Our first Summer Symposium will be held Tuesday, June 11 starting with a pot luck dinner at 6pm, at Janet Nevil’s house, 582 N. Collins Rd. 972-203-1552. Our mayor will be present to inform us of the newest water restrictions and is available to chat during the dinner. Invite your friends and neighbors to come have some fun with us!

Our project this month is to create garden wind chimes! If you have any large beads or large washers (with the hole in the middle) or sea shells, we will be using them to create the windchimes. The garden club will be supplying all that is needed, but if you want to get a bit creative, these items could be beneficial.

Hope to see you there!
Janet

Submitted by Martha Billman – Communiations Committee

Summertime is here!  I discovered this little recipe last year that helped make the long,  hot days in Texas more bearable. When you sip it,  you may feel as though you’ve traveled back to a time of front porch swings, bare feet,  and lightning bugs (of which I’ve only seen one in my yard this year).

If you don’t have access to lavender from your garden, you may purchase organic lavender blossoms at any good health food store in the bulk spice section. You can also order online if you think you’ll be needing a large quantity to get through the season.

Lavender Simple Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup evaporated cane juice (or regular white sugar)
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh lavender flower (don’t bother to remove the blossoms from the stem, just trim the stem)  Use 3 rounded Tablespoons dried lavender if you do not have fresh.

In a small saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring often. Turn the heat down to medium and continue boiling for a minute or two, stirring often. Add the lavender, stir, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Steep the lavender in the simple syrup for 15 minutes then strain. Store in the refrigerator, it will thicken a bit as it cools. You do not need to wait until it cools to make the lemonade.

Lavender Lemonade

• 4 cups cold water
• 1 lemon juiced, strain out the seeds.
• 2/3 cup lavender simple syrup
• plenty of ice

Combine the water, lemon juice, and syrup in a glass pitcher and stir well. Serve over plenty of ice!

Happy Summering!

Submitted by:  Martha Billman – Communications Committee

Want to learn how to make this beautiful frilly, scarf? Rachel is offering to set up an evening class in June for anyone who is interested in learning this technique.  It is a very easy “no crochet” method using the Sashay yarn by Red Hart. All you need to bring is a skein of yarn (Michael’s has a good variety of colors on sale now), a crochet hook (size J or 10mm), and the willingness to learn. If you are interested in attending, please email Rachel at rachel.doyle@att.net.  The scarves would make great Christmas gifts for your friends and family.  Besides, it is  always fun and exciting to learn something new!

Check out the YouTube video for more information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOhDl9gxD5I

Submitted by:  Martha Billman – Communications Committee

At our Summer Symposium on August 13^th, we will make “Earth Buckets” and you will go home with a tomato plant ready for your fall garden.  To minimize our costs, and to keep Deborah Stafford pleased with us,   we need your recycling help.  We need you to find and save 5 gallon plastic buckets.

You are asking, what the heck is an Earth Bucket?  It is a  water-wise or self-watering system for growing vegetables or flowers in a bucket (or actually, two buckets). Here are a few photos of my earth buckets:

I purchased my buckets from Lowes and Home Depot, but at nearly $3 each, that could be costly for the Garden Club to provide 2 buckets for each member at the Symposium. (We will provide all the other supplies and tools.)  Besides…. We need to learn to recycle.  I am positive that there are lots of buckets out there – just waiting to be “repurposed.”  Please help these buckets find a useful life!

So — for the next two months, your assignment is to find 5 gallon buckets.  These could be from a bakery or restaurant (I understand pickles and cake icing come in 5 gallon buckets) or from a pool supply company (just be sure to wash out the chemicals very well and then expose the buckets to sunlight).  The buckets that Tidy Cat litter comes in work well.  So, if you have a cat – save those buckets.  If your neighbors have cats, ask for their buckets.  The buckets that work best will have about  a 3” ‘lip’ at the top.  (In other words, when one bucket is put inside the other,  there can be a 3” water reservoir in the bottom bucket.)

So – scour up some buckets before August.  If you find a source for lots of buckets, please let me or Janet know.

Thanks,

Rachel

Dear SGC Member,

The Sunnyvale Garden Club’s 2013 “Asian Spring” Flower Show is almost here!  We hope to see you this Saturday, May 4 at D’Ann Robinson’s house.

Please invite your friends, neighbors and family members to join us for the show!  Feel free to send them the lovely flyer that Rachel Doyle designed (see attached).

Don’t forget to enter your horticulture exhibits.

We still need a few volunteers.  If you can volunteer in the morning, contact Rachel Doyle.

Thanks so much!  See you Saturday!

Georgeann Moss – SGC Flower Show Chairman

Submitted by: Martha Billman – Communications Committee

Public invited to view Asian-inspired floral designs at Biennial Flower Show

The Sunnyvale Garden Club (SGC) is hosting its 25^th biennial Flower Show, titled “Asian Spring”  on Saturday, May 4 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the home of D’Ann and Lee Robinson at 119 Lakeview Drive in Sunnyvale. The show is free and open to the public. Attendees will see more than 20 beautiful flower arrangements in a natural home setting, two special exhibits on Bonsai and Ikebana and numerous horticulture exhibits.

SGC members who entered the flower show participated in a series of free workshops to learn what the judges will be grading them on and to get ideas for how to design creative Asian-inspired floral arrangements.

Sunnyvale Garden Club is a gold-rated member of National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC). The national organization encourages members to hold standard flower shows every two years to:

• Educate club members and the viewing public
• Stimulate interest in horticulture and floral design
• Provide an outlet for creative expression
• Convey to the community objectives of NGC

Standard Flower Shows are among National Garden Clubs’ most popular educational and social activities.  These colorful, enjoyable events continue to draw crowds across the U.S., while giving club members an opportunity to exhibit plants, floral arrangements and informative displays on horticulture, gardening and projects of local and state garden clubs. Flower shows help spread the word about the joys of gardening and serve as forums for learning design trends for the home, new cultivars in horticulture and what trees, shrubs and plants grow well locally.

National Garden Clubs offer a wide variety of helpful resources for those interested in learning more about growing plants and flowers, designing floral arrangements and designing beautiful table settings.  In addition, NGC offers training opportunities for members who are interested in becoming certified flower show judges.

National Garden Clubs, Inc. provides education, resources and national networking opportunities for its members to promote the love of gardening, floral design, civic, and environmental responsibility.

For more information about the show, contact SGC Flower Show Chairman Georgeann Moss at 214-533-3457 or

972-203-9175.

Submitted by:  Martha Billman – Communications committee

Yes, you can recycle garden club “tablecloths” for tomato cages during a cold spell!

Submitted by:  Deborah Stafford