KEY WEST GARDEN CLUB Spring Newsletter 2016

Message from the President

Dear Garden Club Members, The changing of the season from winter to spring is not marked so much by the landscape as it is by the return north of our snowbirds. From a group mid winter of 58 volunteers per week,we have dwindled to 28 die-hard, sweaty workers. If you can spare the time, join us on Monday mornings. The tourists keep coming, however. Last year we entertained 70,000 visitors, up from 55,000 the year before. Those generous tourists gave more donations per person, too. Maybe the economy is perking up after all. The fort is holding together nicely, the gardens look ever more beautiful. Note the new establishment of orchids around the waterfall thanks to the orchid crew. A wedding planner told me that she is staging weddings underneath the almond tree again, especially if there is a handicapped guest involved, so the

decision to enhance that area was a good one. Sitting at the front desk today I heard visitor after visitor exclaim "How beautiful the gardens look.” Merrily we roll on into the summer. Strategic Planning The Garden Club should be proud of all the members and the Board of Directors. We had our annual planning session at the beautiful home of Kitty and Steve Somerville. Annette Liggett was the expert facilitator. Once again we were amazed at how many of the goals from the previous year had been accomplished.

We have increased signage in the Garden, which is appreciated by volunteers and visitors. We have improved accessibility by installing the Flexipave on the hill paths. The numbers of our visitors and their donations keep increasing and much of this is due to our receptionists and the beauty of the gardens. Our monthly meetings are well attended. The Monday morning educational sessions for the volunteers continue to be a positive aspect to volunteering. The group set some new goals for the coming year which focus on keeping the gardens, propagation and the fort in tip top shape and the Club in good financial order. Appreciation from Visitors We have had several appreciative comments and I am including a couple of them. In March we received an email that said “Today is my Mother's birthday. Her name was Edythe C. Shortman and she would have been 92 now, had she not passed on 3 years ago. My Father had a commemorative bench and plaque installed at West Martello Fort so we could share our thoughts and memories of her in that beautiful garden. Today, I took a small bouquet of spring flowers to her bench overlooking the Atlantic. What a lovely surprise it was to find that the wooden parts of it had been completely replaced with new lumber! My family and I are so truly appreciative of that! It had become fairly rickety, to the point that my husband was afraid to sit on it. We thank you with all our hearts for the care you have taken to maintain "Mom's Bench" and the beautiful garden it sits in!!! Instead of a sad visit today, I came away so happy and excited to share the photos with family and friends! Thank you, thank you, thank you from us all!”

And there is also this: Bob Hans installed this plaque for the Fleisher family, whose parents were stationed in Key West in WWII in the Navy, so they bought a bench to commemorate them. Robert Fleisher rented a house in Key West for the past 3 months and fell in love with the place, especially the Garden Club!

Clean and Green

Here is a report from Mali Wagner who is both our Membership Coordinator and on the Clean and Green Committee. Mali is standing next to Allison Higgins, the Sustainability Coordinator for Key West, on Mt. Tashmore. “This spring, Key West’s Recycling Coordinator, Dee Dee Greene, and Waste Management’s Greg Sullivan led a tour for environmental educators. The tour included visits to the City’s Solid Waste Transfer Station and Mt. Trashmore(the City’s former landfill). The Transfer Station was a sight to see, with three huge

open bins for recycling, yard waste and trash. The trucks back in and dump their contents into the appropriate bin for later processing. A long line of refrigerators waited outside for Freon removal and recycling.

