Weeders Meeting

February 11, 2020

St. David’s Church

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President Lorraine Wallace opened the meeting at 10:10.  She thanked Meeting Chair Patty Minehart and Hostesses Monica Church and Sally Wood, making special mention of Patty’s beautiful flower arrangement full of blooming plants from her garden, on the goodies table.

Lorraine also noted that Grace Renner had been in the hospital for a few days and that she was now at Daylesford Crossing in assisted living.

Finally, she revealed the glad news that Marilyn Sprague was celebrating a birthday.

 

Announcements:

 

January Minutes: A motion was made to approve the January minutes, and they were.

 

Treasurer’s Report: Jackie Burke briefly reviewed the report.  For a detailed look at it, please see the attachment. 

Lorraine reminded us to send in any expenses incurred for Weeder activities even if we intend to absorb the expenditures ourselves.  This will help when planning the next year’s budget.

 

Horticulture: Michele Bolton’s plant of the month is Cornus sanguinea ‘Arctic Sun’.  It has beautiful color and is supposed to be a dwarf form, 4’x4’, although judging by the way it’s growing in her garden she thinks 4’x6’ may be more accurate.  She also noted it seems able to tolerate some water. 

Her tip of the month comes from Julie De Vuono, who says if you have a deer-safe veggie garden, plant your tulips there.  They’ll bloom before the veggies go in and you won’t even need to move the bulbs when planting your crop.

Alice Doering announced she’s holding a seed propagation workshop Wednesday, February 26 at 10:00, at her home.  A sign-up sheet was circulated, but there is still room for more participants.  If you would like to join the fun please let her know via phone (610-687-0481) or email (amdoering@verizon.net).

 

Founders Fund: Lorraine announced we’ll be voting for our choice for the Founders Fund Award at the March meeting.  Please look over the three proposals either in the current GCA Bulletin or on the GCA website. For those who have forgotten, the website password is ‘compost’, or whatever password you set yourself.  

 

Freeman Medal: Setting the record straight, there has been a mix-up in reporting the winner of GCA’s Freeman Medal.  Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke) proposed by Fox Hill GC, Zone 1, was the winner.  Zamia integrifolia (Coontie), proposed by Weeder Kim Frisbee through GC of Palm Beach, received Special Recognition.

 

Membership and Admissions: Marilyn Sprague reported there are a few potential new members going through the admissions process.

 

PCGCA: Marilyn gave a report on the Philadelphia Orchard Project, a recipient of a Fertilizer Fund grant.  Please see attachment for the full report.

She also noted we were the top club in the amount of money given to the Fertilizer Fund this year, a total of $6,885; we were third in the size of gift and our participation was at 92%.  Thank you all!

 

Photography: Melissa Bullitt reminded us that the deadline for entries into the Photography Show is March 3. 

Also, Zone V will be holding a cell phone photography workshop, Photography 101, on April 30, at 10:00 in Bryn Mawr.

 

Scholarship: Sonya Driscoll spoke briefly about the kind of things the Committee looks for and all the thought that goes into selecting a potential candidate. 

 

Maine Trip:

Sally Wood and Nancy Holmes gave us a pictorial glimpse of last summer’s fabulous garden tour along the Maine coast.  Between the slides and their commentary we were removed from our dreary February morning and into a wonderful world of sunshine and blooming things.

 

Crazy for Containers: Ellyn Spragins reported a total of 58 orders in support of this fundraiser.  The amount received for orders totaled more than $12,000, from which we will net over $5,000 for our Treasury.   She requested a delivery date of either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday before Mother’s Day (May 10) for the 173 containers on order.

 

Governance: Ellie Penniman and Nancy Holmes reporting on the new Job Description handbook, described what it is and why it became necessary to write the document.  There is a copy for each Officer and Committee Chair and is also available to all on our website.  Please offer comments to Ellie and Nancy if you have any.  The document will be reviewed every six months to one year and will be kept updated.

 

Lorraine mentioned she has a copy of the Sister Wendy book and brought it with her today to share, then adjourned the meeting at 11:00.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Lesley Undercofler, Recording Secretary

 

 

Patty Minehart presented an absolutely splendid talk titled Women in Conservation.  Beginning with Beatrix Potter, followed by Rosalie Edge, and today, Kris Tomkins, and Lela Hazzard and Stephanie Dorenry, her talk was inspiring and thought provoking in terms of what these women were able to accomplish and are still accomplishing, and the profound effect their vision and effort has had around the world.