Regular Monthly Meeting
Thursday, Sep 14 at 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

The LAVGC monthly meeting is at the Alisal Elementary School multipurpose room, 1454 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton, CA 94566.

Welcome to our new garden club year! Our kickoff speaker, "Bill the Bulb Baron" will speak on bulbs that work for problem soils and other hostile conditions that we face. William R. P. Welch is a leading authority and hybridizer of Tazetta narcissus and has the world's most diverse and color-advanced collection of Amaryllis belladonna hybrids. In addition to these bulbs, he will have lots of bulbs that naturalize well in our climate for sale. This is a good opportunity to get fall bulbs for your landscape. To see his bulbs, go to his website, www.billthebulbbaron.com. Cash is the best payment, but if paying by check, please make checks to William R. P. Welch, and if credit is the only option, please wait to pay till the end as these transactions takes more time. Come and enjoy hearing all about bulbs and take advantage of the convenience of selecting choice bulbs directly from bulb expert Bill.

Visitors Are Welcome!

Please join us at the monthly meeting or contact us at the Contacts link above. Please take a moment to fill out the New Membership Application Form for Fiscal Year July 2017 through June 2018. Membership dues for February 1, 2018 through June 30, 2018 at half the regular dues.

Current members, please use the Membership Renewal form in the Members Only section. Renewal dues are payable May 1 and delinquent August 1. To insure inclusion in the Yearbook, you must renew no later than July 30.

For more information about membership or dues, please email or call Dean Burnett. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Dean's phone number.

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Members Only section

Check out the Members Only section. Click on the 'Members Only' menu selection on any page, enter the Id and password. The Members Only section contains the club Yearbook, speaker video links, club forms, newsletter archives, meeting minutes and more. Members may email the Co-Presidents to obtain the Id and password.

Thanks, thanks and more thanks

Thanks to all who participate in the club workshops, work parties and providing meeting refreshments. > > More

Talks on Video

If you missed our meeting speakers' informative talk, you can see the video of the talk on the club website Members Only section. Most of our recent club meeting talks are on view there.

Hospitality News

Sue Farr is continuing as the hospitality coordinator for the club. Her husband Jim, is in charge of the hot drinks. They welcome anyone who would like to join the Hospitality Committee. If interested in helping out with other functions such as the floral arrangements/table decorations, tablecloths, drinking water or ice, you can contact her by email (see the LAVGC Yearbook for contact information) or talk with her at the meetings.

The club provides the plates, napkins, forks & hot drink cups along with the decaf coffee, creamers & sweeteners & the drinking water. The treats that we enjoy during each meeting are provided by members of the club. You can sign up on the monthly signup sheet or just bring something when you are in the mood. When you sign up, I will send you a reminder about a week before the meeting. It is the expectation that members will bring something to share several times each year. We ask that items be easily served "finger foods". They can be sweet or savory, homemade or store-bought, simple or fancy, everything is appreciated.

Last year we started to go green by not buying water in plastic bottles & trying to recycle more of our green waste. We are still using up some of our supply of plastic cups but will soon run out so if you are a water drinker please start bringing your own refillable drinking bottle to the meetings.

Looking forward to another year filled with tasty treats. Sue Farr

Plant Sale 2018

While our annual plant sale is not until next April, it is not too early to begin planning and preparing for the event. It is our principal club fundraiser. The coming autumn months are ideal for dividing many perennial plants (bearded irises, daylilies, hardy geraniums, alstroemerias, Shasta daisies, to name just a few) and potting them up. They will have fully developed roots by next spring and be in vigorous growth. It is also a good time to take cuttings of such plants as lavender, rosemary, and other culinary herbs since they need some time to develop good strong root systems. Our goal is to sell more plants and sell better plants.

Bill Tallon and Daniel McCright are serving as co-chairmen of the plant sale. They will be happy to hear your ideas about improving the event and how you can participate. There are many jobs to do in the months and days before and during the day of the plant sale.

As of this writing, Saturday, April 7, 2018 is the preferred date. It depends on the availability of the Amador Valley High School parking lot that day. We should know more by the September meeting.

For any questions, please contact Plant Sale Chairmen. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Bill's and Dan's additional contact information.

September Day Tour Stays Local

Day Tour in Sunol & Castlewood, Tuesday, Sep 26 10:00 AM at Pleasanton Raley's

We will visit a couple farms at SAGE in Sunol, Jim O'Laughlin's, Lisa Arnold Nursery, and finish the day with a beautiful private garden in Castlewood. Bring a sack lunch and we will eat under the walnut tree at Jim's. Meet at the Raley's parking lot on Sunol Blvd in Pleasanton at 10:00 AM. Please sign up at the meeting or RSVP to Karen Abbruscato.

For any questions, please contact Karen Abbruscato. See the LAVGC Yearbook for additional contact information.

Yearbooks

Yearbooks should be available at the September meeting. Please pick up your new Yearbook at the meeting. It will have your name label on it so please get the right one. You can also get ones for friends or neighbors that can't attend the meeting and save us postage.

Talk: Backyard Birds - Creating habitat and identifying backyard feathered visitors

Saturday, September 9, 10:00 to 11:00 AM at the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden in front of the Agriculture Building in the Martinelli Center, 3575 Greenville Rd., Livermore.

Alameda Co. Master Gardener and club member, Erica Dedon, will be giving a talk on "Backyard Birds - Creating habitat and identifying backyard feathered visitors". With the aid of her I-Pad and portable speaker to showcase our local birds and their calls, she will also discuss which herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees provide, seeds, nectar and berries and cover.