CONTACT:
Larry DeRouss, 2011 President
1405 Pleasantview Street
St. Charles, Mo. 63303
636-724-5035
lderouss@sbcglobal.net
“Growing and Learning”
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2011 NEWS & EVENTS
Herbarium Tour
Lewis & Clark Garden Club members joined Fleur de Lis Garden Society members and guests
for a special trip to Missouri Botanical Garden's Herbarium. What a fantastic tour this was! Ed Kullman wanted to know if he could get a historic book we saw in the library on his Kindle.............
To top off this great trip we reserved lunch at Bravo in West County Mall for lunch for 25 people.
Click here to view the photos in the February 2011 album
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2010 NEWS & EVENTS
Pumpkin Carving at Oct. Meeting
Lewis & Clark Garden Club members carved pumpkins that they donated to the Emmaus Home in St. Charles, Mo.
Based on their unique needs and goals, Emmaus provides homes and programming for individuals with developmental disabilities. As part of our residential services, Emmaus serves nearly 40 homes throughout the community and at their two campuses. The Senior and Adult Services program provides opportunities for residents to learn, make friends and become involved in their community through a variety of social, educational and recreational activities.
See their website for more information at www.emmaushomes.org
Click here to view the photos in the October 2010 album
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Lewis & Clark Trivia Night Wednesday, September 29, 2010
University of Missouri Extension Center
260 Brown Road
St. Peters, Mo.
Click here to view and print the flier below (pdf)
70 Lewis and Clark Garden Club members and guests turned out for the Sept. 30, 2010 4th Annual Trivia Night. What a great time everyone had!
Click here to view the photos in the Sept. 2010 album
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Fig Farm Tour in Dittmer, Mo.
Patrice Korte joined Master Gardeners, Boone Country Garden Club and Fleur de Lis Garden
Society members and guests to tour the fig farm of Ivan Stoilov in Dittmer, Mo. Ivan is a bio-chemist who studied at Stanford University in California and came to Missouri in 1995. He bought 10 acres in Dittmer and constructed a solar powered greenhouse. He has also created a geothermal powered greenhouse. Both are 30' X 96'. The geothermal greenhouse is powered by flush oil he recycles from a company that makes vitamins. Between the rows of fig trees in the greenhouses he also grows an heirloom Bulgarian tomato, Beefheart, that he harvests in Feb. & March, lettuce in the winter and other cool season crops.
Fresh figs taste like a cross between a honeydew mellon and a peach. The whole fruit is edible and sweet.
He sells his figs and other vegetables at the Farmer's Market in Tower Grove Park, the Schlafly Bottle Works in Maplewood and near the Children's Hospital on Thursday mornings.
Click here to view the photos in the July 2010 album
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2010 Lewis and Clark Garden Club holds Member's Tour May 25, 2010
Around 20 members and guests visited three garden club member's gardens. They were Ray and Melony Turnley at 4155 Holt Road, New Melle, Mo.; Carl and Rose Eccardt at 11 Cedar Fork Court, Defiance, Mo.; and Ginny and Keith Terry at 140 Sanctuary Drive, O'Fallon, Mo. A lovely pot luck was served at the end of the tour.
Click here to view the photos in the May 2010 album
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2009 Lewis and Clark Garden Club
Click here to view the Feb. 2009 Newsletter (Word)
Click here to view the April 2009 Newsletter (Word)
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Members Attend Mid-Central District Spring Meeting
The Mid-Central District Spring meeting was held in Union, Mo. at the Culinary School at East Central College on Thursday, April 16, 2009 from 9 am till 1 pm. The speaker was Jean Morris, Secretary of the St. Louis Iris Society. She gave a great slide presentation on "Irises All Through the Year". 73 members registered.
The Treasurer reported we have a total of over $10,000 in our account. The Nominating Committee made up of Sharon Parson, Pat Schnarr and Jan Wolf reported that the slate of officers for 2009 - 2011 will be Kris Corey, District Director, Nan McCabe, Assistant District Director, Joyce Wiley, Secretary and Mary Niemann as Treasurer.
