Bella Vista Garden Club

WELCOME 

If you are interested in gardening in Northwest Arkansas, you have come to the right place.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Next Meeting of the BVGC will be January 24th

at the Bella Vista Community Church

75 E Lancashire Blvd, Bella Vista, AR 72714

Social time 9:30 am and the Meeting at 10 am 

Program: Butch Tetzlaff, owner of the Bluebird Shed - PowerPoint Presentation "The Birds of Bella Vista"

Artistic Design of the Month

Horticulture: Tony LiCausi will speak on "Seed Catalogs - My Top 5 Choices"

Visitors are Always Welcome to Attend the Meetings

MOST RECENT ACTIVITIES

The Christmas Party was a Huge Success

December 6th, 2023

Table at the Hickory Inn, Bentonville, AR

The Stunning Table Decorations

The Raffle Items

The Raffle Drawing

Special Thank You Gifts

We’re grateful to each of these club members for all they do in support of our club. 

Upper Left: Sue Santori was recognized for her efforts leading the Beautification Committee especially with the daffodil bulb sales and plantings.  Sue and her committee recently planted 500 daffodil bulbs at Bella Vista’s new Public Safety Building.

Upper Right: Geri Hoerner was recognized for her dedicated efforts with the Bella Vista Community Television Program.  Geri has served as producer and host of the Bella Vista Garden Show on BVCTV since 2010.  She announced that the program is going to change in two ways.  It will now be called the Gardening Show, and it will be expanded to include coverage for all of Northwest Arkansas, with program content developed by the Bella Vista Garden Club and the Benton County Master Gardeners. 

Lower Left: Cathy Downard was recognized for the many things she does.  The latest was serving as administrator for Sign-Up-Genius and getting the program launched.  This application simplifies the recruitment of volunteers for various club activities/projects. 

Lower Right: Julie Okeefe was recognized for her exemplary work in handling special events for the club.  She made the arrangements for both our Spring and Holiday luncheons, designing all table decorations and individual favors for each event.  Additionally, she helped wrap 51 raffle baskets for the recent card party and she continues to serve on the plant sale committee.  Although Julie just joined the club in 2022, she has helped with a wide variety of club projects.

Social Time

The Yummy Lunch

Bentonville Chamber Choir with Conductor

Lovely Music with Such Great Voices

BVGC Honors Sue Mank

Geri Hoerner (left in photograph) attended the Garden Club of Rogers meeting where the Bella Vista Garden Club honored Sue Mank with a Penny Pines Certificate. 

Geri also gave them our pop tabs to include in their collection which will benefit the local Ronald Mc Donald house. 

Daffodil Bulb Planting

at the Public Safety Building in Bella Vista on 11/29/23


Bella Vista Garden Club members planted bulbs using power drills with auger attachments.  

Daffodil Bulb Sale was a Success

Allen's Food Mart

60 Sugar Creek Ctr.,  Bella Vista AR 72714

Saturday November 18th - over 1,000 bulbs sold.

Daffodil Mix for the South

and 'Bella Vista' Daffodils

The Garden Club Members

Ready to Sell the Beautiful Bulbs

Beautiful Day to Sell

'Bella Vista' Daffodils

 Crystal Bridges Bulb Planting held 11/11/2023 

Thanks to Steve Brusso, Bob and Teresa Poulseen for assisting with planting 'Bella Vista' Daffodils on the grounds at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  The CB gardens will provide another beautiful spot for enjoying the colorful flowers next Spring.   

2024 Plant Sale Prep

Joal Miller, Plant Sale Chairman, reports that the plant sale group started working on our coleus cuttings!  We have a number of “mother” plants that we’re taking cuttings from that we will root and eventually pot up in our one gallon pots. We will then nurture them through the winter and have them ready for you at our April 20, 2024 sale!   Mark your 2024 calendars and stay tuned for periodic updates on the “ baby” coleus.

Update 11/25/23 from Joal Miller: We have lots of cuttings with lots of roots so potting them up is just around the corner. They’ll be big and full by the time of our sale April 20th. We have over 12 varieties of coleus to choose from!  Will continue to keep you updated on their progress along with the tomatoes and zinnias once we get them started in early 2024.

