CALENDAR OF EVENTS
December 21Winter Begins
December 24Chanukah begins at sundown
December 25Christmas Day
December 26Kwanzaa begins
December 31New Year’s Eve
January 16Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 20Inauguration Day
January 27FGCM Winter Quarterly Meeting – Tonkadale Nursery
February 2Groundhog Day
February 14Valentine’s Day
February 20Presidents’ Day
Save the Date:
April 22FGCM Annual Meeting
HIGHLIGHTS
State/NGC/C.R. contacts – page 3
President’s Message – page 4
What’s Happening – page 5
Judges Council – page 6-7
Renaissance Festival – page 8
FGCM 2017 Awards – page 10
FGCM Fall Quarterly Meeting recap – page 11
State Fair Flower Show recap – page 12
Scholarship Corner – page 13
Horticulture –page 14(Forcing Bulbs)
Home & Garden Show – page 15
Blue Star Markers – page 16
Creative Floral Design (Line Design) – page 17
NGC/CR/FGCM News – page 18-19
The Buzzzz – page 20
Safety First – page 21
Green Tip – page 21
Spotlight – page 22
FGCM WinterQuarterly Meeting/registration – page 23
FGCM Newsletter Change of Address,
Name or to Add a New Member
In order to ensure continued receipt of the FGCM Newsletter please notify us promptly any changes to your Name, Mailing address, or Email address. If your newsletter is returned and we do not receive your correct mailing information before the next issue is mailed, your name will be dropped from the mailing list until the correction is received.
Please advise us of new members promptly to ensure receipt of the Newsletter.
If you would like to receive your newsletter via email or would rather view the newsletter on the FGCM website contactRene’ Lynch, Asst. Treasurer, 112109 Haering Circle, Chaska, MN 55318. Home phone 952-361-6392 or email her at:
Pertinent information would be:
•New Name/New Member’s Name
• New Address &Phone Number/New Member’s Address & Phone number
• New Email Address/New Member’s Email Address
• Club Name must be included with the pertinent information.
Please help us keep you up-to-date with any
new and exciting events.
President’s Message
By Betty Beck
“Together We Can”
Happy Holidays-Looking forward to the New Year
Have you made your Gardening New Year Resolutions?
- Ask at least one new person to join your garden club.
(If everyone did this we could double the membership)
- Plant a different Native plant.
- Divide some plants. (Good for the Plant Sale)
- Consider taking a position on a committee, board, or start a new
project. Being involved and having FUN is a good thing.
With the changing of the seasons, I think back to what our clubs have accomplished this year. Even the smallest things are appreciated. I Thank You; without you we could not keep this organization going.
Together We Can Cultivate Connections by Leaping into Action.
FGCM President
Betty Beck
In Memoriam
We remember Dorathea Miller Lillestrand, former member of Federated Garden Clubs of Minnesota, who passed away on October 13, 2016 at the age of 99. Dottie was married to her husband, Earl, for 70 years. She was active in many areas and even helped assemble FGCM newsletters in her home back in the day. She loved house plants and the outdoors, photography, painting, traveling, camping, and more. She entered arrangements in flower shows and was also a judge for both floral and photography exhibits. Our condolences to her family and friends.
“January – A great month for indoor gardening.” ~ Unknown
mngardenclubs.org
Visit our Facebook Page
WHAT’S HAPPENING –
MEETINGSEVENTS
Please send information on your club meetings if they are open to non-members.
January 9Lake Owasso Garden Club – 7-8 pm
Presbyterian Church of the Way, 3382 Lexington Ave. N, Shoreview
“Air Plants Workshop” – Britta Wilson from Iron Violets will speak on growing air plants in the winter months. This workshop encourages participants to build a small ($15), medium ($25), or large ($50) air plant terrarium to add some green to the winter months. Free to attend the presentation; terrarium costs as noted above.
January 21Orchid Society Monthly meeting
Bachman’s on Lyndale – 1–3 pm
January 28-29Winter Carnival Orchid Show – 10-4 both days
Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, 1225 Estabrook Dr., St. Paul
February 13Lake Owasso Garden Club – 7-8 pm
Presbyterian Church of the Way, 3382 Lexington Ave. N, Shoreview
“Attracting Winter Birds” – Clay Christensen shares his knowledge about which bird feeder and seeds our local winter birds enjoy. Help them thrive this winter and enjoy their company during the last months of winter. Free for all to attend.
