On a lovely Tuesday evening, Colleen welcomed garden club members to the first meeting time in 6 months, at Memorial Park Church. Our meeting location will continue to be fluid, until Northmont makes a determination as to whether or not we will be able to begin meeting there again. However, they have agreed to allow us to hold our annual plant sale in their parking lot, as it is an outdoor event.
Board members have all agreed to continue their terms for an additional 2 years, many thanks to them. Committee Chairs have all also agreed to continue their terms for an additional 2 years, with the exception of our Hostess chair, we are looking for someone to fill this position, but are unsure of exactly what it will look like.
A member is needed to step up and assume responsibility for programming. You can partner up with one or more members to make it a little easier. Please contact Colleen to get more information if you are interested. Holding office or chairing a committee is a great way to get involved. In the interim, let Colleen know if you know of any presenters or potential tours for future meetings.
April’s meeting will be an activity – “Pressed Flower Art”, presented by yours truly, Andrea Maire. Other ideas that have been presented are a tour of a Rose garden in Sewickley, and a tour of the Millvale Community Garden.
If you are interested in hosting the annual picnic at your house, please reach out to Colleen.
There will be no membership dues for 2021, as we only had 2 meetings prior to the pandemic, and have gotten a late start this year.
April 6 is the due date to get your order in for NAEC’s seedling sale.
Passavant sign-up sheet to weed/deadhead the white garden in front of the chapel is back. If you did not attend the meeting, please contact Evan Fingal to signup for a week.
Overview of plant sale was presented by Mary Anne.
It will be held rain or shine, Saturday May 15t. Pray for rain the prior day, and sun for the day of the sale.
Mary Anne will place the signs and Claudia will take care of the publicity.
Begin potting your plants up now, so they will look nice and healthy on the day of the plant sale. Use 4 – 6” pots, and the value of the plant must be at least $2. Even if you cannot come to the actual plant sale, please pot up some plants and arrange for them to be dropped off with a fellow member. This is our only fundraiser of the year, and we did not have it last year.
Plants should be dropped off in the church parking lot between 7:30 and 7:45 on the day of the plant sale. For those working, or available to assist our customers with plant selection, “apple green” t-shirts are our uniform.
Sign up sheet is in the back. If you were unable to attend the meeting, contact Mary Anne to sign up as a pricer, stager or cashier, for either the first or 2nd half of the morning.
Currently, there are lots of flowers blooming in member yards, a welcome sign after our winter, Daffodils, Winter Aconite, Lenten Rose, Scilla, English Daisies, Forsythia, and Hyacinths. Crocuses, Dutch Iris and Snowdrops have already come and gone.
“Dreaming of Wildflowers” was presented by Dianne Machesney
Dianne is very knowledgeable on wildflowers in our area, and is always on the lookout for wildflowers as she is hiking in the trails and parks in Southwestern PA. She uses Newcomb’s Wildlife Guide” to assist her in identifying wildflowers she is unfamiliar with.
Her presentation spanned a vast variety of wildflowers. Who knew there were so many wildflowers growing in our area.
One of the first wildflowers to come up is Skunk Cabbage, a very unusual looking plant, with some unique growth habits. It has the ability to melt the snow around it, increasing the soil temperature around it to 70 degrees. As the leaves begin to get bigger, they begin to emit an odor, which keeps the plant from being scavenged by deer, rabbits … other wildlife. The leaves are a survival food, however, you have to boil and rinse it multiple times to get rid of the odor so it is palatable. It is an obligate, meaning that in order for an area to be considered a wetland, Skunk Cabbage needs to be growing in the area.
Twinleaf or Jeffersonia diphylla is a wildflower that was named after Thomas Jefferson, because it grows in areas where he explored.
Spring Beauty makes huge carpets, through trailing corms. All parts are edible, and the corms are really sweet, considered as candy by the indigenous peoples.
Bloodroot is blooming now. The roots bleed red, and stain when cut, which is how it got its name.
Violets are edible, and extremely high in vitamins C and A. More so than oranges. There are 80 different varieties in North America, 30 in this area.
Trilliums, Lady Slipper Orchids and other wildflower orchid varieties do not transplant well. If transplanting, need to remove the root with a lot of soil, as there is a symbiotic relationship between the plant and the soil. This explains why I have never had any luck with planting Trillium. I’m going to quit trying, although I do really like the plant.
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