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www.dagc.us Newsletter of the Danville-Alamo Garden Club May 2015

May Program Our May 14th guest speaker will be Shawna Anderson, a Master Gardener and Advanced California Certified Nursery Professional for Orchard Nursery and Florist in Lafayette.

Shawna's passion for gardening began when she was growing up in Kenwood, California,

helping her father in his one-acre vegetable garden and her mother in her beautiful flower beds.

After spending many years in an office, Shawna enrolled in and completed the horticultural program at Diablo Valley College and is now responsible for caring for the four-inch perennials in the Collector's

Corner at Orchard Nursery and Florist. She is known as the "pot diva" at the nursery due to the unique containers that she creates.

Shawna is also the owner of "Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers," where she creates containers for and gives garden consultations to East Bay Area clients. Check out her web site at

www.thrillersspillersandthrillers.com. Shawna will be giving us step-by-step instructions on how to create beautiful containers

for our gardens. Nancy Peterson, Program Vice President

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Volume XLIIV, Issue 5

President’s Message

I hope you all enjoyed our April speaker, Jan Spieth, of the Diablo Bee Association, as much as

I did. She has a great personality and added a lot of humor to her presentation. I was fascinated to

learn about the bee colony. It was interesting to hear how the queen is selected and about the royal jelly. I know how important bees are to our

environment, so her program was a great learn-ing experience. You all had great questions to

ask her so I am sure you all learned a lot too. Thanks again to our Social Committee and all its volunteers. You all do a great job getting every-thing set up for our meetings. Also thanks to all

you members who brought the delicious refresh-ments. I want to give special thanks to our mem-

bers who volunteered to be on next year’s Board of Directors and all the supporting positions and committees. You are such a great group of la-

dies. I have thoroughly enjoyed my past years serving as your president and am looking forward

to supporting next year’s team.

I also want to thank all of you who signed up to assist me with our June Installation Luncheon. I

will be in touch with you as we start planning this month. As I mentioned at our last meeting, our Installation Luncheon will have a special guest

speaker, Heidi Abramson, founder of the Bounty Garden. It will be a potluck. Please bring your favorite salad or dessert. Homemade is preferred. I will

have a signup sheet at our May General Meeting. We need a count of how many members will be

attending so we can have enough tables and chairs set up. We will be installing the new board members at this meeting. I will be presenting to our membership, the non-

profits our Board has recommended supporting with our donations this year. I look forward to

seeing all of your at our May General Meeting on Thursday, May 14th.

Sharon Williams

President

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The hammer has come down. The gov-

ernor is commanding citizens to cut back 25% of their 2013 water usage.

EBMUD and Contra Costa water districts are limiting watering to two days per week.

I don’t actually agree with this last, because how

many minutes can one water in these two days? Can we water more than once on the same day? How long can we water each time? That depends

on your system. Do you have overhead spray, or Rainbirds or drip?

As many of you know I think watering every day is a better policy. Plants absorb water through

their leaves, but I would be dinged for doing that - besides many people don’t even understand the

concept. So I am going to have to water two times per week.

I thought I would tell you about my strategies for

this drought. I plan to wa-ter 2 times per week. I

currently water 4 minutes every day per station or 28 minutes per week. I am

upping each station to 7 minutes which will cut my

water usage in half. Oh did I mention that you are al-lowed to use only 4.5 times

the average use per house-hold of 246 gallons per day before you get penal-

ized? This comes to 1,107 gallons per day.

Diane Selby one of our members and a derma-

tologist says that we shouldn’t bathe every day

because it is bad for our skin. So I will now only

bathe every other day. The sink will provide the

ablutions on the off day.

I am also looking into a way of pumping out the

bath water to give to my trees. We tried a fish

tank pump, but it wasn’t strong enough, but I

haven’t given up. My shampoo, conditioner, and

bathing soaps are all biodegradable, so will not

harm my plants. I already told you last time that

we save nearly all the water from the sink in the

kitchen.

Every pot including succulents

has a saucer under it. I know

you have been told that your

plants shouldn’t sit in water. I

have always had my potted

plants sit in water, and they

have never died. The major con-

cern is mosquitoes.

