6/29/2024

Picnic & Tour of Bill Goff's gardens, June 4, 2024

We had a terrific turnout and the perfect weather for this year’s annual club picnic which was hosted by Bill Goff.  A great big thank you to Bill and his wife Diane for welcoming us to their home and garden.  The variety of salads, appetizers, mini-sandwiches and desserts was enjoyed by everyone.  Water and Paducah Iced tea quenched our thirst.  The iced tea has a citrus ingredient, pineapple juice and was delicious.  We’ll have to get the recipe from Bill!

Although we were hoping to see the peonies in

Bill Goff
bloom, Bill explained that most of the peonies had bloomed early this year so there were only a few pink blossoms for the picnic. We enjoyed strolling through Bill’s mature garden which sits on a double lot. He has been creating and working on his gardens for more than 30 years. Deer and rabbits can be a problem for Bill so he uses Liquid Fence and Milorganite with some success.

Beautiful peony blossom


Dawn redwood



The property in the backyard is divided into 2 distinct areas separated by a fence. The first area is a shady spot which surrounds a lovely patio with eating area and fountain. This garden bed is full of hostas of varied colors, sizes, and different shaped leaves.  Sprinkled among the hosta are a few reddish lilies which piqued members’ curiosity.  It’s called a Martagon Lily, also known as Turk’s Cap Lily. This lily thrives and blooms well in part shade where other types of lilies prefer full sun.  This lily is unique because of its downward facing blooms and many blooms on a single stem.

Martagon Lily

The shade in this area is created by Bill’s Dawn Redwood Tree.  Bill planted this amazing tree many years ago.  It’s a cousin of the Sequoia and loses its needles in the Fall.  It’s architecturally unique because of its vase-like trunk.

On the other side of the fence is the second area where there is a large perennial border filled with mature plants such as: Mountain Mint, Crocosmia Lucifer, Culvers Root, Feverfew, Lambs Ear, Verbena Bonariensis, Catmint, Bachelor’s Buttons, Solidago Golden Rod and a variety of Peonies.  I’m sure there are many more plants which I didn’t recognize!  This area also has a large swath of greenery which promises to display a large variety of daylily blooms in a few more weeks.  Tucked in amongst the plants are perfectly placed decorations such as a concrete statue of St. Francis, a bird bath, sundial and a special metal sign which says “Pap Pap’s Flower Garden”.

We thank Bill for allowing us to tour his garden. From what I can see it’s the perfect place to enjoy your other hobby, photography.  The variety of mature plants and landscaping really makes a relaxing space and I hope you get to enjoy it with your friends and family.

Meeting Notes

We took a group photo in front of the perennial bed.

President Nancy shared a thank you note with members from the Penn State Master Garden Symposium. This year we made a donation to become a Friend of the Symposium and have our club’s name listed in the garden symposium directory.

Nancy will reach out to board members and committee chairs to confirm who would like to continue in their current position in 2025.

Mary Ann Kurtz, Plant Sale Coordinator talked about the success of the 2024 plant sale.  Great job to our members!  Many thanks to Mary Ann for coordinating our efforts!!!  Our profit is $3344. We had 690 plants brought to sell with 92% participation of our club members. 

Three of the plant sale signs were stolen so we might have to budget for more next year.

No changes need to be made in terms of publicity or pricing.

It was determined that we could use 2 more tables for the plant sale setup. Members are asked to bring as many tables as you can.

We discussed whether we should sell plants which are listed on the PA Invasive species list. We’ll get a copy of the list and discuss in the future.

Ideas and uses for an LAGC logo were discussed. Sample ideas for the logo were circulated. Club members were asked what we should purchase to print the logo on such as a t-shirt, apron, ball cap or button. No decision was made and this topic will be discussed at another meeting.

Notes by Colleen Finegal, pictures by Bill Goff and Rose Mary Highman

 

 

North Park Wetland Tour, May 28, 2024

 Although it was a rainy evening, we had a nice group for our tour of the Wetlands in North Park. Our guide was Leah Fulton a Naturalist with the Latodomi Nature Center who is a very knowledgeable and personable speaker.  If you haven't been to the Wetland Area in North Park before then, it would be a wonderful place to visit anytime of the year as you will see something different in every season.

Here are some of the plants and trees that our tour guide pointed out as we strolled along the water and man-made boardwalk.

  • Ninebark tree - can be propagated easily by sticking a piece of it in the ground 
  • Elderberry bush - loved by birds and thrives in moist area 
  • Wingstem - host to checkered butterfly 
  • Swamp white oak - has leaves with rounded edges; Red oaks have spiky edge leaves
  • Honeysuckle is invasive; plant Coral honeysuckle which is a native variety 
  • Redbud tree - beautiful heart shaped leaves
  • Common Milkweed - the Monarch butterfly lays eggs on the plant and the caterpillar consumes the milky toxic sap from the plant; this deters predators from eating the insects; Leah suggests that we don't plant tropical milkweed because it confuses Monarchs to delay migrating to Mexico; they might not make it to their destination before the weather changes 
  • Barberry - invasive plant which is known to takeover the understory of a forest; it's illegal to sell
  • Snails - we were cautioned not to step on them as we walked along the boardwalk 
  • Cattails - an obligatory plant for a wetland; each plant has 2 “hotdogs”; Lower one is female and upper hotdog is male
  • Common reeds are currently taking over wetlands 
  • Multiflora rose - invasive and pushes out native plants 
  • Beaver dam - although we didn't see any beavers, our tour guide assured us that there is a healthy population of beavers
  • Black Willow - loves moist soil and great for erosion control; native to North America 

 

A clap of thunder ended our tour of the Wetlands in North Park. We were just about at the end of the walkway. We almost made it back to the ice skating rink parking lot when the rain began to pour in buckets. Appropriate weather for touring the Wetlands!

 

Notes by Colleen Fingal, pictures by RoseMary Highman

Wingstem

The rain began lightly, then the thunder & deluge made us run for cover.