Our regular Thursday night meeting was held at the home of Jo and Gary Hunerdosse in Cedar Rapids. Again, it tried to rain on us, so we were welcomed into the Hunerdosse’s basement. There were 23 members attending. President, Monica Morley, called the meeting to order and we started right off with Jo telling us a little about their pond. Their pond is 4 to 5 feet deep and they did all the digging themselves. They had a little help finishing it off, but they did all the landscaping and now their backyard is alive with goldfish, Koi, a healthy crop of water lettuce, and numerous other water plants and wild life.
Member, Larry Thompson, introduced our guest speaker for the evening. Brian Hughes from Smith-Massman Landscape and Design came to talk to us about deer in our gardens. Brain spoke about different deterrents including the elimination of their favorite foods, sprays, fences, myths, and hear say solutions. Many members chimed it to say what worked for them and what they had tried and didn’t work for them. As with ponds, some things worked for one guy but not the next. It’s a frustrating if not futile endeavor for many members in high deer population areas.
Minutes were accepted as printed. There was no treasurer’s report to discuss. Treasurer’s reports will only be given at the last meeting of each month. Monica reminded members that they can get copies of the treasurer’s report anytime they wanted by just requesting them ahead of time.
The hospitality committee reported mailing out 46 new membership packets! Wow, that is some kind of record!
Monica reminded members of the “I Love My Pond/Garden Hat Contest” Everyone is welcome to participate with judging to be done at the Sept 23rd meeting. Prizes for all categories will be given away.
I, Jackie, introduced a new segment to the pond meeting. Something I’m calling “Pond Tech”. This will be a short (10-15 minutes) talk on pond related topics. I’d like to invite members to come forward with things they have tried or tested and have knowledge about and would like to tell members about or if you have something you’d like explained, please suggest a topic. . The first Pond Tech subject was Fountains and Aeration were I talked about the efficiency of each in relation to the amount of dissolved oxygen that they both put into the pond. “Pond Tech” will try to concentrate on more technical knowledge of ponding, but keeping it in a very short format so as not to bore or overwhelm anyone. This week’s topic spurred lots of questions and conversations, which is what it is designed to promote.
Monica handed out a nice hand out called Plants and Fish for members to take home and read. Ron Rife told members about a new Taro he purchased called a Taiwan Elephant Ear. He said it was a small bulb, but grew huge and was beautiful. Larry Thompson mentioned that if anyone wanted their water tested for total dissolved organics, he had the test kit and would do that for them. Dorothy Helms told the group that she was getting her whole pond redone. I spoke briefly about the upcoming Brucemore Landscape and Garden show and our booth that we always put up. I asked for volunteers to help with that. Carol Sindelar mentioned to members to mail or email Josh updated pictures of their ponds for our web site.
Meeting was adjourned. Bob Geers’ name was drawn as pond person of the month to be featured in the newsletter. Door prizes were drawn for with Sharon Weiss, Pat Beuter, Kathryn Durnan, Maria Hamilton, Kacy Novak, Larry Thompson, