August Message

Greetings Garden Friends, 

Who needed a park picnic when we had a beautiful parklike setting at Sue and Dave Auman’s home? A heartfelt thank you goes to Sue and Dave for hosting us on their spacious property and to those who brought delicious food, a lovely centerpiece and donations of plants or garden related items for auction. Even though July is notorious for heat and humidity, the shade made this outdoor gathering quite comfortable as well-manicured landscape areas welcomed and inspired us. I also had the chance to explore the SBCGC Tour gardens to invigorate my gardening soul. Outstanding color combinations in beds or containers and attractive stands of lilies, hydrangeas, sedum and more provided just that. Newer plantings in many gardens transformed hilly plots into very appealing sights while a particularly creative gardener had plantings that welcomed you from bikes, wheelbarrows, or wagons. 

Looking toward August, our meeting will be conducted at Jennings Environmental Education Center which has a 20-acre prairie ecosystem. This is the only public and protected prairie in the Commonwealth of PA that is home for distinctive prairie plants, most notably the blazing star, and the endangered Massasauga Rattlesnake. The Dahlia Field trip tour on August 17th has changed from Shelley Holley’s house to Shaler North Hills Library hillside garden. Lastly, the board meeting will be at my home - August 31st, 10 a.m.

“All Gardens Are a Form of Autobiography.”- Robert Dash

“Thru Trowels & Errors” 

Julie, Your President