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www.HillandDalegc.org Hill and Dale is a member of Michigan Garden Clubs and National Garden Clubs

President’s preface

Sally says…..Recently I purchased a much needed dog bed for the pampered pooches. The deciding factor for this purchase was that it was made from recycled bottles. I can’t even tell. My next purchase will be some kind of thing like towels or sheets made from bamboo. Has anyone tried anything like that?

Carol Smith gave me a cute item and here it is. Does it seem familiar?

My Wife the Gardener

She dug the plot on Monday

The soil was rich and fine

She forgot to thaw out dinner

So we went out to dine…

She planted roses Tuesday

She says they are a must

They really are quite lovely

But she forgot to dust…

On Wednesday it was daisies

They opened with the sun

All white and pinks and yellows

But the laundry wasn’t done…

The poppies came on Thursday

A bright and cheery red,

I guess she really was engrossed

But never made the bed…

It was dahlias on Friday

In colours she adores,

It never bothered her at all

All the crumbs upon the floors…

I hired a maid on Saturday

My week was now complete

My wife can garden all she wants

The house will still be neat

It’s nearly lunchtime Sunday

And I can’t find the maid,

Oh no! I don’t believe it!

She’s out there with a spade!

(Originally from the New Zealand Rose Annual 1995)

Sally Ouellette

February 11program

Well know n creator of all things cute and clever, Gloria Minnebo, member of the North Oakland Arrangers Guild, w ill provide a peek into spring w ith her “Petite Designs.” If w e can’t yet head for the garden, Gloria w ill bring small elements of the garden to us as she creates small designs that w e can use in our ow n indoor environments. As alw ays, meeting starts at 7 pm w ith snacks, with the program to begin around 7:30, follow ed by the business meeting.

Providing hospitality for the evening are David Henry, Jan Henry and Gretchen Pugsley.

…and speaking of the Henrys, anyone w ho didn’t drive by their sound and light show over the holidays really missed a treat. How DID they take over our car radio to sync their lights to their chosen music? What a show .

December 9 minutes

Greens w orkshop overtook us. No business meeting, but lots of good food.

And fun! Look at Katie enjoying Jeannine doing all the w ork!

Junior Gardeners

The kids w ill be planting peanuts and making creepy craw lies at the Farmington library on Feb. 13. Reservations required.

Coming up…

Saturday, Feb 20 – Goldner Walsh Get your hands dirty and create your own indoor tropical garden under glass with special guest Tovah Martin, author of The New Terrarium. You will design a one-of-a-kind terrarium while Tovah shares her years of experience designing and maintaining terrariums. Workshop #1: 11:30am–1pm

Book Signing: 2-3pm** Saturday, Feb 20 – Workshop #2: 3:30–5pm

Cost: $20.00 per person pre register

to a barn near you: Before you’re paralyzed by winter (see View from the Corner Garden and Critter Spotting for w hat can happen if you succumb), the Farmington Players return w ith one of the most enduring comedies ever, "You Can't Take it With You." It runs February 12 - March 6.

March 19-21, the Players present "From the Mountains of Mourne," by Lisa Hayes. It's the story of Irish immigrants and combines storytelling, music and drama. Tickets for this engagement are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

The Players' season concludes April 30 – May 22 w ith a musical, "Gypsy," based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee. Tickets can be ordered on the Players’ w ebsite—www.farmingtonplayers.org—or via the Barn's ticket hotline – 248.553.2955. The Farmington Players Barn Theater is located on the north side of 12 Mile Road, halfw ay betw een Orchard Lake and Farmington roads.

May 15: We’re confirmed for our perennial plant sale, Proven Survivors, and venture into a tag sale (so save those sweet li’l things you have in the closet). And keep an eye out for those tender shoots in the garden.

2012: National meeting of the African Violet Society w ill be in metro Detroit. Save the date. Lisa is looking for lots of volunteers to rub shoulders w ith the experts.

This ‘n’ that

● Board meeting hospitality w ill be provided by Kathleen Postema on March 1 and by Angela Paul on March 31.

● Flo Holzknecht asks that you let her know if you bought alliums and planted them. She’s hoping to do a photo piece on them and perhaps an aw ard for horticulture.

● Nominating committee has its slate for the new year committed. Candidates w ill be announced in April, voted on in May and installed in June. The other issue w ould be having dues paid in a timely manner so committees can be established and our program book can be done a bit earlier.

● Remember Trow el and Error? If you’re interested in reviving our moribund venture, consider possible f ield trips and projects to discuss at the February meeting.

View from the corner garden—Winter Blahs

Right now , the view from the corner garden depresses me. I can see that as soon as the w eather gets milder, Al and I have a lot of w ork to do in the yard. The English ivy looks like lettuce that froze overnight; the hellebores droop w oefully. The akebia vine, still coiled around the trellis, has one hopeful “arm” stretched skyw ard – maybe beckoning spring to come sooner than March 20. The Japanese Silver Grass looks pretty good, especially w hen the sun backlights it in mid afternoon. That and the birds that visit the feeder are about the only items w orth watching right now . The birds, of course, have dropped seeds from the feeder everywhere, so I’m w ondering w hat I’m going to have grow ing from that mess once the w eather warms up and the ground softens.

Those mystery seeds bring to mind the many seed and plant catalogs that have been show ing up in my mailbox and in my email. Many neat plants to look at and dream over in these cold w inter months, and I know I have plenty of company in this activity. Just eyeing the tomato seeds and plants in the catalogs makes my mouth water for the home-grow n tomatoes w e’ll get in just six months. The varieties boggle the mind. Do I w ant to try heirloom tomatoes this year or maybe a tie-dye hybrid tomato? A tie-dye hybrid, you say? An exclusive of Burpee, it’s billed in the 2010 catalog as “one f lavor-full, color-full beautiful tomato . . . bicolor gold and red” that “delivers all the heirloom flavor” of several varieties of heirloom tomatoes rolled into this one stupendous red globe.

Maybe some Bloody Butcher Corn seeds from the 2010 R. H. Shumw ay’s Illustrated Garden Guide might be a nice complement to those tie-dye tomatoes. Sounds rather dramatic and from the picture would definitely garner some attention in the garden w ith its 8’- 12’ stalks producing tw o to three large ears. The catalog says that it’s an “extremely rare, old heir loom variety dating back to 1845. Features blood-red kernels, streaked w ith a darker red.” Sounds kinda like

something out of Sw eeney Todd!

I must be in a red mood today, because the “Mara des Bois” Straw berries from the White Flow er Farm 2010 catalog are looking interesting to me as w ell. These “aromatic fruits about the size of acorns” have a “rich, sweet f lavor that hints of vanilla.” I could buy, for a mere $125, a kit from them containing the straw berry jar, 9 bare root

plants, and pott ing soil. Hmmmm, maybe not. That’s mighty pricey for some berries. But, it ’s pleasant to contemplate the taste of those sun-ripened berries in my mouth just now .

Maybe the Vanilla Straw berry™ Hydrangea shown on the cover of the Jung Seeds & Plants Spr ing 2010 catalog might be more economical though certainly not as toothsome as the berries. Described as the “landscape sensation from France,” this hydrangea sounds like a plant I’d like living in my garden. The huge f low er panicles, according to the catalog blurb, make superb fresh and dried f loral arrangements. This hydrangea deserves “specimen status” so I suspect it w ould stand out in the crow d. At $19.95 for a 2 year old 12-15” bare root plant, it might be w orth a try.

I’m pretty sure I have a spot or tw o for some of these red plants in my garden –

after all, some of them can even be grow n in a container. Maybe I’ll get an early start on spring and order some of them. Yep, I’ve talked myself into it.

-- Winnie Chrzanowski © 2010

Critter spotting—Ghost town, er, feeder The brand new squirrel proof fancy birdfeeder w as full of food, bereft of birds. The

suet feeder hung nearby, unpecked. Even w ith the addit ion of my Christmas present—a heated bird bath—to complete our bird catering complex, w e had no birds.

We’d had birds. Dow nies came by for a beakful of suet. Chickadees f litted in to grab a seed and retire to the cherry tree to savor it. Cardinals came in their stately pairs, one keeping w atch while the other ate. Sparrows f locked in and just as sw iftly panicked and f led w ith nothing discernable to cause their f light. Doves cooed in the snow , complacently aw aiting w hatever seeds fell from the sky—or the feeder (doves aren’t terribly bright). Then…nothing. The only thing reducing the w ater level in the bird bath w as evaporation.

Neighbor Ray’s primit ive bird feeders next door were surrounded w ith chirping critters f lying in for a snack. Our yard was silent.

We pondered the cause of the boycott. If it w as bad seed, the suet feeder should still be attractive. As should the coneflow er seed heads that w e left up for f inches who prefer to sw ay in the w ind w hile scrabbling for a bite.

We’ve furnished a few raptor snacks in the past, but the birds usually return w ithin a few days. This time, the raptor that dropped by occasionally to scout out the feeder seemed to have left for greener (feather-y-er) haunts.

Hoping to attract some movement in the yard, I even hung out the old feeder, which was definitely not squirrel proof. No nibbles from those voracious feeder predators.

Then—HOLD EV ERYTHING! Pulling in the dr ive I see the suet feeder on the ground. Something has been here. Sure enough, squirrel tracks, and an aw kward angle on the old bird feeder. Birds are returning. Not a w hole lot, but the seed tube has more head space; the old feeder is empty; the suet is reduced to nubbins. And there’s a f lash of scarlet in the bushes. Chez Sclawy is back in business.

–Mar Sclawy © 2010