President’s Message September 2024

 We changed up the traditional August meeting by holding it this year in the Roosevelt Park pavilion and I hope everyone thought it worked out well. We will let Karen and Marsha get us into our member’s lovely gardens as a fieldtrip without the need for schlepping tables or canopies. And, while my schedule has not allowed me to attend those fieldtrips, it sounds like, from members who have attended, that they have indeed been fun and inspirational. 

Tomatoes have finally, finally, come into their own and many of us have roses that actually have blooms not consumed by the evil Japanese Beetles as those are kind of past. And it’s the time to take a look at annuals that have done well and you’d like to plant again next summer. If you haven’t before (or even if you have), it’s time to go out and collect seeds from those plants so you have them to start next winter. I use the paper RX bags from Walgreens, collect the seeds, and write on the outside what they are before stapling or taping them closed. Envelopes work equally as well. Some people use plastic bags or containers, but I find that placing them in a more breathable item ensures they don’t rot. 

It’s of course also the time to determine what worked and what was a bust though weather does play into that. As Dudley aptly put it at the OC one week, it’s been high 80’s and hotter nearly every day since mid-May so certainly some things struggled a lot more than we’d expected. What did the JB’s have a free-for-all with? Is it worth planting that again? My pale green zinnias are pretty, but I put the white snapdragon in the pot with it and there was little real “color”. And as you walk around be it in your neighborhood or around downtown, what looks awesome and makes you think “oh I should try that next year”? I’ve started taking cell phone photos to help me remember come seed starting or annual buying season. 

September’s meeting the 25th will be back at First Lutheran – park in the garage as we’re back downstairs. I won’t be there, but Mary Polk will run the meeting and introduce the native grasses program. Enjoy! 

Connie