Thursday, April 29, 2010

GARDEN PLASTIC RECYCLING PROGRAM

DON’T DUMP THOSE POTS


The Lapeer County Master Gardener Volunteers will be breaking ground this spring with a new recycling project for garden plastics. A number of cooperating garden centers and greenhouses in the county will be accepting plastic pots, cell packs, trays, and hanging baskets for recycling through North Lapeer Recycling in North Branch.

Any unwanted, clean horticultural plastic will be collected for recycling during the months of May and June. The program can not accept household or food plastic, soil or debris, metal or wire, plant tags, or plastic bags.

Designated recycling bins will be available to the public at the following garden centers: Perkins Flowers and Garden in Lapeer, Earthly Arts in Imlay City, American Tree in Almont, McDaniel Farms in Millington, Swoish’s Greenhouse, Bigelow Berry Farm, and Campbell’s Greenhouses in North Branch.

Meeting minutes from April 8th, 2010

We changed our starting times to:
6:00 PM Networking
6:30 PM Refreshments
7:00 PM Meeting starts

Called to Order at 7:05 PM by President Glen Pace

Visitors welcomed and they introduced themselves

Thanks to Rob Canning and Ron for helping at Hosta College

Jane Schade gave a short talk about the recycling efforts of the Lapper County Master Gardener’s. The info will be on the blog.

Blog was discussed and answers were given by Eric the blog master.

Hosta “Sno Cone” was offered “at cost” with the price of $30. EMHS is not making any profit from the sale of this one. Payment should be made directly to Glen.

EMHS Bus Trip- Mark talked about the bus trip to Ohio. Seats are still available.

Meeting Presentation- 12 Steps to Grafting Your Own Japanese Maple by Glen Pace. Kits for grafting were provided at the cost of $5.00. Remainder of meeting was people giving their first attempt at grafting.

Next Meeting is May 13th at Mayfield Twp. Hall in Lapeer with networking to begin at 6:00 PM.

Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM

Respectfully submitted,
Glen Pace
EMHS President

May Newsletter 2010

Notes from the President- Our last meeting had the largest attendance of an EMHS meeting. We even had to break out more tables and chairs to accommodate everybody. This was an exciting sight for me as I stood in front to give the presentation. I hope you all had a good time and learned a new skill that you can use to expand your garden collection.


I went to visit one of the people that had grafted a tree at our last meeting and the graft had taken. The first leaves were breaking bud on the scion so I removed the twist tie and loosened the bag over the scion. In two days she will remove the bag and can remove the top of the rootstock. I do want to hear how many of you were successful with your first attempt at grafting.

For the people that ordered plants from the EMHS Hosta Sale, the plants will be ready for pick-up at Pace Gardens, 2426 Delwood Dr. in Clio on May 7th. I am taking that weekend off work so that you can all pick your plants up. Please let me know when you plan on coming to the gardens to get them. You can email me at pacegardens@charter.net to notify me of your plans. The plants will be bare rooted so they must be picked up that weekend. For those that ordered Hosta Sno Cone at the last meeting, if you have not paid for the plant you will need to bring the $30 to pay for it when you pick it up.

May Meeting- Our next meeting will be on May 13th at the Mayfield Twp. Hall. We will again start networking at 6:00 PM, have refreshments at 6:30, and start the program at 7:00PM. The meeting topic is “Photographing Your Gardens” by William Dwyer. Mr. Dwyer has been a professional photographer for more than 20 years. His experience will help you to understand how to take a picture of your most beloved Hosta. There will also be a follow-up meeting at Mark and Becky Hanner’s on May 15th (time to be announced at the meeting and will be updated on the blog) at their home at 10414 Oak Rd. in Otisville. This follow-up meeting will be a practice session with Mr. Dwyer. Bring your camera to this meeting! You will take pictures and use a computer to download the pictures and have Mr. Dwyer critique the photo to give you pointers on how to improve your skills.

Bus Trip to Wade and Gatton- If you are interested in being part of the EMHS bus trip to Van Wade’s on July 17th & 18th, please contact Mark Hanner at mhanner@aol.com or 810-631-4292. We do not have the bus filled yet and need to fill the available seats to pay for the bus. Here is the planned itinerary;

Saturday, July 17
8:00 a.m.- Depart Lapeer Stop en route for fast lunch break
1:30- arrive Wade & Gatton’s Nursery, Bellville, OH
4:30-5:00- pack up the bus and head to Troyer’s Dutch Heritage Restaurant for dinner
6:00 head north to Quality Inn & Suites, Ritchfield, OH
7:15 check in at Quality Inn

Sunday, July 18
8:30- depart hotel, head to Kuk’s Forest Nursery, Brecksville, OH
8:45 arrive Kuk’s Forest Nursery (Bob does not dig plants to order, but will offer free shipping for any orders placed. He has been hybridizing for many years, with 54 cultivars listed on the AHS Registry)
10:00 depart and head to Jon & Eileen Soucek’s garden, Cleveland area
10:45-12:00 visit Souceks’ garden
12:00 head for fast lunch en route to Cahoon’s Nursery
1:00 Cahoon’s Nursery for final shopping (www.cahoonnursery.com for general info)
3:00 depart for Lapeer
7:00 arrive back home

Dates to mark on your calendar
May 23- Spring cleanup at Hidden Lake Gardens
June 3- EMHS Meeting at Joanna Kovalcsik's in Vassar
June 19- MHS Garden Walks Tour in Marshall, MI
June 23-26 – AHS National Convention in MN
July 10- MHS Hosta Cut Leaf Show and Plant Sale at MSU
July 15- EMHS Meeting at Pat Salk and Bill Kapustka's in Metamora
July 17/18- EMHS Bus Tour to Ohio (Van Wade's and another nursery)
August 5- EMHS Meeting at Carol Leonard's in Leonard, MI
August 22- Fall workday and auction at Hidden Lake Gardens
September 2- EMHS Meeting, Annual Plant Exchange at Pace Gardens in Clio

The Refreshment Committee for the May 13th Meeting is;
Maria Rowland
Jan Zawisa

Since there are only two people that signed up for this meeting anybody wishing to help out by bringing something please know that it would be greatly appreciated.

We hope to see you all at the May 13th meeting.
Sincerely,
Glen Pace
EMHS President

Saturday, April 24, 2010

BLOG updates

Just wanted to let everyone know that there are software updates underway and our BLOG will resume regular updates on Tuesday, April 27th.  Thank you.  - Eric

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Information received today

It was brought to my attention today that Rob Canning was at Hosta College and helped unload the Hosta Stones on Friday night.  I am sorry that this was overlooked in the original newsletter. 

Thank you Rob for your help!