Pity the mosquito in this drought. I am sure the populations will die back considerably. The way to control this is to walk around and look at the

water in your saucers, nudge the saucer, and if little squiggly creatures move about, you have

larvae. You can get tablets at Ace hardware and break

off little pieces for each saucer. These tablets affect only the larvae, which is why they are

used in horse troughs. Or if you panic, pour the saucers out. You can put the water back on the

pot because the soil will filter the larvae out, and then you have clean water again in the saucer with dead larvae feeding your plants with their

carcasses. It takes 6 days for larvae to become mosquitoes once the eggs are laid. So you don’t

have to do this every day.

We have a 65 year old lawn

made of Bermuda grass. It is im-

possible to get rid of, and I have

come to peace with it.

The plan is to water it only once per week,

maybe twice. It won’t die, but it won’t be green.

This takes me to a general concept. The goal

here is for the garden to survive. That is all.

More tips next month.

Kristin Yanker-Hansen

Horticulture Chair

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Louise Wiggins, Calendar

Dates & Times Events Details May 2 & 3, Sat and Sun 10 am – 5 pm

Plant Sale Markham Arboretum

Shop during the Native Plant Sale Extrava-

ganza. Come early for best selection of na-tive herbs, grasses, shrubs, perennials.

May 3, Sunday Tour: Bringing Back the

Natives Alameda & Contra Costa Co

30 native plant gardens are featured. For

list and tour & workshop registration Click here:

View 2015 Gardens « Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour.

May 3, Sunday 10:30 am

Class: Pruning Japanese

Maples Sloat Garden Center

Learn easy pruning tips for Japanese maples

from expert Elizabeth Ruiz. Call to register. Free for Rewards Members; others $10.

May 9 & 10, Sat & Sun 10 am – 5 pm

Mother’s Day Extrava-

ganza Annie’s Annuals

It’s pure plant love! Rev up for funky tunes,

free munchies, free raffles, garden talks, demos, and more! Grand prize is 15 minutes

of free shopping!

May 14, Thursday 9:15 Social 9:45 Meeting

DAGC General Meeting Alamo Women’s Club

Shawna Anderson of Orchard Nursery will

present a how-to on “Container Gardening.”

May 16, Saturday 1:30 pm

Class: Attracting Good

Bugs to Your Garden Sloat Garden Center

Learn how to attract beneficial bugs, those

that eat the destructive ones, to your gar-den. Call to register. Free for Rewards

Members; others $10.

May 19, Tuesday 7 pm

Speaker: Container Gar-

dening Danville Library

Get tips from a Master Gardener on garden-

ing in containers and other small spaces. Q and A time afterward.

May 20, Wednes-

day 10 am

DAGC Workshop: Bird-

seed Treats Home of Kathy Kaminski

Participants will make birdseed treats to

hang outdoors. Cost: $5. Contact: Kathy at

designergirl@prodigy.net.

May 20 9:45 Meet at Syc Park

and Ride

DAGC Tour: Japanese

Gardens Hayward

See beautiful gardens and learn local his-

tory. Donation: $10 plus bring money for lunch and to pay your driver. Contact Laurel

Harken at aldmtharken@gmail.com.

May 21, Thursday 9:30 am

DAGC Board Meeting Home of Linda Scotting

RSVP at lindascotting@sbcglobal.net.

May 21, Thursday 6:30 pm

Speaker: Drought Toler-

ant Plants & Succulents San Ramon Library

Hear an overview of the Ruth Bancroft Gar-

den, renowned for exceptional design with water-conserving plants in a natural setting.

Sale of such plants follows the talk.

May 27, Wednesday 10 am

DAGC: Bookworms Home of Joyce Michalczyk

The bookworms will discuss Chasing the

Rose by Andrea di Robilant and enjoy brunch. Contact Page Krause or Joyce at

joymm@comcast.net.

