Squamish Gardeners’ Club

General Meeting

April 16^th, 2007

The plant exchange was held from 6:30 – 7 p.m.

Carol Robson then opened the meeting and welcomed those present.

Minutes: These were adopted as presented in the Newsletter: moved by Carol Adley, seconded by Lolita Turner.

Treasurer’s Report: Dorte Froslev reported that the club has approximately $2,500.

Correspondence: A letter was received from the Lynn Valley Garden Club, informing us of the Annual Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, May 12^th from 10-1 at St. Clement’s Anglican Church on Institute Road in North Vancouver.

Programme: Nairn Stewart said that on May 7^th the speaker will be Steve Kovacs, who will talk on “Creating a Paradise with Water Features”. The June presentation will be a composting evening, with bear aware and composting worm components.

A field trip is proposed for the Langley Butterfly Garden. Members were split between mid-week and weekend events, so perhaps Nairn will organise one for each group.

Garden Tour: Carla Halvorson Burke said that a contact person for the beginning of May, when many committee members would be away, is needed. Nairn volunteered. We have a number of gardens already, but the committee is putting out a call for additional gardens.

Newsletter: Material for the newsletter should be in by the beginning of the month. Please contact Ellen Grant with any questions.

Webpage: Please keep Dave Colwell up-to-date with any information. The B.C. Council of Gardens material has been updated. There is a new power-point presentation on Gardens of Holland on the site.

Carol thanked Carol Raffaele and Carla for bringing the evening’s refreshments.

Weeding needs to be done at the library; Carol will arrange a time and members will be contacted.

B.C. Council of Garden Clubs: Carol reported on the recent meeting, which she had attended with Marcie Phillips.

· membership covers our insurance for the Garden Tour, supports club interaction and resource exchange and distributed over $9,500 in scholarship funds last year.

· there is an updated speakers list - Ray Beckhurst is one of the possible speakers – subject: hellebores.

· Chris Woods from Van Dusen Gardens, is an excellent speaker and available.

· Are we linked to BC Council of Garden Clubs? (Yes, a registration form has been submitted).

· Send information re events well in advance to be included in B.C. Council of Garden Clubs Bulletins.

· Individual subscriptions to bulletin can be had for $10.00/year (should we subscribe for Dave?).

· We can and should send a profile of our club to be included in the bulletin.

· Vancouver Sun Garden Show at Van Dusen Gardens needs volunteers.

Carol brought along a garden shovel from the meeting. This particular shovel will be raffled off to raise money for speakers, as costs have risen. Shovels can be ordered for approximately $24: a list was circulated for those interested.

Executive meeting: Carol presented recommendations for approval by the membership.:

· $5 fee for non-members at meetings does not include raffle ticket – Moved by Ellen Grant and seconded by Colleen Polowich. Motion passed.

· Tickets for May meeting with key note speaker will be $10.00 for members and $12.00 for non members – Moved by Dawn Milne and seconded by Eleanor Bowcock. Motion passed.

· Garden Tour ticket price to rise to $15.00 – Moved by Meg Fellowes and seconded by Judy Crowston. Motion Passed.

Any other business: Dorte asked whether the printer gets a gift in recognition of services. It was reported that last year she received a certificate for a massage. She also bills us a small amount for supplies.

The Garden Tour Raffle: there will be 200 single tickets at $2 each, and 150 at 3 for $5. The friends of the Library will be asked to sell these in advance, as people at the tables on the tour are too busy on the day. A motion was moved by Eleanor and seconded by Colleen Winterburn. Passed.

Programme: The meeting was then turned over to Nairn, who introduced the speaker, Gwen Odermatt, from the Petals and Butterfly Nursery in Langley. This garden has been in existence for over ten years, and specialised in plants that attract butterflies and humming birds.

Gwen brought flyers on butterflies put out by the Wild Birds Trust (for sale for $2.50) She and her husband presented a slide show on butterflies.

Development of housing, etc., affects the distribution and prevalence of butterflies, and whatever we can do in our own gardens to provide suitable habitat should be done. Plants should be chosen carefully, and include species such as dianthus, coreopsis and lavender, for example.

B.C has about 190 species of butterflies. Locally, in the Georgia Basin, we have 19-20 species.

Gardens suitable for butterflies should have sun all day, from early to late seasons. Butterflies feed on nectar, and prefer yellow, white and purple, preferably composite, flowers. Flowers should be planted in drifts, and lots of spring flowers should be available. Gwen pointed out that the butterfly bush is invasive, and needs dead-heading. Suggested plants include lavender, lilac, heather, Echinacea, verbena, phlox, and dianthus, and in the fall, aster and rudbeckia. Native plants include joe-pye weed, stokesia and jupiter’s beard.

Butterflies also need specific host plants for laying eggs: for example, three species utilise stinging nettles, and swallow tails need willows. Ornamental plants are not host plants.

The cabbage white is the only pest species in our area.

Do not use pesticides or herbicides in your garden.

In summary, what is needed to support butterflies is: a sunny site, nectar plants, host pants, and an organic garden. Gardens are valuable in replacing built-up habitat.

Gwen brought a number of plants for sale, including: potentilla, dianthus, rainbow loveliness, statice, oregano (dingle fairy, Kent beauty), monkshood, scabiosa, seruma, corydialis “blue heron”, aster, blue poppy, perennial money plant, lewisia and perennial sweet pea.