March 2012 Meeting Minutes

Burnett Garden Club Meeting March 8, 2012

Members present were: Georgianne K., Becky and Tim T., Cindy K., Raine and Mikhaela L., Rick and Linnea S., Carrie B., Janet B., Teresa H., Rosemary B., Kris H., Pam D., Lucille D., and Sue A.

Pam called the meeting to order at 6:35 pm.

The minutes from the February meeting are posted on the blog for all to view. The minutes were approved, noting the correction that was also posted.

The treasurer's report states that we have $2169.73.

Old Business:
Mary G. told us that she will retire the three check books that the club has been using previously and will order a new check book and new checks for the club. Pam and Mary G. will meet and compose a spreadsheet of past expenses for the club.

There was some discussion about the sign planting at the Grantsburg Sign. We will meet at the sign on Thursday May 31 at 5:30 pm, do our planting, then go for refreshments afterwards.

Please review the weeding schedule for the sign from last year. Please let Pam or Kristie know if you are able to stick to the same schedule as you had for last year, or if you prefer to change the dates for your weeding time.

Our annual Plant Sale is coming up! New location for the sale this year!! The sale will be on Saturday June 2 at TDAWGS in the Mall in Grantsburg on Hwy. 70.
Set up will be at 6:30 AM. The sale will run from 8 am to Noon. Kristie will contact Digger's Hotline ahead of time to make sure there are no underground wires to worry about while setting up the big tent on the grassy area at TDAWGS. Kristie will also place the ads for the plant sale.

We need to pot up those plants that we will have for sale! We need to dig up those extra clumps of plants to donate and bring them to Kristie's home on May 3 at 6PM. Please bring all of the extra plants that you have and any extra pots to donate, too. We mostly need gallon size pots or larger, but we can also use quart size pots. Come to Kristie's and have lots of fun potting and visiting. Kristie will purchase the potting mix and Osmocote for planting.

New Business:
There was some discussion from those who went to the Madison Garden Expo Feb. 10th to 12th. Everyone had a great time, enjoyed the vendors and went to multiple seminars and learned a lot.

Our April meeting date has been changed from what is in our booklet. The new date is Saturday April 7th at Noon. We will meet at the Wood River Garden Store to see the new items available for this year. We will be able to look around for about 1.5 hours before Dean has to leave. Afterwards, we will go to a Cafe for our meeting. Possibly go to the new coffee shop "Wake up Call" on Hwy. 70, if it is open by then.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 pm.

Our guest speaker for tonight is Joann Gray from Sunshine Gardens. Her presentation is "Small Water Gardens".

Joann had a fabulous and very informative slide presentation. The recipe for Small Container Water Gardening is:
1 part love of gardening
2 parts love of water
Dash of creativity
Pinch of imagination

You want to put your container where there is easy access to water, decide where you want to view it from, put it where you want it, because it will be too heavy to move it. Keep it simple with only 2 to 3 plants per container. Most plants will need 6 to 8 hours of sun per day. Try to choose a spot that is protected from very strong winds. Choose plants that are for use in non-moving water.
Use dark containers to discourage algae growth and create depth. When using heavy clay soil, add one to two inches of rinsed pea gravel. Don't use softened water and don't use chlorinated city water unless you allow it to sit for 24 to 48 hours to allow the chlorine to evaporate.

Plants to look for:
Submergents such as: Hornwort, Ribbon grass and eel grass,
Floaters such as: Water Hyacinth, water lettuce
Emergents such as: Arrowhead, Bog lily, cannas and Lizards Tail, elephant ears, dwarf Papyrus, Dwarf cattail, and Dwarf palm.

Spillers and Fillers such as: Fiber optic corkscrew, Blue bells, Zephyr lily, Rush, Snowflake, Pennywort, Siberian pink cups,Parrot feather and Creeping jenny.

Add barley pellets to the soil mixture to fertilize it and retard algae growth.

Wonderful benefits to Container Water Gardening is there are no weeds to pull, no tilling, you can put it almost anywhere, it is therapeutic, and is simply beautiful.

Websites that Joann recommends are:

www.mwgs.org

www.cookwaterfarms.com

Thank you to Joann for a beautiful and informative presentation.>