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!
Just a quick reminder of some upcoming club activities…..
1. This coming Tuesday, August 11th – Our field trip to Paradise Acres Garden Center (24010 SE Hwy 212 in Damascus!) The entrance to their parking lot is right after the Tony’s Garden Center parking lot on Hwy 212. Paradise Acres opens at 7:30 am, so if you are driving separately and want to get there before the presentation on hellebores, feel free to do so. Most of us will try to get there by around 9 am or maybe a little before, so we can do some browsing while it is cooler. Madison and Sarah will give us a little 10-15 minute presentation on hellebores at 9:30 am inside the building. After that, you can continue shopping!
You can purchase coffee there, or you can bring your own. You are welcome to bring a little nibbly if, like me, you think you are going to faint if you don’t eat every few hours. ALSO, if you want to catch a ride with someone, please let me know…. And if you are willing to take a few people, let me know that too! This nursery is pretty flat, so accessibility shouldn’t be too difficult, if that is a concern.
2. Tuesday, August 25th –Our coffee chatwill be atOne Green World (6469 SE 134th Ave. Portland, Oregon.) This nursery sellsall kinds of edible plants– from all over the world, that grow in our zone! It is truly impressive! Our club visited this nursery several years ago, but it is definitely worth another visit! This is a relatively small nursery, but it is packed with very interesting plants! One of their staff members will talk to us for just a few minutes about the nursery, as well as share some of his favorite plants. We will have time to wander through the nursery as well. It is a pretty accessible nursery, but parking is limited, so carpooling is probably a good idea. If you need a ride, let me know. If you are willing to take one or two others in your car, please let me know that too. Also, feel free to bring your coffee/tea/water and a little bagged snack if you’d like, as we will have time to relax and chat at one of their picnic tables. They will have umbrellas up if it’s hot. Let’s plan to get there at 10 am, when it opens.
3. Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 8th – As you probably know by now, we have changed our regular meeting venue and will now be meeting at Creator Lutheran Church on Sunnyside Road! This church is on the southeast corner of Sunnyside and 132nd, across the side street from the Grange and Sunnyside Elementary School. (It is the church with the large cross/cell tower and the large garden.) The address is 13250 SE Sunnyside Road, but the parking lot is off 132nd.
Our times are the same as they were before…
Coffee social: 9:15 – 10 am
(Hosted by Jennifer Buss, Kathie Reinhart, Marlee Underhill, and Pat Allen)
Speaker: 10 – 10:45 am
Break: 10:45 am – 11 am
Business meeting: 11 am
Our speaker is Margaret, from Evergreen Growers Supply, a company that sells beneficial insects and nonsynthetic pesticides. She will be speaking on “The Bugs That Eat the Bugs the Bug Us.”
And just as a reminder…. the last few very warm days of smoky air have been rather harsh on our plants, the wildlife, and ourselves. I am sure you have been carefully tending to your plants, but please be sure you are caring for yourself as well. Remember your sunscreen and water and try not to get out into that smoky air unnecessarily. Hopefully, it will be cooler by next Tuesday for our Paradise Acres field trip!
That is all for now – Let me know if you have any questions….
I would like to announce our new meeting location, beginning in September!
Creator Lutheran Church, on Sunnyside Road, has given us permission to meet in their fellowship hall at our normal meeting time. This church is on the southeast corner of Sunnyside and 132nd, across the side street from the Grange and Sunnyside Elementary School. It is the church with the large cross/cell tower and the large garden. This is a great central location, is accessible for walkers and is within our budget. The specific address is 13250 SE Sunnyside Road.
We are receiving the “member rate”, thanks to Mike and Karen Burmester. Thanks, Mike and Karen, for vouching for us!
Transitions are hard, and we are so thankful for the decades of wonderful meetings and hospitality from the Happy Valley Baptist Church. Your executive board and hospitality leadership asks for your patience and understanding as we get settled into our new home.