BVGC Card & Games Party

Thank you to all the workers who made the Card Party a success.  This charity fundraising event was held on Friday, October 27, 2023 from 11:00am to 4pm at St. Bernard of Claivaux Catholic Church, 1 St. Bernard Lane, Bella Vista.  

The lunch, raffles, and games were enjoyed by all.   

If you would like to be added to the email list to receive advance notification of the party and when registration opens next year, send an email indicating your interest to bvgccardparty@gmail.com.

Table setup, kitchen workers, raffle baskets and items and donor poster.

The party

Garden Therapy

Brought Lots of Smiles!

October 10th 2023, a fun garden related craft project was taken to residents at Concordia Catered Living in Bella Vista.

October 17th 2023, a garden related craft project was taken to residents at Brookfield Assisted Living in Bella Vista.

The Bella Vista Yard of the Month Program will Return in the Spring

The Bella Vista Garden Club promotes and rewards exemplary yard care in Bella Vista and recognizes neighbors who demonstrate above-average efforts in maintaining their property, which contributes to the overall appearance of the community at large.


All homes and businesses in Bella Vista are eligible. Nominations are for the front and side yards jointly. One yard is chosen each month by members of BVGC who select the yard that best exemplifies uniqueness, beauty and curb appeal.  Nominate a yard today via email: portillo.jb@gmail.com. Please provide the address and the homeowners name if known.  All nominations will be in the running for future recognition.

September 28th, 2023 Bella Vista Memorial Garden Cemetery Work Day

Sixteen volunteers came out on a beautiful Fall morning to clean up the cemetery’s garden beds for winter.  Cemetery committee co-chairs are Mary Doyle and Patti Brierly. 

1. Pictured L to R: Nanette Prewitt , Pat Meyer, Kathy Pannell

2. L to R:  Deidre Cheney, Janet Conboy, Marilyn Russell, Jeanie Talbott.  

3. Pictured L to R: Bottom row, Beth Ward and Debbie Reeves.  Middle row, Dagmar Roeder, Jan Grim, Rosalie Mikelson, Patti Brierly, Penny Bossert, and Mary Doyle.  Back row Steve Brusso.

City Codes Relative to Landscaping in Bella Vista

Taylor Robertson is a Senior Planner in Community Development Services for Bella Vista. She has been reviewing city codes relative to landscaping within city limits. Taylor has initiated code modifications to ensure the planting of trees in new home construction when lots are cleared for the building of new homes. 


She is also working to ensure that city codes do not prevent the planting of native plants in residential landscaping.  Recently, Taylor met with Marilyn Russell and Lou Jasper in the BVGC native plant bed to see how native plants can be beautifully incorporated into residential landscapes—especially when paired with annuals to provide continuing color as natives complete their bloom cycle.

Garden Club Feature on KNWA

Dory Hammeke and Jamie Townsend Hooper  had the privilege of being guests on the KNWA “Summer Road Tour” segment which featured Bella Vista. We had the opportunity to share what the Bella Vista Garden Club was all about. We were interviewed by the lovely Anna Darling and met Dan Skoff, the Chief Meteorologist and Josh Rugger, Weather Forecaster!  

Veterans Wall of Honor

This just in from Steve Brusso  (click the arrow)

With the main parking area closed for “construction”, there isn’t much pedestrian activity at the Wall of Honor but I want to share a few pics of our beds.  That last 4” of rain has resulted in a pretty good growth spurt for our plants.  Dory has been kind to mention our beds in our August news letter. It is appropriate for me to mention others that have made significant contributions to this endeavor.

It certainly does take a village.  Fall planting is planned for early October…I’m looking forward to this.

AFGC Meeting

The Arkansas Federation of Garden Clubs held their mid-year meeting recently at Fairfield Bay, Arkansas.  Six members of the Bella Vista Garden Club were among the more than 80 garden club members from across the state in attendance.  The theme of the meeting was “Stepping Back in Time”.  Representing both BVGC and Floralia were Linda Neymeyer, Geri Hoerner, Beth Kastl, and Mary Doyle.  These Floralia members, along with Ginny Vance and Dory Hammeke of the Bella Vista Garden Club, assisted the Northwest District in hosting the event at the Fairfield Bay Conference Center.  Floralia members helped Ann York, Chairman of the Mid-Year meeting, by providing beautiful table decorations and floral arrangements in keeping with the retro theme. 

