Correspondence may be directed to:
Rainier Garden Club
P.O. Box 492
Rainier, OR 97048-0492
For more information call: 503-556-0978

2007-2008 Program Schedule
Date	Program	Presenter
Aug 1, 2007	Fall & Winter Container Gardening	Debra Grauman, All Season Garden Center
Sep 5, 2007	Getting to Know You & Plant Exchange	Kathy Rinck, Rainier Garden Club
Oct 3, 2007	Propagation of Plants	Neighborhood Nursery
Nov 7, 2007	Hillside Landscaping	John Corey, Serenity Ponds
Dec 5, 2007	Christmas Wreath Day	---
Jan 2008	No Meeting	---
Feb 6, 2008	Plants for Birds & Butterflies	Diana Wallin, Rainier Garden Club
Mar 5, 2008	New Plants for Your Garden	Brian Tsugawa, Tsugawa Nursery
Apr 2, 2008	Native Plants of our Area	Scott Edwards, Watershed Garden Works
May 7, 2008	Following Spring Up the Hill	Marvin Kellar & Larry Rea
Jun 4, 2008	Annual Potluck & Awards

Rainier Garden Club dues are only $7.00 per year!

Guests are always welcome...

The club offers opportunities for members to learn practical horticulture and gardening from each other and from guest presenters at the club’s monthly meetings, as well as during several field trips during the year.

The club was organized originally in 1945, and is a member of the Pacific Region of National Garden Clubs, Inc., and the Pioneer District of the Oregon Federation of Garden Clubs.

Members maintain the flower beds at the “Welcome to Oregon” sign at the foot of the Lewis and Clark Bridge; present annual floral displays at the Rainier Public Library and the U. S. Post Office; make and distribute evergreen swags to seniors and others at Christmas; provide white flower arrangements for the annual Rainier High School awards ceremonies; and offer horticultural scholarships to graduating high school seniors.

The club has sponsored installation of a “Blue Star Memorial” to honor American servicemen and women, and a granite park bench in the City’s Riverfront Park.

The club finances its projects primarily from annual dues of $7.00 per person, and from the proceeds of its annual pre-Mother’s Day plant sale.

The club meets at 9:30 a.m. on the first Wednesday of each month, except January, at the Rainier United Methodist Church, First and C Streets.

The Rainier Garden Club (RGC) is a member of the Pioneer District of the Oregon Federation of Garden Clubs, and a member of the Pacific Region of National Garden Clubs, Inc. RGC was organized originally in 1945; disbanded in 1964, and reorganized in 1983. It has been in continuous operation since.

Links

Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs

Columbia County Master Gardeners

Pacific Northwest Lily Society

Hardy Plant Society of Oregon

All Season Garden Center

Eden Arts Center

Tsugawa Nursery

Gotcha Koi Farm & Water Garden Center

Evergreen Terrace Gardens

Shooting Star Lavender Farm

Directory of Area Nurseries

Learn about the

Pacific Northwest Lily Society

Committee	Chair/Alternate
Bird and Butterfly	Kathryn McGee
Blue Star Memorial & Patriotic Trees	Mandy Davis
Budget	Shirley Bartholomew
Community Service	Vona Williams
Days in the Park Parade	Lori Arnhold
Field Trips	Hallie Lahti
Financial Review	Vona Williams
Greeter-Roll Call	Cleo Morgan, Joan Hackathorn, Keitha Vincent
Historian	Mary Keith
Hospitality	Sally Yule
Librarian	Mary Keith
Monthly Plant Sale Table	Diana Wallin
Newsletter	Hank Bartholomew
Post Office Display	Phyllis Haas
Program Planning	Cleo Morgan, Keitha Vincent
Publicity	Sue Drummond
Scholarship	Kathy Rinck
Sunshine	Doris Riffle
Telephone	Shirley Cantrell
Ways and Means	Cleo Morgan, Keitha Vincent
Welcome to Oregon	Kathy Rinck
White Flowers	Kathy Rinck
Yearbook	Kathy Rinck

Cherries are a sweet but fleeting joy

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

The Oregonian

Cherries can be the heartbreaker of the fruit world -- sweet, beautiful, voluptuous even, yet here and gone in an instant. Unlike just about every other fruit, you really only find cherries when they're in season locally, so eat them while you can.

Look for: Firm fruit is the single best indicator of flavor. Cherries should be neither rock hard nor spongy. Unlike some other stone fruit, cherries won't continue to ripen once they're picked and they lose flavor as they soften. Colors vary from shiny dark red (sour cherries for pie and some early sweet varieties) to deep purple-black cultivars, with glistening, quartz-like skin.

All things being equal, the darker the hue, the better the flavor. Stems that are bright green indicate the freshest product, but a dark or wizened stem doesn't necessarily portend bad fruit. The skin of the best fruit will be clear, without a matte or sticky finish. If the cherry is soft, it will likely have insipid flavor.

Cherries are gauged by what is called "row size," a historical remnant from the time cherries were packed in boxes called lugs. The ripe cherry drupes (single-seed stone fruits are called drupes) were then (and are still) measured by the number it took to pack them side by side and fill one "rank" (row) in the lug. So, a 9-row cherry is large and a 12-row is small. Figure about 50 unpitted average cherries to the pound.

Keep your pets and yourself safe ─ use natural weed killers

Here are some recipes for all-natural weed killers.

Vinegar. This solution will kill broadleaf plants as well as grass plants so be careful where you spray it. Mix together 3 parts vinegar to one part dishwashing liquid. Spray the mixture in a narrow stream on the weed's leaves and the base of the plant.

Boiling Water. Boiling water will kill any plant and seed it touches. Just pour it on the plant, being careful not to splash on any desirable plants.

Alcohol Mix. 1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol with 1 liter of water. Spray the mixture on the weeds thoroughly but lightly. This will kill all plants, so be careful of where you spray it. For tougher weeds, you may need to increase the amount of alcohol you use.

Board of Directors (Effective June 1, 2007)
President	Sue Drummond
Co-Vice Presidents	Keitha Vincent and Cleo Morgan
Secretary	Kathy Rinck
Treasurer	Lori Arnhold
Co-Past-Presidents	Hallie Lahti & Diana Wallin