12/21/2017 Garden Club of Palo Alto-January Newsletter January 2018 In This Issue President's Message A Message January Program Floral Commitee From the P resident Membership Gamble Garden Horticulture Plant of the Month January Birthdays May your Holiday Season be Merry and Bright! Such a "SPECIAL" time of the year to celebrate with Family and On Your Calendar Friends! All the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season...and then comes January! "January brings the snow, Makes our feet and fingers glow." Jan 2 GCPA Member Meeting ­­ Sara Coleridge Being Garden Club gals, each of us knows that: "January is the quietest month in the garden. But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening. The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled­under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants. The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come." ­­Rosalie Muller Wright Well, so it is with Garden Club Activities, things are brewing that are not clearly apparent to us all yet, but trust and know that good things are coming our way in the New Year! See all of you "Happy Hearts" on January 2, 2018! Happy! Happy! ­­ Robin Allen January Program Our guest speaker for the January meeting is Sarah Callan. She is a charming young woman, a 2014 graduate of Harvard University https://ui.constantcontact.com/visualeditor/visual_editor_preview.jsp?agent.uid=1129621543225&format=html&print=true 1/7 12/21/2017 Garden Club of Palo Alto-January Newsletter where she studied entomology and botany. Upon graduation she lived for three months in Western Uganda researching bees and a year in Botswana studying native food plants. She is currently a Garden Assistant at Gamble Garden twice a week and a Curatorial Intern at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Sarah will speak to us about The Good, The Bad, and The You can read the Ugly Bugs. latest issue of the Gamble Garden Debbie Roth member newsletter by Chairwoman of the Day clicking here. Floral Committee The flower committee would like to suggest that those interested go to the DeYoung Museum's "Bouquets To Art" exhibit March 13­18, 2018 and bring home inspiration for Garden Club arrangements to share. The committee would like to have some way to have our own "show­and­tell," including more opportunities for everyone to share than just those at our monthly meetings. One possibility: the Holiday Marketplace could offer some sort of exhibit. Let me know what you think of that idea... Thanks again to all those who shared their floral designs in 2017. June Voorsanger Chair of the floral committee https://ui.constantcontact.com/visualeditor/visual_editor_preview.jsp?agent.uid=1129621543225&format=html&print=true 2/7 12/21/2017 Garden Club of Palo Alto-January Newsletter Membership Happy 2018. We're all looking forward to another year of Garden Club programs, projects and friendship. Last month I wrote to you of Nicole Akerman's change of address, but not only did I misspell Nicole's name, but got her address wrong too! It is: 2370 Club Drive, Gilroy, CA 95020. Her phone number and email are the same. Sorry, Nicole. Gabby Flather has also moved. Her new address is: 185 Primrose Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303. Her email and phone number are unchanged. Mary Grace Bertsch has a new email. It is: [email protected]. The best way to keep track of all these changes is to note the new information in your Membership Directory. Thanks. See you all at the Membership Table on January 2nd. Sue Beebe and Mindy Kirkpatrick Membership Co­chairs Gamble Garden in January TUESDAY, JANUARY 2ND GARDEN CLUB MEMBERSHIP MEETING We will have the pleasure of introducing our new Gamble Garden Director Richard Hayden at our first Garden Club membership meeting of the new year. He will briefly share his new role at Gamble and his vision for our beloved urban garden. Be sure to welcome him at the Hospitality Hour before the meeting begins. https://ui.constantcontact.com/visualeditor/visual_editor_preview.jsp?agent.uid=1129621543225&format=html&print=true 3/7 12/21/2017 Garden Club of Palo Alto-January Newsletter SATURDAY, JANUARY 13TH 9:00­NOON SECOND SATURDAY EVENTS On the second Saturday of each month, Gamble hosts a morning of activities.Take a docent tour of our 1902 house, meet Master Gardeners and ask any plant question you may have, and shop at our plant sale. The house will be decorated and the dining room table set, as it would have been, in Miss Gamble's day. SATURDAY, JANUARY 13TH 10:00­11:30 AM ESTHER GOKHALE, THE POSTURE GURU OF SILICON VALLEY Learn how to garden pain free, by using Esther's techniques that