Dear Friends in Gardening,
By: Barbara Hayes
Mark your calendars! The 75th year anniversary of the DGC will be celebrated Sunday, December 2 from 2 until 4 p.m. at the Belle Isle Conservatory decorated for the holidays. Please keep the date open for this special occasion, which will take the place of our usual Holiday party at DGC headquarters. Look for an invitation and further details.
The ballot for Board Members and Chairpersons is enclosed. You can either fax 313-259-0107, or mail in your ballot to 1900 E. Jefferson Ave., #227, Detroit, 48207. It is important we receive your vote of acceptance so we may confirm our officers. The Annual Harvest Picnic was held once again in August at Grosse Pointe Park’s Tompkins Center on Lake St. Clair. Ed Krappmann’s tomato basket filled with heirloom varieties was such a work of art it was made part of the Flower Pot Raffle. Everyone went home a winner!
On September 29 instructor Marcia Geibel will present a Hypertufa Container workshop in her backyard garden. Detroit Free Press garden writer Marty Hair has interviewed Marcia, and her September 23 article will detail the step-by-step process. If you would like to have Marcia do the instructing in person and receive a kit of supplies, come to the workshop and leave with a long lasting container designed to look like volcanic rock that can be left outdoors all year long.
On October 20 Suzan Campbell, Michigan Natural Features Inventory naturalist, will teach you how to identify and propagate native plants that are adaptable to your home garden. Learn from her PowerPoint presentation, along with a trip to the Belle Isle Nature Zoo garden. Suzan will supply seeds and teach you the special propagation techniques to grow them. These plants aren’t readily available in local nurseries. You will not need a greenhouse or special equipment to become a successful propagator, as last year’s class members can attest.
I hope to see you at a class or workshop, and thanks to all of you who have helped so much, on the board, in the office, at an event, as a teacher at a workshop, in our outreach programs, or by your financial support.
As we leave another fruitful summer behind, let us enjoy the passage into Fall and the beauty the natural world holds for us if we open our eyes to it.
Barbara Hayes, Director