Category: What’s Growing?

  • November at a Glance

    Happy Fall Friends!

    A Few Reminders…

    COFFEE CHAT:

    Our Coffee Chat is tomorrow! We will meet at Jazzy Bagels in Gresham, located on the corner of E Powell Blvd and Main… the address is 5 E Powell Blvd. Let’s plan on getting there between 9-9:30… If you haven’t been to Jazzy Bagels (and you like bagels), you will be overwhelmed by all the incredible kinds of bagels to choose from!!

    OUR NEXT MEETING: **Reminder: Bring your own coffee mug, if at all possible!

    Tuesday, November 10th at Creator Lutheran Church. The address is 13250 SE Sunnyside Road, but the parking lot is off 132nd. 

    Coffee social: 9:15 – 10 am 

    (Culinary delights provided by Priscilla, Carrie, Jennifer, and Wendy)

    Speaker:  10 – 10:45 am

    Break:  10:45 am – 11 am

    Business meeting: 11 am

    Our speaker, WeedWise Technician Pavlina Slezak, from Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, will be sharing some very helpful information about the invasive weeds that plague our yards and gardens throughout the year! We will learn how to identify some of these weeds and how to get them controlled.  

    CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON:

    Our Christmas luncheon will be on Tuesday, Dec 8th, at 11:30 at The Springs! (The Springs is the retirement community on the corner of Sunnyside and 172nd). It was such a wonderful venue last year and the food was quite delicious, so we are thrilled that our Christmas luncheon committee was able to arrange our luncheon at that location again! The luncheon will cost $35 this year.  Please give your check (made out to HVGC) to our treasurer, Sandy Platz.  You can bring it to our coffee chat tomorrow, or to November’s meeting, or you can send it to HVGC, PO BOX 1204, Clackamas, Oregon 97015.  Please submit your check by November 20th, so the venue can be given an accurate headcount.

    Thank you Jan, Cheryl, Marlee, and Kathie for all your work on this!

    BYLAWS COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS?

    It is time to update our bylaws… and while there probably won’t be many things to adjust, there are a few things we want to look at. Julie and I will be on the committee, but we would love to have one or two other members help us with this. Please let one of us know if you are interested.  (It isn’t too terribly time-consuming, we promise!)

    Hoping to see you tomorrow! Bundle up!

    Wendy

    ☕️
    ☔️
    🌺
  • Christmas Luncheon!

    our Christmas luncheon is Dec 8, 11:30 start with lunch at noon at The Springs at Happy Valley in SE 172nd. The cost will be $35 per person with a buffet of traditional holiday foods, a selection of desserts and some fun games and prizes. Members need to sign up and get checks to our treasurer before Dec 1. Thank you!

    Your Christmas luncheon committee.

  • And one more thing…

    I know, I know…. you don’t have time to just around by your computer, waiting for my next email …. but I FORGOT TO MENTION THIS AND IT IS IMPORTANT!!

    The District Luncheon, the one on October 1st…. the one that is going to be a brunch this time…. Well, if you receive the Clackamas District Clippings you may already know this, but…We are asking members to bring a friend!  They don’t have to be avid gardeners…. just friends.  It is going to be a really fun morning, so it is kind of awesome to share that with a friend, a sister or brother, a mom, or whoever.  The cost for each person is still $25, but since we are collecting the money at our next meeting, you might want to ask your friend soon!….You can decide who pays for your friend, but we would like the money on Tuesday, if at all possible.  

    I (just this morning) invited a friend of mine who says she has no interest in growing anything, and I was surprised when she said “YES, I would love to go!” 

    See?  

    Now go invite someone.

    Please.

    See you soon.

    And I promise, no more emails today.

    Wendy

    😉☔️

  • And more events…

    Hello again!

         I totally forgot to mention (thank you Donna Endicott!) that the District Fall Brunch (October 1) will be at the same venue as it was in the spring, that being the Apostolic Faith Church at 5601 SE Duke Street, Portland Oregon. It will be from 9:30-12:30.
         I also forgot to share this and know at least some of you would be interested!  The Hardy Plant Society is having their PlantFest!! Definitely will be fun!

    PlantFest 2026hardyplantsociety.org

    Enjoy your day! Wendy

  • September at a Glance

    Good Morning Garden Club Friends!

    Can you believe it is already September? Once again, summer has flown by! As we head into the early fall, and our next year of garden club, there’s a lot to share right off the bat! Again, I will try to be concise, so grab your coffee and settle in.

    Calendar and pen at your side? HVGC – September At A Glance

    1. Our Meeting: First, our next regular meeting is Tuesday, Sept 8th at our new meeting place, the Creator Lutheran Church, on Sunnyside Road. It is the church with the large white cross (cell tower) and the large garden. The address is 13250 SE Sunnyside Road, but the parking lot is off 132nd.

