Bella Vista Garden Club

WELCOME

If you are interested in gardening in Northwest Arkansas, you have come to the right place.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Bella Vista Garden Club

Christmas Luncheon

Wednesday, December 7^th (Reservation deadline November 21)

Lakepoint Restaurant - 101 Marina Dr, Bella Vista, AR

11:30 a.m. Social Time with Lunch at 12:00 p.m.

Change from Yearbook

$33.00 per person

Please choose from:

Grilled Pork Chop Medallions

with Maple Balsamic Glaze

Or

Baked Scrod with Almond Crumb Topping

The luncheon will be plated with:

Mixed green salad with Ranch and Italian Dressings

Rice Pilaf

Chef’s choice vegetable

Rolls and butter

Chef’s choice dessert

Iced Tea and coffee

Please mail your meal selection and check to Penny Frahm at 1 McKenzie Drive, Bella Vista, AR 72715-5108.

Reservations and payment must be made by November 21^st.

Remember we do not meet in NOVEMBER.

The Garden Club Will Meet January 25th

at the Bella Vista Community Church, 75 E Lancashire Blvd., Bella Vista, AR 72714

Social time, 9:30 am with the meeting at 10:00 am.

Program:, Samantha Best, Owner of Magma Design Group, Inc., "The i-factor: Yourself in Your Garden" presentation will push the boundaries and inspire creativity.

Artistic Design of the Month: Linda Neymeyer

Horticulture: Tony LiCausi “What’s New in Horticulture – New Tools and Tool Maintenance”

If you are interested in joining before then, please click here and send your check and membership form to our Treasurer.

Spring Field Trip to Moss Mountain Farm

The farm is the home of well-known horticulturalist, P. Allen Smith. The bus trip is three-and-a-half hours each way and will leave on Wednesday, May 17, and return on May 18. A four-hour tour of the farm, gardens and lunch will be provided for $99 per person. Motel information will be provided when it becomes available.

YOUR PARTICIPATION IS NEEDED

Message from Pat Meyer, BVGC President

BVGC Members, one of my goals as your president is for every club member to have the opportunity to become involved in our projects. This involvement covers a wide range of needs and talents. Some needs involve outdoor, physical labor others will be less physically demanding, but ALL are needed for an active and effective Club.

Please look in your new Yearbook (pages 7-9) for information on committees and projects. Contact the Committee Chairman for more details and to express your interest in participating. I especially encourage our newer Members to find activities that suit their interests, talents and desires to learn.

A critical part of participation is communicating the needs and opportunities of the committees. Therefore, Committee Chairs, please address the entire Club when emailing etc. requests for help or scheduling activities. Alternatively, you can advise me and I will forward the information to the Club. Members, let the Committee Chairs know of your interest in participating and pose any questions you have about that Committee or project. The Yearbook has their contact information.

I also request Members to communicate directly with me on any suggestions you have for improving or broadening our Club. While I am presently serving as your Club President, I am primarily a member who has enjoyed working alongside some very knowledgeable gardeners and mentors with a willingness to share their knowledge. So, new and seasoned Members do not miss out on the opportunities the Club offers to learn new things and make new friends….PARTICIPATE!

Stay well and safe

Pat Meyer

2021-2023 President

MOST RECENT ACTIVITIES

The Garden Club Met October 26th

at the Bella Vista Community Church, 75 E Lancashire Blvd., Bella Vista, AR 72714

Social time, 9:30 am with the meeting at 10:00 am.

Program:, Rich Fletcher, BVGC Member - "My Experiment in Least-Resistance Gardening. Envision What You Want and Make Peace with What You Have."

Carol Tabat, Social Media Chairman, spoke on the GC Website and how it works. For more info on her talk, click the button below.

BVGC Charity and Scholarship Benefit Card Party

Friday, October 21, 2022, from Noon to 4:00 pm

Thank you to all who came to our Card/Game party. Our Committee of workers put on a great event. The food we all prepared was excellent. We had a great turnout and everyone enjoyed themselves plus funds were raised for Scholarships and other Club projects.

