The "Fruits" of our Labors: An end of summer show-and-tell

Share you summer garden adventures with the Garden Club!

What happened in your garden this summer? What inspired you? Our September 3rd “program” will be a special Garden Club show-and-tell. We want Garden Club members to show off their gardens and share their garden’s bounty!

Are your flowers especially pretty? Bring a bouquet for our tables! Or perhaps you grow dahlias and you’d like to show us the difference between a dinner plate, a collarette, and a pom pon?

Maybe your tomatoes or cucumbers are tasty. Bring a sample – well identified – so we can chose our varieties for next year. Or, perhaps, a jar of specially canned jam or pickles for us to enjoy.

Did you spend the summer building bird houses, making garden art, or otherwise being creative? Bring in a sample, or pictures, or maybe even directions so we can do our own.

Are you doing hardscaping, perhaps a new patio or a new greenhouse? Did your summer travels take you somewhere inspiring? Are your hanging baskets especially beautiful? Bring in photos to share! We will show digital photos on the screen and lay printed photos on a table.

This special September social event will rely on you to make it spectacular. We’ll have our business meeting at 6pm, and social activities begin by 7pm.

Garden Smarter, Not Harder

Gardening can be a very physical activity, which can be difficult for people with disabilities or people who are just getting a tad older. Luckily, the concept of “adaptive gardening” can make gardening easier for everyone.

On Tuesday, June 4, Master Gardener Pat Patterson will join the Garden Club to talk about gardening smarter, not harder. Pat will talk about innovations which can make gardening easier, accommodating physical problems, and the process for thinking adaptively. Her talk will include many pictures, plus she’ll bring a collection of adaptive gardening tools for show and tell, and encourage questions from the audience.

Please note that Pat’s talk starts at 6pm with our business meeting following at 7pm.

Bzzzzzzz: Bees in the garden

The air is warming up, the rains are tapering, and the blossoms are out. Spring has sprung! So it's a natural time to think GARDENS. And to keep our gardens productive those blossoms need to be pollinated. One of the friendliest ways to do that is to keep bees near your garden. On Tuesday, May 7th, The Cottage Grove Garden Club will feature one of The Grove's own beekeepers, Jeanette Bailor.

Jeanette Bailor is an advocate for bees and a member of the Lane County Beekeepers Association.  Jeanette will give us an introduction to the common kinds of bees that are found locally; how to tell the difference between bees, wasps and hornets; and  how we can welcome them into our gardens with some examples of bee-friendly plants.

As always, this presentation is FREE and open to the public. The Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church on the corners of 3rd and Adams. 6:00 pm is our business meeting, with refreshments following. The presentation begins at 7:00. Hope to see you there!

Creating Garden Stakes: April Program

These beautiful garden stakes were
created by zinniadesignstc and
are available on etsy.

April's Garden Club program will be a little something different this month -- we are creating ceramic garden stakes. These stakes will be used to raise money for future Garden Club activities.

This will be a nice departure from the wonderful presentations we have had lately, and a great opportunity to socialize and get to know each other, especially all of our newer members. It will also be an opportunity for everyone to participate in a fund-raising project.

Check out the Pinterest Board we've created to gather ideas (feel free to pin other ideas there as well). And bring any tools you think might be helpful in creating our designs.

See you Tuesday, April 2 at 6pm for the meeting, and 7pm for creating the garden stakes.

Spring Pruning Roses

By Suzanne K.

Every time I see President’s Day on the calendar I think about roses. I was taught that in the Pacific Northwest, mid-February is the time to prune roses. It has always worked well for me.

Whatever day you choose, you should pick a time when you feel that the danger of hard frost is over. Roses will sustain more damage during freezing weather if they have been pruned. You can look at the buds on the stems, and if they are beginning to swell, it’s probably a good time.

My roses are either the Floribunda or Tea varieties. I like to prune them into the traditional vase shape because it allows for good air circulation (less disease), easy pruning during summer, and I like the appearance.

Start by pruning out any dead (black, brown, shriveled up) canes. Prune close to the base of the cane or, if only part of the cane is dead, prune just above a bud, preferably a bud facing the outside of the plant.

Most roses are grafted onto root stock. If you see suckers growing out of the root stock or out of the ground, prune those off. Dig around the ones coming out of the ground, and try to sever them from the main root.

Now you will be pruning on the healthy canes that will give you your beautiful stems and flowers. Depending on the size of the plant, I usually prune to six or eight main stems. If you prune out some of the main stems, pick the older ones to eliminate. You can make the remaining stems anywhere from 12 to 48 inches tall, depending on the stem diameter and your personal preference. Thicker stems can be left longer. Prune them with a diagonal cut just above an outward facing bud. Prune off branches that head into the interior of the plant or criss-cross each other.

It is a good ideas to sprinkle a nice helping of rose fertilizer (with alfalfa meal) around the base of your plant and dig it in. Repeat the fertilizer application every 4 to 6 weeks. This really helps with abundant flower production and creates a healthy, vibrant plant that is much less susceptible to disease.

Now enjoy your beautiful flowers!