Kris Corey gave a report of the upcoming 2010 FGCM Convention that MCD will be hosting. The theme is "Swing into Spring" and will be held on April 22 - 24, 2010 at the Doubletree Hotel in Chesterfield. Room rates are $ 85.00 per night
Nan McCabe, President of Jardin du Lac, invited everyone to the MCD Fall Meeting at the Community Association building at Lake St. Louis on Oct. 20, 2009.
A silent auction was held and $ 408 was raised for the district.
The meeting adjourned and the 2010 FGCM Convention committee met with representatives from the district to be assigned duties at the convention.
"Trivia Night!"
Lewis & Clark Garden Club held their Trivia Night at the University of Missouri Extension Center on 460 Brown Rd, in St. Peters, Mo. on Sept. 29, 2009. 78 garden club members and invited guests attended the event. 31 Silent Auction items were bid on plus there was a 50/50 drawing that netted the winner $ 110! Tickets were $ 10.00 each.
Click here to view the photos in the Sept. 2009 album
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2009 NO MO TRASH BASH
Lewis & Clark Garden Club members have adopted a one mile stretch of Hwy 94 to pick up litter. Benny Stearman has headed this committee and reported that April 2009 was a designated month as "Trash Bash" month and any one who had adopted highway space that did their cleaning that month got the lapel pin which was sent by the state. They pick up twice a year usually April and Oct., unless they see that their particular area is looking cluttered. In that case they do an extra pickup. They typically have 6-10 people participate each time.
2008 Lewis & Clark Garden Club
7 members attend the 2008 MCD Fall Meeting in St. Charles, Mo.
The 2008 meeting was held at First United Methodist Church in St. Charles, Mo. hosted by First Capitol Garden Club members on Tuesday, October 21, 2008. 81 members and guests attended. The main speaker was Derek Schrof, Ball See Co. Representative. He had a slide presentation of new and underused plants for 2009.
Click here to view the photos in the Oct. 2008 album
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TRIVIA NIGHT, SEPT. 30, 2008
Lewis & Clark Garden Club hosted a Trivia Night for members, friends and other garden clubs in Mid-Central District. About 60 people were in attendance.
Click here to view the photos in the Sept. 2008 album
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Private Garden Tour Aug. 2, 2008
Lewis & Clark Garden Club had a private garden tour of Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Pieper's garden at 261 Elaine Rd in O'Fallon, Mo. on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008. 16 members were in attendance to tour this 10 acre garden.
Click here to view the photos in the Aug. 2008 album
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Members of Lewis & Clark Garden Club attended the "75th Diamond Jubilee" FGCM Convention on May 6-8, 2008.
Click here to view the photos in the May 2008 album
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Lewis & Clark Garden Club Members Attend 2008 MCD Spring Meeting
Click here to view the photos in the April 2008 Album
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2007 Lewis & Clark Garden Club Meetings and Events
Pumpkin Carving
The October meeting was a pumpkin carving and everyone learned a lot about pumpkins.
Click here to view the photos in the Oct. 2007 album
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2006 Lewis & Clark Garden Club Meetings and Events
December 2006 Party
Members enjoyed themselves at the December Lewis & Clark Christmas Party on Dec. 27, 2006.
Click here to view the photo in the December 2006 album
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Lewis & Clark Garden Club Members attend Oct. 24, 2006 MCD Fall Meeting
Mid-Central District held it's fall meeting in New Melle, Mo. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006 at the New Melle Lakes Golf Course. Boone Country Garden Club hosted this year's meeting and did a fabulous job! The theme of the Annual Fall Meeting was "Autumn Jewels". The guest speaker was Claudia Chopp, NGC Flower Show School Instructor & Accredited Master Judge, provided a design program titled, "Designs with a Holiday Flair". 98 garden club members were in attendance from the 10 clubs in our district. A silent auction raised money for the district treasury and booths were set up to sell bulb baskets and a designer handbag booth provided by Korki Kuhn was used as a raffle to raise funds to offset the expenses the host club incurred. Food donations were collected for St. Vincent DePaul for the needy. Boone Country won a $25.00 prize for having the most members (32) at the meeting. Lewis & Clark Garden Club sent 10 members to the meeting.
