May Meeting: Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Next Tuesday will be the first our three “eating meetings” for this year. Our first eating meeting will be hosted by Joy Stinger. Joy lives at 7639 Westmoreland Ave. in Clayton. Her house is at the northeast corner of Hanley and Westmoreland, just north of downtown Clayton. PLEASE RSVP to Joy at 314-862-0509 so she can plan the main course. We start eating meetings at 6:30 PM which gives us time to tour the host’s garden and eat before sunset. Please bring a dish to share such as an appetizer, salad, vegetables, dessert, etc. Each adult pays $5.00 to help offset the costs for the main course and beverages. Our eating meetings are a wonderful time to get acquainted with fellow gardeners and enjoy informal time together. Members, guests and the just curious are welcome.

Notes from your President:
We are sad to report that long time Garden Club member and past president, Bill Bowman, died Sunday, April 21, 2013. He had served as president of our club and also on the Board of Directors for the National Gardeners of America. He was a Gardeners of America accredited judge for both flowers and vegetables. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to Mary Ellen, his wife of 58 years.

Our April meeting speaker, Kathryn Jepsen, from Lion's Landscaping, did a WONDERFUL job of analyzing problem areas of several members’ yards. From photos submitted she suggested possible solutions, suggested helpful solutions and specific plantings. I hear Amby and Willie have already had their yards aerated as per Kathyrn’s suggestion.

Those of you who couldn't join us for the plant sale missed a fine spot of fun. Both Friday setting up and Saturday helping customers. Put it on your calendar now for next year....a not-to-be-missed event! Cheers! Mary Hazelwood

PLANT SALE:
Our plant sale was on a rainy, chilly Saturday---imagine that! We sold lots of plants in bursts of customers. As always, the best part was sharing time with gardeners; RHGC members and shoppers alike. The weather seemed to impact our overall sales. We had almost two pick-up loads of plants left that are being cared for by members. We plan to have a small sale at the Richmond Heights Art Fair on Saturday, May 18. We still need people to help tend our booth. We will have more details about time slots very soon. If you couldn’t help at the plant sale, you have a rare second chance! Contact Donna at 645-3943 if you can help.

The RH Children’s Library would like to have a couple volunteers for their “Dig into Gardening” summer event.

This runs from June 17 thru July 22 (6 weeks) during the pre-school story time at either Monday 6:30 to 7PM or Tuesday 10 to10:30AM. A representative of the club could engage the kids, for example: help plant seeds/ read stories. This is a really cute opportunity...contact: Kim at Library-- 645-6202

Click here for information about the first Richmond Heights Art Fair on May 18th

A final personal note: As Mary wrote in her president’s report, our long time member, Bill Bowman, passed away in April. We’ve lost a dedicated gardener, volunteer and friend. I met Bill and Mary Ellen when I joined the club in the mid 1990’s. At that time we had a number of retired gentlemen, and a few women, who had spent many years as perennial volunteers and devoted endless hours to the Richmond Heights Garden Club. The club has always held a personal affection for Mary Ellen as her father was a founding member of the club in the 1950’s. For many years Bill and Mary Ellen have kept our club archives. Yes, we have information and photos dating back many years!

Every spring, when the plant sale rolled around Bill and Mary Ellen arrived with dozens and dozens of plant donations including Bill’s famous herb starts. We had little need to pay for herb starts as the Bowman’s Styrofoam cup herbs were lined up like so many white soldiers. Bill was one of the stalwarts of our Gardening from the Heart project at Jefferson Barracks. More weeks than not, the group of RHCG men went to Jefferson Barracks to tend the flower beds and coax veterans to come outside, experience time in nature, share stories and get some well deserved extra attention.

As Bill got older, he retired from the hours of winter herb and seed starting. As I swept the floor two weeks ago at the plant sale, I thought of Bill. In the past few years he frequently took the broom from me and kept our messes cleaned up. As well as all of the activities mentioned earlier, Bill was a gardener’s gardener. Instead of the usual quote at the end of the newsletter, it is my personal request that each of us take a moment to think of him. Safe journey, Bill.