Friday, August 22, 2008

August Meeting Minutes

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Here are the minutes from our August meeting on Tuesday, August 19th at the Williamson Public Library at 7pm.
Members: Subrata Paul, Eric Herriman, Penny Higgins, John Ferrante, Carol Hopkins, Shirley Schulze, Nathalie Fuller. Guest (and future GC member): Gail McCarthy

a. Mike Orr's Greenspace:
Shirley has been working with Mike and keeping up with the progress of the restaurant wall.
Mike is planning on adding two benches to the tree that he has already planted. Additionally, Walker Nurseries has offered perennials as they are going out of business.

The Garden Club needs to finalize a layout plan and help Mike with the plantings. We discussed possible shrubs, using trumpet vine/clematis/ivy to grow up trellises up the wall and getting daylilies from our newest GC member, Joyce Leimberger. Additionally there is a perennial flower set-up on Lake Rd across from Orbakers, where plants are $ 2.00.

Suggestion to put up laminated plan near green space with notice that the garden is a community effort with no tax dollars going into it. (some free publicity for the GC as well as Mike Orr).

ACTION ITEMS:
1. Shirley to find out what perennials will be donated.
2. Shirley to find out when perennials need to be taken from Walker Nursery
3. John to investigate manure/leaf mulch for us to work into soil and enrich it
4. John to look into stones available at Fox Farms to use in green space
5. from ALL our members - please look at your gardens and see if there is anything you can donate. E-mail me your list of possible plants by next week Monday (8/25). This can include shrubs and larger plants.


b. Elections
Just a reminder that elections will take place at our September meeting. Please consider serving as an officer, even if it's for a partial year. I know many of you head off to warmer weather as it cools off around here but your service for 6-9 months would be beneficial to our organization.
Positions available:President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Archivist
Public Relations/Membership

If you have questions about the responsibilities of any of these positions, let me know.

c. Fall plantings
The current plantings are doing very well and will remain in the planters as long as they look good. Suggestion to put in pumpkins/mums if needed. If you have any to donate, let me know.

d. Winter plantings
In the beginning of November, we will check all the christmas trees to see what needs to be replaced.
Weights are needed for the trees, so they don't fall over.

ACTION ITEM
1. Scott to see what money is available for fall/winter plantings
2. Subrata to see if Chamber of Commerce can help with winter decorations. If funds available, we could add decorations to other areas of downtown.

d. Pultneyville Garage Sale, Saturday, September 20th
Carol Hopkins has graciously offered her yard for us to set up for the garage sale. There will be a $15-20 permit fee that will be paid by the Garden Club. John has offered his tent again and we will be setting up the night before. If you have plants or fruits/veggies to donate, you can drop them off the night before if desired.

ACTION ITEM
ALL garden club members - please look at your gardens and see if there are items you can donate. Last year, we made almost $100 even though it was a cold and overcast day. Along with plants, John brought apples, tomatoes and hot peppers - all which sold very well.

e. Town Hall sign
The spring bulbs planted last year by the Garden Club looked great this year. John suggested that we plant perennials (such as hostas and daylilies) to enhance the area. He also suggested that we put a sign stating "If you want to contribute to the beautification of the town, please contact ______________________"

Happy Gardening!
Subrata

Thursday, August 21, 2008

August Events

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

A slight soggy greetings to you - the rain has been pretty unbelievable this month. Of course, my garden seems to be enjoying it and I know that our downtown/Town Hall planters are looking lovely and lush.

We've been getting a lot of compliments on how great our planters look this year. I'd like to thank Eric for working hard with Doug Mason to come up with some great plant mixes and our diligent waterers -- Shirley, Perry, Kris and Ed.

If you haven't taken a slow drive or walk down Main Street, I would recommend it. I've also noticed that some of the shopkeepers have put out plants, making downtown Williamson look very green and colorful.

Eric and I had a wonderful tour of Joyce Leimberger's gardens. As many of our Garden Club members are, she is a passionate gardener with extensive knowledge of daylilies and a keen eye for mixing colors and textures. Her daylilies are unbelievable - so many different colors and textures and different from what we saw at Parker's house. If you're interested in seeing her flowers, I will send you a link to Flickr where some photos are located. I was glad to have my camera with me that morning! Joyce sells her daylilies - if you are interested, she is located at 4466 Lake Road.


For August
1. Members meeting - Tuesday, August 19th at the Williamson Public Library at 7pm. A few items to discuss:
a. Shirley informed me that it looks like the Chinese Restaurant wall is being painted which means that the Green Space will be ready to be planted soon.
b. Elections are going to take place in September. Please consider serving as an officer, even if it's for a partial year. I know many of you head off to warmer weather as it cools off around here but your service for 6-9 months would be beneficial to our organization.
c. Fall plantings - there had been an initial discussion about this so that we don't have dead plants until we put in the Christmas Trees. If our planters continue as they are currently going on, it may not be a problem as we might be able to keep them until October with only a month between plantings. Let's discuss what we would like to do.
d. Coleus over-wintering - we will have some coleus to overwinter. I think our best bet is to divide them up so as to increase the likelihood of some of them surviving. Let's discuss who would be able to take some for the winter.
e. Pultneyville Garage Sale in September

If you have other items to discuss, please let me know and I'll include them in the agenda.

2. Monthly Lecture/Event
I am very excited to announce that Sylvia Bornarth and her husband have opened up their Asian Garden for the Garden Club to walk through and see. They have an amazing garden and the Bornarths are accomplished gardeners.
This is a Garden Club Members-Only tour. If there is anyone who has expressed interest in joining our Club (or becoming a Friend of the Club), please feel free to invite them.

The tour will be Tuesday, August 26th at the Bornarth House at 6:30. Hopefully there will be no need for a rain date!

Happy Gardening!
Subrata