    Coffee social: 9:15 – 10 am – IMPORTANT: PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN COFFEE CUP SIZED MUG!! (Hosted by Jennifer Buss, Kathie Reinhart, Marlee Underhill, and Pat Allen)

    Speaker: 10 – 10:45 am – Margaret, from Evergreen Growers Supply – “The Bugs That Eat the Bugs That Bug Us”

    Break: 10:45 am – 11 am

    Business meeting: 11 am -?

    2. Budget: Please be sure to peruse our proposed budget (sent out to members via email) for the upcoming year, as we would like to vote on it at our meeting.

    3. Flower Bouquet Sales Table at The Springs at Sunnyside (previously Morningstar) – Saturday, Sept 19th, noon to 3:00. We need 4 people for 1 ½ hours each shift, to help tie flowers together with a bow for visitors to purchase at this “Farmers’ Market” debut. (All materials will be provided.) Please let Julie know if you are interested in volunteering!

    4. Gold Star Installation at Willamette Memorial (Sept 27th at noon) – Let Julie know if you plan on attending. You can sign up at our meeting next Tuesday.

    5. Clackamas Clippings – If you are not receiving the Clackamas Clippings, which is our Clackamas District Garden Club newsletter, please let me know by emailing me, so I can give your email to Susan Piper, who maintains the recipient list. This newsletter is very informative and provides a lot of resources for local gardeners. (NOTE: The Clippings are also on our website under Resources.)

    6. Kelso Garden Club Guest Day (SEPT 25th): We are invited to Kelso Garden Club’s guest day! This is always an incredible event! Let’s carpool and join the fun! (See the flyer at the end of this message.)

    7. Clackamas Garden Club District Meeting (Oct 1st): Our District Meeting is on October 1st, 9:30 – noon. We have a great meeting planned and… (drum roll….) this time it will be a delicious brunch! If you plan to attend, please be sure to bring your $25 check, made out to HVGC, to our meeting next Tuesday, and give it to Sandy Platz, our treasurer.

    • Each club is being asked to donate an item for the Silent Auction. Please consider helping with this, either alone or with a few other members. This would be something special, worth over $50. In the past, we have had quilts, gift certificates for massages and hair salons, gift baskets for pets, spa baskets, etc. Bring your ideas to our meeting next Tuesday!

    • We will also be introducing a “Wish to Win” raffle, in which you can place purchased raffle tickets into the drawing for any of the Wish to Win items. Our club needs to donate at least one Wish to Win item for this raffle, valued up to $50, but more are welcome. These items don’t necessarily need to be garden related. It can be a home décor item, such as a vase, or kitchen items, some artistic décor, a handmade wooden bowl, etc. Or it could be a garden item…. A colorful fall container, a set of ceramic pots, garden décor, etc.

    • We will also have our sales table again, where you can always find little treasures that members have donated! These are nice, gently used items that members don’t want anymore, but which you may find absolutely perfect for your needs! It is a little treasure hunt! Bring any items you want to donate, such as books, new garden gloves that don’t fit, a tool you won’t use, candles, pots, etc. The fun is in the variety of items people donate!

    • Our speaker will be Sam Hubert, from One Green World. Several of our own members recently visited One Green World, where Sam showed us around his nursery and talked about a wonderful assortment of plants for our area, including many edibles! We are looking forward to learning more from him!

    8. Membership: We are thrilled to welcome two new members to our garden club! Joel and Rebecca Martinez joined us recently. Joel met Ray Platz at a Vet meeting… well, the rest is history! The updated roster is included at the end of this email.

    9. Lastly, remember that our website, www.happyvalleygardenclub.org contains a wealth of information and updated news. Be sure to refer to it frequently! Yvonne does a great job of posting the latest photos and garden club news for us! She is always looking for photos of our pets in the garden, so be sure to send those her way!

    Wendy

  • In case you missed it…

    The photos from our field trip to One Green World are up for your viewing pleasure!

    One Green World – August 25, 2026

  • Happy Valley News article on our club!

    Good morning friends!

    Julie was recently interviewed about our garden club and she did a marvelous job of sharing our story!  Check out pages 8-9!  

    Happy Valley News – City of Happy Valley

    Oh, and while I have you here….now that we are in AUGUST….make sure to mark your calendar for Margie McDonald’s ARTISTS’ FAIR on August 15th from 9-3 at her home in Damascus. It will include graphic designers, painters, artisan baked goods, designers, and plants.  There will be live music and a barbecue.  It promises to be a lot of fun!

    Enjoy your day!

    Wendy