First Meeting - Garden Club of Switzerland 4/7

We're having our kickoff meeting this Thursday at 10AM at the Bartram Trail Library.  It's been a long time since we've been about to get together, so we're just going to say "howdy," swap some stories, and do a little brainstorming plans for upcoming meetings and activities.

The public is invited to join us.  This is an informal get-together, so the more the merrier:

Date:  4/7/2022 Thursday

Time:  10AM-noon

Place:  Bartram Trail Library, Manatee Room (in back of library),  60 Davis Pond Blvd. (904) 827-6960

Awards of Excellence in Gardening

 

The Garden Club of Switzerland is BACK!!!  And our first activity was to drive around the neighborhoods that have popped up since COVID sent us back inside.  We drove through a few new communities and got lost...  So, we got back on familiar territory:  Roberts Road near SR 13.  It had been some time since I'd been in Mallard Landing, but at least I wouldn't get lost there.  

That's when we found ourselves on Pintail Drive.  Once home stood out in particular.  An array of neatly-pruned shrubs in a variety of species provided interest for the eye and privacy for the residents.  It turns out it was the home of Master Gardener Kathy Schwob and her husband, Charles.  They gave us a tour of their landscaping, and container gardens.  Not everyone has an acre of land that can support so many mature trees, but that much landscaping represents a lot of work.  The Schwobs at 1525 Pintail Drive are our first recipients of the Award of Excellence in Gardening for April 2022.  

We didn't get very far.  When we turned on Mallard Lake Avenue, we saw this home and just couldn't leave without stopping in to compliment the owners on their landscaping.  This too was the home of a Master Gardener.  Mary Sue Wolf and her husband Michael had designed a landscape that offered privacy and a lot of horticultural interest.  A sheltered sitting area on the way to the front door looked so inviting and the wind chimes singing in the oak tree added to the ambience.  Mary Sue and Michael Wolf of 1484 Mallard Lake Avenue became our second recipients of the Award of Excellence in Gardening for April 2022.

We'll be out scouting our May recipients and are looking forward to the adventure.  Our club flower is the red Camellia Japonica, which symbolizes "unpretending excellence."  We encountered two examples of that this month.

This month we also started a partnership with the St. Johns County Extension Center to help revitalize the club's native plant pollinator garden in Alpine Groves Park.  We'll be posting our planning, hard work, and progress in enhancing this special part of Alpine Groves Park.  Check out the Resources pages for our Freedom Butterfly Garden Blog.

In the meantime, batten down the hatches - or pull out your frost cloth and move freeze-sensitive plants in containers to a sheltered location.  We have a freeze watch issued for the area.  And before you go to bed, set your clocks FORWARD one hour.  We are headed for Daylight Saving Time!

March Meeting on 3/14

You are invited to join us on 3/14 at the Bartram Trail Library for a presentation by Master Gardener, Dianne Battle, on supporting local butterflies and other pollinators.  The meeting starts at 10AM.  Master Gardeners can receive CEU credit for attending.  Refreshments will be served, and we appreciate you letting us know if you'll attend so we'll have enough snacks for all.

In the meantime, a reminder that Daylight Saving Time takes effect on Sunday, March 10.  Set your clocks ahead by 1 hour on Saturday night.  And St. Johns River Water Management District's Daylight Saving Time water schedule goes into effect.  Read about it at their website SJRWMD Watering Restrictions page.  If your irrigation timer still challenges you, here is an article on how to set and maintain it, when to run it and when you can turn it off without adversely affecting your lawn.  Overwatering not only can create problems for your lawn, but it costs you more money.  Save the green in your wallet and in your yard!

See the Helping the Planet Stay Healthy in our Resources section for more timely information.

January Meeting - Community Gardens and Recycling

Master Gardener, Karen Matulina, gave us a wonderful presentation on community gardens and brought some special gifts:  vegetables, flowers and herbs she had grown.  Click here to see the names of the items.  Her presentation summary will be in the March edition of The Creekline.  Karen's garden is part of the UF/IFAS Extension Center community garden; plots are available for rent by contacting the Extension Center.  See their Winter 2018 Newsletter for contact info and gardening tips.  And see our Resources section, "Fresh Vegetables - Spelled Y-U-M" for recipes our members used for the vegetable they selected courtesy of Karen Matulina.

We also had a discussion on how to reduce waste by increasing our use of recycling.  Some of the suggestions were amplified by our UF/IFAS Sea Grant Agent, Maia Mcguire, Ph.D. in page 3 of her 2019 first quarter Aqua Notes newsletter.

Our February 14 meeting features Master Gardener Karen Van Pernis, who will discuss plant propagation.  If you'd like to join us, please contact us via this website so we have enough food and drink for you.  We meet in the Bartram Trail Library, 60 Davis Pond Blvd, at 10AM.