The Beautification Committee did Cleanup and Planting at the Bella Vista Signs on Highway 71 on Oct 14th and 15th

Many hand make the load light and get the plants in the ground quickly!

October 2022 - YARD OF THE MONTH

Joyce and Charles Harp

2 Carsphairn Ln, Bella Vista, AR

Congratulations to Joyce and Charles Harp and their dog named Penny, who have been selected as the Bella Vista Garden Club Yard of the Month. They were nominated by their daughter, Shauna.

The Harps are native Arkansans from Bentonville and Springdale. Charles is a Retired Firefighter who served 28 years with the POA and then the City of Bella Vista. He also is an avid fishman who served many years as a local fishing guide. Joyce taught junior high school in Bentonville for 33 years. She loves to play Bunco and watch movies. The Harps live at the end of the Lane and own most of the lots surrounding them. They both are involved with the design and maintenance. Penny supervises and enjoys the sunshine and chasing the abundant wildlife. The highlight of their beautiful yard is a heart shaped flower bed containing peonies, Iris and several other plants from Joyce’s mother’s yard. They love birds as well and have had three hatches of bluebirds this year. Spending time in their backyard firepit and entertaining their neighbors is another joy for both of them.

The Bella Vista Garden Club thanks you, Charles and Joyce for yet another example of a well-kept yard and helping to keep Bella Vista beautiful year-round! 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 to: portillo.jb@gmail.com. Please provide the address and the homeowners name if known. All nominations will be in the running for future recognition.

Arkansas Federated Garden Clubs Northwest District Meeting

The BVGC was well represented at the Arkansas Federated Garden Clubs Northwest District Meeting on October 3rd.

Thank you Garden Club of Rogers for hosting such a great event !!

Nature Expo

The Bella Vista Garden Club participated in the Nature Expo at Lake Avalon put on by the Bluebird Society on 9/18/22.

Garden Therapy

BVGC Club members took fun projects to Concordia and Brookfield in September, 2022.

Concordia - September 13th

Brookfield - September 20th

Native Bed at Wastewater Dedicated to Lou Jasper

August 18, 2022

Club Members gathered on a misty morning as Joel Miller unveiled the plaque dedicating the Club's recently created Native Bed to Lou Jasper. Lou was instrumental in advising the club about this native bed and is a treasured member for her knowledge and her great personality. Geri Hoerner related some humorous stories about Lou and a newspaper reporter took photos and interviewed Lou for an article.

State of AR Federation of Garden Clubs Conference

Benton County was well represented at the State AFGC Conference in Jonesboro AR August 8 & 9th with members from Bentonville, Rogers and Bella Vista Garden Clubs in attendance.

BLUE STAR MEMORIAL - HWY 71 WELCOME CENTER

Workers doing some cleanup at the Blue Star Memorial Garden on 8/9/2022.

Garden Extravaganza

The Garden Extravaganza was held on Saturday June 11th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The beautiful gardens were a HUGE hit. The decorated bicycles at each garden matched the garden's theme and some were for sale.

THANK YOU to all participants!!

Seven beautiful Bella Vista, AR gardens were featured. Each had a different theme.

Seven minute video of all seven gardens featured in the Garden Extravaganza

Thank You from the Chariman

Dear Garden Club Members,

The garden owners are relieved the day is over, the finances are completed, and Ginny Vance and I proclaim the Garden Extravaganza was a success.

The visitors to the seven fabulous gardens were amazed, complimentary, and so pleased the garden club had offered them this opportunity. The gardeners from our own club worked hours and hours plus spent a great deal of their own money to create memorable places to visit. Most club members either volunteered to decorate bikes, help with publicity, work at the gardens, or sell tickets. For all your efforts we thank you.

A very nice amount of money was raised for the Club's projects.

Ginny and I also want to thank Cathy Wayson for creating the brochure/ticket, Geri Hoerner for helping with printing the brochures, Coleen Walpert for managing ticket sales, and Robyn Kirkland for logistics.

Thank You! Judy Jeffrey and Virginia Vance

Dedication of the New Stained Glass Sign at the Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery as Part of the Club's Celebration of the 50th Anniversary

Mary Doyle and Patti Brierly, Co-chairs of Cemetery Committee; with Pat Meyer, President of the Club and creator of the Stained Glass Sign. Pat said that her daughter and husband helped with the framing and installation of the sign.

