Quail Valley Garden Club

Pilgrimage: April 11, 2013

Our pilgrimage to The Arborgate in Tomball was a long awaited journey. For me, and many I spoke with, it exceeded what we expected . . . and our members' smiles after our talk by Linda Gay as well as the herbal light lunch and talk provided by the Chef . . . it was just nice. The plants, books, and garden art stock as well as staff know how is vast. With the educational programs many nursery operations are now providing, it is a real asset to the Houston area.

You'll notice the coats mid day, this was not the average mid-April day. In fact our expected speaker was unable to get from Huntsville to Tomball because of hail and rough weather the night before. Linda Gay, former head of Mercer Arboretum, filled in. She was great. Knowledgeable, practical, experienced with the ability to communicate our program on natives and "understory" trees and their importance in the garden and for water conservation.

Linda was not only a gracious speaker, since leaving Mercer Arboretum, she works part-time at Arborgate helping the customers with her knowledge of gardening on the Gulf Coast. You can see from the the background how beautiful and interesting The Arborgate is.

It is quite involved, not just with helping the public incorporate better water conservation into their gardens with natives and well-adapted plants, but also in the research and demonstration testing of "Earthkind Roses," which to become an EarthKind (TM) rose requires years of testing to meet stiff criteria.

Linda Gay found an excellent Cecile Bruner rose specimen and is showing it off in the photo above. On Saturday, they were getting ready for a giant EarthKind (TM) rose event with Gaye Hammond who spoke to our Quail Valley Garden Club in January 2012. Truthfully I'm not much of a rosarian because of the pesticides, fungicides and care needed for conventional roses on the Texas Gulf Coast. EarthKind (TM) roses dramatically reduce those needs, as Gaye Hammond put it at our meeting, "the need to live your life with a Hudson Sprayer."

 

Our talk on using herbs from the garden prior to a fresh-herb lunch.

 

The Arborgate has plants for every taste and includes complete information about their requirements.

The spring merchandise at Arborgate and the displays were just inspiring . . . and got everyone in the mood to get their gardens in shape. Many of us visited areas two or three times just to get a feel for what was available.

Our pilgrimages and field trips give us the opportunity to better get to know people in our club--just walking around, even shopping you learn more about others and her interests.

Every year I try to car pool with people I don't know. It's fascinating to learn their garden interests and past times so you know who to call if you have a question about her passion.

 

And questions about passions . . . The Arborgate is a wonderful resource and inspiration. Visit their website to learn more. Or better yet, visit the nursery!

If you would like to learn more about EarthKind(TM) roses as well, press here . . .it's an exciting project that we are very fortunate to have people from Houston involved.

 

March 14, 2013 Meeting

Anytime we enter a meeting with many pretty plants, there's excitement in the room!

And we had lots to be excited about today . . . seeing friends, meeting new people, having two of our favorite Speaker's return, Odean Head and Merrill O'Neill, yes, there's excitement in the rooom! But add to that our special Arbor Day event to be held at City Centre . . . people were pumped.

 

Somehow, President Barbara Thompson called the meeting to order,
and Jackie Walker provided some inspiration.

 Program chair Sharon Wright first introduced Odean Head who is a fixture in the Houston and international bromeliad scene. Today he provided us with years of wisdom not only about dwarf bromeliads, but reacquainted us with some of his mounting techniques.

 

Odean Head and his special dwarf bromeliads.

 Merrill O'Neal, known for his knowledge of tropicals, then brought some special tropical plants from Zone 9 nursery in the Heights as well as some of his mother's green roses . . . we had more "stump the band" fun with the plants. Zone 9 specializes in tropical plants and flowering tropical jewels. Fragrant and colorful plants for your your garden or greenhouse. I took pictures of each of the tropical jewels and planned to tag pictures with names. . . then I discovered their website. They post the latest blooming plants in their collection. Visit their website!

Merrill was in the international shipping and has literally traveled the world finding exotic plants. He and Odean, for example, designed and set up an exhibit on the tropical rain forest at the Houston Museum of Natual Science.

 

Merrill O'Neal (center) could hardly "set up" for ladies getting their names on plants "in advance."

Judy Belt, Marilyn Ellis & Ruth Anderson (l to r) in picture to left.

 

Velma Herrick, Pat Hardman, Linn Wells (l to r) in picture to right.

 

 

 

 

Mally Samee (left) is all smiles from two new acquisitions.

 

More bromeliads (right).

 

 

 

To see more of Odean Head's techniques and basics on bromeliads, click here for our Feb 2010 program.

Mr. Head also has many articles on the Houston Bromliad Society website.

See our first introduction to Merrill O'Neal, click here for our 2007 program with him!

Zone 9 Plants is in the Heights . . .713 863-0708
1015 Arlington St  Houston, TX 77008, They specialize in "tropical plants and flowering tropical jewels. Fragrant and colorful plants for your your garden or greenhouse." It's a visual treat to visit their website to see the latest tropical plants and blooms for sale. Very enticing!

And then we traveled to City Centre for Arbor Day 2013! See pictures and our story.