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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Weeders, In our last newsletter, we shared a photograph and some information on an invasive orchid that many of us are encountering locally. Being an orchid aficionado, it’s hard for me to even write the word “orchid” and “invasive” in one line. Orchids to me are unique, lovely tropical specimens that enhance our world. Unfortunately, like many plants and human diseases, we find that something benign can grow into something invasive given the proper conditions. My husband and I recently took an RV trip to the mountains of North Carolina, traveling back and forth through South Carolina and Georgia. I was quite disturbed to notice that a thick vine permeated the entire landscape, smothering every tree, shrub, guard rail, abandoned home or car, we passed. In talking with locals, I was interested to learn that this attractive vine, in the pea family Fabaceae, is a serious invasive plant called “kudzu”, a noxious weed. They told us that these vines grow at the rate of ten feet per day. According to Wikipedia, it is spreading in the southern U.S. at the rate of 150,000 acres annually. It has been nicknamed, “The vine that ate the South.” Kudzu, also called Japanese arrowroot, is a group of coiling, climbing, and trailing perennial plants, native to much of eastern Asia, southeast Asia and some Pacific islands. Kudzu was introduced to the U.S. in 1876 at the Philadelphia Continental Expo as an ornamental bush and shade producer. What smothering, cloying shade it produces! As gardeners, we know to be on the lookout for invasive plants. We do what we can to get rid of them. In keeping with this invasive theme, I encourage all of us, as women, to give that same care to our bodies and monitor for invasive diseases. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As weeders, let us maintain vigilance, get regular mammograms and breast examinations, and guard against the invasion of breast cancer. My only sibling was diagnosed with breast cancer and fortunately, is alive and well to tell her story. Early detection, treatment and vigilance are the keys. Be diligent! Guard against all types of invasions! Pat Sandler – Co-president

Home and Garden Show 75 Taylor Street

Punta Gorda, Florida 33950 October 10-11

Saturday 10-5 p.m. Sunday 10-4 p.m.

We will have a booth at the show selling Home Tour tickets and a membership drive. Contact Carol Moore For information contact: carol25582002@gmail.com 941-575-4653

PUNTA GORDA GARDEN CLUB, INC. Together In Harmony – Learning and Growing

Volume 7 Issue 3 October 2015 Newsletter www.pggc.org

Garden Tales

District IX Fall Meeting “Autumn Sunset” October 13, 2015

Lake Placid Garden Club Placid Lakes Country Club

This is your opportunity to meet the 2015-2017 FFGC Board and other District IX Garden Clubs. An email with registration information was previously sent to members. For more information contact co-presidents Vinita Jones, tusky1959@gmail.com, call 941-625-2494. Pat Sandler, psandler3960@gmail.com, call 941-916-9578

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General Meeting October 21, 1:00 p.m. Refreshments 1:30 p.m.

Meeting Fellowship Hall First United Methodist Church 507 W. Marion Avenue Punta Gorda

October Program Hope all of you enjoyed the September speaker, Dr. Martin Price from ECHO International, who spoke on

fruit trees. ECHO is a very special place and strives to make our world a better place, so if you have not

visited them in Fort Myers, you should do so. They are a very worthwhile organization and deserve our

support.

Our program in October, Holiday Designs, will focus on our upcoming Holly Days Home Tour. Co-President

Vinita Jones will be presenting ideas and tips gleaned from her many years of chairing a house committee.

A slide show of past decorations will hopefully spark new ideas. Preparing for our Holly Days event is a long

process but one that can be, and should be, a lot of fun. It is one of the best ways I know to become better

acquainted with the ladies in the garden club and to make new friends. Don’t miss the opportunity; get

involved. Your involvement in this, our major fundraising event, is an obligation you accepted when you

joined the Punta Gorda Garden Club.

Each month during our meeting we will dedicate fifteen minutes to covering various aspects of a standard

flower show, which is scheduled for March 30. Last year was my first experience in participating in a flower

show, and I did it reluctantly. I knew nothing about what to submit and had no enthusiasm for the show.

But to my surprise, when I went to the show I had a really good time and kept thinking I could have entered

that, and that, and that. It was fun and very enjoyable. I can’t be the only one who does not know what to

do to enter a flower show, so this year we are setting about making us all more knowledgeable about how

to enter, what to enter, etc. We want to show you that it is simple and a very fun event.

When it is released, please read the Programs portion of your 2015-1016 Yearbook. We have great

programs coming up, as always, and in 2016 are adding some really fun workshops to tie into what is being

presented by some of our speakers. More details on these workshops will be forthcoming in our

newsletters.