Later, our cars wound slowly up the road on Mount Trashmore, and parked. The view was spectacular on a sunny, windy day. Dee Dee explained the workings of a landfill and showed us pipes for escaping methane, drains for liquids and wells for water testing. Her dream for the landfill is to open it, mine for remaining recyclables and eventually return the area to nature as a community park. Let’s hope her campaign is successful!!” Meanwhile, here are some recycling tips from Dee Dee: Don’t put plastic bags in your recycling container; they tear up the recycling equipments. Bring them to your local grocery store for recycling. Don’t put yard waste in plastic bags; place it in a barrel or in a paper bag. Cynthia Edwards, a long time member, also reminded us that$mosquitoes$are$most$easily$controlled$by$treating$or$emptying$containers$that$hold$water$since$the$eggs$are$laid$in$water.$$Citizens$can$do$much$to$prevent$mosquito$breeding$on$their$property$by$the$elimination$or$water$in$garbage$cans,$flowerpots$and$other$containers$and$by$flushing$birdbaths$on$a$weekly$basis.$Drilling$holes$in$garbage$cans$and$recycle$bins$and$flushing$out$water>holding$plants$like$bromeliads$also$helps.$$Items$that$can$hold$water$but$are$no$longer$used,$such$as$old$tires,$should$be$disposed$of$properly.$$Boats$should$be$covered$or$otherwise$prevented$from$holding$water.$So$please$walk$around$your$property$and$check$it$out$for$these$issues. Florida Gardening Magazine Many of us were surprised to learn during a Monday morning 10:30 educational session that not everyone knows about Florida Gardening Magazine. So this is a heads up. This publication is one of very few that deals with gardening in Florida and South Florida. I am including the website so you can check it out. The last issue had a great article on pruning. http://www.statebystategardening.com/florida “April in Paris” (A topiary design)

Artful Signs In case any of you had questions about the sign by the back double gates:

It was erected in conjunction with a Studios of Key West Symposium by Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne name: Hock E Aye VI). He is a multi-disciplinary artist. His art contributions include public art messages, large scale drawings, prints, and monumental porcelain enamel on steel outdoor sculpture. What if in our “sign pollution,” one particular sign could actually draw our attention and for a few seconds,$change$our$perspective$about$life$in$Key$West?$ He$has$reversed$the$state$(FLORIDA)$in$order$to$capture$the$viewer’s$attention,$but$also$to$invoke$the$idea$of$the$other$side$of$Florida,$or$the$time$when$the$land$belonged$solely$to$indigenous$people. After talking to Edgar and his son when they installed the sign, Hazel Hans did a bit of research. Cuchiyaga was a native village in what s now the Islamorada area. If you visit the Florida Keys History & Discovery Center Islander at MM82, there is additional information about Cuchiyaga there. An interesting note is that recent research shows Matecumbe to be one of the oldest place names in Florida. The museum has a permanent exhibit of the area's history. You may recall Brad Bertelli as one of the Club’s speakers. He is the Curator of this museum. The sign does provoke some head scratching.

Endangered Efforts$to$save$the$semaphore$cactus$(Consolea)corallicola)$date$back$to$1996$and$continue$without$any$certainty$as$to$their$outcome.$Eight$species$exist$in$the$Caribbean,$but$only$one$lives$in$the$Keys.$Propagating$the$cacti$from$buds$produces$only$clones$of$the$original$plant,$eliminating$a$diverse$gene$pool.$$This$cactus$is$$colonial,$forming$colonies$of$"trunked"$plants$and$several$"pups".$This$species'$common$name$refers$to$its$resemblance$to$railway$semaphore$signals.$$This$one$is$in$the$cactus$garden$up$by$the$white$gazebo.$It$is$an$extremely$rare$species$and$the$Garden$Club$is$doing$its$best$to$keep$the$endangered$plant$from$becoming$extinct.

Around the Gardens

Donna Froelich and the orchid crew have a new establishment of orchids by the waterfall, they look so pretty with the white blooms on rocks. The next addition will be lady slippers for the shady area.

The native Geiger tree was in full bloom at the top of the path by the white gazebo. The Geiger beetle seems to have passed this one by.

Donna Farrow and Laurie Tift are the masters behind our beautiful butterfly garden. The Garden is loaded with butterflies and is spectacular!

