THERE IS NO CLUB MEETING IN AUGUST - STILL SHELTERING. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN SEPTEMBER.
Don’t have a green thumb? Do plants wilt in fear when you stare at them? Are you guilty of multiple counts of herbicide in the first degree? You’re not alone, but we can help. Our revamped website, https://garden.scaclub.org, is crammed with useful resources for everyone and even includes two huge benefits for members only. First, are you new to our club and/or a transplant from out of state? Are you clueless as to how to grow the desert landscape plants that you inherited when you bought your house? Beginning next month, when Club members place an online request for a House Call, two experts from our House Call Committee will visit their garden, identify plants and offer advice on how to grow them -- with absolutely no charge and no tipping. How cool is that?! The second new feature is the Gardener’s Marketplace, an online way to donate, buy, and sell plants and garden-related products here in Sun City Anthem. To take advantage of either or both of these, you must be a member (to join at a bargain-basement price, see below). We expect to begin House Calls by September 1, 2023, so watch this space!
We shelter from the heat again this month but resume our program on September 11 with a talk on growing herbs by Master Gardener Glenda Bona, who has recruited a panel of six other Master Gardeners to explain different herbs and how to grow and use them. They will also show us how to make herb sticks. Everyone in attendance will go home with an herb stick for free. On October 9, we’ll be traveling by coach to the beautiful botanical gardens and museums of Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. Bring your camera for great photo opportunities. You can sign up for the trip on our website (see address above). Rounding out the year, in November Master Gardener Gail Brandys will talk about dangerous toxins in some plants and the environment to keep you and your pets out of the ER. And then in December, those misunderstood and underappreciated cycads (“sago palms”) in your yard and their beastly, R-rated sex life will take center stage.
The Garden Club meets in the Morris/Nelson Rooms of the Independence Center from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on the second Monday of each month except July and August. Free coffee, tea, and cookies are available from 9:00 a.m. Dues are only $10/year, payable exactly to: Sun City Anthem Community Association, Inc. with “Garden Club’ on the memo line. Residents may attend two meetings as guests prior to joining at any meeting. Enrollment forms are also available at the Anthem Center kiosk and on our new website and can be placed in the Garden Club mailbox located outside Anthem's Fitness Center along with your check payable as above. Feel free to email any questions about the Club to its president, Dr. Alec Pridgeon (apridg1@gmail.com). We are all here for you!