WILD ONES OUTING UPDATE AND INFO FOR JUNE 2001
Greetings and happy Spring. I'm sure most of you are finding, like me, that
there's A LOT GOING ON, as this is a busy time of year for anyone that gardens
or just wants to take advantage of the short window of opportunity to do things
outside besides ice skate. That being said, here's a list of upcoming Wild Ones
events. I hope that you can join us for some or all of them. Members and non-members
are welcome, although membership has its benefits and is certainly encouraged.
Please let me know if you'd like me to send out a brochure with membership information.
- The June outing and meeting will be on June 16 (not June 9 as previously
listed as a tentative date). We will go to Bill and Carol Steele's, aka Spangle
Creek Labs, in Bovey, Minnesota to see the Cypripedium (aka Lady Slipper
orchids) seed-propagation lab in the Steeles' basement, outdoor beds of seedlings,
some of which are in bloom, and the beginning efforts at reforesting the former
lawn and farm fields. Come dressed for mosquitoes, ticks, deer flies, and
soggy ground. If you'll be coming from the Duluth area, call me (Carol A.)
to arrange carpooling.
Directions: Take U.S. Highway 2 west to Warba. On the west edge of Warba,
turn right on County Road 10 and go approximately seven miles to County Road
445A. Turn right on 445A. Steeles' house is the first on the left, approximately
40 meters (130 feet) east of County Road 10. Be sure not to turn on County
Roads 445C or 445B. If you're lost, call 218-247-0245. (Webmaster's note:
here are two maps to help locate Bill and Carol Steele's home. Click on these
and print them with your browser. Vicinity
and close-up maps. "X"
marks the spot!)
- Sometime during the last half of June there will be a call for all the help
that we can get to help plant our community garden. Please see below for a
status report. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase native plants
in Duluth.
- July 21 (Saturday), field trip to tour the Sugarloaf
Cove restoration project near Lutsen (Schroeder, Minn.)
UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Community Garden - Our Community Garden subcommittee has met twice now to
draw up plans for the garden that we will present to Tom Kasper, City Gardener,
on June 6. As usual in the world of gardening our wish list for the number
of plants exceeds the city's budget. The good news is that Prairie
Restorations, a company based in Princeton, MN, that is opening a facility
near Duluth, has agreed to donate a large number of plants for the garden.
It also looks likely that we'll be able to get some plants from a plant rescue.
- KUMD opportunity - Jocelyn Olsen, the local Master Gardener that coordinates
speakers for the "Tips for Hardy Gardeners" program that airs Friday morning
on KUMD is open to ideas for
speakers. I did an interview last Friday morning on native plants that do
well in shady areas. If anyone else would like to speak, recommend someone
else or just a topic, please let me know.
- The Wild Ones annual meeting and conference will be held August 11 in Louisville,
Kentucky. Those of you who are members and receive the Wild Ones Journal should
have seen the announcement in the March/April issue. I have plenty of additional
flyers that I'd be happy to send to anyone interested. I met Portia Brown,
this year's coordinator at the May 19 meeting in St. Cloud. She's a very interesting
person and it sounds like the conference could be a lot of fun.
- I attended the quarterly meeting of the Wild Ones national Board of Directors
in St. Cloud on May 19. It was fun to meet the Board members and Donna, the
Executive Director, and sitting in on the meeting gave me a better understanding
of the types of issues that the Board deals with and how the organization
operates as a whole. I feel that we have been operating independently and
fairly successfully on our own, but that we could benefit in a number of ways
by making use of the resources offered through the national organization,
such as buying or renting videos and using recommendations for different activities
such as plant rescues or seed swaps/sales.
DRAFT June Meeting agenda
- officers - have served one year since first meeting in June 2000. OK to
stay as is through end of year, and hold elections in November?
- We need a "Publicity Chair." Anyone else interested? Else I'll continue.
- Videos - should we buy one or rent some? I will bring descriptions of some
of the videos available from the national Wild Ones office.
- Updates and discussion of projects.
- Anything else.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by e-mail or by phone
at 727-9340.
Carol Andrews
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