Carpool:  9:30 a.m. from the Meadows Shopping Center, north of Rite Aid

Location:  Scripter Farm, 8423 North 73rd St, Niwot, CO 80503. 

Program: Tour of Mary Scripter’s Garden

This is a spectacular prairie style garden designed by Lauren Springer Ogden & planted & maintained by the owners, Larry & Mary Scripter.  The garden is on a farm near Niwot. The garden backs onto farm land with a view of the mountains in the distance. It contains too many plants to name them all but has numerous grasses, sedums, gallardias, coreopsis etc. Some of the plants are quite unusual & were ordered for the Scripters by Lauren. Martha Stewart Living Magazine has photographed the garden and it was featured in their magazine in the fall of 2015.

Following the Tour we will have lunch in the Celestial Seasonings cafeteria located at 4600 Sleepytime Drive, in Gunbarrel, off Spine Road.

Take CO119/Diagonal Highway to Niwot Road.  Turn West and go .4 miles to N. 73^rd. Turn right and go 1.7 miles (past Goose Point Ct.)  8423 North 73^rd is on the left and before Alpenglow Ct.

Location:  The Egg and I

Program: Virginia Scott, Collections Manager of the Entomology Collection at the University of Colorado’s Museum of Natural History. 

The Collection contains approximately 800,000 insects and spiders, and it is particularly rich in material from the Rocky Mountain Region. The strengths of the collection are the Bees, Butterflies, Grasshoppers, and Leafhoppers. Regional biological collections such as this are especially important to the ecological and systematic communities because of their historical value, the concentration of collecting in a particular area, and their unusually excellent label data. Currently the Museum has an exhibit, “Becoming Butterflies” which is a fascinating look at some of the world’s most captivating insects throughout their entire life cycle.  Virginia also consults on The Bees’ Needs, a Citizen Science Program investigation native wood nesting bees and wasps in Colorado’s Front Range.

The talk will focus on bees and how to support them through our gardening efforts.

November 18, 2016, Noon

Location:  The Egg and I

Program:  Brett Stadsvold, Boulder County Parks and Open Space

Brett coordinates emerald ash borer programming county-wide. As a transplant from Minnesota, Brett worked as a municipal forester for the City of Saint Paul working on EAB management, public tree planting programs, and citizen forestry programming . Although EAB has consumed much of his professional career in urban forestry, Brett is passionate about utilizing volunteers for urban forestry and developing neighborhood tree nurseries to help diversify the urban forest.

The Boulder Garden Club’s Holiday Season Celebration  1:00 p.m.

Home of Connie Farnbach 4022 Old Westbury Ct., Boulder, Co  80301

Program:  Chocolate Making with Paco of Growing Gardens.

Members are encouraged to bring donations of new or gently used gloves, jackets, blankets, and socks for Boulder Cares, a group that goes out on the streets each winter night to help the homeless.  Sandy Edmondson will collect the donations.

Hostesses:  Mickey Johnson, Jill Jagemann, Stephanie Selden, and Mollie Morton

Directions:

Going North on the Foothills Parkway, turn right onto Valmont.  Take an immediate left at the light onto 47th Street. Continue North on 47th through the intersection with the Diagonal Highway.  You will see Pleasant View Soccer Fields on the left.  The entrance to Four Mile Creek is the next left.  The street is St. Johns. Take the first right onto Old Westbury Court.  The Farnbach home is the second one on the right.

ACTIVITY: February 2017 Colorado Garden and Home Show

The Club will volunteer on a date to be chosen (a day between 2/4 and 2/17) at the CFGC Exhibit.  We will work specific several hour shifts at the Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs display area, explaining the exhibits and answering questions of the public.

The Colorado Garden & Home Show is the state's oldest and most prestigious garden and home show and it attracts more than 60,000 visitors annually. It is produced by the Colorado Garden Show, Inc. who awards grants to organizations throughout Colorado.  Each year, money raised from the Show supports horticultural and related activities throughout Colorado.

We will be volunteering to work specific several hour shifts at the Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs display area, explaining the exhibits and answering questions of the public

Coordinators:  Connie Farnbach, Sedna Wineland and Mollie Morton.

