Meeting notes from Forget-Me-Not and Art of Gardening clubs
Forget-Me-Not Garden Club
On Feb. 26, the Forget-Me-Not Garden Club met at the home of Char Dowiatt, with hostess Tommi Johnson and co- hostess Kathie Hiller presiding. There were 10 present. For role call each member answered the question, “Do you think we will have a snowfall of over 2” in March?”
Discussion was held on the group’s Christmas decorating at the Ashland County Historical Society. Volunteers are needed for the flower gardens.
The sunshine gift was won by Char Dowiatt.
It was game night playing 2-up-4-down, taught by Sue McGinty.
The next meeting will be held March 25 at the home of Robin Hicks.
Art of Gardening Club
A memorial stone exhibition located by the Weeping Cherry at the Historical Society will have a sixth stake added to include the name of Art of Gardening Club member Paul Randles who passed away Feb. 19. Kathy Bargar, president, commented about how his obituary referred to his being a gifted artist. Randles also loved painting, collected antiques and frequented the Ashland County Fair.
Members were urged to give 32-ounce cans to Ruth Ann Linder to be used for an October Brethren Care community project. In addition to Brethren Care, members were reminded the club also donates to Associated Charities and maintains two fair flower boxes.
Claudia Dunn, secretary, presented a Planning Your Garden program. She opened with Peter Rabbit not being able to resist Mr. McGregor’s garden. There is a real Mr. McGregor’s garden in Fairytale Town, Sacramento, California. It’s a hands-on learning workshop for school children.
Besides weather and season, location is important in planning a garden. Choose a full site with full sun, good drainage and no standing water.
One tip from Reader’s Digest suggested “play in the rain," saying there’s no better time to visit a garden center than during a cloudburst, nurseries are less crowded and once the rain eases, go out and pull weeds.
Seed catalogs are a good way to plan what goes in one’s garden. There are more than 200 mail-order seed companies in the United States and seed catalogs have been tempting gardeners for around 400 years.
“The early catalogs mainly were lists of plant and seed varieties and their prices,” according to Dunn. “Seeds and plants came to America from our ancestors who traded with native Americans corn, beans, squash, melons and fruit trees. Plants and trees were imported and sold in shops and advertised in newspapers.”
One newspaper ad members viewed featured her grandfather Lash’s grocery store in New London. He started in Ashland, one of 27 in the city. Five were located on Orange Street. A.L. Lash was located at 327, according to a Sept. 4, 1993 article on “Historic Ashland” in the Ashland Times-Gazette.
The April 3 meeting will feature a “Who Are We Day” and members should include a gardener’s tip.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Meeting notes from Forget-Me-Not and Art of Gardening clubs
