Irrigation for the Home Gardener

Sprinklers, drip lines, hand watering.... what's the best way to irrigate your home garden? This coming Tuesday (April 3) Marty Gascoyne will be joining us to talk about home irrigation. Marty is one of our favorite presenters, so this program promises to be very educational.

At this meeting we will also have a raffle with all proceeds going to support State and National Garden Club projects. (We'll decide in June where the funds will go -- scholarship programs, 5th Grade educational trips, and assistance to communities restoring parks after natural disasters are just a few examples of the types of projects we can support on a broader level.)

Please join us from 6:00-8:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street. Please enter through the garden area, to the left as you face the front doors. Our meeting begins at 6pm, social time and refreshments follow, with the presentation beginning at 7pm. All guests welcome.

2012 Oregon Plant Fair

By Andrea Mull

Imagine if you could attract all of your favorite specialty Pacific Northwest nurseries, combined with exciting garden art and a collection of the District Garden Clubs, all offering unique items in one place at one time. You would have the Oregon Plant Fair!!

This year the Oregon Plant Fair is Saturday, May 12. It allows attendees to peruse unique, unusual, and hardy plants. Attendees also love to find the deals and offerings provided by the Garden Clubs, and the Cottage Grove Garden Club specifically! We are one of six clubs representing the Willamette District, and with only three Fairs under our belt, we have been one of the top earning clubs.

As the Chairperson for this event, I would love to see our earnings increase, maybe even oust Eugene from the top spot! I think this is possible if we hold to a few easy goals:

1. All plant material should be healthy and vibrant. Having good plants which have been well cared for is paramount.
2. Plants should be highly desirable to gardeners: they should be rare or unusual, native or medicinal, or have a desirable trait of some kind. If you don’t know what kind or variety the plant is, it might still be usable, but named varieties are best.
3. Always wash and sterilize your pots; 1 gallon size are best. Always use sterile potting soil, never garden soil.
4. Plants sell best if they are blooming. If you have a spring bloomer, think of bringing it to a potting party.
5. All plants should be labeled with the genus species (if known), common name, and the culture requirements (full sun, shade, high water, drought tolerant). Also, helpful is bloom time, or any other specific information. If you have a color photo of the plant (especially in bloom!) send it, and we will make a laminated placard for it.
6. Plants that sell well are landscape or horticultural varieties, small trees or shrubs, flowering perennials, and unusual sedums. But don’t forget those indoor plants – most can be propagated easily.

Plants ready for the 2010 Plant Fair

Potting parties will be announced at our meetings and/or through email. Please plan to help with the Plant Fair, from helping at a potting party, to volunteering the day of the event, to providing plants, pots, or soil. This is our club’s major fundraiser for the year, plus it is a great way to get to know the other members, meet other clubs, and it’s FUN!

Our first Transplanting Workshop/Potting Party is Sunday, March 25 at 531 E Adams St. (corner of 6th and Adams). Drop in between noon and 3pm, and I will demonstrate how to successfully transplant, divide, or propagate plants for the Oregon Plant Fair. Bring work gloves and plants, and wear clothing appropriate for the weather!! Soil will be provided.

Heather Garden

Heather Garden at the Cottage Grove Community
Hospital, mid-January 2012

By Colette Kimball

In the middle of January, I had the opportunity to visit the Heather Garden at the Cottage Grove Community Hospital. I had heard about the Garden before, but had never had the opportunity to see it. I must say, on that dreary Sunday afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised; the Heather Garden was filled with the most brilliant reds, accented by light pinks and chartreuse – all in the middle of January!

One of the perks of being Club president is that I get to meet and talk with others in the gardening community, and serendipitously just a few days after my visit to the Heather Garden, I received an email from Ella May Wulff of the Oregon Heather Society. I learned from Ella May about the short history of the Garden and the Oregon Heather Society’s goals.

A brief history
Planting of the Heather Garden began in the fall of 2004, after the Facilities Director of the Community Hospital contacted the Oregon Heather Society about planting a heather garden on a steep slope near a drainage ditch. Since that initial planting, plans have changed to accommodate other plantings, an accidental oil spill, and other problems that one might expect when planting in a publicly-accessible space such as this. The outcome is a bright spot of color in the middle of January.

How you can help
Twice each year, members from the Oregon Heather Society gather in Cottage Grove (some driving over two hours to get here) to prune and maintain the Heather Garden. Members of the community and the Garden Club, are encouraged to help. The next pruning party is Sunday, March 10, from 11am to 1pm. Please join us!

The Heather Garden is on Village Street just before the Emergency Entrance. You’ll learn about heathers and heather culture, and have the opportunity to take home clippings to root and begin your own heather garden. Bring clippers, a knee pad, and a lunch to enjoy with others after the heather is pruned.

March in the Grove

There are a lot of gardening-related events happening in Cottage Grove this month. See below for events the Garden Club will be hosting or participating in.

Plants ready for the 2010 Plant Sale

Sunday, March 4: The Garden Club will be having a transplanting workshop and potting party at 531 E. Adams St. (The corner of 6th and Adams). Drop in between 11am and 2pm. This is in preparation for the May Plant Sale.

Tuesday, March 6: At Garden Club this month, Brinsley Burbidge will talk about "Plants of a (US) Tropical Island."  The meeting begins at 6:00, social time about 6:45, and Brinsley's talk begins at 7:00. For more info, click here.

Saturday, March 10: There is a Heather Pruning Party at the Cottage Grove Community Hospital, hosted by the Oregon Heather Society,  11:00am to 1:00pm. The Heather Garden is on Village Street just before the Emergency Entrance. You will learn about heathers and heather culture, and have the opportunity to take home clippings to root and begin your own heather garden. Bring clippers, a knee pad, and a lunch to enjoy with others after the heather is pruned.

Saturday, March 17: The Garden Club tours Bohemia Park with Faye Stewart, 1:00 pm 10:00 am.

Tuesday, March 20: Board meeting at the Community Center, 6:30-8:00 pm.

Friday, March 23: Willamette District General Meeting at Oakridge, Molly Juillerat will be speaking on "Invasive Species." Coffee starts at 9:30, Potluck Lunch at 12:00. All Garden Club members are invited to attend this bi-annual meeting.

Sunday, April 1: District-wide trip to Gossler’s Nursery, 1:00 pm.

Finally, don't forget to put our April meeting on your calendars. On Tuesday, April 3, we will hear about "Irrigation for the Home Gardener" presented by Marty Gascoyne, 6:00-8:00 pm. Marty is one of our favorite speakers, and we are delighted to have him return again this spring.