also to Bill and Dianne for taking the beautiful photos.
Vice President, Marlow talked about the plans he is working on for this year’s holiday lunch and tour. The idea is to tour Old Economy Village in Ambridge and eat at a restaurant in the area. PLEASE NOTE – THE DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO Saturday, December 2nd. Please watch your e-mail for details.
The 2024 LAGC Board will consist of the same board members as this year.
Evan Fingal decided not to be the Community Service Coordinator in 2024. Lynn Betz and Mary Jo have volunteered to be co-chairs. Claudia Hickley volunteered to assume the role of Online Communicator in place of Lynn. Thank you to everyone for your years of service and to those stepping up to assume the vacant positions!
Treasurer Denny, spoke about the donations we give to the 4 organizations that are listed in the handbook. Members voted and approved to give $250 to each of those organizations. This was already in the 2023 budget. If you have a suggestion for another worthy cause that you think we should support then, please bring your suggestion to the January 2024 meeting so that we can plan for it in the 2024 budget. One suggestion is to donate to the Latodomi Nature Center.
Program Coordinator, Mary Ann reviewed the schedule she has planned for next year. Here is a list of what we can look forward to:
January --- The North Park Rangers will talk about Winter Birds
May --- Tour of North Park Wetlands
June 4th --- Annual Picnic at Bill Goff’s house to see his peonies in bloom
June 25th --- Tour of a local garden
Please mark your calendars with the date of the 2024 LAGC plant sale: May 18th
Members were reminded to make notes now about what plants can be divided in the spring to pot up and bring to the plant sale.
The hostess sign up list was circulated by Jane. Thank you to those who signed up to bring dessert or an arrangement to our meetings.
We had a variety of delicious autumn goodies from Mary Ann Kurtz: pumpkin bars, popcorn and cookies. Linda Brown’s beautiful end of the season arrangement of flowers and grasses complemented the table. Thank you for sharing!
Mary Ann 
Linda B's Halloween arrangement 
Mary Ann's desserts 
Final touches, Jane, Claudia, Mary Ann
This evening’s program was very popular. We had 12 guests! Allegheny County Park Ranger Deaglan McManus and 2 fellow rangers came well-prepared to talk about the historical structures in North Park that we drive past and may not pay attention to. They setup a display table with old photographs of the parks and handouts of information about programs in the Allegheny County park system and were on hand to answer questions.
Ranger Deaglan talked about many of the wood and stone structures in North Park. Some are still in use but, have a different purpose today. Here are some of the facts that I found especially interesting.
· **North Park is the first Allegheny County park; it was started 4 hours earlier than South Park
· ** Police headquarters: the policemen for North Park lived in houses specifically built for them in the park
· **The Eisenbach barn from 1927 is still standing today; it’s used for electrical equipment
· **In 1927 the bison and 50 deer were brought to the park from a farm in Allentown, PA. As the animals were being transported to North Park, they paraded them thru downtown Pittsburgh for the citizens to see
· **South Park still keeps 9 to 11 bison today and there are usually a few babies born in the spring; visitors to the park can participate in public feedings at the game preserve; look for details about dates and times on the Allegheny County Parks website
· **An American Indian from Montana, Chief Big Beaver, and his family were brought to North Park to take care of the bison; they were given a house and a salary; the children went to Ingomar Elementary School
**The Grotto along Kummer Road known as the Fountain of Youth was built in 1938
**The boathouse was built before the man-made lake was created; a garage was constructed at one end of the boathouse for the police boats
**The gatehouse is one of the most photographed structures but, it was never constructed to be strong enough to be walked on by visitors
**The swimming pool was once thought to be the largest public pool ever built and holds 2 ½ million gallons of water
There are many more structures in North Park which have been there since the early years of the park such as the firehouse, observation tower, log cabin, schoolhouse shelter among others. Ranger Deaglan and his colleagues continue to discover and unearth old structures throughout North Park by studying old photos and maintaining the vegetation in the park. Please visit the following website for more information History of North Park | Allegheny County Parks.
There wasn’t a business meeting this month. Our Program was a tour of a dahlia garden at the residence of a local home gardener.
LAGC members met at the home of Amy Krut in West View to see her unique garden. She has been growing dahlias for 12 years and has transformed her front yard and side yard along Rochester Road into a beautiful garden of dahlias. Amy plants many of the tubers in the ground, but also grows more than 70 in 5 gallon fabric pots which completely cover her lawn. She loves the blooming flowers for their variety of colors and shapes. She is also fortunate to be able to sell her flowers to 2 florists.
Amy said that her love of flowers came from her father and she grows a memory garden to remember him, as well as other important people, that have passed on.
The garden is usually in bloom from mid-August to mid-October with a variety of colors. During our visit we saw blooms of pink, purple, orange, red, yellow and many shades in between.
Amy said that the task of planting all her dahlias begins in mid-February. She pots them up to start growing early and keeps them on storage shelves that she can roll in and out of her garage on days that are warm from the sun. Dahlias have to wait until after the last frost before they can be planted in the ground.
A large part of growing dahlias is saving the tubers for next season. Amy has been working to perfect her process over the years so she can save as many varieties as possible. She explained that at the end of the season she lets the foliage die back after a hard frost and then removes it. The tubers remain in the ground or pot for 2 weeks with the hope that an eye will grow. Then the tubers are dug up and dried for a few days, labeled and stored in peat moss.
We enjoyed walking thru Amy Krut’s dahlia garden and seeing her passion for one specific flower. I’m hoping to apply some of the tips I learned about growing dahlias to the few plants that I grow.
Tour notes by Colleen Fingal, pictures by Dianne Machesney and Bill Goff.
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| Not a dahlia? |