May 30, Saturday 2 pm

Class: Summer Rose

Pruning Navlet’s Garden Center

Learn how to prune roses after the first

flush of flowers has faded. This class covers pruning, watering, fertilizing, and disease

and pest control.

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Happy Birthday

Jan Andersen

Janeen Beach-Thomas

Robin Ann Gigoux Jan Hamby Terre Hepburn

Judy Jacobs Ann Johnson

Judy Lauper Marjorie McMahon Nancy Norland

Nancy Peterson Diane Scofield

Michele Snover Sandi Stamates Marcia Steinhardt

Workshops Our final workshop for the season will be held on Wednesday, May 20th, 10:00AM at my house. We

will be making treats for our bird friends that we can hang in our yards. They can be cute presents for fel-

low bird lovers. The cost will be $5.00. You can sign-up by calling me (925-735-5110) or email

(designergirl@prodigy.net).

Thanks ladies for a fun year of planning workshops for you.

Kathy Kaminski

Workshop Chair

Our Garden Topics for May

May 6 Seed Saving

May 13 Rodent Control (Mice, Rats, Gophers)

May 20 Composting Made Easy

May 27 Perennial Edibles

Our Garden is a public demonstration garden

of the Contra Costa Master Gardeners. It is

open each Wednesday from 9 am until noon,

April through October. A help table is available

during those hours, with an expert speaker

from 10 – 11 am.

Bring your problems and questions. The garden

is located at North Wiget Lane and Shadelands

Dr. (off Ygnacio Valley Road), Walnut Creek.

Bookworms

Please sign up at the May General Meetings for the next Bookworms discussion. The date is Wednesday, May 27th, 2015. The book selection is Chasing the Rose: An ad-

venture in the Venetian Countryside by Andrea Di Robilant. The book is charming and many have purchased it already. We will take a literary visit to Italian rose gar-

dens. As always, we will be begin at 10:00 a.m. with brunch at the home of Joyce Michalczyk, 32 Leeds Court East in Danville.

Please bring book selection ideas for next year. For ques-tions please email Joyce Michalczyk (joymm@comcast.net) or Page Krause

(PTKrause70@gmail.com). Joyce Michalczyk and Page Krause

Bookworms Chair

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Nominating Committee

This is the 2015-2016 slate of candidates for the Board of Directors of DAGC. Please be prepared to

vote at the May General Meeting.

Your Nominating Committee Shelia Truschke, Rose Towery, and Judy Allen

President:

Rebecca Byrom

Programs Vice President:

Nancy Peterson

Membership

Vice President:

Susan Polk and

Veronica Knaack

Social committee:

Linda Scotting and Ellen

Frost

Recording Secretary:

Louise Wiggins

Corresponding Secretary:

Tena Gallagher

Treasurer and

Budget Committee Chair:

Penny Adams

Club Advisor:

Sharon Williams

Parliamentarian and By-

laws Committee Chairs:

Jan Hamby and

Shelia Truschke

Artistic Arranger:

Rose Towery

Community Outreach:

Nancy Norland

Email Coordinator:

Caroline Bonny

Historian:

Kayrene Braden

Inspiration:

Karlene Paufler

Newsletter Editor:

Sharon Townsend

Penny Pines:

Holly Sauer

Plant Exchange:

Angie Anastasion and

Jan Anderson

Sponsor Representatives:

Janice Fasciotto and

Lynn Hoaglin

Tour Chairs: Joann Black-

burn, Charlotte Graham,

and Rhonda Raphel

Web Site Administrator:

Roseann Krane

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May Tour Wednesday, May 20, Meet at Sycamore Park and Ride at 9:45 am

HAYWARD JAPANESE GARDENS, the first in California, is a

jewel in our backyard. It was designed in the Japanese tradition as a refuge in the middle of a then-busy city by Master Gardener, Ki-

mio Kimura. We will learn from Park Superintendent Clarence Dobbs more of his history and the reasons he designed this garden following World War II. Though he is now in his nineties, Mr. Ki-

mura still comes to visit the gardens to prune and give informal talks about the gardens two Saturdays each month.