1. We are taking a field trip to Bauman’s on the 28th of this month for our coffee. Their stone fruits will be ample, and their nursery plants are terrific! It is a bit of a drive so you can either meet us down there, or meet at Leona’s parking lot and get a ride from one of us. Let’s plan to leave Leona’s parking lot at 8 am, so we can get there by 9, when they open. It is slowly getting warmer earlier in the day, so getting there early seems smart. If you can’t get there until a little later, that is fine. Plan on enjoying their lovely bakery! They also serve coffee, shakes, etc. Leave room in your car for plants! Please let Wendy know if you plan to meet at Leona’s parking lot for a ride, just so no one is left behind! Bauman’s address is
12989 Howell Prairie Rd. NEGervais, OR 97026 ph: 503.792.3524
2. Our August meeting will be on August 11th, at Paradise Acres Garden Center, in Damascus, next to Tony’s. Again, due to the warmer days, we are going to plan on meeting at the nursery at 9 am, so we have a chance to look around and shop. At 9:30 am, Madison and Sarah, who both work there at the nursery and are wonderful, will talk briefly to us about hellebores! Sarah is working on getting a few different varieties in for us, besides the ones they already have. Bring any plant questions with you, as these two women are very knowledgeable! After their talk, you are free to shop more! Bring your water or coffee with you, although they do sell coffee there too.
3. The ARTISTS’ FAIR is on August 15th from 9-3 at Margie M home in Damascus.It will include graphic designers, painters, artisan baked goods, designers, and plants. There will be live music and a barbeque. Mark your calendars! If you know of a crafter who might like to sell anything there, including plants, let them know.
Our meeting location will be changing. July and August 2026 will be field trips. In September, we’ll see you all at our new meeting site. Stay tuned for more info!
Our garden club, represented by Julie and Sheila, will be attending the Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs mini-convention this Saturday, June 27. Here’s the delightful centerpiece!
After a few fairly warm, lovely days, it looks like we will be having a couple of cooler days ahead, and perhaps even a few sprinkles! Isn’t living in the Pacific Northwest truly the best?
JUNE 9TH MEETING:
Our next meeting is this coming Tuesday, at the church (regular times). Our speaker is Lee Petrie, a nutritional health coach from Natural Grocers. Lee will be talking with us about “The Benefits of Honey and Bees.” She has some very interesting information to share with us!
JUNE 23RD FIELD TRIP:
We have an exciting field trip to 7 Dee’s in Lake Oswego planned! Julie’s neighbor, Joe, has been working at 7 Dee’s for a long time and he is going to give us a tour of the nursery and share with us some of his favorite plants. This promises to be fun! https://dennis7dees.com/lake-oswego-garden-center/. Their address is 1090 McVey Ave. in Lake Oswego. We will meet there at 10:25am so that Joe can start the tour at 10:30. Joe is really looking forward to meeting us and sharing his love of plants with us… (and Julie said she has it on good authority that Joe is giving us a discount that day, if we decide to purchase anything while we are there!!)
SAVE THE DATE! JULY 14th!! Members are invited to Barb and Ted Decious’s yard for chance to visit with each other and enjoy their amazing garden and yard! More info soon.
Isn’t this weather pretty fantastic? Well, there’s a lot of great opportunities in our future, so let me get started…
1. MAY 12th MEETING
Our next meeting is on May 12th, next Tuesday, at the church (regular time…). Our speaker is Carole Hardy, from the Master Gardener program. She will be speaking on Garden Futures… in other words, how the climate changes can affect the decisions we make for our landscape and garden plants. From what I have been told, we are in for a treat, as Carole is very knowledgeable on this topic!
2. DUES ARE DUE
Second, I want to remind you that we will be collecting dues for the upcoming year (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027). Please bring your check for $50 made out to the Happy Valley Garden Club! Sandy Platz, our treasurer, needs to get the state dues in fairly soon, so let’s make her job a little easier by trying to get the checks to her at this next meeting, if you can.
