June 28, 2025 Picnic, Meeting Notes & LAGC Booth at Northmont Church Celebration June 24

LAGC members gathered for our annual club picnic at the home of Mary Jo Clayton. President Nancy Madeoy welcomed members to the meeting and read a beautiful poem about gardening to begin the lovely evening. 

 We thanked Mary Jo and her husband Don for hosting the picnic and providing delicious sandwiches and drinks. Don made a fruit salad which was displayed in a spectacular frog-shaped container made out of a watermelon. Mary Jo and Don made us feel very welcome.

Mary Jo welcoming LAGC Members for a feast and tour.

Photos by Dianne Machesney.

Bill Goff would like to have a peony division exchange. He proposed having this activity in September or October. Please contact Bill if you are interested in exchanging peonies.

 The Penn State Master Gardeners’ Garden in the Park takes place on July 26th, 9am–1pm, at North Park's Trial Gardens (Babcock & Ingomar Rd).

 Mary Jo Benedetti bought annual plants and planted them at the Chapel Garden. Please contact Mary Jo if you are interested in volunteering to help out at the Chapel Garden. We still need volunteers to fill a few slots in the schedule.

 Denny gave a quick update of the budget. The account balance is approximately $6000. 

 Claudia announced that the McCandless/Northern Allegheny Heritage and Cultural Center has bestowed the Shining Star Award to LAGC. This honor is awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to the community through volunteerism and involvement. LAGC will be recognized at the Shining Star Gala 2025 at the Camelot Event Center on November 1, 2025. Ticket information and more details will be announced in the coming months. 

 We will take a group photo of LAGC members at our July 22^nd meeting. Please wear your blue T-shirt.

 Mary Anne Kurtz, Plant Sale Coordinator, spoke about the huge success of our annual perennial plant sale. Kudos to Mary Anne for such excellent organization! 

 Here are the points that were discussed:

·       Signage: Very few businesses will allow us to post plant sale signs on their property; it’s good news that we didn’t lose any signs this year

·       Members were praised for the number of plants we brought to sell

·       No need to change publicity efforts; Claudia continues to do a great job!

·       Per Denny cashier/checkout system went well

·       It was agreed that the Holding tables don’t need tablecloths or tabletop signs

·       Friday night drop off of plants at the church – more members used this option

·       Stagers don’t need calculators; can use cell phone if needed

·       Plants were priced well; suggestion to increase the price of specialty plants

·       The receipt will be revised to include 2 items: donation received and if customer is new to our sale

·       An enhanced description of the job duties will be e-mailed to members

·       In order to keep customers from browsing the plants before the sale begins, caution tape or a hostess will be assigned for crowd control 

·       Will discuss buy one get one free vs. half off price at end of sale

·       Plan to take a group photo immediately prior to the start of the sale

·       There’s been an issue of members incorrectly identifying the light requirements on the label with wrong sun/shade picture. This results in plants being placed in the wrong section at the plant sale. Mary Anne has started to compile a list of the most common plants that we sell.  Andrea volunteered to research the light requirements of these plants and come up with the standard that members should use for the plants that they donate for the sale.  Members will receive a copy of the list to review and make additions.

Program – Annual Garden Club Picnic hosted by Mary Jo and Don Clayton

 After a delightful meal and club meeting, members convened for a tour of Mary Jo’s garden and scavenger hunt. Mary Jo has lived in this house for over 30 thirty years, which is evident by the mature trees in the front yard. Our tour focused on the garden area at the back of the house which features a beautiful outdoor eating area and swimming pool. 

Don and just a portion of the layout. Note the miniature plants

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Don beside the greenhouse.    RoseMary's pictures.

The tour included the following highlights:

·       Greenhouse with potting station

·       An area set up with a garden train and miniature village designed by Don

·       Special Hand and Dagger wrought iron fence

·       Strategically placed fountains and statues

·       Concrete pots of New Guinea impatiens and geraniums around the pool

·       A corner of the garden with Sweet William plants dedicated to her brother

·       Huge, variegated Hostas

·       Various types of Clematis

·       Variety of perennials such as lavender, daylilies, Astilbes, and turtle head

·       A spectacular Ligularia

·       Black Lace Elderberry shrubs

·       Blooming Magnolia tree which perfumed the evening air

·       A large area of Dahlia plants near the house, not in bloom, yet; Mary Jo said that she likes to grow these flowers to make bouquets for friends.  

Members were given a purple hyacinth vine or sweet pea vine as a gift. Thank you very much to Mary Jo and Don for hosting such a lovely evening.

A few of us enjoying the feast, conversation, and beautiful plantings.
Pictures by Bill Goff.

