Pauline Lee

At our December meeting, we enjoyed a beautiful, tasty and fun potluck brunch, and our president Diane Beatty presented a donation check of $300 to Neighbors Who Care. Carol Bowers, Volunteer Services Coordinator for NWC, accepted the check. In our January meeting, our speaker Ilene O’Meara, a master gardener and a resident of Oakwood, taught our members the basics to pruning our plants to produce naturally-looking plants that will grow better and more healthy, even in case of freeze or frost damages. With proper pruning, we can maintain our plants with less water and less pruning. Then on January 24, we took a field trip to explore Desert Horizon Nursery in Queen Creek; afterwards we had lunch at Baci Italian Bistro. Our tour of the nursery was led by Chuck, their volunteer horticulturist.

On February 21, our speaker will be Marylou Coffman. Marylou is a founder and curator of the Rose Garden at Mesa Community College (Dobson and Southern). She is a master Rosarian and a master gardener and a judge for “Horticulture,” “Arrangement” and “Photography” of roses for the American Rose Society. Marylou will share new varieties with emphasis on roses that flourish in Arizona. The Mesa Rose Garden is a also a testing garden to determine which varieties thrive in our climate. Marylou has 150 roses in her own yard in Gilbert.

Sun Lakes Garden Club meets at 9:00 a.m. on the third Tuesday of every month at Sun Lakes Chapel Center, 9240 E. Sun Lakes Blvd. (located across the street from the Sun Lakes Country Club and next to the Sun Lakes Chapel). Visitors are welcome. If you want more information or are interest in becoming a member of the Sun Lakes Garden Club, please call 480-540-8080 or visit our website at www.sunlakesgardenclub.com.