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Official Newsletter of Marathon Garden Club Marathon, Florida

The President’s Letter

Dear Members,

What a wonderful time of year! I hope everyone enjoyed family and friends over the holidays. Many of us "Jingled and Mingled" at

the club cocktail party. So much food and lively conversation. Thanks to the donations of local businesses we had many $10.00 grab bags for you to enjoy. Our first activity of the New Year will be our JANUARY JAMBOREE. Our committee chairs, JANET, CAROL AND DEE are organizing this fun-filled event. Donations for the rummage sale can be dropped off starting Jan 16th. Sign up to volunteer to help with both the set-up week and on the 21st for the jamboree at our January meeting. Please note that our membership meeting has been moved up to JANUARY 13th to accommodate an earlier jamboree. Sue Casey will share her landscaping tips with us at our meeting. Contact Anne Reams to signup for the trip to Bullis Bromeliads (Feb. 2). Members will be providing their own transportation to Homestead and will meet at Bullis for a private tour of their amazing facility. The tour size is limited, so signup to reserve your space. (See 2nd VP report on page 2.) As you know we will have our elections for a new board in March. The selection committee will be introduced at the January meeting. It is very important for

each of us to support our club and offer our services to the nominating committee. I have found that my work on the board in varying capacities has created opportunities in getting to know you and learning about the structure and purpose of our organization. We have a lot of fun working together, so I find it troubling that so few members are willing to commit to the management of our club. It is an honor to be a part of our leadership group. You know you have a lot to offer, so when asked to step up, don't look the other way. It's time to jump in and commit, make your experience more than just attending meetings.

Sande Club Theme

“Inspire Community Awareness”

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Wed., Jan.. 4, 9 am MGC Board Meeting

Fri., Jan. 13, 1 pm Membership Meeting

Sat., Jan. 21, 8:30 – 3 January Jamboree

Thurs., Feb 2, (see p. 2) Field Trip to Bullis Bromeliads Garden & Nursery in Princeton

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Table of Contents 2nd Vice President’s Report ........................ 2 Calendar of Events ...................................... 1 Gift Shop ..................................................... 3 January Calendar ........................................ 6 January Jamboree ................................... 2, 5 Horticulture Tip ............................................ 4 MGC Board ................................................. 2

January, 2017 Volume 20 No. 1

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Membership Report .................................... 3 Minutes ....................................................... 4 Nursery Special .......................................... 4 President’s Letter ........................................ 1

2nd Vice President’s Report

WORKSHOPS AND FIELD TRIPS

We have some fun events planned for this season. First up is a field trip to Bullis Bromeliads Garden and Nursery in Princeton, Florida on Thursday, February 2nd. As you may recall, we had a pres-entation by Thomas G. from Bullis at one of our meetings last year. Bullis is a family owned (4 generations) enterprise on over 25 acres of land with over 18 acres of shade houses and 2.5 acres of greenhouses. It is truly a beautiful nursery. Traditionally known for producing large Aechmea and Alcantarea bromeliads, it has the largest selection of small and large Neoregelia’s in the market. At any one time, Bullis has at least 400 species available. Their bromeliads are used in landscapes, interior applications and retail garden centers all over the country, in Canada and the Caribbean. Although it is a wholesale nursery, many varieties of their bromeliads will be available for our members to purchase following our tour. At this point in time, it appears that we will need to carpool up to Princeton and either pack a brownbag lunch or make individual plans to eat in one of the great Mexican restaurants in the area. They are expecting us around 10:00 am and suggest we plan on being there for at least 2 hours. It is a bit more than a 2 hour drive (Google Maps says it’s 86 miles from the garden club) and is located at 24350 SW 147 Ave., Princeton, FL. By January 20

th, please email Anne at

anne.reams@gmail.com or call her at 847-212-5239 to reserve your spot. Also, please let Anne know if you are willing to drive and how many members (and their purchases) you may have room for. There is no charge for this event.

Next up is a Fun with Flowers workshop. We had so much fun creating our arrangements last year that we decided to do it again, but with a twist. This year we will meet at the Club on Thursday morning, March 2

nd. Pat Greeley will direct us in

making floral arrangements that will be sold at our House and Garden Tour. This is a great way to learn about flower arranging and to raise money for our Club. A list of supplies will be in an upcoming issue of Seeds for Thought, but you are welcome to sign up now by emailing or calling Anne Reams.

Anne Reams

January Jamboree

The annual January Jamboree - outside Bazaar and inside Rummage Sale of gently used clothing and household items - will be Saturday, January 21st, from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. The Event is shaping up to be very exciting with many new VENDORS: Seashell Designs by Dorothy, Renee Brazile Art, John’s Jungle Market Baskets, Barbara Munz Art and more. Also returning are many of our favorites: Monty Dale’s Orchid Boxes, Peters Crotons, Casey’s Corners, Juanita’s Orchids, G’s Dream Honey Farm, Kim Crouthamel’s Starfish Design and Fly Home Birdhouses! ALSO - our Club will be selling Plants and Plant Experts will be at a booth. AND—thank you to Centennial Bank for pro-viding their hot dog/hamburger lunch for us to enjoy!

