Happy Spring and hope all are well and safe! This has certainly been an interesting and trying spring.
 
With social distancing in mind, we have come up with a new and different format for park basket planting.  We have set the tasks up in small teams to include team to move soil, baskets, etc. to the park on Monday morning May 11th, and a team to load the baskets with liners, soil, and diapers in the evening. Then on Tuesday in the late morning, we will have a team to meet the truck in the park and unload flowers, and a team to do the actual planting in the afternoon.  The baskets will be hung at later date. If you can help, please reach out to Val Chornyak at 419-285-4030, who is coordinating the planting.
 
Because  many  folks  will  be  returning  late  from  the  south  and  other  restrictions,  we  are  looking for volunteers to help out with weeding of the gardens in DeRivera Park.  Yard works will be doing the spring clean up and laying the mulch. Please contact Jean Hilt at 419-349-5501 if you can help us with some weeding.
 
The Garden Club will not be hosting a Home and Garden Tour this year, but hope to get back on schedule in 2021. We will be having 4 monthly programs starting in June, with all meetings, times and dates subject to change. All meetings will start at 4:30, with the exception of the Plant Exchange. This will be held June 4th, outside at the PIBYC, weather permitting, to accommodate social distancing.  Plants will be delivered between 2 and 4 p.m. on June 4th, and for each plant contribution, you will choose a new one.  Unclaimed plants will be available to GC members after 5 p.m. Now is the time to dig it up, pot it up to share, so that they will recover by  and look fresh for the Exchange.  For dividing tips,  see “Three Simple ways to Divide Plants” on the Garden Gate website at gardengatemagazine.com. (link on our website putinbaygardenclub.com)  Please attach a label indicating name, size, bloom color and time, and light requirements.  (link to labels also on our website)  Any Plant Exchange questions, please contact Program Chairs Susan Hildebrandt at 440-409-1958 or Dianne Smith at 440-537-9597. 
 
We look forward to seeing and sharing with you this season!
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6/4    Plant Exchange at PIB Yacht Club  (see details above)
7/16  Members Island Tour - start location and time TBD
8/13  Pruning Shrubs and Dead Heading Perennials – PIBYC
9/10  Final Meeting with Potluck - location TBD

As the summer is coming to a close, I’d like to give thanks to all our volunteers who watered, weeded,  planted and participated throughout the year.  And especially to the various committee chairman that get it organized!  Thanks to the Island businesses the Village Council and the DeRivera Park employees for their support.
 
Our final task for this season will be to take down the flower baskets in the park on Tuesday, October 8th at 9:00 a.m. We are already busy making plans for next year’s planting and programs, so please plan  to join us.  And consider joining our army of beautification volunteers next year.

​At the August 22nd meeting of the Garden Club, Susan Hildebrandt, along with visiting Cuyahoga County Master Gardener Rosie Daniels, presented a hands-on program on how to create a succulent wreath.  Below are some of our members with their creations.
 
The next meeting of the Garden Club  will be September 12, at 4:30 p.m. in the Cornerstone room at Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church.   This  is the annual Pot-Luck dinner, so plan to attend with your favorite shareable signature dish, along with    your own beverage of choice.   Table settings, serving pieces and water will be provided.
 
The Garden Club would like to give our sincere thanks to Chan Stevens for donating the golf cart we have been using to us permanently.   This golf cart is the backbone of the flower basket program on the lamp posts in DeRivera park.
 
The removal of  the lamp post flower baskets will take place on Tuesday October 8th.
 
Please remember to ‘like’ us on Facebook and visit our website at: https://www.putinbaygardenclub.com

​The mayflies have come and gone for another season.  A big thanks to Donna D’Amico, Kathy Schrader and Sarah Schrader Frame for removing the Mayfly nets from the flower baskets on the lamp posts.  Our efforts to keep the mayflies out of the baskets were helped this season as the lights weren’t always lit in DeRivera Park.  Thanks John Galvin!
 
On Tuesday July 23rd, a group of PIB Garden Club members, along with members from Huron Garden Club, attended a luncheon at the Catawba  Island  Club.  After lunch, there was a presentation by Jim Stouffer of the  Lake Erie Foundation on the state of Lake Erie.
 
The Toledo Botanical Garden was the destination for a group of members of PIB Garden Club on Thursday July  25,  for a tour hosted by a ranger from Metroparks Toledo.  The Botanical Garden also hosts an OSU Extension Program.  A beautiful set of gardens, just a short trip  away. Thanks to Susan Hildebrandt for a great trip.
 
