1. home and garden

Volume XLIIV, Issue 5
©
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
President’s Message
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.
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 learning experience. You all had great questions to
ask her so I am sure you all learned a lot too.
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.
Thanks again to our Social Committee and all its
volunteers. You all do a great job getting everything set up for our meetings. Also thanks to all
you members who brought the delicious refreshments. I want to give special thanks to our members 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 ladies. I have thoroughly enjoyed my past years
serving as your president and am looking forward
to supporting next year’s team.
I will be presenting to our membership, the nonprofits 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.
1
Sharon Williams
President
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 concern is mosquitoes.
The hammer has come down. The governor 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?
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.
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.
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.
I thought I would tell you
about my strategies for
this drought. I plan to water 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 allowed to use only 4.5 times
the average use per household of 246 gallons per day before you get penalized? This comes to 1,107 gallons per day.
We have a 65 year old lawn
made of Bermuda grass. It is impossible 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.
Diane Selby one of our members and a dermatologist 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.
Kristin Yanker-Hansen
Horticulture Chair
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.
2
Dates & Times
May 2 & 3,
Sat and Sun
10 am – 5 pm
May 3, Sunday
May 3, Sunday
10:30 am
May 9 & 10,
Sat & Sun
10 am – 5 pm
May 14, Thursday
9:15 Social
9:45 Meeting
May 16, Saturday
1:30 pm
May 19, Tuesday
7 pm
May 20, Wednesday
10 am
May 20
9:45
Meet at Syc Park
and Ride
May 21, Thursday
9:30 am
May 21, Thursday
6:30 pm
May 27,
Wednesday
10 am
May 30, Saturday
2 pm
Events
Details
Plant Sale
Markham Arboretum
Tour: Bringing Back the
Natives
Alameda & Contra Costa Co
Class: Pruning Japanese
Maples
Sloat Garden Center
Mother’s Day Extravaganza
Annie’s Annuals
DAGC General Meeting
Alamo Women’s Club
Class: Attracting Good
Bugs to Your Garden
Sloat Garden Center
Speaker: Container Gardening
Danville Library
DAGC Workshop: Birdseed Treats
Home of Kathy Kaminski
DAGC Tour: Japanese
Gardens
Hayward
DAGC Board Meeting
Home of Linda Scotting
Speaker: Drought Tolerant Plants & Succulents
San Ramon Library
DAGC: Bookworms
Home of Joyce Michalczyk
Class: Summer Rose
Pruning
Navlet’s Garden Center
Shop during the Native Plant Sale Extravaganza. Come early for best selection of native herbs, grasses, shrubs, perennials.
30 native plant gardens are featured. For
list and tour & workshop registration Click here:
View 2015 Gardens « Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour.
Learn easy pruning tips for Japanese maples
from expert Elizabeth Ruiz. Call to register.
Free for Rewards Members; others $10.
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!
Shawna Anderson of Orchard Nursery will
present a how-to on “Container Gardening.”
Learn how to attract beneficial bugs, those
that eat the destructive ones, to your garden. Call to register. Free for Rewards
Members; others $10.
Get tips from a Master Gardener on gardening in containers and other small spaces. Q
and A time afterward.
Participants will make birdseed treats to
hang outdoors. Cost: $5. Contact: Kathy at
[email protected].
See beautiful gardens and learn local history. Donation: $10 plus bring money for
lunch and to pay your driver. Contact Laurel
Harken at [email protected].
RSVP at [email protected].
Hear an overview of the Ruth Bancroft Garden, renowned for exceptional design with
water-conserving plants in a natural setting.
Sale of such plants follows the talk.
The bookworms will discuss Chasing the
Rose by Andrea di Robilant and enjoy
brunch. Contact Page Krause or Joyce at
[email protected].
Learn how to prune roses after the first
flush of flowers has faded. This class covers
pruning, watering, fertilizing, and disease
and pest control.
Louise Wiggins, Calendar
3
Our Garden Topics for May
May 6
Happy Birthday
Seed Saving
Jan Andersen
Janeen BeachThomas
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
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 adventure 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 gardens. 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 questions please email Joyce Michalczyk ([email protected]) or Page Krause
([email protected]).
Joyce Michalczyk and Page Krause
Bookworms Chair
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 fellow bird lovers. The cost will be $5.00. You can signup by calling me (925-735-5110) or email
([email protected]).
Thanks ladies for a fun year of planning
workshops for you.
Kathy Kaminski
Workshop Chair
4
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.
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 Bylaws 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 Blackburn, Charlotte Graham,
and Rhonda Raphel
Web Site Administrator:
Roseann Krane
Your Nominating Committee
Shelia Truschke, Rose Towery, and Judy Allen
5
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, Kimio 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. Kimura 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 proponents, 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
[email protected] 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 program 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 [email protected]. 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
6
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 hydrocarbon 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 exposure.
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
7
May in the Contra Costa Garden
by Contra Costa Master Gardeners
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 various 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 extend 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

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: [email protected]
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
Cut back the foliage of ornamental grasses before 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, rhododendrons, 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.
8
©
www.dagc.us
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
Please support our sponsors!
Remember, our commercial sponsors donate the door
prizes, and they support us with speakers for our general meetings. Please support them!
Sharon Cohune, Janice Fassiotto,
Lynn Hoaglin, Sponsor Reps
Sloat Garden Center
828 Diablo Road, Danville
925-743-0288
9