February 18Orchid Society Monthly meeting
Bachman’s on Lyndale – 1–3 pm
Steve Gonzalez, speaker – “Mini Cattleya Species”
February 24-26 Minneapolis Home & Garden Show
March 3-5Minneapolis Convention Center
February 25Minnesota Peony Society Annual Education Event
Bachman’s on Lyndale – 10:30 – 3:00 – Free and open to the public
10:30 am – Floral Design Seminar; Noon – MPS Social
12:30 pm – Membership Business Meeting: plans for 2017
1:00-3:00 – Peony Culture Seminar “Minnesota’s Grand Peony History” with Harvey Buchite of Hidden Springs Flower Farm, Spring Grove, MN
You can find many other non-FGCM events listed on the Northern Gardener website: northerngardener.org/calendar.
“Anyone who thinks gardening begins in Spring and ends in the Fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with the dream.”
~ Josephine Nuese
JUDGES COUNCIL –
Phyllis Andrews, 68 W. Thompson Ave., West St Paul, MN 55718
Betty Beck, 17400 29th Ave. N., Plymouth MN 55447
Linda Bellemare, 2507 Columbus Circle, Fargo, ND 58103
Monna Cochran, 11115 Carver Ct., Burnsville, MN 55237
Letti Delk, 1882 29th St. S., St Cloud, MN 5630
Rose Diestler, 1885 Chatsworth St. N., Roseville, MN 55113
Elayne Gilhousen, 6738 15th Ave. S., Richfield, MN 55423
Beth Grund, 10354 Columbus Cir, Bloomington, MN 55420
Barbara Halverson, 11017 Ewing Ave. S., Bloomington, MN 55431
Carolyn Harstad, 16787 Jackpine Trl., Lakeville, MN 55044
Karen Hauwiller, 19032 Joseph Curve, Eden Prairie, MN 55346
Millie Hisey, 16001 Bass Lake Rd, Maple Grove, MN 55311
Barbara Isaacson, 14169 19th St. Ct. N, Stillwater, MN 55082
Wendy Kramer, 1166 200th St, Baldwin, WI 54112
Linda Larson, 3219 22nd St,S., Moorhead, MN 56360
218-233-7402
Rene’ Lynch, 112109 Haering Circle, Chaska, MN
Barbara Mikkelson, 11528 River Hills Dr., Burnsville, MN 55337
Sue Neuhart, student judge, 6309 Colony Way #1B, Edina, MN
Beth Rogness, 1762 23rd St. S., Fargo, ND 56103
Bonnie Schwichtenberg, 3659 12th Ave. SE, St. Cloud, MN 56304
Ione Strandberg, 98 Inland Lane N, Plymouth, MN 55447
The FGCM Judges’ Council met in September. After gathering topics, the officers found the judges asked for more information about judging Fruits, Vegetables, and Nuts. We met at the Southdale Community Library for a presentation on how to treat Fruits, Vegetables, and Nuts at a National Garden Club’s sponsored Standard Flower Show. Bonnie Schwichtenberg created a PowerPoint show highlighting some of the unique elements of judging fruits, vegetables and nuts. Then the group gathered around samples and discussed the faults and merits of several varieties. They also were reminded that, unlike Horticultural exhibits, Fruits, Vegetables and Nuts can be gently handled by the judges to ascertain the qualities of each piece in question. There were about 16 judges present.
In January they will reconvene to refresh on a new kind of exhibit: photography. This has become very popular in recent years but about which little has been written.They will group into panels of threes and after some photography basics, the various panels (teams) will each score some 5 x 7 photos.The subjects will be Vistas, Plants, and Nature. Finally, time will be spent discussing the scores that two different panels scored on the same photo. The date for this in service isJanuary 16, 2017 at the House of Prayer Lutheran Church, 7625 Chicago Ave. S., Richfield, MN, from 9:30 am – 12:00 noon. All NGC Certified and Emeritus Judges may attend. Emails will be sent in December.