The 3.5 acre park at the confluence of two parts of San Lorenzo Creek was an historic site when Captain Juan Bautista de Anza,

with 240 Spanish settlers plus cattle, led the group on a new route from Mexico to California in 1776. There is a marker in the park to memorialize their trip through the area going to northern California.

After our visit we will go to a nearby restaurant that recently opened in the historic Museum District, which celebrates the Hunt Brothers Cannery, then headquartered in Hayward. The Cannery Café has

a large mural of the brothers and the factory. Run by two local caterers, who are farm-to-fork propo-nents, we will taste fresh food from local growers. Thus, we will see two sides of Hayward history.

Please sign up by May 14th by contacting Laurel Harken at 925-788-6793, or

aldmtharken@gmail.com and indicate if you are willing to drive. Be prepared to donate $10 for the guided tour. Cost for lunch should be less than $20 and drivers will receive $4 from each rider. We should return by 2:00. I think it will be a treat to see what the

Japanese missed when they immigrated here.

Laurel Harken, Tours

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

PROJECT PRODUCE Thank you again for your generous contributions to Project Product. DAGC contributed 26 lbs of produce and 27 lbs of non- perishable goods in April.

I would like to offer the opportunity for any DAGC member to continue this pro-

gram for next year. This is not a board position, but as you all know a very worthwhile community outreach program. The Contra Costa/Solano Food bank feeds 132,000 people each month. A few of the programs it supports includes

Food for Children, Farm 2 Kids, School Pantry, WIC, and Senior Food Program.

Anyone interested in participating, please e-mail me at Janetlesliehowes@aol.com. The commitment

involves primarily collecting the goods after each monthly meeting, then delivering it to the Food Bank in Concord. Thank you very much!

Janet Howes, Community Outreach

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Anne Weinberger Garden Design, Piedmont Compiled by Anne Weinberger, www.awgardendesign.com 510.593.9655

Environmental & Safety Reasons for Not Having a Lawn

Between 1994 and 2004, an estimated average of 75,884 Americans each year were injured using lawn mowers, or roughly the same number of people injured by firearms.

Using a gas-powered leaf blower for half an hour creates as many polluting hy-

drocarbon emissions as driving a car 7,700 miles at a speed of 30mph.

Approximately 7 million birds die each year because of lawn-care pesticides

(and that's just lawn care, not including shrubs, trees, flowers, or agriculture). In the process of refueling lawn care equipment, Americans spill 17 million gallons of gas every

summer, or 50% more oil than the Exxon Valdez spilled off of Alaska.

A single golf course in Tampa (Florida alone has over 1,000 courses) uses 178,800 gallons of water per day, enough to meet the daily fresh water needs of more than 2,200 Americans.

Lawn chemicals are tracked into the home often, where they build up in carpet, placing small children, whose developing bodies are far more vulnerable to toxins, at risk of chronic expo-

sure.

Additional Homeowner Benefits of Not Having a Lawn Environmental reasons: Saves water, reduces pesticides/herbicides, reduces noise

and gas pollution from mowers/blowers, no lawn clippings means less waste trucked out.

Workload reasons: Saves time (no dreaded mowing, feeding, weeding, aerating,

etc).

Lifestyle reasons: Opens up opportunity to use the space in new ways.

Aesthetic reasons: Opportunity to look at the garden in relation to the architecture of the house,

the surrounding neighborhood or natural setting, and the homeowner’s personal aesthetic or style,

as well as making the plantings more contemporary by taking advantage of the wide selection of Mediterranean-climate plants now available.

Social

Many thanks to those members who brought treats to the March meeting. The tables looked lovely with all the decorations.

Those signed up to bring Savories in May are: Page Krause, Kathy Younse, Linda Monk, Michele Snover, Sandi Stamates and Nancy Peterson. Sweets: Sherry Bonn, Lynn hoaglin, Judy Allen, Rose

and Towery, Vegetable Platters: Patty Rush and Ann Smith Two more savories are needed, if someone who has not contributed

would like to do so. All treats are so appreciated by the members. Email Joyce or Ellen if you can bring a savory to the May meeting.

