The Flower Lover’s Garden Club had their May meeting of 2026 with 36 members in attendance at Whitlock Hall of St. John’s Church, 212 S. Greent St. Mary Glass attended as a guest on May 6. A delicious lunch was provided by the hostesses; Janet Linton, Heidi Gobreski, Karen Patton and Janet Hook. A delicious assortment of fruits, veggies, cheeseball and desserts were served. Colorful table decorations included vases of flowers donated by the membership. As part of the community outreach, the flowers were taken to Hickory Creek Nursing home at the conclusion of the meeting.
President Denise Ducharme convened the meeting at 1 p.m. and introduced the speaker, Dr. Kathy Steele. Steele presented a program on photographing flowers. Steele began by explaining that she has, but no longer uses her “big” camera, and finds her cell phone camera does just fine. She shared the rule of thirds and shared samples of “good” and “better” photos. It doesn’t matter if you are taking photos of flowers in your backyard or Amsterdam, the process is the same. Caution is recommended when including unnecessary background clutter and usually can be remedied by changing your position or zooming in to capture a closer look. Sometimes being too close to an object can create a parallax, or distortion of the figure. Muting the background brings clarity to the focal point and can create photos that include details like the bees buzzing around flower petals. From shooting photos in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Kathy learned to find something positive, and took photos of a lilypond with blooming flowers. “Filling the frame,” another technique, was suggested as a way to add visual interest and focus on details. Kathy emphasized the value of taking numerous photos with your phone and then editing and deleting. She encouraged everyone to get outside, go for a walk, take pictures of flowers and have fun!
Items of discussion were as follows:
1. Priscilla Zachary and Janet Hook agreed to chair the “Garden of the Month” for June, July and August. This event is traditionally held during the year when there is no garden walk.
2. A sign up sheet was circulated for the June third trip to Lavina’s. Denise sent directions and other info via email and reminded members to meet at 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Dunham’s store. Lunch at Lavina’s at 11:30 a.m. then onto a presentation at King Bee and afterwards a visit to the Country Corner Garden Center. A sheet was also circulated for those wishing to attend the July first trip to Sugar Creek Daylily Farm.
3. Denise reminded members that the August meeting will be a picnic at Milligan park and the annual plant/garden item auction.
4. The Garden Walk of 2027 now has co-chairs, Shari Patton and Belinda Grimble. Kathy Leafgreen and Nancy Shoemaker have volunteered to be on the committee. The group will be tasked with finding 8 or 9 gardens to be featured in 2027.
5. Two King Tut Papyrus plants were given as door prizes, won by Margie Staten and Belinda Grimble. Surprise lily bulbs were donated by Jan Hook and available for members to take home.
Downtown Planters update by Terri Trinkle (committee members include Diane Fairfield and Shari Patton)
1. Terri Trinkle reminded members who tend downtown pots to have their plantings in before Mother’s Day. Terri also said she will be stepping down as the Downtown Pot coordinator in 2027. A replacement will need to be found by August/September of 2026 in order to select and order spring flowers for 2027.
The next meeting will be June 3 with a field trip to Lavina’s, King Bee and Country Corner Garden. The hostesses will be; Shari Patton, Karen Cook, Emily Toomey and Kezia Blackwell.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
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