Whitehall Garden Club News: February

The Whitehall Garden Club held its first meeting for the NEW YEAR. Judy Chadwick and Karen Ranta regaled the club with a delightful and picturesque Valentine's buffet full of delicious muffins, yogurt parfaits, and other nibbles served with refreshing mimosas (virgin of course) to bring in the Club's NEW YEAR.

Ann Palmer presented the FAST TEN MINUTES with clever ideas about early planting seeds in a variety of home containers. We are all anxious to start planning our gardens and Ann's ideas were spot on to get the planting going!

The business of committee meetings began when President Kathy Ross started the official meeting. All committees reported and lots of ideas, new and old were shared. At the conclusion of the informative and fast-paced meeting, Laura Horn began her program presentation on "Flowers of the Southwest Desert.

Laura was raised outside of Phoenix in a small agricultural town. Her father was fascinated with the flora found in the desert, constantly changing from year to year, season to season along the weather, so Laura and her family spent a lot of time, the best times, out in the desert. Laura brought in 3 of the many, beautiful paintings her dad painted showing the striking floral colors of desert flowers.

If you're thinking a desert is boring, just sand and a few cacti, think again! The abundance of plant life, the brilliance of color, and the survival of specialized plants on minimal water is a beautiful display of Mother Nature's glory.

After Laura's presentation, the whole club wanted to take a field trip, especially after this year's wet winter in the deserts, to see all the flowers, plants, and cactus as they bloom creating a colorful masterpiece. Thank you Laura for sharing the magic of the deserts of the Southwest.