Minnesota Chapter North American Rock Garden Society

Modern European Rock Gardening

In collaboration with North American Rock Garden Society’s Traveling Speakers Bureau

PUBLIC IS WELCOME – See Calendar for Details

Fridley Library (see directions below).  Social time with refreshments is 1-1:30 p.m., followed by Betty Ann’s presentation.  The public is welcome.

Directions to the Fridley library from Hwy. 694:  Take Hwy. 694 to University Avenue.  Go north on University Avenue to Mississippi St. NE.  Turn right and go a couple blocks to 410 Mississippi St. on your right.

MN-NARGS is thrilled to be able to begin hosting events again. Our very popular public plant sale will happen again this year after a hiatus in 2020 – the year of COVID! Please come and find unusual, reasonably priced plants and connect with fellow rock gardeners. The sale will open at 10AM at the usual spot: Roseville Central Park at the Jaycees Shelter.

The plant sale and auction scheduled for June 6, 2020 is unfortunately canceled. Roseville has made the decision to keep all of the Park Shelters closed until the middle of June and they have cancelled our reservation. As a result, for the present, we need to cancel our public plant sale, which is also our biggest fund raiser, for this year. If you enjoy this event we encourage you to become a member as there are efforts underway to set dates for both our postponed evening Gala and also the Fall ‘Members Only’ plant sale.

SUCCULENTS!!

with Guest Speaker Kelly Kyllenon

   

Kelly is from Park Rapids, MN and has been owner of Kelly’s Cottage Garden for over 10 years. Kelly’s business specializes in custom work for homeowners and businesses, including succulent creations, wedding bouquets and many different types of hands-on classes.

We will meet at the Hilton DoubleTree (Radisson Hotel) in Roseville at 5:30 P.M. for socializing and dinner will begin at 6:00 P.M.

Please plan to bring a very nice donation for the silent auction.

RSVP by the first week of March to Barbara Tapper at barbt@westlunddistributing.com

The members plant sale is Saturday, September 14th from 10:00 to 11:30 AM at the Autumn Grove Park Building in Roseville, MN. Interested new members can come by and join up to participate.

After the sale ends there will be a potluck lunch and a brief members meeting to elect new leaders for the 2019-2020 year that begins October 1st and begin the process of revising our by-laws. We have the room and kitchen at Autumn Grove reserved until 2:00 PM so there will be time for socializing, eating and meeting new members!

Please plan to attend with great plants to sell and a dish to share.

The weather for this Saturday (March 9th) looks ominous and would certainly decrease the attendance at our planned meeting. As a result, the Board of Directors has decided to postponed the meeting by one week to March 16th. Fortunately, we can use the same room and our speaker is available on that date. So we will have our meeting (including the Board meeting) on March 16th at Hennepin Technical College in Room in B-120 (regular room). The Board meeting will be from Noon to 1:00 PM with the speaker to follow. Stay warm, stay safe, and plan to attend our MN-NARGS meeting on March 16th.

Please note that the January meeting has been moved from January 12th at Autumn Grove to January 19th at Hennepin Technical College!

Our speaker will be MN-NARGS member, Rick Rodich. Rick holds a B.S. degree in Horticulture/Botany from the University of Minnesota, and possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience growing all types of plants. Soil and water may not sound glamorous, but if you want to be a successful gardener growing alpine and other rock garden species, then you cannot have enough information about these two topics. The interplay between soil and water is critical to plant growth and reproduction, but also for plants susceptibility to extreme temperatures, insects and diseases. We cannot control the weather, but in a climate like Minnesota, providing the proper below ground dynamics can make all the difference between success and failure in growing something new. If you dream of expanding the variety of plants you can grow (honestly we are all in dreaming mode this time of year), then come learn from Rick how you can give your new plants the best chance of thriving for many years to come.

Things are finally slowing down a bit in the garden, and this post is clearly long overdue. The new fiscal year has started at our organization, and a new season of events has been posted. Please check back regularly for updates on all the details. At our September meeting we raised some money with our members only plant sale (another great reason to join), honored a longstanding member, Chuck Carlson, with a Chapter Service Award, and people volunteered for new roles to keep our organization rolling along.

Our October meeting will be a good one, so if you haven’t ventured into a meeting before, then this would be an excellent time to do so. New members (wanna be members can come and sign up on site) are especially welcome. Our speaker will be Marcia Tatroe from Colorado, who is on the NARGS national speaker tour coordinated by Panayoti Kelaidis.

Marcia was on the board of directors for Xeriscape Colorado for 5 years. A designer and avid gardener, her gardens have been featured in magazines and on television programs. She is a regular contributor to Fine Gardening and a columnist for Denver Post and Sunset.

Marcia is author of Cutting Edge Gardening in the Intermountain West, described as the first complete gardening book to cover the hot, dry, desert and plains areas of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Topics include: extensive plant lists for all areas, hardscape ideas using rock and wood, where to find garden art and how to use it to create your own regional aesthetic, as well as hundreds of practical suggestions to overcome the challenges of gardening in the Intermountain West.

You can learn more about Marcia at http://abundantearthgardens.com/marcia-tatroe/

Or just come to the meeting!

 

 

The plant sale is rapidly approaching! Please see the new time on the calendar. Members, now is the time to start put those extra divisions or seedlings in pots to bring for sale. We always have a wonderful selection of plants for both small space and traditional gardens, including alpines, rock garden perennials for sun and shade, grasses, annuals, hosta and shrubs. Members with extensive gardening expertise will be available to ‘Ask a Rock Gardener’ – stop by and go away with new plants and knowledge!

Saturday, June 2nd, from 10 AM to Noon. We will be at the Jaycees Pavilion at Central Park in Roseville.