Thank You Party

Yay! Bad Boy Burritos! The thank you party for the Monday morning volunteers was a delicious show of appreciation. The main reason that the Key West Garden Club has become such a popular spot to visit is because of the hard workers who donate their time to pruning, weeding and watering (and sweating). We cannot sing their praises too loudly. All of you volunteers ROCK!!! Earth and Arbor Days Debby Jo Clem and Martin Persilla planted a Dahoon Holly on the hill to the right of the pavilion building. The holly was given by Robin Robinson who took part in in the Arbor$Day$Foundation’s$Energy>Saving$Trees$Program$and$the$Florida$Forest$Service$$giveaway$$which$gave$out$10,000$trees$statewide.$$The$Club$also$benefitted$from$the$Keys’$Energy$2016$Tree$Giveaway$Program.$We$planted$a$Winter$Cinnamon$tree$near$the$holly.$$And$many$native$trees$were$added$to$Pat’s$Garden.$(named$in$honor$of$$former$Garden$Club$President,$Pat$Rogers).$The impetus to add to the natives was because the Keys Energy folks were kind enough to allow us to take additional plants that were left at the end of the morning giveaway. Hazel Hans e-mailed a thank you to Keys Energy and told them we had a demonstration garden of natives along the sidewalk by West Martello. Thank you to Jane Montgomery for transporting most of the plants to the Club.

Ten of the 13 plants added to Pat’s Garden are from Keys Energy, we have 20 plants there now, with seven from MARC and the three pigeon plums from propagation that started it all.

Working on the “outside” we have Gerry Butler, Mary Brady, Bob Hans and Butch Seely. Mary appears to be looking for the magic button that will make all the much fall into place for a nice neat pile. Unfortunately, it took sweat and hard work to add extra lumber to keep the mulch in place. Bob Hans, second from left, is one of our great our all-around good guys. He and his wife Hazel have devoted many hours to keeping the new plantings in “Pat’s Garden” flourishing by watering and weeding. Bob also stands in as plumber, carpenter, electrician and receptionist!

All Hail the Receptionists!! The Garden club could not function without our wonderful receptionists.

Clockwise: Ron Zemlicka, Kathleen Gillis, Elaine Belanger and Bob Hans. These are the delightful faces of the Key West Garden Club. They are the ones who encourage donations and deal with weddings and docent at events at the Club. Our visitation and donations have increased manyfold since we have been open seven days a week and have hired such positive greeters. Please say thanks whenever you see them and if you have time, a kind offer to sit at the desk for a few minutes to give them a break goes a long way. It’s a demanding job!

Another kind of receptionist we have is pictured here. Although chickens can really disrupt the garden, visitors are fond of them. One has to admit that this one is a ”pretty boy”. His family has raised several chicks in our outside sidewalk native garden.

The “Birdcage Room” A big thanks to June Klausing for all the hard work she has put into caring for the birdcage room over the years. June has retired from the job but we appreciate every thing that she has done. June is here with Donna Froelich, on the right, one of our great orchid crew. June is also involved with the MARC house and has been a valuable contributor to all ways of life in Key West. We will miss seeing her smiling face on Monday mornings. Other Goings On

Robin Robinson’s sister Renee taught another successful basket weaving course. Sure keeps those fingers limber.

Below is Kitty Somerville, in full waterproof regalia, helping Jeff Ware figure out the watering issues in Propagation.

Spring Luncheon The Spring luncheon was held at the Harbour Yacht Club and was again a lovely event. Thank you to Annita Tschantz for all her hard work to make this such a fun occasion. It does appear that the number of members who attend the spring luncheon is diminishing. People are just too busy and Sunday does not seem like the best day. We have decided to have only one luncheon next year. It will be Saturday, January 21 .

“Surfin USA” (A tubular design)

Thanks to Karen Contreras and her Floral Design cohort for the always interesting and clever designs in the niches at the Fort. Summer is Around the Corner Our Monday morning volunteers have begun to dwindle. Please, if you have a little time to spare, come and help with pruning, weeding and watering. Even if you can only spare an hour, many hands make the work go faster in the hot summer months. Wishing everyone a happy summer and safe travels. Sue Sullivan, Editor Many thanks for photos from Hazel Hans, Lynne Bentley-Kemp, Kitty Somerville, Robin Robinson and Sue Sullivan. Thank you to Cynthia Edwards, Mali Wagner, Hazel Hans and Robin Robinson and Rosi Ware for their contributions to the narrative. Thank you to Joyce Drake, Mali Wagner and Annette Liggett for proofreading.