3. OPEN YARDS TOUR – Volunteers?
Also, I mentioned this in my last email… we would love to have a few members volunteer to let us visit their yard. We are hoping to find maybe 3 or 4 members who would volunteer for this. Our thought is that we would have our volunteers open up their yards to our members for possibly two hours. I initially mentioned August 25th, but we have decided instead to plan on July 28th. The entire “Open Yards Tour” would be from 9am – 2 pm, but each yard would be open for only two hours, so that hosting members would have time to visit the other open yards. I have only heard from one or two of our members… I am hoping this new date will work better…. Remember, no one expects perfection! It would just give members a chance to see what has worked for you, what struggles you deal with… the wins and the losses. Members would pop in, wander, enjoy your yard, chat, and move on to the next yard. Big yards, small yards… it is okay! Please let me know if you would be interested in opening your yard up for a couple hours, for our members to visit.
4. OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP OUR CLUB
We would love to have you volunteer to help with the budget committee. This volunteer position doesn’t take a great deal of time, but it is necessary as we look to the future for planning purposes. We are also looking for one or two members to plan our Christmas luncheon. If you are interested, but need ideas, you could talk to the people who planned the last couple of luncheons!
On Tuesday, Julie will be asking for volunteers for both the Budget Committee and the Christmas Luncheon Planning Committee. Start thinking about it! Your help is very much appreciated!
5. AN INVITE!
We received a lovely invitation from Carolyn Olley (Sunny Hills Garden Club), inviting us to their meeting on May 14th, at 10 am. Chad Harris is a great speaker and it should be a wonderful presentation, if you are interested in attending! Here you go:
6. GOLDSTAR DATE CHANGE
The date for the Gold Star dedication at Willamette National Cemetery has been changed to September 27th. Julie will update us on that at the meeting.
7. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
May 12th: Regular meeting at the church “Garden Futures”
May 26th: Field trip to Rogerson Clematis Garden at Luscher Farm (125 Rosemont Rd, West Linn) Parking is limited, so if you would like to carpool, we will meet in the morning at Leona’s parking lot (across the street from Leona’s house – see roster for address) and leave promptly at 9:30 am. That should get us there at about 10 am. Please let Claudia Taylor know if you are attending, driving separately, or if you can drive in the carpool, or need a ride in the carpool. Her number is (503)961-4507. Also, there is a place for us to sit down and have a little snack or lunch, so feel free to pack a little something to enjoy before getting back on the road. You might want to bring your credit card… they always have beautiful clematis for sale!
June 9th: Regular meeting at the church “The Benefits of Honey”. Our speaker will be Lee Petrie, from Natural Grocers. She is a nutritional health coach and has a lot to share with us!
June 23rd: Field trip to 7 Dee’s at Lake Oswego. We can carpool, if anyone is interested. (We can talk about that as we get closer to the date.) Julie’s wonderful friend and neighbor, Joe, works at this 7 Dee’s and is going to walk us around and introduce us to some of his favorite seasonal plants (some oldies and some new ones!) This should be a blast!!
July 14th: A visit to Barb Decious’s amazing yard! If you missed this last year, don’t miss it this time! It is a wonderful time to socialize and enjoy Barb and Ted’s incredibly delightful yard! More info to follow later….
There’s more coming, but we’ll save that for another email!
I am so sorry to be contributing to your overflowing email box, but after careful consideration and talking with a few members, Claudia and I have decided to change the upcoming Coffee Chat on April 28th to Panera’s at the Clackamas Town Center Mall. We looked at the menu again at Oswego Grill and just found there was little opportunity to order anything “smallish”…. and they are rather pricey…. Still a great restaurant, but maybe for a different occasion.
Anyway, we will keep the same date and time, 11am, April 28th. Hoping that works better for everyone…. Their seating is limited, but maybe a few of us can get there early to hold onto a couple tables.
