Evergreen Valley Garden Club Minutes

February 15, 2006

Presided by: Vinatha Kutagula
Attended by: Marti Kranak, Treasurer
Susie Martin, Historian
Laura Balaoro, Secretary
Carol Duren, Field Trip Chair
Club Members: Sally Brooks-Shulke, Genevieve and Lisa Hollenback,
Niru Ravindra & a master gardener guest, Jeanie Sunseri

• Vinatha Kutagula called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm at
  the Evergreen Valley High School Library.
• The group is in agreement to keep yahoo egroup open to all
• Treasurer reported balance of $ 290.00 in our account. 2
  members remain unpaid.
• Susie Martin reported that she is waiting to receive the
  plan from the Evergreen Valley High School for the landscape project.
• The group reviewed our calendar of events and everyone is in
  agreement that there will be two groups of tours for member's
  garden. May 20,2006 and July 22, 2006. Vinatha Kutagula will open
  a poll on the yahoo group for members to decided what day they would
  like their garden toured.
• Meetings will be held at member's home/garden during the
  months of June and July, 2006
• Marti gave her garden tips. The proper way to lift pots, how
  not to use fingers but use your hand, when pruning sit and bend and
  don't bend standing. She also recommended a stool that she finds
  helpful.
• Laura gave a short presentation on propagation and shared
  cuttings from her garden. Propagation handouts will be posted on the
  web site. Other members also brought plants to share to everyone.
• The meeting ended at 9:00 pm
  

Evergreen Valley Garden Club Newsletter

February 2006

Life Begins The Day You Start A Garden

President: Vinatha Kutagula Vinatha@yahoo.com

Vice President: Arvind Kumar chhaprahiya@yahoo.com

Secretary : Laura Balaoro laurasgarden2000@yahoo.com

Treasurer: Marti Kranak mjkranak@gmail.com

Webmaster: Arvind Kumar chhaprahiya@yahoo.com

Historian: Susie Martin gardngally@aol.com

Field Trip Chair: Carol Duren carolduren@sbcglobal.net

Publicity Chair: Laura Balaoro laurasgarden@yahoo.com

President's Message

Dear Garden Family,

Thank you for the great honor to serve you as the President. I would like to take this as an opportunity to thank the outgoing officers for their outstanding contributions and hard work. I would like to welcome and thank all the new officers as they contribute their time and talents to serve our wonderful club.

As another new year begins and the weather is ready to warm up, I know all of us just can't wait to get our hands dirty in our gardens. Every garden and every year is unique. So wherever your gardening whims take you this year, I wish you success, inspiration and gratification!

I am pleased to say that we are on the way to an exciting year for the club, with all of our members readily planning and organizing gardening events and fun activities for each month. We have started planning some of the activities at our January meeting, and I am hoping that, as a team, we will continue to plan more as the months progress.

There are many projects, workshops and field trips on our agenda for this year. We are going to make each club meeting a gardening and learning experience. Whether we are trying to learn the skills of flower arrangements, propagation methods, decoupaging/antiquing pots, native gardening or just visiting Mother Nature in the form of field trips, we are going to have a wonderful year! We will also have our Member Garden Tours, when we walk through our members' gardens and share our gardening experiences with each other.

I encourage each of you to share your love of gardening with your neighbors and friends, and encourage them to come and see what we do.

Here's to a great 2006 – a year of sharing, learning and having fun together!

Vinatha Kutagula

Next Meeting

February 15, 2006

7:00-9:00 p.m. at Evergreen Valley High School Library. We can only use the room until 9:00 pm. Due to our time limitation, our president will have a tight agenda in order to have a productive meeting. If there's anything that anyone wishes to be discussed please notify the president so it can be placed on the agenda.

Laura Balaoro will have a short presentation and demonstration on "Propagation Techniques". She will have propagated cuttings for everyone attending.

Feel free to bring your extra seeds and or plants to share.

Minutes from January 25, 2006 Meeting

Presided by: Vinatha Kutagula

Attended by: Arvind Kumar, Vice President & Webmaster

Marti Kranak, Treasurer

Susie Martin, Historian

Laura Balaoro, Secretary

Club Members: Mary Joe West, Sally Brooks-Shulke, Dee Castagnoli, Kathy Roessler, Carol Duren

Welcome to our new members: Genevieve and Lisa Hollenback.

· Vinatha Kutagula called the meeting to order at 7:15 pm at the Evergreen Valley High School Library.

· Arvind was voted as Vice President.

· Treasurer reported balance of $95.00 in our account.

· Checking account has been opened and member present paid their dues payable to the "Evergreen Valley Garden Club".

· Sally's Project "The Evergreen Beautification" was put on hold.

· Initial format and content of Bylaws were emailed to all members for their review. Brief discussions were made. It was decided to delete Program Chair position. Duties under Section I will be distributed as follows: 1. to Historian ; 2. to President ; 3. to Secretary 4. to Treasurer. Due to limited time we had for the use of the facility, further discussion will be made in the future. Members were asked for their input, changes, suggestion etc. in regards to the making of the Bylaws.

· Our meeting place will remain at Evergreen Valley High School. During the summer months, when school is closed we will not be able to use the library. In return for the use of the facility our club will do a small project. Possibilities are landscape in front of the library, big planters. Arvind will apply for a grant to fund this project.

· Susie mentioned that the school has Christmas Fair at the end of November and if the club wishes to raise funds, we can participate with sale of our plants. Some of the ideas are create plant arrangements, decoupage pots. Arvind also mentioned that "Day in the Park" is another event held in October.