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Northmont Anniversary with LAGC Activity & Donation

Northmont Presbyterian Church planned a Centennial Celebration for June 24, 2025, and LAGC members were invited to attend. The club took a vote to donate $50 to Bill Goff to have a stand where he will talk about the importance of pollinators and help child attendees pot up a plant. LAGC agreed to give a $150 donation to Northmont Church for the Centennial Celebration. Thanks to Linda and Denny Brown for donating a children's basket on behalf of LAGC for the raffle at the celebration.

Bill Goff helping with a gardening activity for children.

Raffle Basket prepared and donated by Linda and Denny Brown.

Pictures by Claudia Hickly 

 

 

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

 

 

June 28 LAGC Member Picnic 2023

We had a great turnout for the annual club picnic this year even though we had to adjust the date due to the weather.  A huge thank you to our host Andrea Maire and her husband, Gene for making us feel so welcome at their home.  Andrea provided the paper products, iced tea and adult beverages which members really enjoyed.  Club members brought a variety of delicious salads, shrimp cocktail, cheeseburger sliders and decadent desserts. Thank you to the members for bringing such delicious food.  It’s always such a glorious spread! 

 

We had a short meeting after dinner.  President Nancy announced that so far this year we have 7 new members.  That’s fantastic!  A warm welcome to all of them.  We’re glad you joined LAGC.

 

Evan Fingal will be stepping down as the club’s Service Coordinator at the end of the year.  This position is responsible for coordinating the maintenance of the White Garden at Passavant Hospital.  You don’t have to do all the maintenance yourself, but are responsible for organizing members to volunteer to help out.  Please let Nancy know if you are interested in the position.  Consider teaming up with another member to co-coordinate.

 

We will not be meeting at the church on July 25th because we will be touring the garden of Sandy Csikari.  No carpooling – meet at Sandy’s house.

 

The August 22nd program will be Edible Landscaping with Pat Morgan.

 

The North Park and Penn State Master Gardeners will host Garden in the Park on July 29th from 9am to 1pm.  The event will be held at the demonstration gardens at the corner of Babcock and Wildwood in North Park.

 

Mary Anne Kurtz, Program Coordinator reviewed the programs that she already has planned for 2024 and the schedule is filling up nicely. She asked members for program ideas by way of a survey that was distributed and collected at the picnic.  If you have any additional ideas for tours or programs, then please e-mail Mary Anne. We can never have too many suggestions!

 

Next year’s club member picnic will be held at the home of Bill Goff.  Since members are very interested in seeing Bill’s peonies, we have to change the date for the best show in the garden. The 2024 club member picnic will be held on June 4th.

 

Our 2024 plant sale will be held on Saturday, May 18th.  Please mark your calendars.

 

Just a reminder that the Shaler Great Gardens Tour will be held on Sunday, July 9th and the Wexford Garden and Pond Tour will be held on Saturday, July 8th.

 

 

Tour of Andrea (and Gene’s) Gardens

 

Andrea gave us a tour of their gardens after we ate dinner. Andrea generously offered members a piece of her plants.  Please e-mail her if you would like something.

 

Our tour of Andrea’s garden started along her driveway where she grows tomatoes behind tall netting to keep out the deer.  Deer are a concern in her yard and a couple of deer were bold enough to run thru as we enjoyed our dinner. The front garden near the street is a beautiful mix of delphiniums, evening primrose, crocosmia, cherry bells, zinnias, dahlia, black eyed susans, and both rose campion and white lychnis — just to name a few. Spigelia, indian pink with tubular red and yellow flowers was of particular interest to many members who were not familiar with the plant.

 

Andrea grows vegetables behind the house in raised beds which are covered to protect the plants from deer and rabbits. The veggie beds have garlic, onions, kale, nasturtiums, lettuce and cabbage. All of the plants looked healthy and happy.

 

As we strolled thru the property from garden to garden we couldn’t help but comment on the beautiful, lush emerald green lawn.  The lawn is diligently maintained by Andrea’s husband, Gene. We crossed the bridge to the back of the yard to see poppies, daisies, hostas, ferns and other shade loving plants. 

 

After the tour, Gene delighted members with a fireworks display while we enjoyed dessert.  It was a very pleasurable evening being able to enjoy good food while we talked gardening with friends.

 

Meeting notes by Colleen Fingel                Pictures by Dianne Machesney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annual Picnic June 2022

The 2022 annual picnic was a very enjoyable evening! Twenty-two members attended the picnic which was hosted by Nancy and Marlow Madeoy. Thank you to our gracious hosts!  We enjoyed the variety of delicious salads, side dishes, pasta and mini sandwiches which members brought for the table.  The fruit-filled desserts, lemon bread and chocolate florentine cookies were the perfect sweet ending to the meal. The sunny skies and comfortable weather were certainly welcomed by all.