The Show is located in the Colorado Convention Center, 700 14^th Street, Denver, CO  80202.  Admittance is $12, $10 for Seniors, but as volunteers, we can pick up a volunteer pass at the entry kiosk located in the Convention Center entrance.  Parking at the Center is $12.  We can park at Coors Field for $5 (I25 to the Park Avenue exit, then follow signs to Wazee.  There is a free shuttle or you can take the light rail to the Convention Center.  A carpool will be organized at the November meeting. 

February 17, 2017,  Noon

Location:  The Egg and I

Program:  Jamie Weiss, Audubon Rockies, Habitat Outreach Coordinator 

Jamie will discuss the importance of restoring our communities, one garden patch at a time. From a birds-eye view, learn how to create wildlife-friendly gardens that help combat the loss of open spaces and create green corridors that link your wildscape to larger natural areas by providing habitat for wildlife.

March 17, 2017, Noon

Location:  The Egg and I

World Gardening Month – A silver offering will be collected at this meeting to provide support for a world project to be chosen by the membership.

Program:  Members Meeting and Plant Sale Readiness

Speakers will include Jill Jagemann, Pat Weis-Taylor, Sandy Edmondson, Pam McIllwain, and Sedna Wineland.

This organizational meeting will cover all aspects of our May plant sale, including strategies for growing saleable plants, popular plant categories, associated sale items, and volunteer opportunities.  Last year was very successful and we hope to repeat that.  What can we do differently to make it work even better?  Sign-up sheets for the tasks at the sale will be available. 

World Gardening Month:

A silver offering will be collected at this meeting to provide support for civic development and maintenance.  The Penny Pines Program was chosen as the recipient of the last three silver offering collections.  The Program is a partnership between the National Garden Club and the USDA Forest Service to sustain our national and urban forests through reforestation of devastated areas and forest education programs.  The Forest Service does the planting using donations together with Federal funds.  A total of $78 was collected and we sent $136 (donations are accepted in multiples of $68) to be used on Colorado forests.

April 21, 2017, Noon

Location:  The Egg and I

Program:  Wildflowers, Part 2

Join Volunteer Naturalist and Honorary Club member Suzanne Michot for part two of her slide program to kick off the spring wildflower season! You’ll learn about the variety of wildflowers found in Boulder County, where and when to look for them, and some interesting facts about some of our native plants.

May 13, 2017
9-Noon
ACTIVITY

ANNUAL PLANT SALE
Location: Unitarian-Universalist Church,
5001 Pennsylvania Ave.
Boulder CO 80303

Set up for Sale:  Friday, May 12, 2017, 4:30pm-6 pm

May 19, 2017, 11:00 a.m.

ANNUAL SPRING LUNCHEON

Program:  What’s New from Plant Select--A representative from Sturtz and Copeland will show us the new Plant Select offerings.

Location:  Home of Pat Weis-Taylor, 5191 Ellsworth Place, Boulder, CO 80303

Lunch, dessert, and drinks will be provided by the hostesses and the Boulder Garden Club. 

Cost is $5.00 per person.

 Annual Dues will be collected - $20.00. Total for the dues and lunch - $25.00.

Hostesses:  Pam McIllwain, Debbie Marden, Mollie Morton

Directions: 

From 55^th Street, between Arapahoe and Baseline, go West on Centennial Trail, approximately three blocks.  The home, on the right, is on the corner of Centennial Trail and Ellsworth Place.

A few years ago, Pat applied concepts on home-scale permaculture from the books Gaia's Garden (2009) by Toby Henenway and Square Foot Gardening (1981) by Mel Bartholomew as well as our own Barbara Hyde Boardman's three books as a sanity check on these ideas for Boulder gardeners. This spring, you will see what worked (survived and prospered) and what did not.

June 16, 2017, 10:00 a.m.

Program:  Garden Tour at the home of Diane Curlette, 530 Hartford Dr., Boulder, CO 80305

Following the tour we will meet for lunch at The Egg and I.

Nearly 30 years ago Diane asked her realtor to help her find a small house on a large lot in Boulder. Soon she was chopping down thickets of wild plum and smothering vast swaths of bishop’s weed by recycling the orange shag carpet ripped up inside -- orange side down, of course.  The house had mostly been a rental and mistreated.  The yard was conventional FHA-loan compliant -- turf, pfitzer junipers, a few large trees, small concrete pad patio covered by fiberglass panels and aluminum framing.  Few perennials weathered the neglect -- but the survivors were a tough lot.  The gardens evolved over the years through several iterations including a major remodel of the house in 2002 and complete re-landscaping with Matrix Gardens in 2008. 

