Thriving Houseplants in the South Willamette Valley: January's Presentation

Garden Club members are well-acquainted with Maxine Simeone's wonderful gardening tips which are as entertaining as they are educational and helpful! This January Maxine will be our featured speaker as she shares her vast knowledge of supporting houseplants so they thrive in our varied climate.

A plant expert for many decades, Maxine will explain how you, too, can develop a green thumb with your houseplants all year round — with our abundant sunshine and heat of summer through our dark and moist winters. Orchids, African violets, philodendrons, pregnant onions.... you name it, Maxine can grow it!

The Garden Club meets Tuesday, January 6th at The First Presbyterian Church on the corners of Adams and 3rd. 6:00 pm is our business meeting, with refreshments following. Maxine's presentation begins at 7:00. As always, this presentation is FREE and open to the public.

Hope to see you there!

Winterizing Hand Tools

How do you sharpen those Felcos and that hoe? How do you keep your trowel from rusting?

Late fall is the perfect time for hand tool maintenance. On Tuesday, November 4, the Garden Club presents Andrea Mull and Suzanne Keaveny talking about the maintenance and care of all of your favorite hand gardening tools. Come learn how to care for your tools before you put them away for the winter!

Please join us in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon. Our business meeting starts at 6pm and the presentation begins at 7pm. All guest are welcome, refreshments provided.

And don't forget .... bring some tools to demonstrate and practice on!

Planting Spring Blooming Bulbs

This week at Garden Club, an expert team from Territorial Seed Company will be hosting a hands-on workshop for panting bulbs. Come learn which bulbs grow well in our southern Willamette Valley and how to put them in the ground.

Please join us at 6pm for the business meeting with the blub presentation beginning at 7pm. Refreshments provided.

As always, Garden Club presentations are free and open to the public. We meet in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Sedums: September Program

On Tuesday, September 2nd, Dale Smith of Coast Fork Feed Company will be joining the Garden Club to talk about sedums. Dale will talk about some of her favorite sedums, caring for them, and success in growing them. Dale will also show us a few exciting new sedums she has recently discovered. Plants will also be for sale.

Please join us at 6pm for our business meeting. Dale's presentation will begin at 7pm. Refreshments provided. As always -- our presentations are free and open to the public.

Garden Time t.v.'s episode premiers

Cottage Grove Garden Club's president, Andrea Mull, was recently on television in an interview about the All America City Square (also known as Opal Park). You can see the clip below.



If you aren't familiar with the t.v. show "Garden Time" check out their website (www.gardentime.tv). They are based out of Portland and include garden information and tours throughout the Willamette Valley. Locally, they are shown on KEVU, Saturday mornings at 8:30 am.

Garden Time t.v.

Garden Time is a Portland-based gardening show which airs every Saturday morning (in the Cottage Grove area on KEVU at 8:30 am). Now in their ninth year, each show features information about gardening as well as places to go and things to see.

We were delighted to learn that Garden Time was going to be in Cottage Grove and was interested in doing a clip about the All America City Square and the Garden Club's involvement with the park. Several Garden Club members converged on the park Saturday morning to spiff it up in preparation for the filming (it looked fabulous!).

Garden Club members clean the beds at the base of Opal's mural.

The Garden Time crew arrived just after 11:30 Monday morning. Produced by Gustin Creative Group (Jeff was behind the lens and Therese assisted behind the scenes) and hosted by William McClenathan and Judy Alleruzzo, the crew was friendly and a joy to talk with before and after the filming.

Andrea getting fitted with a mic.

Judy talks with Andrea as Jeff films

We attracted a small crowd on the sidewalk and street as filming happened.

A crowd watches as filming happens.

Stay tuned here or on our Facebook page where we will be posting a link to the show when it becomes available.

Invaders in your garden! What are they, why they are a problem, and what you can do!

Gardeners face the never ending problem of unwanted "bully" plants crowding out desirable plants in their garden. Many gardeners have questions like: Are these invasive species? What damage could they cause, and what, if anything, can I do about it?

On Tuesday, June 3, the Garden Club will host Tania Siemens, Program Coordinator of the Watershed and Invasive Species Education (WISE) Program at Oregon State University. Ms. Siemens will provide an overview of the broad problem of invasive species in the state of Oregon and help us understand the difference between a "weed" and an "invasive species".  Then she will focus on the identification, impacts, prevention, and control some common invasives you might find in your garden or pond.

Finally we will learn how we can make a difference in an effort to prevent the spread of these damaging invaders by preventing, identifying, reporting, and controlling some of the new invasive species that are top priority for early detection and rapid response in Oregon.

Please join us at 6pm for our business meeting and 7pm for Ms. Siemens presentation. The Cottage Grove Garden Club meets in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Water Gardens: May 6 Presentation

Last summer, during our August Garden Hop, so many of our garden club members were enamored with Faye Forhan’s water gardens that we asked her to present to the Garden Club. On Tuesday, May 6, Faye will show us how to design and construct a free-standing, pot-sized water garden.