Joyce Michalczyk and Ellen Frost, Social Co-Chairs

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General Garden Care

Check irrigation: unclog heads, make sure coverage hasn’t changed - repair as required. Change

the time on irrigation clocks to water in the early morning. Deep soak trees.

Control emerging weeds: hand pick, hoe, pour boiling water over them (carefully) or spray with

a fatty acid-derived herbicide such as Safer weed and grass killer.

Renew mulch. To stop weeds and keep moisture levels consistent, mulches need to be 3”

thick. Keep mulch pulled away from the trunks & root crowns of woody plants.

Aerate lawns, fertilize warm season grasses if not growing rapidly. Mow frequently, leaving grass

as tall as you and your mower can stand. Remove lawns to save water and resources.

Fruits & Vegetables

Thin fruit.

Stake or cage tomatoes that were planted last

month.

Check soil temperature before planting vari-

ous summer crops

Plant seeds of beans, corn, melons and okra

once soil temperatures are at least 65°F (18.3°

C). Successive planting of beans and corn will ex-

tend your harvest.

Plant seedlings of tomato, eggplant, peppers,

squash when soil is warm enough.

Plant herbs in full sun with good drainage. These do well in containers.

Flowers & Landscaping

Cut back the foliage of ornamental grasses be-

fore new growth emerges.

Remove foliage of spring blooming bulbs only

after it has turned brown.

Apply iron chelate to acid-loving plants if chlorotic: citrus, azaleas, camellias, rhododen-

drons, Pieris. Acidic soil amendments will help lower soil pH. Purchase perennials and interesting annuals if you have enough water to keep them going. Great

local sources abound!

Garden Pests & Diseases

Earwigs: Trap by placing moistened, tightly rolled newspaper or corrugated cardboard in the garden in the evening. Dispose of paper and insects in the a.m. Fireblight: This bacterial pest affects ornamentals in the rose family. Prune to remove affected

branches.

Fruit tree borers: Paint trunks of fruit trees with 50/50 mix of white latex paint and water. The

paint can often be picked up free at the hazardous waste recycling center at Central Sanitary.

Gophers: Ultrasonic devices, chewing gum, hair, urine, kitty litter and all the other “great” home remedies are ineffective.

Snails & Slugs: Control with hand-picking, yeast traps or iron phosphate baits.

May in the Contra Costa Garden by Contra Costa Master Gardeners

Master Gardener Hotline

If you have gardening questions,

Master Gardeners can help!

9 am – 12 noon M-Th

Telephone: 925-646-6586

Drop in at office (closed state holidays)

or…

Email: ccmg@ucanr.edu

Website: http://ccmg.ucanr.edu

Facebook: www.facebook.com/

CoCoMasterGardeners

Contra Costa Master Gardeners

University of California Cooperative Extension

75 Santa Barbara Rd., Second Floor

Pleasant Hill, CA 94532-4215

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Newsletter of the Danville-Alamo Garden Club

Roseann Krane ~ Editor

Danville–Alamo Garden Club

P.O. Box 920

Danville, CA 94526

Our Sponsors

Ace Hardware 3211 Danville Blvd.

Alamo,CA,94507 (925) 837-2420

Annie’s Annuals 740 Market Ave,

Richmond, CA 94801 510-215-3301 or 888-266-4370

Armstrong Garden Centers 7360 San Ramon Road, Dublin

925-551-0231

Lucky Garden Hydroponics 7071 Village Pkwy, Dublin, CA 94568

(925) 828-4769

Navlet’s 800 Camino Ramon, Danville

925-837-9144

Orchard

4010 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Lafayette, CA 94549

(925) 284-4474.

Regan Nursery

4268 Decoto Road, Fremont 510-797-3222

Sloat Garden Center 828 Diablo Road, Danville

925-743-0288

www.dagc.us

Please support our sponsors!

Remember, our commercial sponsors donate the door prizes, and they support us with speakers for our gen-

eral meetings. Please support them!

Sharon Cohune, Janice Fassiotto,

Lynn Hoaglin, Sponsor Reps

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