The current gardens reflect her adherence to xeriscape and wildfire prevention principles while striving for year-round interest, succession of bloom, and low maintenance.  Also reflected is her interest in trialing new plants and enjoying their unexpected interactions.  Overall the design could probably be described as Rocky Mountain Cottage style.

Some features are front terraces and back berm and raised bed retained and framed by red sandstone blocks and boulders.  A french drain disguised as a river bed conducts sump pump outflow across the property for reuse.  Large rose concrete patios and generous walkways provide low maintenance spaces for outdoor living.  Trees carefully chosen for drought tolerance and placed for eventual size include burr oak, pinon pine, cockspur hawthorns, redbud, apricot, purple smoke tree, lacebark pine and Autumn Blaze maple.  Shrubs and numerous perennials cover the various beds, with vines on the arbor and fences.

9:15 from the Meadows Shopping Center, north of Rite Aid.

Directions:  

From the intersection of Table Mesa and Broadway, travel west on Table Mesa for a number of blocks.  Watch for the Catholic Church on the left.  The next right will be Yale Rd.  Turn right on Yale and go three blocks to Hartford Dr.  Turn left on Hartford Drive and the house is the fourth on the left with the pink gravel driveway.  Lots of street parking is available.  Handicap access to the back yard (no stairs) is easy through the sidewalk and gate on the west side of the house.           

July 21, 2017, 10:00 a.m.

Program:  Garden tour of the home and garden plot of Marie Leslie, 2344 Sandpiper Dr., Lafayette, CO 80026

Marie and her husband, Lynn, moved to here from Durango in 2013. After remodeling the house, they began to reshape the yard with the goal of creating habit for the birds, bees and butterflies. The original yard was poorly maintained grass and cobble landscaping. After removing rock and dying trees, carving out grass, building dry streams and more, the yard is beginning to take shape and the new habitat is springing to life. Also included will be a tour of Kerr Gardens in Louisville, where Marie leases a garden plot. It is located directly off 95th St., just south of South Boulder Road and is part of the Growing Gardens program. This site has a variety of plot sizes with beautiful gardens, a shade pavilion and picnic tables where we will have lunch.

Hostesses:  Marie Leslie, Bonnie Phipps, Jana Murphy

Carpool:  9:15 from the Meadows Shopping Center, north of Rite Aid.

Directions:  2344 Sandpiper Drive, Lafayette, CO 80026. Located between South Boulder Rd. and Baseline Rd., close to Waneka Lake in the Waneka Landing neighborhood. From Baseline Rd., turn south on Indian Peaks Drive at the light, turn left on Waneka Lake Trail and right on Sandpiper Drive. From South Boulder Rd., turn north on N. 95th/Courtesy Rd., turn right on Paschal Drive at the light, turn left on Sandpiper Drive.

Please bring a sack lunch.  Dessert, drinks, biodegradable plates, cups, and utensils will be furnished.

August 18, 2017, 10:00 a.m.

 Program:  Update Tour of Growing Gardens, 1630 Hawthorn, Boulder, CO 80304.

Growing Gardens is blessed by the generosity of the landowners, the Long Family.  The land is farmed by Long's Gardens which is a third generation, family owned and operated iris farm on North Broadway in Boulder, Colorado. Long's Gardens was founded in 1905 by J.D.Long. His granddaughter, Catherine Long Gates, and her husband Dennis Gates carry on the family business.

Hostesses:  Sandy Edmondson, Mary Stewart, Linda Blomquist

Growing Gardens strongly supports the preserving agricultural land and agricultural education and lease the east 11 acres of their property to Growing Gardens. This is the last remaining piece of agriculturally zoned land in the City of Boulder and we are very grateful to be able to call it home for Growing Gardens.  Our largest Community Garden (the Hawthorn Garden) is located here, as well as our Cultiva Youth Project, the Children's Peace Garden, our Able Garden and our 400 sq feet greenhouse.  Our own Lawrie Wilson will give us a tour.

New members and guests are always welcome!