September 2009

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Dear Garden Club Members,

Amazingly it is September and we are about to begin our new year at the LGC. It has been a cooler and wetter summer than usual so the gardens have grown faster and produced beautiful flowers and green lawns but also a new collection of bugs. Gardening is a constant learning experience in Savannah.

I would like to welcome our new members, Sandy Randolph, Pat Barry and Cheryl Drwiega. We are delighted you have joined.

It is with great pleasure that I can tell you we will be meeting at the Messiah Lutheran Church on West Ridge Road this year. Memorial Hall is a beautiful big room with its own entrance. The office manager, Donna, has been great and Pam Allen from the Church Council was delightful to work with. We are most grateful to them. Sadly our good friends at the Methodist Church have not had a good summer. After starting their renovations on the Sanctuary, the roof was hit by lightning causing a fire. It may be a while before they are back to normal.

It has been a busy summer for some of us here. We have worked on a number of projects. Special thanks need to go to Sally Jones, Jeannie Ahrens, Lisa Hall, Leslee Bowler, Sandra Wolf and Sandy Humphrey. Sally has put together our Yearbook. It is a huge project and very time consuming. Thank you Sally, it looks great. Jeannie Ahrens has been working on our Christmas Bows and Bulbs fundraiser and has put together a committee of helpers to oversee the different areas – flyer distribution, bow making and delivering etc. Sally Jones designed the flyer. With an over all chairman and then several sub committees the job will be much more manageable. Leslee Bowler had back surgery and her rehab was making bows by the dozen. She had a bow making “bee” at her home with a good group even though it was August. I hope you have seen how pretty and colorful the Village Library gardens are. Sandy Humphrey did the plantings and put together a schedule for her committee to help with the weeding. Our super V.P. Lisa has been part of all these activities. We have worked on a number of new ideas hoping to move the club forward to make it more satisfying and more fun for members. We have added Amaryllis bulbs to the Christmas Fundraiser and next year hope to add daffodil bulbs. Sandra Wolf has arranged two day trips, one to LeConte –Woodman Plantation and Botanical Gardens and the other by boat to The Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. For monthly meetings we tried to follow members wishes so have arranged two hands-on flower arranging demos, lectures on “close to home” garden subjects and two morning trips following a few days after the lectures, one to AASU Botanical Gardens and one to the Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens. Please check out our website for up to date information. www.thelandingsgardenclub.com
I look forward to seeing you all on September 28th.
Anne
SEPTEMBER 28th BOARD & MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
The Board and Membership meetings will take place on Monday, September 28th at the Messiah Lutheran Church, 1 West Ridge Road in the Village. NOTE THE CHANGE IN LOCATION. The Board meeting will begin at 9:00, to be followed by refreshments at 9:30 and the membership meeting at 10:00. The program will commence at 10:45 and will be presented by David Moulder, Bryan County Extension Agent. His topic will be “Native and Non-Native Plants for Island Gardening.” Hostesses for the meeting will be Barbara Paull. Meg Bremer, Mary Stewart, Joan
PLEASE HELP SUPPORT LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS BY PURCHASING AMAZON.COM PRODUCTS THROUGH OUR WEBSITE
It's easy:
1. Go to http://www.thelandingsgardenclub.com
2. Click on the Amazon link at the bottom of the page.
3. The Landings Garden Club will receive a percentage of anything you buy at Amazon, after linking through our website. These referral fees will help us support The Brown Thrasher Scholarship Fund, Orphan Bird Care, Savannah Tree Foundation, Bamboo Farm & Coastal Gardens, Hospice Savannah, and many more worthwhile projects.The holidays will be here before you know it. Think about purchasing your holiday gifts at Amazon. Thank you and happy shopping!
FREE DAY IN GEORGIA STATE PARKS
A Free Day in Georgia State Parks as part of National Public Lands Day is to be held September 26th.This is a good timeto visit our Skidaway Island Park, see the Giant Sloth and animal displays and watch the live animals. Look out the back window at thestations where painted buntings and other native birds come to feed. Picnic at the shelters and explore the roads to the many campsites or trod the one mile or three mile hiking trails. Shop at the Trading Post forbooks and items related to nature. You will be delighted with this public land right outside our gate.

There are many State Parks in Georgia. Perhaps this would be a good time to plan to explore some of the parks inthe state. It is important that we realize the value of these public lands for the funding has been drastically reduced.

On Sunday, September 27th the Ken Burns Documentary THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA will begin with other installments to be aired on later Sundays.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Over the summer we have had 3 women join the Landings Garden Club. At our opening meeting, please welcome Pat Barry, Cheryl Drwiega and Sandy Randolph.

We currently have 76 active members, 1 honorary member and 10 inactive members.

Lisa Hall—Membership Chair
THE VILLAGE LIBRARY LOOKS GREAT!
Our thanks to the following members who each took a week to assist with any needed weeding or watering this summer: Doris Kane, Marilyn Sheridan, Anne Gardner, Lisa Hall, and Susan Otter. A decision will be made in the replacement of the 10 foundation plantings this fall. Suggestions are welcome!
- Anne Guira and Sandy Humphrey

 

 

THINK RED
It’s not too early to think about RED BOWS! The bow brigade started making bows in July and needs your help! Please join the bow workshop directly following our Sept. meeting.

