1

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE “Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal matters somehow.

I have a place in the pattern, and so do you.” F.M. Watson

Snow in the bay area is rare, but so exciting when it does occur. Snow---these feathery flakes are composed of one or more ice crystals –super cooled water vapor condensing around a microscopic speck of dust. There is indescribable beauty in them—indescribable because no two crystals are exactly the same! The permutations are endless---billions upon billions of tiny, white, hexagonal forms, each unique, just as we are. As we contemplate our place in the universe, it is always good to remember how we are all connected, how we all matter, and how we impact the universe. If you were at the November meeting, you heard Kristin’s impassioned plea to conserve resources and take care not to pollute our precious water systems. Considering creating a healthy environment, we can reduce toxins in our homes with the use of houseplants which not only absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, but some do even more by reducing more airborne toxins. We have so many synthetic building components in our homes emitting a myriad of unhealthy chemicals- isn’t it wonderful that plants are so beneficial? Some of the best houseplants that serve as air purifiers are aloe vera, snake plant (sansevieria), golden pothos, dracaena, ficus, philodendron, spider plant, peace lily and rubber plant. We learned of many wonderful gardening books at the November meeting, and another book you may want to consider is How To Grow Fresh Air by Bill Wolverton, an environmental engineer. He says most people spend 93% of their time indoors—so think how important it is to help create a healthy environment there. A book I especially enjoyed a couple of years ago inspired a trip to England to view the beautiful countryside and many gorgeous gardens. That book is A Fine Romance: Falling In Love With the English Countryside by Susan Branch, a native Californian now living on Cape Cod. This book is pure delight, a hand-written diary/journal of her two month ramble through rural England. It is filled with her charming watercolors, many photos, quotes and recipes. It would be a wonderful gift to yourself or a friend. Another book I especially like is 4000 Years of Christmas by Earl and Alice Count. If you love this holiday as I do, you will enjoy learning of the origins of many of our Christmas traditions which began with the ancient Babylonians, Greeks and Romans. In this momentous election year, you might enjoy Season’s Greetings from the White House by Mary Seeley. It contains the holiday traditions of former presidents, tree-lighting speeches, decorating themes of various First Ladies, beautiful photos—I loved it. This is a special time of year-- a time to remember and treasure our past, and a time of hope to look to the future. Start your holiday season by attending DAGC’s winter event luncheon at Diablo Country Club, “A Musical Holiday”. Can you imagine the holiday without its special music? Both the old carols and the contemporary songs enrich the season. I’ve written a brief history of holiday music which will be sent to you in early December. You might also enjoy playing some tunes on chimes at my PPP event on December 27, a Christmas Coffee.

“Here we come a-caroling among the leaves so green; Here we come a wand’ring so fair to be seen. Love and joy come to you, and to you glad tidings too, And God bless you and send you a happy New Year and God send you a Happy New Year!”

Rebecca Byrom

www.dagc.us Newsletter of the Danville-Alamo Garden Club December 2016

The Flower Pot Volume XLIII Issue 4

Inside this Issue: Page 1 President’s Message Page 2 Holiday Event, President’s Pot Pourri, Facebook Page 3 Social, Birthdays, Bookworms Page 4 Community Outreach, Product Produce, Friends Helping Friends Page 5 DAGC Website help, Sponsor news Page 6 Horticulture, Directories, Did you know? Page 7 Calendar Page 8 Sponsors

2

Danville—Alamo Garden Club Presents

“A Musical Holiday” With the

Monte Vista HS Choral Group

Diablo Country Club, 1700 Clubhouse Dr., Diablo

Thursday, December 8, 2016

11:30 am - 2:00 pm We look forward to seeing all of you who will be attending.

DECEMBER PRESIDENT’S POTPOURRI

On Tuesday December 27 I will have a Christmas Coffee at my home at 1:00 PM.

In the “olden” days, the Christmas holiday really started on Christmas Day, the official 12 days beginning on December 25. Now they are well underway by Thanksgiving, with trees being tossed to the curb on the 26th. Not so at my home! Please join me for coffee and visit my Christmas trees.

Please note I have changed the time listed in the Directory. It is necessary to RSVP by December 20. Cheers! Rebecca

Rebecca Byrom, President

This month our PROGRAM, TOURS & WORKSHOP make way for our

WINTER EVENT

Please see our next newsletter for your January activities

DAGC is now available on Facebook

I have created a Facebook page for the club. We will use this

space to post information that you will find interesting, but not

critical. Instead of sending an email blast for garden related topics

that are "nice-to-know", we'll put that information on our Facebook page. Information that is "necessary-to-know",

will still be published in our newsletter and send out via email blast, if appropriate.

If you are a Facebook user, you can LIKE the Danville Alamo Garden Club. If you are not a Facebook user,

you should be able to view most things that appear on that page by following this link or pasting it into the web

address bar:

https://www.facebook.com/danvillealamogardenclub/

Facebook will offer you a screen to Login or SignUp for Facebook, but you can ignore that screen. Enjoy!

Nancy Norland

DAGC Webmaster

3

TOURS We did not plan a tour for December, as there are many local holiday events around town. Have a wonderful Holiday Season and watch the January Newsletter for our next tour.

Susan Polk & Rhonda Raphel, Tour Chairs

From the Social VP

Many thanks to everyone who brought all the

yummy goodies to our November general

meeting.

I will send out an email if you offered to bring

food to our next meeting at the Women’s

Club which will be in January.

Huge thanks to the members who helped set

up and clear away – you are all so efficient!

I hope to see everyone at the December

Holiday Lunch on December 8th!

Linda Scotting Social VP

BOOKWORMS The Bookworms recently enjoyed a “Tea Party” as they

discussed the book, For All The Tea in China. The book

records how the British East India Company, having lost

its monopoly on the tea trade, engaged Robert Fortune,

a Scottish gardener, botanist, and plant hunter, to make

a clandestine trip into the interior of China-territory

forbidden to foreigners-to steal the closely guarded

secrets of tea horticulture and manufacturing.

On January 18th, the Bookworms will discuss Hazel Gaynor’s historical fiction, A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London’s Flower Sellers. Unlike the romanticized version of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, this novel sheds light on the plight of the many girls selling flowers on the streets of Victorian London, many of whom were disabled or orphaned. A Memory of Violets is a beautiful story about second chances and loving people for who they truly are. The Bookworms will meet from 10:00 AM until 12:00 noon at Jan Anderson’s home on January 18.

Sign up at the January General Meeting or email Darlene Guzman.

Space is limited to 12 DAGC members.

Darlene Guzman and Jan Anderson — Bookworm Chairs

Birthdays!!!

This month is full of celebration for our

December ladies

Our Best Wishes go to…….

Kayrene Braden, Vicki Brown,

Judy Dehont, Anne Diggins, Susan Hill,

Veronica Knaack, Linda Monk,

Amy Newman, Jenny Offringa,

Katie Radler,

Roberta Ridenour and

Suzanne Ziarnik.

Have a fabulous time

everyone.

4

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Seven members recently got together to make arrangements for the Pleasant Hill Hospice. The 28 arrangements, delivered by Julie Grisham were met with oohs and aahs!

Thanks are to go to Louise Wiggins, Janice Fassiotto, Rebecca Byrom, Julie Grisham, Dee Dee Cross, Rhonda Raphel and Sandra Olinger for participating.

Charlotte Graham - Community Outreach Chair

PROJECT PRODUCE - Many thanks to all who bought produce to the November meeting.

Your contributions weighed in at 58lb!

PLEASE NOTE! There will NOT be donations again until the January meeting. Thank you for your donations. Many hungry people were fed. Helen Miller.

December Food Bank Visit / Gift Wrapping for Shelter Inc.

It’s holiday time at the Food Bank on Thursday, December 15th.

Meet us there to help organize goods for those in need, from 1-3 PM .

The address is 4010 Nelson Ave. Concord. Wear closed toed shoes.

Some of you may like to wrap gifts at Shelter Inc. also from 1-3 PM on the

15th December.

They can take as few as one and as many as six people.

Shelter Inc. is located at 1333 Willow Pass Rd. Concord.

We will arrange car pooling when we get sign-ups.

Contact Charlotte Graham to sign up for either event.

FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS

As part of our Garden Club community we like to be able to help our members

when they are sick or in need of assistance when necessary.

There are members in need of help at present, so if you feel you can spare some

time, please contact Tena Gallagher and offer your services.

5

“What’s Hiding in the DAGC Website?” — Part 4

By Nancy Norland, Web Administrator

The Resources menu choice is another large menu category with many interesting and useful subtopics. You can find these choices by hovering your mouse over the word Resources. A short menu will pop up with these subtopics.

Resources - shows an overview page for the Resources category.

Gardening Information - lists many agencies and groups with a

horticultural focus

Local Gardens - lists various public gardens in the Bay Area.

Local Organizations - lists Bay Area gardening organizations.

Plant Societies - lists specific plant societies.

Deer Repellent - shows Jan Hamby's tried and true repellent recipe.

Try it! It works!

Salvage Yards - shows a PDF of Salvage Yard suggestions and a few

extra links that are special favorites of Sharon Williams.

THE RUTH BANCROFT GARDEN

Event for members only: Ruth Bancroft Garden Garden Architecture and Design Sat. Dec. 10, 10:30-11:00 Look at RBG from different perspective. See how Ruth planted the garden and the tradition is continued today with recently renovated beds. Call 944-9352 to reserve a spot, free. RBG will continue to have walk-in tours every Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 am, except garden closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day and every Monday.

REGAN NURSERY

4268 Decota Road, Fremont. (510)797-3222

Open daily 8:30-5:00 pm

Regan Nursery, a 60 year old nursery, continues to be a sponsor of our garden club this year with 3 gift certificates for our plant drawing. The latest news on the nursery is that it will be moving from the present site Sept. 2017. The nursery has been leasing the site from the city but now the land has been sold to a developer. The nursery is looking for a new location, not yet decided. The nursery was founded in 1958, changed owners and has been at it's current site since 1993. It has the largest selection of over 1000 bare root grade 1 roses, as well as hard to find perennials.. Go online to look up Regan Nursery and see the information on the nursery. Plants are available online, by phone or by mail. The bare root season is currently in progress through Jan. 31.

Danville -Alamo Garden Club has been blessed with 8 sponsors generously supporting our club.

Ruth Bancroft Garden was our latest sponsor joining the group Sept. 2015. As always, when purchasing plants, tools or whatever from our sponsors, please state that you are from the DAGC so they will continue their generous donation of plants/gift certificates to our members.

Jenny Offringa, Sponsor Rep

6

Master Gardener Hotline 9 am – 12 noon M-Th Telephone: 925-646-6586 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

Dear Members, If you have articles that would be of interest for our members, please submit them to me via email, by the 3rd Thursday of the month.

Sharon Townsend—Newsletter Editor

2016-2017

Directories Dear Members,

I still have quite a few directories

in my possession. Please contact

me to arrange pick up of your

copy to find out what activities

the DAGC year has to offer.

If any errors are found, please let

our membership ladies know and

we shall update the records.

Thank you,

Sharon Townsend

Directory Chair

HORTICULTURE

For many years now I have been growing persimmon trees. I have both kinds — Hachiya, the

astringent kind that needs to be mushy before you eat it, and Fuyu the kind that is sweet once

it turns orange. It turns out that both kinds are the same Species and come from Japan.

I started with the Hachiya probably 25 years ago or so. It was a 1 gallon plant, and we were

training it to be a tree, so it had a little tuft of green on the top of a thin stick. Then a wind

storm came, and the tuft broke off. Being the lazy gardener that I am I left the tree alone and it

began to grow new leaves and branch out. Now the tree grows above the house, and we have

to prune it very hard to keep it down.

I originally planted the tree because I loved the orange fruit hanging on the tree like Christmas balls. But then the

varmints found it and there were never any balls left for the holiday season, but there was lots of slippery mush to step

in around the base. It seems the varmints don’t savor the fruit, but take one bite and move to the next.

I never found a recipe for this fruit that I liked. Cookies and bread just don’t do it for me. For a while I made Cold

Persimmon Soufflé, but it had raw eggs, and I always worried about that part. This year with the help of the internet,

I found a new recipe for persimmon salad dressing, and now I am hording my persimmons.

The fruit has to be soft, and it preserves well in the freezer. I scoop out the pulp and put it into plastic bags. There is

probably around the pulp of 2 large persimmons in each bag. Using my blender I whip together chopped garlic, rice

vinegar, salt and a nut oil, my favorite is Hazelnut, but peanut does alright and of course a bag of the persimmon pulp.

I also add a healthy dollop of roasted sesame oil, and blend it up until it makes a smooth thick sauce. I leave the

measurements up to your imagination, but the internet had a recipe which was my starting point.

The interesting thing is that the dressing never separates into oil and fruit. It always stays this smooth thick texture.

It makes me think that persimmons are a natural emulsifier. It is delicious over salad, but my favorite way of having it is

slices of Jicama, or radish dipped into the sauce. I am currently having it almost every day.

Because the fruit blends so well with fat, I thought I would try a new desert. I purchased Crème Fraiche, and for 8

ounces of Crème fresh I added the pulp of two persimmons in my blender. No sugar nothing else.

The desert is to live for, and so easy. Enjoy!

Kristin Yanker-Hansen —Horticultural Chair

Do your green or blue bins have

trouble containing themselves?

Dear Members ,

Did you know that you can

exchange your large ‘green’ or blue

recycle bin for a larger size free of

charge!

If you have a bin with a serial

number starting with a ‘6’ it means

you have a 64 gallon bin. If this

does not contain all your disposable

greenery or recycle material you can

request a 96 gallon bin, free of

charge from Republic Services of

Contra Costa County.

Tel. 925-685-4711

Our thanks to Louise Wiggins for

sharing this information!

Fuyu Persimmon

7

Dates & Times Events Details

December 1, Thursday 10:00am

DAGC Board Meeting At the home of Kristin Yanker-Hansen

December 4, Sunday 9:00am

Armstrong Nursery, Dublin Santa Barbara Wreath

Make and Take

See www.armstronggarden.com for details and registration. Cost $40.

December 4, Sunday 10:00am

Sloat Nurseries Make & Take Workshop: Create a Colorful

Holiday Container

Danville (Diablo Rd)

It’s the season to decorate! Create a colorful holiday container to brighten up your entryway or table. 925-743-0288 Fee: $50 for rewards members, $60 for non-members

December 8, Thursday 11:30am

DAGC Winter Event Diablo Country Club

We hope to see you all for our annual Winter Event ‘A Musical Holiday’ with the Monte Vista HS Choral Group. See page 2

December 10, Saturday 10:30-11:00

Ruth Bancroft Garden

Garden Architecture and Design. Look at RBG from different perspective. See how Ruth planted the garden. Free RBG Members only. RSVP 944-9352. See page 5

December 11, Sunday 10:00am

Sloat Nurseries Make & Take Workshop: Create a Living

Ornament

Danville (Diablo Rd)

Create beautiful living terrarium ornaments that are sure to brighten the holidays. This is such a popular class we just had to bring it back around. Makes a great gift for you or someone special. 925-743-0288 Fee: $40 for rewards members, $50 for non-members

December 15, Thursday 1:00-3:00pm

Community Outreach

Helping at the Contra Costa Food Bank

Sign up for event by emailing Charlotte Graham, See page 4.

December 15, Thursday 1:00-3:00pm

Community Outreach

Gift Wrapping for Shelter Inc.

Sign up for event by emailing Charlotte Graham, See page 4.

December 27, Tuesday 9:30am

Presidents Pot Pourri Christmas Coffee at the home of our President. RSVP to Rebecca Byrom by Dec. 20th See page 2.

8

The Flower Pot

Sharon Townsend ~ Editor Danville–Alamo Garden Club P.O. Box 920 Danville, CA 94526

Please support our sponsors! Remember, our commercial sponsors donate the

door prizes, and/or offer discounts, and they

support us with speakers for our general meetings.

Please support them!

Joan Hines, Joanne Nelson, Jenny Offringa

Sponsor Reps

Our Sponsors

Ace Hardware

3211 Danville Blvd., Alamo, CA,94507 (925) 837-2420

Annie’s Annuals & Perennials

740 Market Ave., Richmond, CA 94801

510-215-3301 or 888-266-4370

Armstrong Garden Center

7360 San Ramon Road, Dublin, CA 94568

925-551-0231

Lucky Garden Dublin Hydroponics

7071 Village Pkwy, Dublin, CA 94568

(925) 828-4769

Orchard Nursery

4010 Mt. Diablo Blvd.,

Lafayette, CA 94549

925-284-4474.

Regan Nursery

4268 Decoto Road, Fremont, CA 94555

510-797-3222

Ruth Bancroft Garden

1552 Bancroft Road,

Walnut Creek, CA 94598

925-944-9352

Sloat Garden Center

828 Diablo Road, Danville, CA 94526

925-743-0288

800 Camino Ramon, Danville CA 94526

925-837-9144