Atlanta Botanical Garden
HOSTESSES: Shelby Drinkard, Jo Phelps, Harden Powell and Nancy Powell
CALL TO ORDER: Mary Huntz
Mary called the meeting to order and offered condolences to Mariea Sibley and Karin Brown following the passing of James Sibley. She also offered condolences and sympathy to the family of Harden Powell, Jo Phelps, Nancy Powell and Shelby Drinkard who lost a father, grandfather and family member last August. Mary announced that Mimosa members are welcome to make contributions to the club in someone’s honor. Please contact treasurer Julie Harlan to do so.
GUEST SPEAKER:
Jinny Keough introduced Caroline Leake, Executive Director of the Southeastern Horticultural Society and her assistant Jenny Fleischman. Caroline presented on the many programs the SHS is currently offering including several community gardens in low-income areas. She also announced their upcoming October fundraising event, the 2015 Visionaries of Design Awards. Mimosa presented SHS with a contribution to support the community gardening programs.
NEW MEMBERS: Mary Huntz
Mary welcomed our new members, Jessica Brown, Mary Ayers Griggs and Molly West, and thanked Mandy Culpepper and Marianne Craft for hosting the recent luncheon in their honor.
DUES: Sarah McElroy
Membership dues ($50) are due and can be payed to Sarah McElroy by check or online. Checks may also be mailed to Sarah at 3512 Paces Valley Road, 30327.
SPEECH SCHOOL GARDEN: Terri Alston
Terri reported that the Speech School Garden has received a tremendous facelift and that many of the school’s faculty and staff have expressed their thanks for the updates. The total cost of the project was $11,853.10, which included needed repairs to the irrigation system. We have hired Solterra to provide monthly maintenance to the garden for $240 per month. All of these expenses were covered by the Speech School account which is funded by donations from Mimosa each year.
We will still have scheduled workdays in the garden and will coordinate with Solterra to determine what needs to be done.
QUARRY GARDEN: Parker Tekin
Parker shared the following updates on the Quarry Garden from Sarah Roberts:
Trails have been mulched with wood chips to help with low wet spots. The stone staircase has been pressure-washed to eliminate slip hazards. Sarah Roberts has received the propagations of the Franklinia tree and she has many small plants growing for us to help plant on an upcoming workday. They have been working hard to stake floppy tall plants, pull weeds and keep everything watered following the July drought. There is an upcoming Georgia Perennial Plants Association workday to assist with English Ivy and hog peanut removal.
AMARYLLIS PROJECT: Leslie Morgan
In the absence of the flower show, we will be moving forward with the Amaryllis Project. There will be two options this year: receive the entire kit or just the bulbs. The sign-up sheet was passed around and will be available again at the October meeting. Bulbs and kits will be delivered at the November meeting and there will be prizes for the most outstanding Amaryllises.
GARDEN PARTY: Emily Ferguson
Emily announced that the Garden Party will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at the home of Rae Knox. The party will have a May Day theme.
NEW WEBSITE: Margaret Warren
Margaret announced that the new and improved Mimosa website is now up and running. Each member may sign in using a user name (first letter of first name and full last name, no spaces) and password (home phone number with dashes). The many improvements to the site include online voting, a printable member directory with photos and email links, access to news and announcements and meeting minutes and link to pay dues.
A reminder was given that the online pay option automatically adds a late fee to dues paid after December 1st.
If you have not had your photo taken for the online directory, please have it taken at the October meeting or upload a photo to your profile on the site.
OTHER BUSINESS: Mary Huntz
- The Fuqua Lecture at the Atlanta Botanical Garden will be held October 6th from 7pm – 9pm.
- A handout providing tips on growing garlic was provided to each member in attendance.
HOSTESS SIGN UP: Mandy Culpepper and Marianne Craft
Mandy created a new hostess chart for 2016-2017. Please sign up for hostessing duties or a date will be assigned to you.
Mary thanked the guest speaker and hostesses and awarded the door prize, a dozen free range eggs from her farm to Sarah Clarke, and the meeting concluded for lunch.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharena Hall