March General Meeting

President, Norma Chiaramonte, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. at the Cypress Creek Lakes Community Center.

THOSE IN ATTENDANCE INCLUDED:  Bev & Larry Allen, Norma Chiaramonte, Kathie Corbett, Billie Fontana, Sandra Gilbert, Debbie Haluch, Kristina Haygood, Liz Hearn, Ellen & Mark Jones, John Marenco, Ian & Lyn McWilliam, Dave & Marcia Mausolf, Mike Owens, Doc & Peggy Stokley, Melissa Yahner. New Member: Bonnie Buhl. Guests: Valerie Sterrett, Beth Weers, Courtney Bliendenz and R Steele.

PROGRAM: Clara Willibey presented the program on Decorating Gourds. The members all purchased a gourd to decorate from her. Clara gave instructions on how to stain the gourd, transfer a design on to the gourd and draw or paint it.  Clara donated a wall hanging of a gourd that she had designed. Marcia Mausolf won the prize.

YARD OF THE MONTH:

Bev announced that The Russell Walker Family was the recipient of the Yard of the Month.

HOSTESS:  Thank you to Ellen & Mark Jones for being hostess this month!

DOOR PRIZE: Thank you to Ellen & Mark Jones for the door prize, won by Lyn McWilliam

MINUTES:  A motion was made to dispense with the reading of the minutes.

OLD BUSINESS

BRICKS: Sandra reported that the 5 bricks will be installed on Tuesday.

Norma made a list of all 74 bricks that have been installed at the Butterfly Garden.

BUTTERFLY GARDEN: Larry reported that he had not been able to speak to Kyle about the planting, but thought we could plant the garden the last week of April. He has the plan and needs to check the availability of the plants shown.

CAM FOOD DONATIONS: Norma reported that we will have one more food donation to CAM in May. She suggested that we have the donation four times during the September thru May year.

NEW BUSINESS

SPEAKERS: Norma asked the members to start thinking about speakers for next year’s meetings. Sign-up for volunteers to invite speakers will be next month.

JR GARDENER EVENT: Liz Hearn brought a mock-up of a terra cotta pot for the children to decorate and plant for their mothers. She also passed out flyers for the members to hand out to neighbors.

TAX EXEMPT FORMS: Norma is working on getting the tax exempt form ready. The garden club will not have to pay sales tax on items purchased for the club.

GARDENING TIP OF THE MONTH:  GARDENER’S RECIPES HORTICULTURAL OIL SPRAY: 1T. vegetable oil, 1 t. liquid dish soap, 2 C. water. Mix in a spray bottle. Shake before using. Spray tops and bottoms of leaves to kill bugs on plants. Use instead of insecticidal soap. Spray in early morning or late afternoon to avoid plant burn. Repeat weekly if necessary, to kill bugs.                                                                                                                                           SOIL FUNGUS GNAT TREATMENT: 1 T. liquid dish soap, 1 t. white vinegar, 1 gallon water. Use instead of plain water for every tattering. Let soil dry out to a depth of 2” before watering again. Eventually larvae and eggs will be killed off.                                                                FROM THE HOUSTON FEDERATION OF GARDEN CLUBS NEWSLETTER, VOLUME 69, No. 7, p. 11.

NEXT MEETING: April 11, 2016 at the Cypress Creek Lakes Community Center.