The Meeting was held on Zoom hosted by EGC President Colet Mitchell.
Members Present:
Connie Anderson, Kathryn Baker, Jean Barquin, Louise Beale, Carol Cramer,Jane Dana, Jane DeCell,
Doris Dixon, Cathy Farrell, Molly Fenwick, Betsy Forster, Mary Jane Glass, Kay Glenday, Jeanette Harper,
Helen, Mary Fran Koltes, Betty Langhammer, Claire Marshall, Sally Marshall, Dolly McKenna, Colet Mitchell,
Jane Nassim, Pam Selden, Jane Simchak, Susie Taylor, Susan Vanderver (guest Donna Roberts) and
Xenia Wilkinson.
The Program: Refreshing Your Landscape
Susan Vanderver moderated the program for the meeting. Four of the club’s members,
Kathryn Baker, Susan Vanderver, Colet Mitchell, and Cathy Farrell, shared slides of their gardens.
Each told of how they tackled specific problems in landscaping and in plant and scrubbery selections to achieve the redesigning and refreshing they wanted in their garden.
Kathryn needed shielding her house from the road which in time led to updating her garden; Susan began her project by first focusing on the front of her house where she wanted have plantings that were in scale to the size and height of her house; Colet created a lovely conservation garden with beautiful native plants; and Cathy achieved her goal of making a beautiful outdoor garden space for entertaining. They each narrated their slides. There was an opportunity for questions.
Susan Vanderver has kindly made a video of this program which will give all the members, and especially those who couldn’t join in, the chance to see all the gardens and hear each person’s commentary. Hopefully it will be available for viewing on the website soon!
Everyone agreed this was an excellent program and felt that the club should plan to do it again next year. There was a big round of applause for Susan, Kathryn, Colet and Cathy and a very special thank you to Susan for being the formidable Tech person that made this program happen flawlessly!
Business Meeting:
November meeting minutes were approved.
Susan Vanderver introduced her guest, Donna Roberts. Donna is interested in getting involved in a local garden club and is an experienced gardener.
Program Chairs: Jane Dana and Jane DeCell gave a rundown of the upcoming programs.
February 22nd will be a Zoom Meeting. Drew Ashbury Horticulturalist and Volunteer Manager at Hillwood Gardens will be speaking about ecological practices that are being used at Hillwood Garden.
March 8th is Spring Clean -Up at Tregaron Conservancy.
March 22nd is a program called The Art of Cooking with Lavender. It hoped that the program can be in person. If it has to be postponed, another program will be planned. TBD
April 19th is a Tour of Brookside Gardens and an optional picnic lunch to follow.
May 3rd is a Volunteer Workday at Tregaron
May 17th is a tour of Gunston Hall and the restored Riverside Garden
Membership: Xenia said that Penny Hannallah has resigned from the club which brings the club to have 5 openings in membership. If you have a someone you would like to propose, please contact Xenia. The deadline for is February 1st.
Treasurers Report: Sally Marshall gave a brief report for Winkie Crigler who could not attend the meeting.
See the full report from Winkie below:
Good evening, ladies. Sorry this is so late – the baby came home today and it has been a bit chaotic.
January Treasurer’s Report – Evergreen Garden Club
Right now we have $11,591.58 in our account. Have collected almost all of the dues (waiting on the last check which is in the mail but I am not at home this week to collect it). Still expecting meeting expenses and NCAGC dues and a few other expenses, but we should have enough in our account to do $5,000 in grants/gifts this year.
Also I would like to recommend that we consider City Blossoms for a grant either this year or the next. It is a wonderful little organization that has several urban gardens in poorer parts of the city with lots of classes and green space (so important during the pandemic when the only places we could gather were outside!). They also work with schools in the area that want to set up school gardens; it is a multi-year process to ensure that each school follows through on its garden and is successful. https://CityBlossoms.org
I would be happy to set up a field trip to see one of their gardens, or to get a presentation for a Zoom or in person meeting.
Best,
Winkie
Nominating Committee:
Colet asked for volunteers for the Nominating Committee. Ellen Thrasher’s name was mentioned.
Colet closed the meeting with a big “thank you” to the members and again a round of applause for the Kathryn, Susan, Colet, and Kathy for sharing their gardens!
Respectively submitted,
Pam Selden, Recording Secretary
