Central Region
National Garden Clubs, Inc.

 

Click here to view the photos in the Sept. 2010 album
 

2010 Central District President’s Report

By

Cassandra Bates, 2010 President Bittersweet Garden Club

 

 

I’m Cassandra Bates, 2010 President of Bittersweet Garden Club. Our theme this year, Sharing Our Love of Gardening to Create a Better Community, was a true representation of our membership. 

 

Bittersweet actually began their year in October of 2009 by adopting the Lutheran Home as the President’s Project and planting 150 daffodil bulbs at the Home as part of the Golden Days Project. The residents enjoyed the beautiful spring display of color.

 

One of our highlights this year was winning the Mae Jean Nothstine Award for the Missouri club with the most innovative programs at the Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri Convention. We have had a wonderful year with some of the most interesting programs. Just to name a few: Forcing Bulbs, Animal Topiaries, Beekeeping, Creating Obelisks for the Garden, Water Gardening, Green Gardening featuring cowpots, plant exchange, and recycling a treasured garden item. Our final program will be fall wreath making with all natural materials from our yards and gardens.

 

Our largest money making project was our 12^th Annual Bittersweet Garden Club Tour of five beautiful gardens in the Jefferson City area on June 27, 2010.   Members worked for approximately 8 months in the planning of this tour from selection of gardens, printing of tickets, garden art creation, providing snacks and drinks, and gardening assistance in the selected gardens. In every garden this year, an artist painted the garden for the homeowner. This project allows us to provide $1500.00 in scholarships each year to students that will be pursuing a degree in horticulture, agriculture, conservation, forestry, fishes and wildlife.

 

Members also participated in an Upside Down Garden Tour again this year. An upside down garden tour is one where the member gardens that are toured need a few suggestions for improvement. The knowledge and talent of our members assists others that would like to take their gardens to the next level.

 

Our field trips included our annual visit to Vintage Hill to overload our cars in April with the finest plants Jeff has to offer, a trip to a lavender farm in Eureka, Missouri, and the Domke Prairie Garden Trust in August. We will conclude with a trip to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens in October for Best of Missouri.

 

Bittersweet members will participate in the annual Jefferson City Christmas Parade in December distributing perennial seed packets to our young Jefferson City residents. Plans are being made to dress garden club members in flowery attire to include antlers made of flowers. This plan is being met with some resistance that this President is trying to overcome.

 

As the club’s President’s Project this year, we adopted the Heisinger Lutheran Home. As mentioned earlier, daffodil bulbs were planted in the fall. In May of this year, 30 pink angelonia plants and 30 bubblegum pink wave petunias were planted for the “Plant it Pink” Project for breast cancer at the Home. This fall, wreath making is planned to create a fall wreath to be placed on the resident’s doors for holiday cheer.

 

In November and December our members begin the “party down” time of the year. After all the months of learning and hard work for the community, members participate in an auction to purchase items with their hard-earned Bittersweet bucks. They also donate items of canned goods to the Samaritan Center. At the December meeting a Christmas party allows for a fun gift exchange playing “Dirty Santa”.

 

We don’t want to give out too many secrets but I will give you just a hint. Bittersweet members will be presenting today at the end of the meeting concerning plans that are underway for a spectacular Spring District Meeting to be hosted by Bittersweet Garden Club, May 5, 2011. We are very excited about your visit to Jefferson City.

 

Bittersweet Garden Club has definitely achieved its theme this year helping to make Jefferson City a more beautiful community.