Today was a terrific meeting. It is always good to start a meeting with good food and this club knows how to cook.

After the pot luck was over, we had a brief business meeting:

This meeting will be our spring pot luck and an open discussion forum / Q&A session. Bring your questions, garden winners & losers, gardening suggestions, etc. to the [...]]]> SMMC has scheduled an open-house on the date of our meeting. As a result, we are moving this meeting to Sunday, April 28 at 11 AM.

This meeting will be our spring pot luck and an open discussion forum / Q&A session. Bring your questions, garden winners & losers, gardening suggestions, etc. to the meeting. As this is our pot luck. Bring your favorite treats to share with the rest of the club.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Paul

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 SMDHS photography contest. Category winners win $10 in auction bucks and the grand prize winner receives and additional $25 in auction [...]]]> It was great to see everyone after this long winter. Welcome to the new faces that came in this morning. We hope to see you back again.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 SMDHS photography contest. Category winners win $10 in auction bucks and the grand prize winner receives and additional $25 in auction bucks. The auction bucks can be used at our club auction in June.

Thank you to everyone who submitted the beautiful photos!

• Category 1, Single Daylily Flower

  Ted White, Big Red Wagon

  

• Category 2, Hosta – Single Flower or Leaf

  Ed Norton, Peppermint Ice

  

• Category 3, Daylily – Multiple Blooms

  Pat Boissonneault, Ashwood Hearthside

  

• Category 4, Hosta – Multiple Blooms or Leaves

  Eliza Soeth

  

• Category 5, Landscapes – TIE

  Peter Rich
  

  Ed Norton
  

• Category 6, People and Critters

  Lee Harvie
  

• Best In Show: Ed Norton, Peppermint Ice, Category 2

Members will bring photos to the contest to the meeting on March 16. All entries must be received to the Photo Contest Chair by 10:00. Entries must meet the following requirements:
Photos must be a maximum of 5”x7” in size.
Photos must not be matted [...]]]> This contest is open to all SMDHS members.

Members will bring photos to the contest to the meeting on March 16. All entries must be received to the Photo Contest Chair by 10:00. Entries must meet the following requirements:
Photos must be a maximum of 5”x7” in size.
Photos must not be matted or framed.
The category, name of the photographer and the name of the cultivar should be written on the back of the photo.
Photos should not contain any names, copyright marks or other information that would indicate the photographer.
Members may enter up to 5 photographs in each category.
Categories will be as follows:

• Single daylily flower
• Single hosta flower or leaf
• Multiple daylily flowers
• Multiple hosta flowers or leaves
• Landscapes
• People or critters

The contest Chair will number the photographs and place them for display by category. The Chair may remove a photo from a category if it does not meet the description of the category. Members will be given a ballot and will be allowed to vote on the photographs.

Votes will be tabulated and winners will be announced.

Winners from each category will also be judged “Best in Show” by the membership in a separate round of voting.

Prizes will be:
Category Winners: $10 in Auction Credit for the June Auction
Grand prize: $25 in Auction Credit for the June Auction.

Link to Bill’s obituary in the [...]]]> I am saddened to report that our good friend Bill Alley passed away this week after his long struggle with leukemia.  Bill was one of the founding members of SMDHS and he will be missed.  Our prayers are with Louise and the rest of his family.

Link to Bill’s obituary in the Morning Sentinel

First we had a bit of business to attend [...]]]> Thank you to every one that attended our annual business meeting and holiday party on December 1. We also had 5 new members at the party this year. Our club has had a great year and this was a great way to end the 2012 season.

First we had a bit of business to attend to…We held our annual business meeting. The current officers were nominated for another 2 year term and were approved unanimously. We then reviewed the club’s finances. Our balance is lower than when we started the year, but we spent more at the Lobster Classic than we brought in. That event was a lot of fun and we learned a couple of things to at least keep us even for next year. The last item of business is the date for the March meeting. When we selected the date, we did not realize that it was Easter weekend and it also turns out to be an Open House weekend at the college. So, we will verify dates for the other societies and select a new date for the photo contest.

Following the boring business stuff, we played a few rounds of Bingo. Winners won SMDHS Auction bucks to use at our June Auction and a gift certificate for Rockhaven Daylilies.   We then broke into the buffet of wonderful food brought by the members.    We finished with our annual Yankee Swap.

Thank you all for a great year!  We hope your holiday season is safe and fun and we look forward to seeing you in March for our annual photo contest.

Paul B.

We will hold our annual business [...]]]> Saturday December 1st is our annual SMDHS Holiday Party. For those that are new to our club we have a Yankee Swap Gift exchange ($15 limit), and we bring in all sorts of appetizers and desserts to enjoy. So please come join us! Doors will be open by 9:30.

We will hold our annual business meeting before the holiday festivities start.

Now to give you an opportunity to get in on the savings, Pat B. will be ordering from Naylor Creek. They are having an Early Bird Special. Besides hostas they also have Arisaemas, Trilliums and Epimediums If you want in on this please contact Pat Boissonneault or see Pat at the Holiday Party. She will need your order and payment by Dec 1.

The Nominating Committee put forth the list [...]]]> Our garden clean up was canceled because of the rain so if you have any free time and would like to come and help chopped down the daylilies come on down. You just need to bring your favorite tool and just leave the pile off to the side.

The Nominating Committee put forth the list of officers for election at next month’s business meeting. Nominations were Paul Bourret for President, Pat Boissonneault for Vice President and Leslie Barteaux for Treasurer. The terms will be for 2013 and 2014.

Next our 2013 Calendar has been set. Please check our website www.smdhs.info for up coming events.

CLUB ORDER

As we do every year our club purchases plants from several different vendors for our auctions.

For the daylilies we try to highlight Region 4 hybridizers. So this year we will be ordering from Brent Ross of Cottage Gardens http://daylily.net/gardens/cottagegardens/index.htm
Chris Weitz of Gladsome Gardens http://www.daylilyfriends.com/weitz2012.htm

For hostas we will be ordering from Naylor Creek http://www.naylorcreek.com/ If you want to order through the club from Naylor Creek…. I will need your order and money by Saturday December 8.
Rob Mortko from Made in the Shade Gardens http://www.hostaguy.com/ Rob will be one of our Guest Speakers next year for our Lobster Classic.
Bob Solberg from Green Hill Farm https://www.hostahosta.com/Rlist.html
–
Pat Boissonneault & Paul Bourret

Following the garden work, we will have our [...]]]> That nip is in the air again. Please help us to get the display gardens ready for their winter naps. We will give all of the daylilies a haircut and evict any weeds. Clean-up will run from 8:30 – 10:30 (or earlier if we finish sooner).

Following the garden work, we will have our Fall Soup Social pot luck. Bring your favorite soups, salads or deserts to share with the rest of the club.

I look forward to seeing you all there!

Paul

We will have a social hour from 10-11 then Cheryl [...]]]> This Saturday, our meeting will host Cheryl Rick, Professor of Horticulture at SMCC. Her topic will be Botany for Gardeners. This will be a hands-on presentation and we will be using the biology labs at the school to learn more about how plants work.

We will have a social hour from 10-11 then Cheryl will speak.

I think that this will be a very interesting program for all gardeners. Look forward to seeing you there.

Paul