This year our club will sell Amaryllis bulbs along with the Bows. Please tell your friends to look for the order forms in October. The bulbs come in beautiful boxes that will include a container, soil and bulb. The Amaryllis bulbs will be great holiday gifts for friends and family.

We need your help and hope that you will support our only fund raiser. You can sign up for flyer distribution, bow making, and Bow/bulb delivery. There will be sign up sheets at the Sept. meeting.
- Jean Ahrens
GARDEN CLUB BOARD MEMBERS & COMMITTEES
PRESIDENT Anne Gardner
VICE PRESIDENT Lisa Hall
TREASURER Jan Kemp
RECORDING SECRETARY Leslee Bowler
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Anne Guira
AWARDS Dixie Diffenderfer & Seekie Drysdale
BIRDS & CONSERVATION Linda Sue Babcock & Nancy Crawford
CHARITABLE GIFTS Jan Kemp
CIVIC BEAUTIFICATION
- Causeway Cleanup - Nancy Strobel & Carolyn Lebo
- Village Library - Sandy Humphrey, Anne Guira & Bette Feingold
- Gate Decoration - Sally Johnson
COMMUNITY SERVICE Kathy Zmijewski
DESIGN Marie Scheuerman, & Anne Howard
HORTICULTURE Debbie Roth
Arbor Day Debbie Roth
HOSPITALITY Peggy Schilly, & Martie Campbell
MEMBERSHIP Shirley Owen , Lisa Hall & Margie Hardesty
NATIVE PLANT TRAIL Linda Sue Babcock & Nancy Crawford
NEWSLETTER EDITOR Lynn Barnard
ASSISTANT EDITOR Sally Jones
NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION Brigitte Nooney & Liz Ward
PARLIAMENTARIAN Edith Teifeld
PROGRAMS Anne Gardner & Lisa Hall
PUBLICITY Patsy Dulles & Ruth Casey
WAYS & MEANS Jean Ahrens
YEARBOOK & WEBSITE Sally Jones
SPECIAL COMMITTEES
-Photographer - Brigitte Nooney
-Special Events -Sandra Wolf & Meg Bremer
-State Liaison- Dixie Diffenderfer
-Governing Board of Garden Center Liaison Susan Otter

 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5th CAUSEWAY CLEANUP
Mark your calendars for our first Causeway Cleanup since May. It will take place on Monday, October 5th. All volunteers are asked to meet between Smith’s and the Bank of America branch in the Village from 8:00 to 8:30 AM. Wear sturdy shoes, bring gloves and bug spray. Vests and pickup pinchers will be supplied. Any questions, call Nancy Strobel at 598-4370.
DATES TO REMEMBER

Sept.28 Monday, 9.30AM - LGC Monthly Membership Meeting, Messiah Lutheran Church
Oct.5, Monday, 8.15AM Causeway Clean-up
Oct 13, Tuesday, Petal Pusher Deadline
Oct.15, Thursday, 9.00AM Oleander District Meeting. Jesup
Oct.26 Monday, 9.30AM LGC Monthly Membership Meeting, Messiah Lutheran Church
FALL CATERPILLARS
Excerpt From David Linvill, Chatham County Extension Office.
I have had a lot of calls on Azalea caterpillars, Oleander caterpillars, Fall Web Worms (caterpillars), and Army worms for the past several weeks. They are all very similar in that they all eat leaves (grass blades are a leaf). They are fairly easily controlled with insecticides such as Sevin or BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) organic products. Right now there seems to be an epidemic of all of these different types of caterpillars and they are completely stripping the plants of their leaves. I just wanted you to be aware of these potential problems before they eat up your landscape. Fall Webworms are the ones we see that spin their large webs in the hickory, elm, walnut and fruit trees.
To receive the - Coastal Homeowner Landscape & Turf Update (a monthly email newsletter - no charge) Email Dave and type subscribe in the subject line dlinvill@uga.edu Website - www.ugaextension.com/chatham
DID YOU KNOW?
Joiner Daylily Gardens have moved from Whitfield Ave. to Hwy 119 in Pembroke, Exit 137 off I16 then 5 miles on the right. The Southeastern Camellia Society website: www.CamelliaWeb.com ; To get rid of caterpillars on your container plants: grind citrus rinds in the blender, add water, and let the mixture soak overnight. Then strain and spray it on your plants to get rid of caterpillars and other insects. It really works according to Susan Wiener, Spring Hill, Fl.
FALL NATURE HAPPENINGS
Wintering sparrows, towhees arrive late in the month - they love millet in a ground feeder. American Goldfinches start to return in the south of the region and love millet in a tube feeder. Monarch migration reaches its peak late in the month, sometimes in uncountable numbers. Bald eagle nest building and maintenance begins . Great horned owl males begin hooting in nesting territory; Yellow-bellied sapsuckers arrive. Hummingbirds leave for Central America (Linda Sue Babcock)