· Laura will revise announcement in the Evergreen Times and send in an announcement to the San Jose Mercury News of our club meetings.

· It is also suggested that we should have a consistent Newsletter posted in our web site. Everyone is encouraged to participate with the content of the newsletter by sending his or her articles to Laura. Next Newsletter to be posted in February.

· 2006 Activities: Planned for activities were completed for February thru July, 2006.

· There was a discussion about having 2 dates for member's garden tour. Possibly one in spring and another during the summer. This will be decided when we finalize our 2006 Activities.

· Field Trips will be a separate activity on weekends. Schedules to be determined at a later date. Everyone is encouraged to think about places to visit and bring them up to the next meeting. So far, some of the suggestions are Annie's Annuals by Arvind, and a possible visit to a wholesale nursery by Carol.

· Arvind gave a wonderful slide presentation of his trip to Australia showing the beauty of the native flora of Australia.

· The meeting ended at 9:30 pm. (We spent 30 minutes overtime.) The library is reserved for our use from 7:00-9:00

Respectfully submitted:

Laura Balaoro

General Notices

LANDSCAPE REBATE PROGRAM: Finally!! Santa Clara Valley has a water efficient landscape rebate program by which you can get paid for re-landscaping for reduced water use. Get complete details from the following website. Their list of approved plants includes many native plants.

http://www.valleywater.org/Water/Water_conservation/Landscaping/_Water_Efficient_Landscape_Rebate.shtm

GOING NATIVE GARDEN TOUR: Mark your calendar for Sunday, April 30, 2006 10am-4pm for the 4^th annual Going Native Garden Tour. Admission is free; registration is required at http:///www.goingnativegardentour.org

February
Gardening Tips From Your Master Gardener

Fuchsias, Pruning: The last part of February is the time to prune fuchsias. There may be some frost damage so prune that out. Also take off some of last summer's growth. Leave at least two or three healthy leaf buds on each branch. Fuchsias have a tendency to get leggy. Frequently pinch the tips of the branches during the spring and summer to force side growth, making the fuchsia bushier. Pick off flowers as they fade. Check out the American Fuchsia Society's website for more information.

Pruning Hydrangeas: Remove old brittle canes on hydrangeas. Leave young canes with flower buds attached. Hydrangeas bloom on the new year's growth. Unlike hydrangeas, wait to prune camellias, forsythia, lilac, quince and other ornamental spring flowering shrubs until they finish blooming. More information about hydrangeas is on the American Hydrangea Society website.

Moss on Cement: Try Hydrated lime.

Quick Pruning Tip: If you want to have a neat, sheared hedges, prune them back lightly three times a year. St. Patricks Day, Mother's Day (or close to it) and July 4^th. You won't be left with unsightly scars.

Trees, Patios and Small Spaces: Non aggressive root system, no messy fruit, small size, relatively free from pests, and pretty are some of the things to look for. Some examples are Japanese Maple, Chinese Pistacio (male), White or Pink Hybrid Crape Myrtle, Tollenson's Weeping Juniper, Flax-leaved Paperbark, and Canadian Redbud.

Looking Ahead

Listed below are our planned activities thru July 2006.

Feb 15, 2006: "Propagation Techniques" by Laura Balaoro

March 29, 2006: "Transplants in a new garden" by Carol Duren

March 25, 2006: Field Trip to be decided

April 19, 2006: "Growing California Wildflowers" by Arvind Kumar

April 23, 2006: Field trip to a Sunol for a wildflower train ride

May 24, 2006: "Terrarium - Gardening under the glass" by Vinatha Kutagula

May 20, 2006: Field Trip or Member's Garden Tour (to be decided)

June 21, 2006: "Container Gardening" by Niru Ravindra

July 22, 2006: "Decoupage" by Marti Kranak

July 2006: Member Garden Tour (to be decided)

Meeting Minutes - December21,2005

Attended by:
-Treasurer, Marti Kranak
-Secretary, Ruth Eastman
-Assistant Secretary to Ruth Eastman, Laura Balaoro
-Historian, Susie Martin
-Vinatha Kutagula
-Carol Duren
-Sally Brooks-Shulke
-Club members not present:
--Arvind Kumar
--Dee Castagnoli
--Donna Michael

Minutes:

Vicki Rasmussen called the meeting to order.

1. December 15,2005 meeting and Christmas celebration was hosted by Marti Kranak at her beautifully decorated home. Everyone enjoyed the Hors d'oeuvres, deserts and drinks followed with fun garden related gift exchange.

2. Those present voted Vinatha Kutagula to be our new president for year 2006. We thank Vicki Rasmussen, our outgoing president for her effort and hard work for year 2005.

3. Club checking account will be opend by our new president. Treasurer Marti Kranak will be co-signer to this account.

4. There are new prospective members joined the club thru yahoo e group who will be attending the Januarry meeting. We are all looking forward to meeting this new members.

5. There were discussions regarding the current meeting place, Evergreen Valley High School. While location is convenient, the new meeting at the librarry maybe difficult to find and lighting is a concern. Vicki Rasmussen and Sally Brooks-Shulke suggested finding another meeting place that the club can afford. Sally will check into the Evergreen Community Center and report back to the group.

6. Sally will be working on writing grants for the Evergreen Beautification Project. She will make contact with Arvind Kumar who has the experience with the process.

The evening ended at 10:00 pm.

Prepared by: Laura Balaoro, assistant to Ruth Eastman, Secretary.

Posted by Ruth @ 07:16 PM PST [Link] [No Comments]