Meeting Summary May 22, 2018 Plus Plant Sale Photos

Longvue Acres Garden Club Meeting                                                       May 22, 2018

Colleen Fingal, LAGC Vice President, welcomed members and guests on a spring day. Blooms in our gardens include salvia, candytuft, columbine, trailing phlox, and many more.

·     Plant Sale– Mary Ann Kurtzwas thrilled by the success of the plant sale and thanked all of us for our involvement in many ways. The little bit of rain did not hinder the customers.  They continued to shop in the rain with their umbrellas. Members brought 600 assorted plants. $2100 was made and this means program support, meeting space, and donations to non-profits are covered in the budget. Only 40 plants remained at the end and these were donated to Evergreen Park and Christ Lutheran Church. Advertising was good. Mary Ann asked us to save any miniblinds for next year’s sale. Members discussed which plants seemed to sell the best and which plants customers had requested. Mary Ann compiled a list of the plants to refer to for next year and encourage members to bring more of these plants.

MORE PICTURES AT END OF SUMMARY

·      Officer spotlightTreasurer –Denny Brown summarized the Treasurerposition of collecting dues, providing quarterly updates to members, and filing sales tax for plant sale. One does not need to be an accountant to be treasurer. 

o   Interested for next year?  Let an officer know.

·      Duties report–Officers and Committee Chairs are asked to please submit their “Duties Report” by June for our information binder to assist future officers and chairs.   

·      Passavant Chapel Garden– Helen Dean passed around a signup sheet for two-week stints for deadheading and gentle weeding.  Peggy Elizeus offered to meet you there if you would like. Peggy gave a brief overview of the history of the garden. Hospital staff, patients and visitors alike enjoy the garden and often comment. 

·      Publicity– Patty Bumbaugh’s submittals for this meeting were published.

·      2019 Programs– Some suggestions are a September plant auction, straw bale gardening, and bees.  Please submit your suggestions to Jenna.

·      November or December tour with lunch– Colleen asked for suggestions for the tour with lunch.  Marilyn Gurtner said she and others who went to the Pines Tavern last year would happily repeat the same location. Other suggestions were Bella Frutteto, Kretzlers, and Whisper Pub. Contact Colleen with ideas for tour and/or lunch. The discussion will continue at the annual picnic in July.

·      Directory phone changes – Janine Zink and Lynn Betts announced new phone numbers. 

·      Dessert and arrangement – Thank you to Jeanne Schomaker for dessert and Peggy Elizeus for the arrangement of beauty bush. (without trimming it can be 15 ft.)

Program: The Basics of Rain Gardensby Attila Csokai

Attila is a Penn State Master Gardener and an avid rain garden supporter. His daytime job is as a project manager at Carnegie Mellon University. He also works with the Allegheny Parks Foundation and Boyce Park. He showed excellent slides of both new and established rain gardens. 

·     Why make a rain garden  – They are attractive while moving runoff away from the wastewater (sewage) treatment plant and slowing release into the rivers. They are a green, ecological method of flood mitigation and help to protect and maintain clean water. We can each do our part.

·     How to begin – look at your property and note the downspouts, both water flow and pooling. Rain gardens can be of any size and many of the sources below cover suggested sizes for roof sizes. Depth should be no more than 12” with a finished depth of 6”.  

·     Site selection – at least 10 ft from both your house and your neighbor’s.  A 10% slope is the maximum and 50 ft from any septic system. Pools of water should drain in 72 hours to prevent mosquito breeding. An outflow for larger storms should be included. “Scale a rain garden to your needs.” Even small ones are a good start. Rain gardens in troughs work also.

·     Attractive design and plants – vary heights, colors, textures, and use favorite natives. Select plants, especially native ones which can take periods of wet and dry once established.  Plant these in three zones: wet, moist, and dry.

·     References – http://extension.psu.edu/plants/gardening/eco-friendly. http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org. http://raingardenalliance.org.

·      Sources– Sylvania Natives in Squirrel Hill, Prairie Moon Nursery, Pennsylvania Native Plant Society, and Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center plant database. 

·      Examples – Heinz Chapel gardens, CMU, area by old arena, and other locations.

·      Be flexible and have fun – “Plants will rearrange themselves over time according to their needs” per Attila. Expect to be surprised over time with an amazing variety of birds, butterflies and bees.

Calendar:  

·      June 26 – “Neglected Annuals” by Jessica Walliser.

·      July 10 – Annual LAGC Picnic at Janine Zink’s home, 6:30 p.m. Directions in LAGC Handbook.

·      August28  – “Native Plants in Bloom” Tour at McDaniel’s Launch Area by Mary Alive Koeneke.

2018 Plant Sale

Just a few left.

Load out..complete for 2018