 

During the meeting, the Bella Vista Garden Club received the following awards:

L to R Attendees -- Mary Doyle, Dory Hammeke, Beth Kastl, Linda Neymeyer, and in the front row L to R - Ginny Vance, and Geri Hoerner, 


Dory Hammeke received other awards for the Club.

R  Geri Hoerner -- received an award for Digital Media Presentation (The TV Show).


Linda Neymeyer receiving first place award for weeping hemlock horticulture submission in the petite flower show

Beautification Committee

Sue Santori, Beautification committee chair, and her committee worked at the Bella Vista sign on July 19, 2023.  

Helpers included Virginia Halman, Cathy Downard, Deidre Cheney, Eric Johnson, Dory Hammeke, and Dave.

Big Perennial Sale

was a huge success.


We had a wonderful weather and a great turnout of customers.  Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the club and thanks to all the members who worked so hard to make this sale great.  Check out some photos of the sale by Sue Santori  in the Image Carousel.


If you need to add to your landscape, don’t miss our sales.  Plant sales are our major source of fundraising which translates to our U of A Horticulture Scholarships as well as the local Charitable Donations the BVGC makes every year.  


Be sure to watch for our sales on this website and Facebook.  

The National Garden Club's Path of Success 

Roughly 1/4 mile long, the Path of Success will be a walking path located on the grounds of NGC's headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri and will link to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, spreading more awareness of NGC than ever before. This project will also serve as an educational platform, showing the rich history and mission of NGC.

Linked below is a form for regions, districts, clubs, affiliates and individuals to purchase a paver to be installed in the NGC Path of Success.

A second form to donate to this project is also linked below.

We thank you for your participation in this exciting new project!

GARDENING TIPS

It’s a good idea to include native plants in your landscape. 

Native plants are already acclimated to conditions in your area and, therefore, require much less maintenance, plus they feed and shelter local wildlife, birds, and butterflies. Not every plant native to the United States is native to a particular zone. Take zone 6, for instance. What hardy native plants are suited for USDA zone 6? Read on to find out about zone 6 native plants. Growing Hardy Native Plants for Zone 6 The selection of zone 6 native plants is quite diverse, with everything from bushes and trees to annuals and perennials. Incorporating a variety of these into your garden fosters the ecosystem and local wildlife and creates biodiversity in the landscape.

The selection of zone 6 native plants is quite diverse, with everything from bushes and trees to annuals and perennials. Incorporating a variety of these into your garden fosters the ecosystem and local wildlife and creates biodiversity in the landscape Since these native plants have spent centuries adapting to local conditions, they require less water, fertilizer, spraying, or mulching than those that are not indigenous to the area. They have, over time, become accustomed to many diseases as well.

This is a partial listing of plants suited for USDA zone 6. Your local extension office will also be able to assist you in choosing those that are suited for your landscape. Before you purchase plants, be sure to ascertain light exposure, soil type, the size of the mature plant, and the purpose of the plant for a selected site. The following lists are sectioned off into sun lovers, partial sun, and shade lovers.

Sun worshippers include: 

Native plants for USDA zone 6 that thrive in partial sun include: 

Shade dwellers native to USDA zone 6 include: 

Looking for native trees? Look into: 

Read more at Gardening Know How: Zone 6 Native Plants – Growing Native Plants In USDA Zone 6

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/gardening-by-zone/zone-6/zone-6-native-plants.htm

LINKS OF INTEREST

New Links

New Link:  National Garden Bureau - This site has a multitude of gardening information and you can sign up for their Newsletter.

New Link: How to Grow your own Butterfly Garden  - This page has a step by step guide to build a butterfly garden.  The site was suggested by a student in an alternative learning program.

New Link: Toxic Pesticides - This page on the ConsumerNotice.org site has a lot of information on toxic pesticides outlining the different types and how to protect yourself from their negative effects.

"A garden is a love song, a duet between a human being and Mother Nature."

Jeff Cox
Artistic Touches by Cathy Wayson