  

• Colleen announced the names of the 2023 Board Members which are:

President: Nancy Madeoy

Vice President: Marlow Madeoy

Treasurer: Denny Brown

Recording Secretary:  Position is open — Please contact Colleen if you are interested

 

• Mary Ann Kurtz has volunteered to be the Program Coordinator for 2023.  Please continue to submit your ideas for programs or garden tours.  Members are also encouraged to take the lead and plan a program or two.  Before doing so, please contact Mary Ann for direction.
• The programs for the rest of 2022 are as follows:
• July — For the Love of Roses with Craig Jensen
• August — The Monarch Butterfly with Bill Goff.  Colleen Fingal will give a demonstration on how to make herbal salves
• September — TBA
• October — Fall Arrangement with Victoria
• Mary Ann Kurtz is working on plans for us to tour the Botanic Garden on a Saturday morning in August.  More details to come.
• Club Member Diana suggested 2 program ideas and both were well received by club members and will be considered for September 2022 or for sometime in 2023.
• The owner of Fairlamb Lavender Farm in Sandy Creek will come to talk to us about growing and using lavender.  There is no cost for the program other than reimbursing the speaker for gas money.
• Herpetologist, April Claus talks about PA native frogs, toads and salamanders which we would find in our gardens. She would bring the amphibians for her talk.
• Club member, Helen attended a program about the history of North Park which she thought was very good and would interest members. This was another great program idea and we will try to arrange a date with the speaker for LAGC.
• It was reported that the Passavant Chapel Garden looks great.  The daisies are in full bloom.  Deadheading the daisies will be the primary task over the next few months in the garden.  There are still a few weeks open in the schedule if a member would like to volunteer to work at the garden.  Members were thanked for helping to maintain the garden.
• Bill Goff brought a butterfly weed plant, Asclepias tubersosa for each member to take home. In August, he will be giving a talk to LAGC about the plant and its relationship to the monarch butterfly.  Bill grew the plants from cuttings and said that the plants would be much happier and healthier being planted in our gardens now rather than sitting in the pot for a couple of months.  Great idea! Thanks, for the plant, Bill!  We’re looking forward to learning more from you in August.
• Dianne Machesney brought purple, white and peach Iris rhizomes to share with members. The rhizomes are from the home of PSMG Sandy Csikari whose garden we toured 2 years ago. Thanks for sharing, Dianne!
• Dianne Macchesney also had two articles published in the Post Gazette.
•  Spotted Lantern Fly   https://www.post-gazette.com/life/garden/2022/07/08/what-you-can-do-to-stop-spotted-lanternflies-pa-penn-state/stories/202207080002?cid=search

• Poison Hemlock  https://www.post-gazette.com/life/garden/2022/06/24/pa-poison-hemlock-noxious-weeds/stories/202206240014?cid=search

 This evening we were lucky enough to tour the gardens of 4 of our club members. Each beautifully maintained garden is obviously well-loved by its owners and it was a joy to see such a variety of plants and flowers.  Here are some of the highlights of each garden.

 Nancy and Marlow Madeoy’s garden — Asiatic lilies which are 5 feet tall — I bet they’ll be stunning when they bloom; variety of annuals in beautiful pots, including amaryllis in full bloom.

This picture is from prior year which RoseMary asked Nancy to send since we didn’t see them in full bloom.

Terry Sarver’s garden — the front and side garden are filled with mature perennials and shrubs such as butterfly weed, hostas, roses, clematis and many more favorites. Terry also has a collection of tropical plants around her pool such as elephant ears, Bird of Paradise and banana plants.  The wide variety of houseplants on her back porch was an awesome sight! Since these are all tender plants and won’t survive the winter outside in Pennsylvania, she has to take them back inside to enjoy thru the winter months.

 

Helen Dean’s garden — the side garden contains waist high raised beds to grow her garlic, peppers and tomatoes, as well as, a variety of perennials.  The back of the property is a wooded haven for deer so Helen utilizes an ultrasonic deer repellant. 

 

Peggy Elizeus’s garden — the white picket fence in the back of the yard is the perfect backdrop for many favorite perennials like shasta daisies, daylilies, beebalm, and alliums.  The side yard contained shrubs, spiderwort and grasses.

 

Thank you so much for giving us a tour of your gardens.

Photos by Dianne Machesney and RoseMary Highman