The menu included tossed salad, pork loin with cranberry chutney, scalloped potatoes, seasoned green beans, sweet rolls and butter and of course a desert table that surpassed everyone's taste buds. Homemade pies and the cooking of all the food was provided by this gracious club.
FGCM officers in attendance were Mary Ann Meador, President, Maisie Keeser, 1st Vice President and Jean Roseman, 2nd Vice President. Sweatshirts were sold to benefit FGCM.
Awards for Club Yearbooks and Books of Evidence from the FGCM convention this summer were also given out. It was a beautiful day filled with friendship!
Click here to view the photos in the Oct. 2006 album
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May 12, 2006 "A Walk in the Woods"
Click here to view the photos in the May 2006 album
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2005 Lewis & Clark Garden Club Meetings and Events
Lewis & Clark Garden Club November 28, 2005 Meeting - "Drying Fall Leaves"
The November meeting of the Lewis & Clark Garden Club was called to order by President Jim Beaudry at 7 pm on November 28, 2005 at Weldon Springs Interpretive Center. 15 members were present. Elaine Fix, past MCD Director, gave a program on "Drying Fall Leaves". After her presentation numbers were selected and attendance prizes were given out by Elaine and she also gave the dried Sugar Maple Wreath that she made to a member.
Good job, Lewis & Clark for a very good meeting!
Drying Fall Leaves
One of the spectacular features of fall is the wonderful coloring of tree leaves. The more curious among us might wonder just how do leaves develop color in the fall? The purpose of plant leaves is to harness the sun's energy to feed the tree. They do this with the chloroplasts in leaf cells, which contain the green plant pigment, chlorophyll. This pigment enables leaves to capture the sun's energy to make sugars and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. During the growing season, the chlorophyll is abundant.
As the weather turns cool and the days shorten, leaves stop producing chlorophyll. Some tree and shrub species are genetically capable of taking the carbohydrates left in the leaves and turning them into anthocyanins. These are the red pigments responsible for the reds, pinks and purples in leaves. As the chlorophyll begins to break down, the newly formed anthocyanins become apparent. Other plants are not genetically capable of making the anthocyanins. When the chlorophyll breaks down in these plants, the leaves reveal the more stable orange and yellow pigments (carotene and xanthophyll). Brilliant oranges come from a mix of anthocyanins with the carotenes and xanthophylls. Trees that don't "perform" with remarkable colors usually lose all their pigmentation over a short time. What are the weather conditions that favor the best fall color? Dry, sunny and cool conditions but not lots of heavy frost are best for bringing out the reds, oranges, and bright yellows. If plants that are supposed to show spectacular color don't, then their health may be the problem. Sunlight generally is needed for fall color, especially the reds. If a plant is shaded, fall color will be deficient. If the plant is experiencing stress, such as from a drought, fall color may be lacking. A plant that is not cued into the advent of fall because it's still growing vigorously from heavy watering and fertilizing late in the growing season also may lack brilliant color.
Can you remember pressing brightly colored leaves between sheets of waxed paper to preserve their colors? It's one of those experiences of life no one should miss.
Here's how you do it:
Place autumn-colored leaves between two layers of wax paper. Cover with an old towel or cloth rag. Press the fabric with a warm iron, sealing the wax paper together with the leaf in between. Cut your leaves out, leaving a narrow margin of wax paper around the leaf edge. Of course that's the old-fashioned way of doing things. You also can preserve fall leaves in your microwave oven. Choose fresh leaves with the brightest colors. You don't want fallen leaves that already have started to dry. Take separate leaves or small twigs and place them in the oven on top of two pieces of paper towel. Cover them with one sheet of paper towel. Run the oven for 30 to 180 seconds. The drier the leaves, the less time they will need. Be careful; you could start a fire in your microwave if they cook too long. Be attentive. Leaves that curl after removal have not been dried enough. Leaves that scorch was left in too long. Let the leaves dry for a day or two, then finish the leaves with a sealant, such as an acrylic craft spray.