The FGCM Judges Council meets four times a year to refresh skills they select at the beginning of the judging year in April. Judges council meetings are open to all certified and emeritus judges. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Flower Show Judge, contact Elayne Gilhousen, President, at 612-869-1156 or .
This January, Elayne and our Credentials, Symposium and Flower Show Schools Chairman, Letti Delk, will travel to Atlanta to be educated about the new Judges’ Handbook for Flower Shows which will be used for the first time starting July 1, 2017. All judges will switch to the new guide then. We expect to spend the meetings covering changes in the new handbook for at least the remainder of 2017.
Judges’ Council President, Elayne Gilhousen, leads the September meeting.
RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL 2016 –
By Kathy Compo
Last year, we broke our sales record by a huge amount, ending the year at $24,193 (usually, we do about $20,000). I knew that there was no way we’d be breaking that record this year, for a couple of reasons:
1. Last year, people still thought that 2015 would be the last year of the Festival and
2. I was afraid that the weather would be bad this year, since it was so good last year.
Well, people still thought that it was the last year of the Festival, and the weather was very rainy. It rained every week of the Festival (thankfully, mostly during the week), and it rained on four of the seven weekends (the RenFest grounds never dried out—we had mud puddles from the first day through the last). It certainly sounded like the makings of a bad year!
This year, our garland makers really kicked into high gear. They made over 2,500 garlands and, fortunately, we had more floral garlands than ever before. Special thanks to Sweet Sioux who came up with a new style of floral garland with leaves. It was a smashing success!
Once again, Marsha Ocel was our phenomenal individual garland maker, producing over 1,000 garlands for us.
So, with lots of garlands, some great workers, and patrons who didn’t mind getting muddy shoes, we beat last year and had the best year ever (again)! We ended the season with sales of $25,362! The group with the biggest sales was composed of the Diggers’ Teri McNamara and Priscilla Watson, their friend Jen Byrd, and Johnny Jump Ups members Susan Eiden, Linda Checky, Kathy Compo and Ann Albrecht. They sold $2,402 on Labor Day weekend.
Some of our lucky volunteers got a special treat at the RenFest: a medieval folk band from Belarus, called Stary Olsa, stopped at the Festival during their U.S. tour. It was quite a treat hearing The Who’s “Another Brick in the Wall” played on traditional Slavic instruments.
The new shorter shift for volunteers seemed to work well. Booth workers left by 4:00pm and were able to avoid the worst of the traffic jams exiting the grounds. Please consider volunteering for a day. Those who are worried about their stamina can sit at the counter and be our cashier and there are chairs in the back room for relaxing and taking a break.
For garland-makers, there are some floral supplies at the home of Darcy Smith, and Ann Albrecht has ribbon supplies with her. Ann and I will be ordering new supplies soon and should have full stock by the January meeting.
Here are contact numbers for you:
- Kathy Compo (763-535-1817)—for volunteering at the booth, general questions
- Ann Albrecht (651-699-8832)—ribbons and cord for fairy garlands; some floral materials
- Darcy Smith (612-803-3176)—for dried flowers, wires, floral tape, etc.
If you have any questions about garlands, please call Ann Albrecht at 651-699-8832 or email her at . Call me, Kathy Compo, at 763-535-1817 or email me at for volunteering or all other information.
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE 2016 THE BEST YEAR EVER!
FLORALIA DESIGN 101
The second Design 101 Class featuring horizontal design was held October 1st at the House of Prayer Lutheran Church in Richfield. All the seats were filled and participants worked diligently on their designs as Barb Isaacson led the class. It appears everyone had an enjoyable time learning while doing. They left the class with new-found know-ledge and confidence, and their new creation.
FGCM 2017 Awards
FGCM Yearbook Award
FGCM will award $25 for the best club yearbook. Deadline for submission is January 6, 2017. Include two NGC Award forms with two copies of your yearbook. They will be judged by an independent panel and awarded at our annual meeting in April. The Winning yearbook will be going to CR and NGC. Guidelines and application forms are on the NGC web site: gardenclub.org under Awards. Send applications and yearbooks to: Betty Beck, 17400 29th Ave N, Plymouth MN 55447
FGCM Garden Project Award
$100 dollars to the winner and $50 for 2nd place. Awards will be presented at the FGCM Annual meeting in April. Application should include a brief summary and
objectives, involvement of your club, project expenses, continuing involvement,
and photos.