Elaine LaWell, First Vice President

Board Meeting October 14, 2015

FUMC Rm 13 9:30 a.m.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Decorate a pumpkin and bring it to our October 21 meeting. Be

creative. Have fun…….glue, carve etc. Prizes awarded

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October Hostess Committee Gail Edgren, Chair

Lynda Cedrone Maggie Poole Barbara Drake Bonnie Rehling BJ Hannon Peggy Stanfield Mary Kay Newman June Walter

Agnes West

Sunshine Cards

Get well wishes ~ Mercy Triana Thinking of you ~ Ginny Mraz Sympathy to the family of Teddy Bei Wasmus

Teddy was a long time member and served on many committees. Teddy and her husband Charles could be counted on to help with the Home Tour.

Malinda Gordy~Sunshine

Holly Days Home Tour

Sparkling Christmas Memories

December 4 – 5, 2015

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This is going to be another exciting Home Tour. Some of the workshops have been going on through the summer. I know that there are really good feelings about how positively we are affecting the community through our fundraising and how much we are appreciated. Thank you all for your selfless efforts to pull this off each year~Carol Moore Home Tour Chair Tickets: At the October 21 General Meeting members will receive 10 tickets to sell. We ask each member to sell at least 10, but many of you sell more. If you want more than 10 please let Carolyn Honour, cdhonour@comcast.net know. If you know you will not be at the meeting, asking a friend to pick yours up helps with the distribution. Poinsettias: Club members will be able to purchase poinsettias on Thursday, December 3, from 1-4~Chariman Louise DiNino, ldinino@comcast.net or 941-575-6354 Refreshments: Once again we depend on our membership for

six dozen homemade baked goods. Please plan to deliver them

to Fellowship Hall Thursday, December 3, from 1-4 or Friday

morning before the Home Tour. For more information contact

~Chairman Joyce Tilden, jltilden@comcast.net or 941-575-1568.

Terry Tunkavige 10/02 Marian Bandler 10/11 Marian Wester 10/11 Heidi Kaletta 10/12 Ellen Klinger 10/13 Cheri Smith 10/16 Bonnie Verminski 10/24 Nancy Ziegenbein 10/28

October Birthdays

“Celebrating you

all month long…….”

Carol Remen must take a leave of absence from our Club. Suzanne McCormick has stepped in to lead the Laishley Park gardening group. Carolyn Honour has graciously agreed to fill in for Carol as editor/publisher of the newsletter for the next few months~Pat Sandler

Mark your calendar Oct. 2,3, 4th Tropiflora Fall Festival Oct. 3 Deadline to register for Dist. IX

meeting Oct. 10-11 Home and

Garden Show Oct. 13 Dist. IX Oct. 14 Board Meeting Oct. 21 General Meeting

Inspiration, Motivation, Celebration

And what is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Did you know?

Japanese Clerodendrum, Peanut

Butter Shrub, Harlequin Glory Bower

Clerodendrum trichotomum has

leaves that when bruised, produce a

unique aroma reminiscent of peanut

butter.

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Can you identify the plant that looks like a giant floating cake? If so, email your answer to cdhonour@comcast.net or call 575-8259

Holly Days Home Tour

Sparkling Christmas Memories

December 4 – 5, 2015

11 a.m

Florida Friendly Fertilizing ~ Mary Yeomans, Environmental Chairman

The county fertilizer ordinance permits no fertilizer that contains nitrogen or phosphorous be applied from June 1st to September 30th , so October is the month when many residents resume fertilizing their lawns and gardens. Here are a few tips taken from “Florida Friendly Fertilizing.” 1. If your landscape is healthy and its appearance is pleasing, you may not need to fertilize the entire site, only problem areas. Take samples of problem areas to your local Extension office to check for pests and pH deficiencies. 2. To prevent fertilizer from washing into water bodies, it’s important to know the right time to fertilize. Apply fertilizer when grass is actively growing. In the winter when grass is dormant fertilizer will not be beneficially used by the grass so you are wasting time and money. Instead, the fertilizer will wash through the soil and pollute nearby bodies of water. 3. Don’t fertilize if rain is predicted in the next 24-36 hours or when a storm is forecast. 4. Determine the total square footage of grass to be fertilized before heading to the store to purchase fertilizer.

5. Most home lawn fertilizers contain some slow-release nitrogen. It takes longer for your yard to benefit from slow-release nitrogen, but the effects will last longer. Many of these fertilizers provide fertilization for 60 days or longer, depending on environmental conditions. As a result, fewer nutrients may be wasted or lost as pollutants. 6. Do not use weed and feed products. They may harm landscape plants if roots extend into the lawn area. 7. Consider applying a soluble or chelated iron source to green the lawn without increasing growth in the summer. 8. Use only the amount of fertilizer that is recommended. More is NOT better. Sweep up fertilizer spills and put back in bag. Leave a 10-foot no-pesticide, no-fertilizer zone between the fertilized area and a water body.

Source: Florida-Friendly Fertilizing, Southwest Florida Water Management District

Out and About

Have you been here? Can you identify where this is? If so, email your answer to

cdhonour@comcast.net or call 575-8259