You may get even better results if you use the microwave and silica gel for drying. Place a 1G-inch layer of floral silica gel in the bottom of a cardboard box. Place the leaves lying flat. Leaves should not touch and should be at least 1G inches away from the sides of the box. Cover the leaves with a 1G-inch layer of gel. Place the uncovered box in the microwave. You want the microwave to operate at about 200-300 watts, so if your microwave has 2-10 settings operate it at level 4. If the oven only has three to four settings, it should be set at half. If your oven has a high to defrost options, set the microwave on defrost. Estimated drying time is 2H minutes if you're using a half-pound of gel or about 5 minutes for two pounds of gel.
Yet another way to preserve the leaves is to submerge them in a solution of glycerin and water. Use a mixture of one part glycerin to two parts water. Place the mixture in a flat pan, and totally submerge the leaves in a single layer in the liquid. You'll have to weight them down to keep them submerged. In two to six days, they should have absorbed the liquid and be soft and pliable. Remove them from the pan and wipe off all the liquid with a soft cloth. Done correctly, the leaves will remain soft and pliable indefinitely.
Lewis & Clark Garden Club Members attend MCD Fall Meeting
The 2005 Mid-Central District Annual Fall Meeting was hosted by Twin Chimney's Garden Club was held at Christy's Banquet Center in O'Fallon, Mo. on October 18, 2005. The theme was "A Victorian Tea".
Lewis & Clark Garden Club Tour June 25, 2005
Lewis & Clark Garden Club had a public garden tour on Saturday. June 25, 2005 from 9 am to 2 pm. Six gardens in St. Charles County were on the tour. Tickets were $10.00 each.
Great Job, Lewis & Clark!
April 25, 2005 Meeting - "Orchids"
On April 26, 2005 the Lewis & Clark Garden Club had their monthly meeting at the Weldon Spring Interpretive Center. The guest speaker was Al Mertz from the Orchid Society. He gave a very informative presentation on how to care for orchids and has 300 orchids of his own.
The Bird of the Month was given by club member, Linda Moyer. She explained the Woodpecker and the various different species. Good Job, Linda!
$ 200 Grant Received from FGCM - "America A-Bloom"
The Lewis & Clark Garden Club planted a Cornus Racemosa (Grey Dogwood) tree at the Weldon Springs Interpretive Center in St. Charles, Mo. on April 19, 2005 in their Native Plant Educational Garden. The tree is native to the area and was considered in a $200.00 grant from FGCM that was awarded to Mid-Central District for their support of "America A-Bloom", a NGC, Inc. national project.
Congratulations for participating in this worthy tree planting!
March 29, 2005 Meeting - "Herbal Teas"
The March 29. 2005 meeting of the Lewis & Clark Garden Club was held at the Weldon Spring Interpretive Center. The speaker was Raj Ponnappa, a member of Twin Chimney's Garden Club. Her program was on Herbal Teas. Besides the taste, herbal teas also have many medicinal qualities. She also explained the best method of preparing tea and the best quality of tea to purchase. We sampled chai, green and black teas. Great Presentation, Raj!
The Bird of the Month was the Bluebird given by Judy Beaudry. The Bluebird is the Missouri state bird and is a symbol of happiness. Booklets from the Department of Conservation called, "Bluebirds in Missouri" was provided to all members.
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Feb. 22, 2005 Meeting - "Dahlias"
The Lewis & Clark Garden Club held it's first meeting of the year on Feb. 22, 2005 with a presentation given by John Fox, a member of the Missouri Dahlia Society. His program was on Dahlias.
The Bird of the Month was presented by Jean McCarter on the Purple Martin.
