Bella Vista Garden Club
WELCOME
If you are interested in gardening in Northwest Arkansas, you have come to the right place.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The February 24th Meeting will be held on Zoom
The Club President will send the invitation to join the meeting a few days before February 24th.
The speaker will be Cody Gilstrap, owner of River Rock Water Gardens, the program will be Creating a Water Feature. You will be able to ask questions. The presentation will begin at 9:30 AM, so, grab a cup of coffee and join us. Also, Tony LiCausi may discuss another horticultural topic.
If you have never used Zoom, don't worry. The Club President will issue an invitation on another date right before the meeting to help you. She will also send you easy directions and a Youtube video. It really isn't hard. Hopefully by trying it before the meeting all the bugs can be worked out. You can use your desktop, laptop, IPAD or a smartphone to join the meeting.
MOST RECENT ACTIVITIES
The January 27th Zoom Meeting
David Raines, owner of Rains Tree Care, provided a lot of good information by answering questions directly from Garden Club members or through the chat feature.
Tony LiCausi informed Club members about the proper way to plant a tree..."The hole should be wide not deep".
Veterans Wall of Honor
This just in from Penny Frahm.
The old flowers have been cleared out and pansies planted. Penny goes once a week to weed and clip. She says that this week the pansies were looking pretty nice considering the weather and the compact Nandina bushes are very red and really pretty this time of year. The silly daffodils were trying to pop up.
Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery Work Days 8/15 - 9/15/2020
Blue Star Memorial Work Day 9/4/2020
Daylily Sale - Huge Success
The Daylily Sale was an HUGH success. Customers were extremely pleased with the plants we offered and loved having time slots to shop. They also really liked having the opportunity to talk with our master gardeners about their own gardens.
We sold about 3/4 of our daylilies along with most of the trees and shrubs we offered. A big thank you to all the BVGC members who helped make this an extremely successful sale.
Joal Miller, Plant Sale Chairman
YARD of the MONTH will resume in the Spring
The Bella Vista Garden Club promotes and rewards exemplary yard care in Bella Vista and recognizes neighbors who demonstrate above-average efforts in maintaining their property, which contributes to the overall appearance of the community at large.
All homes and businesses in Bella Vista are eligible. Nominations are for the front and side yards jointly. One yard is chosen each month by members of BVGC who select the yard that best exemplifies uniqueness, beauty and curb appeal.
Nominate a yard today via email: portillo.jb@gmail.com Or call JB @ 479-268-8325. Please provide the address and the homeowners name if known. All nominations will be in the running for future recognition.
IT'S TIME TO ORDER YOUR BULBS AND PERENNIALS
BLOOMING BUCKS FUNDRAISER
Support the Bella Vista Garden Club when you order bulbs and plants from Brent & Becky's Bulbs. Just click on the Brent and Becky's "ORDER BULBS button", then click on the "YES" button and place your order from their catalog. The Club will be a benefactor of a portion of your purchase. It is that easy!
THINGS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN
January
Heavy accumulations of ice and snow can cause limbs to bend and break. If limbs do break off, you can prune them but wait to reshape the plant until spring. Some branches that get bent may return to an upright position on their own.
If we have a heavy snow, you can lightly remove it with a broom or rake from the underside of the plant to reduce the weight load but do not attempt to remove ice. Just wait until it melts.
If you see burned foliage on your evergreen shrubs, ignore it for the rest of the winter. It may not be the most attractive thing to look at it, but it will serve as extra protection for the plant for the remainder of the winter.
Pay attention to the forecast. Prior to a hard freeze make sure that any plants in containers have ample water. Soil in containers dries out much more quickly than soil in flower beds. Water newly planted trees or shrubs, and winter annuals if we have been dry leading up to a hard freeze.
Deadhead and fertilize winter annuals (such as pansies) on a mild day.
Compost/add manure to beds, add cardboard (keeps weeds down and moisture in soil), and then add 3 inch layer of wood mulch. If it’s a vegetable garden the last step would be a 6-12 inch layer of straw rather than wood mulch.
Plant trees and shrubs! It’s best done when the plants are dormant.
Winter is the time to grab a hot chocolate or hot tea and curl up with those garden catalogs.
LINKS OF INTEREST
New Links
New Link: Yard Care Guru - This site has a multitude of links of information and this link has the Ultimate Beginners Guide to Gardening with Kids.
New Link: Consumers Base - This site has A Comprehensive Guide to Container Gardening that is very informative along with other gardening information.
New Link: University of Arkansas Yard and Garden - Pruning Crepe Myrtles - This page has information on pruning crepe myrtles and other links to more information on this plant.
New Link: Plant Care Today - This page of the site covers companion planting with tomatoes. Other pages have more gardening information.
New Link: Ultimate Guide to Gardening Resources - This site is full of links with information on general gardening, planning a garden, educating children, indoor gardening, blogs and podcasts.
"Gardening gives me fun and health and knowledge. It gives me laughter and color. It gives me pictures of almost incredible beauty."
John F. KenhonArtistic Touches by Cathy Wayson