Included in Faye's presentation will be a discussion of small water pump systems, various plant options, potting materials, dealing with mosquitoes, and water garden ornaments.

Faye is a member of the Garden Club, the President of the Oregon Koi and Water Garden Society, and owner of two koi ponds and several water gardens.

You’ll want to bring some extra cash to this presentation, because we will be raffling off the water garden that Faye creates!

Garden Club meets at the First Presbyterian Church (on the corner of 3rd and Adams). Our business meeting begins at 6pm and Faye's presentation will begin at 7pm. All guests and visitors invited.

Flower Show: April 25 and 26

Cottage Grove Garden Club is excited to announce that we are bringing a Flower Show to Cottage Grove.

Flower Shows are intended to inspire and educate gardeners of all experience levels. You'll see which flowers have come through our winter storms with no problems. You'll be inspired to create new and different kinds of flower arrangements. You'll find new plant ideas for your flower borders. Plus, you'll see lots of pretty flowers and have the chance to connect with other local gardeners.

This bi-annual Flower Show is put on by the Willamette District Garden Clubs -- consisting of six different garden clubs within Lane County, including Cottage Grove. Every other year, the Cottage Grove Garden Club works with other Clubs within the Willamette District to put on a flower show. In the past, this show has always happened somewhere in Eugene. This year, we have brought it to  Cottage Grove to share with our local community.


We are also excited to announce that we will be a part of April's Downtown Art Walk!

This year's theme is "Rocking '50s in the Garden" and it promises to be a enjoyable experience for all! Come get inspiration for your own garden through our floral and plant displays, flower arrangements, and informational exhibits.

Friday, April 25, 1pm-8pm
Saturday, April 26, 10am-2pm

Free and open to the public.

Location: The First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street in Cottage Grove.

Better Garden and Flower Photography

On Tuesday, April 1, Cottage Grove Garden Club is proud to present Brinsley Burbidge talking about how to take better photographs of gardens and flowers.

Brinsley’s talk — illustrated with many photographs — will be very practical and will show ways in which making memorable pictures is less about buying an expensive camera and more about the way you use what you already have (though he believes that outstanding lens design does help). He will also look at the limitations of letting your camera make all the decisions for you. The talk will examine the challenging issue of getting the color right (one of his personal obsessions) and highlight camera settings that can make all the difference to the final result. He will also show how the use of some small and inexpensive gadgets can make vast improvements to your pictures.

Brinsley believes that photographic software is an essential partner in making winning photographs and will show how even free software can make a great difference. Many of the photographs in the talk will be from around Cottage Grove.

Photographing gardens and plants for most of his life. Brinsley has worked for some of the major Botanic Gardens in Britain and the USA, has run photography departments, and has made botanical expeditions to many countries, especially in Central Asia and South America. He was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society for natural history photography and was responsible, with three fellow photographers, for founding the agency Nature Photographers Ltd.

Please join us, Tuesday, April 1 in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams). Our business meeting begins at 6pm and Brinsley's talk begins at 7pm. All guests welcome, refreshments provided.

Lunar Planting: March 4 Program

On Tuesday, March 4, Cottage Grove Garden Club presents Marjory House talking about lunar planting.

Come learn how to utilize the forces of the moon to better enhance garden planting. From seeds to starts, learning how to use lunar forces (i.e., water forces and rhythms) can help plants grow bigger, be more productive, and be more resistant to pests and disease.

The Cottage Grove Garden Club meets in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams). Our business meeting begins at 6pm and our presentation on Lunar Planting begins at 7pm.

Horticultural Pruning: February Presentation

It would be highly unlikely to find a single gardener in the South Willamette Valley whose plants were not damaged by last December's strong freeze. Winter is the time for pruning, and on February 4th, Cottage Grove Garden Club will present an experienced horticulturist and entertaining guest speaker, Marty Gascoyne. Marty will inform us on how to properly prune back that damaged wood and shape those plants.

With over 30 years of experience, Marty and Karin -- owners of The Country Gardner -- are committed to sustainable landscape practices; providing clients with a positive experience from beginning to end. The Country Gardener is a small design/build landscape company serving Eugene, Springfield, and the surrounding communities. Marty and Karin provide clients with a unique and creative environment, focusing on natural designs tailored to meet their clients' needs. Recognizing that the landscape around the home provides homeowners with their most frequent connection with the natural world, Karin and Marty make that experience one you look forward to. "We don't just change landscapes, we change lives" is the motto of The Country Gardener.

We have welcomed Marty Gascoyne to the Garden Club on many occasions. He is an informative, experienced, and enjoyable speaker. If you want to know more about pruning, especially after our cold winter storm, this is your place.

The Cottage Grove Garden Club meets Tuesday, February 4th, in the Friendship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 216 South 3rd Street (the corner of 3rd and Adams), Cottage Grove, Oregon. Our business meeting begins at 6pm, and Marty's presentation starts at 7pm.