Complete the NGC Awards application by January 6. 2017. Application forms are on the NGC web site: gardenclub.org under Awards. Send applications to: Betty Beck, 17400 29th Ave N, Plymouth MN 55447
Clubs can apply for the AMES Tools for their project.
Download and fill out the Project Entry Form from the NGC website. Email the completed form to: Elaine Gunderson, NGC AMES Project Chairman or, send a summary of the project, indicating the what, when, why and where of the event. Indicate what the project is, what is the garden club’s involvement in the project, why the tools are needed, what tools are requested (please include name of tool and item number), where the tools are to be securely stored, when the project will take place,and where (location), including the address where the tools are to be sent. If you choose to send a written summary, send by email to: Elaine Gunderson, NGC AMES Project Chairman.
From the Editor – Pat Almsted
Thank you to all who contributed to this month’s issue. Keep your news and photos coming.As I’ve said before, what you submit doesn’t have to be long – just a paragraph or two helps complete a page when I need a little filler here and there. Your photos are especially needed because if we use any from the internet, we may have to purchase them to avoid copyright issues.If you have photos or an idea for an article, send me an email ().
“No winter wind shall chill my gardening heart.” ~ Blake Schreck
FGCM FALL MEETING
Recap– By Roberta Turgeon
Our Fall Federated meeting was held Saturday, October 29th at the Ridgedale Library in Minnetonka.A delicious hot brunch was served, catered by Heavenly Hosts Catering of Plymouth. There were nine garden clubs with 29 members, one Member-At-Large, and one guest in attendance.
The Secretary's minutes were perused and approved. Treasurer Barbara Mikkelson presented the Treasurer's report with anote that the final expenses and the collection of dues will be in the end of year report. Rene’ Lynch, Assistant Treasurer, is working on finalizing collection of the dues, which are due no later than December 1. She acknowledged Trillium Chapter members were the first to pay their dues.
President Betty Beck recognized Rene’ as the member who has served in the most positions in the Federated Garden Clubs of Minnesota, and best volunteer. Rene’ presented Doris Miller with a Life Membership given by her garden club, Sweet Sioux of Burnsville. She has been a super volunteer and outstanding member from the time there were seven garden clubs in Burnsville.
First Vice-President Bonnie Schwichtenberg informed us our winter meeting will be held at the Tonkadale Nursery on the morning of Friday, January 27. Jessie Jacobson will speak on selecting the right plants for a variety of containers. Bonnie said the Annual Spring Meeting would be Saturday, April 22, and our National President will be in attendance. President Betty Beck reported on the success of the State Fair Flower Show. She attended the National Fall Board Meeting in Portland, Maine inSeptember and the Central Region Convention in Springfield, Illinois in October where she learned more about applying for a 501(c)(3) status for the Federated Garden Clubs. Carol Oeltjenbruns reported on the two new Blue Star Highway markers that will be placed along 35W and dedicated in the spring of 2017.
Kathy Compo and Ann Albrecht were present to give excellent news on the Renaissance garlands sales total of over $25,000. Thanks to Kathy, Ann, and Darcy for all their hard work. Sweet Sioux was recognized for the number of garlands their club provided, and Marsha Ocel for the most garlands made by an individual member. Letti Delk reported the Symposium in September was a success and informed us of the Judges Council. Roberta Turgeon spoke of the need for all clubs giving to the Scholarship Fund. She is also looking for a new Chairperson to begin with the 2018 Fund. Our Newsletter editor Pat Almsted is looking for articles and pictures from clubs to fill the "Garden Dirt". Bettyis looking to our members to work at the Home and Garden show in 2017.
Following the meeting, our program "Rock Balancing Act" was presented by Peter Juhl a noted photographer, author and artist, who shared his talents and love of creating elegant, temporary rock sculptures. He had wonderful photos of his work, as well as from othersaround the world. He created several rock designs and gave us tips and tricks for creating our own designs.After his presentation, he passed out rocks so we could practice. It was amazing how involved each member became in building their own sculpture. It was REALLY fun and everyone actually caught on to the tricks of success. We all had a good time even when the rocks came tumbling down. Here are a few photos of our results: