July Update

The Put-in-Bay Garden Club's second program of the season was held at the Put-in-Bay Yacht  Club on June 17 when Susan Hildebrandt presented a slide show and lecture on "Low Maintenance Gardening" to a group of more than thirty enthusiastic gardeners.  Pictures of the event and the gardening handout can be viewed on our website at putinbaygardenclub.com.  The handout includes a chart showing deer and drought resistance, as well as sun and shade requirements of the low maintenance plants recommended in the talk.

Kathi Spayde, our web designer, also introduced the new garden club website at the meeting. She navigated through the site to the ooohs and aaaaahs of the crowd as she explained the site’s various links and capabilities. Please check it out if you haven’t already done so!

On June 19, from 10am to noon, a group of 15 volunteers got their hands dirty at the Bathing Beach weeding the sand and flower beds there. We are grateful to the village for removing the seaweed and for raking the beach beforehand, which made the weeding task easier.  Several hundred Mayflies, an enormous bullfrog, and a baby water snake were on hand to keep things exciting.  A big thank you to everyone who participated in this sandy but satisfying task. Islanders and tourists alike will enjoy the progress we make weekly toward beautifying our bathing beach.  Please join us any Thursday between 10 and noon as we continue with our beach clean-up. The task will become less daunting if we keep up with it on a weekly basis.

An even bigger thank you is due to John and Peggy Leopold who spent four hours on ladders AFTER the beach clean-up scooping thousands of dead mayflies out of the lamppost baskets in DeRivera Park. The flowers were no longer visible due to the piles of mayfly carcasses coating the top of the baskets. In order to save the flowers, that dirty job was necessary, but certainly not fun! John and Peggy deserve a gold medal for the countless hours of work they have put into the flower baskets, the irrigation system, and the shed preparation work they have done this year!  We are all so lucky to have them on board!

Raffle tickets are on sale for a free gardening consultation at your island home. A team of experts will visit your garden to answer your questions and address problem areas, as well as to provide simple design ideas and recommend plants guaranteed to thrive in your location. Two winning tickets will be drawn on August 5th. Raffle tickets are available through any of the Garden Club’s Board members at a cost of $2.00 each or three for $5.00. They will also be sold at Garden Club events. Don’t miss out on your chance to have an award-winning garden!  

Joan Booker and Mack McCann are chairing the Garden Club’s fundraiser this year to Kelley’s Island via Jet Express. On Wednesday, July 16th, the Jet will leave Put in Bay docks at 12:15 for Kelley’s. You can choose to return from Kelley’s on the 6:15 or 8:25 pm Jet to Put in Bay. The cost of the trip is $30.00. This includes the Jet Express trip, golf cart rental on Kelley’s, and garden visits. The group will be visiting gardens at several island homes, a vegetable garden, a winery, and a sculpture garden and gallery.  You can purchase your tickets online at our website or at the Island Hardware Store where the tickets are for sale. We look forward to seeing you and your invited guests at this great event!

Please check the website for future program dates and locations. August meeting attendees will participate in and learn from the garden consultations at the gardens of our raffle winners. In September, we will tour some of our island vineyards to learn about the process of grape growing and harvesting. At our October meeting, we will learn about the Monarch butterfly and its amazing annual migration.

Suggestions for next year’s programming and your comments are always welcome. Call Susan Hildebrandt at 285-3908 or Peggy Leopold at 285-0160, or write a note in the Comments area of the garden website.  For the month of July, remember to water, feed, and enjoy your gardens! If you encounter any nasty pest or diseases on your plants, call the Master Gardener hotlines listed on our website. Describe your problem and they will prescribe a solution! Amazing! Enjoy!

Susan Hildebrandt, Co-President, Put-in-Bay Garden Club