Thank you to all our volunteers who water our park baskets everyday!    We couldn’t have the beautiful baskets without you.  Also, a shout out to the volunteers who take care of the Garden Club gardens on the corners of the park, by the bathhouse and across from Frosty’s.
 
There will be a meeting of the Garden Club on Thursday August 22nd, at 4:30 p.m. at the PIBYC.  Please check our Facebook page or the PIB Garden Club website for details on the August meeting and all upcoming  programs, activities, photos and any updates, www.putinbaygardenclub.com.

June has been a busy month for the Garden Club, with replacing plants lost over the rough winter, reviewing sprinkler coverage for the DeRivera Park Gardens and getting netting up on the hanging baskets for protection  from the Mayflies. We also hosted our first and very successful plant exchange, held at the Yacht Club. Thanks to Susan Hildebrandt and her team for all their hard work!
 
Our June meeting was held on June 27th with Susan presenting a Master Gardener’s program on Success with Succulents. The program covered all aspects of successfully growing succulents, and will be followed up with our  August 22nd meeting with a hands-on program with succulents. Please join us.
 
The  Catawba Island Garden Club has invited PIBGC members to a Luncheon on Tuesday, July 23rd, to include a special presentation by Jim Stouffer on Great Lake Erie. The program and luncheon is $22 with reservations  needed by July 12th. Contact Jodi Hawk at Tomahawk44@twc.com for reservations and more information.
 
Lamp post brackets formerly used in DeRivera Park are available. Anyone interested can contact Barb Hunter at barbhunter1@hotmail.com. We also have large bags of potting soil available for sale at our cost of $25.00.
 
For more information on our programs or to pay your dues, check our website at putinbaygardenclub.com or on  Facebook at Put-in-Bay Garden Club for announcements, updates and any changes.

​The new lamp post brackets have been installed, and the new hanging baskets have been filled and hung.  Although the May weather has not been terrific, we had beautiful days for planting and hanging of the baskets. And, the Park gar-dens have had their spring cleaning and face lifts.  Thank you to all our great volunteers!!
 
Many  hands  make  lighter  loads.  Take  a  stroll  through town and check out the Park.
 
The June meeting of the Garden Club will be held at the PIB Yacht  Club on Thursday, June 13, at 4:30 p.m. Our pro-gram for this meeting will feature a Plant Exchange.  Please bring only healthy plants that  are labeled with as much detail as possible.  To prevent messy  transport, please water plants early that day or even the day before.
 
This is an excellent way to start a new garden or to enhance an existing one. Please bring only healthy plants that if possible have been in the pots and settled for more than a week (longer is better) so that they look their best.
 
Be sure to “Like” us on FB @ Put-in-Bay Garden Club and  to  see  upcoming  events  or  changes  and  photos  of  past happenings.
 
And as always, please join us! We welcome new members, visitors and volunteers.

​The Garden Club will be planting the flower baskets for DeRivera Park on Tuesday, May 14th, and Wednesday, May 15th at 9 a.m.  With our new baskets and brackets, our procedure will be a little different this year.  We will be planting all of the baskets on the ground on Tuesday, so we will need the bulk of volunteers Tuesday, rather than on Wednesday as in previous years.  Then on Wednesday, we will hang all of the baskets  using a lift. Please plan to come on Tuesday and bring gloves, garden trowels, buckets, brooms and wheel barrows.
 
The first Garden Club program will be on Thursday, May 23rd, at 4:30 p.m. at the PIB Yacht Club, and will  explore  Dividing  and  Trans-planting  Perennials.    This  will  include demonstrations of dividing different types of perennials, time of year to transplant and much more.  We  will  also  have  plant tags and some pots to distribute for the Plant Exchange on June 13th.
 
Other  programs  planned  for  the 2019 Season are:
Jun 13 - 4:30  p.m.  -  Plant  Exchange *
Jun 27 - T  B  D  -  Garden  Tour (mainland)
Jul 25 - 4:30 p.m. - Magical Mystery Garden Tour *
Aug 22 - 4:30 p.m. - Succulents *
Sep 12 - 4:30 p.m. - Meeting + Potluck *
*  Meetings  at  Put-in-Bay  Yacht Club
 
THANKS!!