Members of the Club joined in the June 7th, 2022 unveiling and dedication of the stained glass sign in the Butterfly Garden. The sign was greeted with applause and comment such as, "Beautiful" and "Amazing".

Plant Sale on June 4th, 2022

It was a beautiful day for the Bella Vista Garden Club's rescheduled Plant Sale. Thanks to everyone who came and bought plants. We appreciate your support!

The BVGC Spring Luncheon and Tour at Crystal Bridges

on June 1, 2022

The Meeting Theme was the 50th Anniversary of the Garden Club. Check out the photos in the Image Carousel.

Veterans Wall of Honor

Penny Frahm & Jamie Hooper

Planted flowers and did some spring cleaning at the Veterans Wall Of Honor today.

Annual Tomato, Coleus, and Zinnia Sale on 4/23/22

Hello everyone - I first want to THANK YOU for coming out and making our tomato, coleus & zinnia sale last Friday the best yet! It was so successful that we totally sold out of everything on Friday and had to cancel our Saturday sale. The garden club appreciates your support.

Please return your one gallon pots and any other one gallon pots you may acquire if you can. This is an enormous help to us.

And lastly, please remember our upcoming perennial sale May 20th & 21st.

Joal Miller, Plant Sale Chairman

Dedication of the Club's History Books

at the Bella Vista Historical Museum on April 13, 2022

President, Pat Meyer, dedicated the Club's 50 years of History Books (also called Scrapbooks).

After the dedication, members traded stories, checked out some of the books and enjoyed cookies.

50th Anniversary Year Kickoff

Tree Planting at Fire Station #3 on March 25th, 2022

Garden Club President Pat Meyer, Mayor Peter Christie, and Fire Chief Sims spoke about the Club's donation of the tree in honor of the Club's 50th Anniversary and in recognition of Bella Vista's First Responders.

Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery Work Days October 2021

It was a beautiful morning for our Garden Club Members to work at the Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery.

During our clean up we even found a Monarch caterpillar on one of the fennel plants.

New Sand Bed Preparation

This just in from Ginny Vance.

We are so thankful for the workers at the Bella Vista Waste Water Company. They made a brand new sand bed area for our plants that we sell in the spring!! Landscape blocks were added too!! They are an awesome group of men & women.

THINGS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN

Things to do in November

November is the time to put your garden to bed. If you choose to ignore winter preparations, the world will not come to an end but it may mean a little more work in the spring when there is never enough time to get the garden up and running.
Annuals & Herbs -Summer annuals are basically gone for the year and you can plant pansies for winter color. Most herbs have died back but you can still harvest rosemary, parsley and chives during the fall.
Perennials Mums - are still showing some color. Do spray with deer repellent – they love mums. Some cut perennials back over the winter and some don’t. You’ll make wild birds happy if you leave a few stems and seed heads uncut that will provide food and shelter. DO NOT trim your salvia now. They have hollow stems and water can get in the stems and freeze the plant. If you have Monarda to attract butterflies, now is the time to cut back the stalks. Using a shovel, cut away 1/3 of the plant and re-plant elsewhere.
Roses - After a few freezes mulch roses for the winter. If they have grown pretty tall you may want to cut them back a little to about 3 feet so they won’t rock in the wind.
Lawns - Keep lawns free of fallen leaves... they smother the grass. Lawns should be 2” high going into winter.
Trees and Shrubs - November is about the last month to plant trees and shrubs. Monitor water over the winter months. Good time to cut dead branches off of Rose of Sharon.
Vegetables - Add organic matter to your vegetable beds to be ready for spring planting. This would be a great spot to dump and spread your mulched leaves.

LINKS OF INTEREST

New Links

New Link: How to Grow your own Butterfly Garden - This page has a step by step guide to build a butterfly garden. The site was suggested by a student in an alternative learning program.

New Link: Toxic Pesticides - This page on the ConsumerNotice.org site has a lot of information on toxic pesticides outlining the different types and how to protect yourself from their negative effects.

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.