MGC ‘16 - ‘17 Board of Directors

Sande Neiditz, President Sandy Bourgeois, 1

st Vice President

Anne Reams, 2nd

Vice President Dale Chorebanian, 3

rd Vice President

Sarah Lytle, Recording Secretary Loyal Eldridge/Carl Miller, Treasurers Directors: Donna Barnes, Scarlett Duffy, Arlene Keeney, Janet Oechsle, Sally Wood Past President, Rosemary Thomas

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MARATHON GARDEN CLUB

www.MarathonGardenClub.org

Mailing Address: P. O. Box 500826

Marathon, FL 33050-0826

Phone: 305-743-4971

Member of National Garden Clubs, Inc. & Deep South Region

Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. & District XII

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Newsletter Editor, Nancy Miller 305-289-9441 or

E-mail: Cnmil@msn.com

Gift Shop

Please come in and see our new merchandise with the MGC logo. More will be coming soon. We have a new shipment of long garden gloves, perfect for protecting your arms and hands in our Keys gardens. A new supply of photo note cards, by Elizabeth Montgomery, a local artist, has just arrived. Some are matted and ready to be framed. We also have notecards which are prints of water colors by Sally Cherry, a local painter. We have a wonderful dedicated staff, but can always use more help if anyone is interested in joining our “Team”.

New Gift Shop Items

Bonnie Eldridge, Shop Manager

(Photo courtesy of Arlene Keeney)

Membership Report We have two new members since our last meeting. Zoe Zi, of Marathon, is into crafts and interested in many different aspects of the garden club. She had a craft table at our Holiday Bazaar, selling painted coconuts. Laurie O’Leary, also of Marathon, joined on Dec. 6th. She is interested in the Nursery and Grounds and Community Projects.

W e don’t have photos of ei-ther new member yet. However, we received pho-

tos of 2 new members who joined in Novem-ber. Please introduce yourselves to:

Dawn Richitt and Jackie Sauer.

Donna Barnes

Wishing a Speedy Recovery

to Sally Wood

from all your garden club friends

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There was no Membership Meeting in December; therefore, there are no minutes.

Excerpts from the Dec. 7 MGC Board Meeting Minutes are provided below.

Sande noted resignation of Cindy Wooten

as Recording Secretary, as well as Loi Baltes resignation as a Director

Donna Barnes and Arlene Keeney have agreed to serve on the Board through the end of this term.

Chandeliers in the meeting room are rusting; 1 ceiling fan is malfunctioning. A motion was made, seconded and passed to allocate $1,000 to replace 4 chandeliers, 1 ceiling fan and change to LED bulbs.

There is extensive spalling in the foundation of the lobby and restroom area (the oldest section of the building). Plan: contact 2 structural engineers to assess the problems and develop a proposal and bid package for the repairs or replacement work required.

The false almond tree near the garden club sign was removed in Nov. at a cost of $1,800. This improves visibility of the sign.

Sande Neiditz and Janie Byland have made good progress on obtaining properties for the March 4 House & Garden Tour.

Linnea Cunningham and Judy Shaw have asked for suggestions for White Heron Award candidates.

New MGC member, Jackie Sauer, has agreed to take on responsibility for managing rental contracts for our clubhouse. Virginia Leier will continue to provide support and backup as needed.

Minutes were provided by Recording Secretary, Sarah Lytle and summarized by the Editor.

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Members who remember Arlene Conklin may be interested to know that she and Dick moved to Port St. Lucie in Dec. to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Her e-mail address is unchanged. They are looking forward to Steve’s wedding in Jan.

Nancy Miller

NURSERY SPECIAL

You will find new varieties of Bromeliads in our club nursery. Bromeliads are drought and Iguana resistant and will add a dramatic flair to your garden. The bloom, or florescence, lasts for a long time. It adds impact to floral designs! Buy two or more and receive a 10% discount. The nursery is open for sales on Thursday mornings from 8:30 AM until noon. See you there.

Linnea Cunningham

Did you see the article on page 18 of the Florida Gardener “Zika vs Bromeliads What you Should Do”? (With proper maintenance you can continue to enjoy them. Editor)

Horticulture Tip

BLACK SOOTY MOLD

Black sooty mold is a fungus that grows on the sticky honeydew secreted by insects such as aphids that suck sap from the leaves. Spray your plants according to label directions with neem oil, horticultural oil, or insecticidal soap. Get rid of the insects and

the mold will go away.

Pat Greeley

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JANUARY 2017

DAY DATE TIME ACTIVITY

Wednesday 4th 9:00 am MGC Board Meeting at the Garden Club

5270 Overseas Hwy.

Phone: 305 743-4971

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Friday 13th 1:00 pm Membership Meeting at the Garden Club

5270 Overseas Hwy.

Note: Meeting is one week earlier than usual. Phone: 305 743-4971

Meeting Program: “Landscaping with Native Plants”

With Susan Casey, owner of Casey’s Corner Nursery in

Homestead

Sue Casey, long-time exhibitor and popular speaker at MGC will bring her ideas

about better gardening in the Keys with native specimens. Many of us come from

areas of the country that are far from Zone 11, so we are more familiar with plants

that do not do well in the Keys. Sue will present her favorite landscaping tips,

discuss her favorite native plants. And, if you learn about a new plant that you

want to try in your garden, she will take orders for the January Jamboree.

Greeters: Leona Anderson & Bonnie Eldridge

Head Hostess: Dale Chorebanian

Floral Designer: Ann McLaughlin

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Mon. - Fri. Jan. 16-20 TBA Set up for January Jamboree

Friday, Jan. 20th is Florida Arbor Day.

Celebrate by Planting a tree!

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Saturday 21st 8:30 am - 3 pm JANUARY JAMBOREE

Misc. Vendors & Plant Vendors - Janet Oechsle; Used Treasures/Flea Market - Carole Gieck & Dee

at the Marathon Garden Club January Jamboree