will help your body be ready for that early spring planting. This class is offered free as part of Gamble Garden's Second Saturday Series. Registration is requested. SATURDAY, JANUARY 20TH 10:00­11:30 AM SMALL FRUIT TREES FOR THE HOME GARDEN with JEFF SCROGGIN Do you love the idea of harvesting your own fruit but aren't sure how to grow healthy, productive fruit trees in your yard? Join this class to learn an easy technique for planting and maintaining smaller­sized, easy­harvest trees in your garden. This class provides an overview of tree selection, planting, and maintenance. February is the ideal time to plant your own bare­root trees, so come learn how to get started! Jeff Scroggin runs his own landscape business and is an avid horticulturalist and fruit­grower. He currently volunteers his time maintaining the orchard at Filoli. $20 for members (use promo code IRIS)/$35 non­members PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE GARDEN Photographer Selwyn Quan discovered the beauty of Gamble Garden this fall and informed us that Gamble is host to one of the most diverse group of pollinators he has seen in the Bay Area! Click here to view more of Selwyn Quan's photos on his Instagram Account. Carmen Pekelsma & Gary Dunker Gamble Garden Representatives Project Funding A Reminder from The Project Funding Committee February 6, 2018 is the deadline for applications. The purpose of the Project Funding is to award grants to deserving non­profits whose goals align with our mission statement. The recipient organization must be a 501(c)3 organization. Two GC members need to submit the application for the grant: one must be an Active Member of The Garden Club of Palo Alto and one member sponsor must be active and/or well informed about the project of the community organization. Some of the past recipients of grants in recent years are: Abilities Unlimited, Canopy, Environment Volunteers, Friends of Palo Alto Parks, Gamble Garden, Living Classroom, Palo Alto High School, Save the Bay. Some are eligible for grants in 2018. We welcome applications from new members and the https://ui.constantcontact.com/visualeditor/visual_editor_preview.jsp?agent.uid=1129621543225&format=html&print=true 4/7 12/21/2017 Garden Club of Palo Alto-January Newsletter organizations they support. Application forms are available on www.gardenclubofpaloalto.org Questions, or if you need a hardcopy application, see or call Mary Hughes, 650­327­4473 or Pat Starrett, 650­424­9988. Mary Hughes & Pat Starrett Project Funding Co­Chairs Horticulture January in the garden... January is the middle of winter, and yet I have flowers, because this is prime camellia season. Be sure that the surface roots of camellias (and azaleas and rhodies and gardenias) are moist despite our lack of rainfall. Also, pick up faded blossoms to keep soil disease­free. I plan to mulch all my acid­ loving plants to insure that their soil holds moisture and retains a slight acidity. No mulch? Use the dried up needles of that Christmas tree. Right after they bloom, camellias, rhodies, and azaleas develop green growth and new buds for next year. So feed and prune them. Light pinching of the tip growth right after blooming encourages bushy, compact growth, and is better than cutting back to bare wood. I grow potted cymbidium orchids on shelves at my side door. I feed each pot to encourage flower spike, following orchid food directions. Any orchids with spikes get moved, in December or January or February, to a prized spot at my front door. If a pot doesn't bloom, it stays in isolation at the side door. The month of January is also my time to prune ALL things deciduous. I cut roses ALL THE WAY back. I get rid of doglegs, and thin out shrubs to let the light in and remove dead, damaged, diseased, and crossing branches (Prune away the 3­D's). I aim for a balanced bush with an open center. Even citrus shrubs should have dead inner twigs removed. I clean Snow peas protected from squirrels by Pine Sol up around roses and fruit trees. I feed my Meyer lemon shrubs to keep them producing. To control overwintering buggers such as aphids, mites, and scale, I spray with a dormant oil, coating the trunk and branches of roses. I also spray my peach and apricot trees for peach leaf curl. Please read all instructions and heed safety warnings on the container. January in this area is often the coldest month of the year.So mulch to keep the roots warm. Once these chores are done and mulch is spread on top of the soil, the garden really can take care of itself until spring. Want to plant something simple that has color, smells sweet, likes the cold? Sow sweet pea seeds now for spring blooms.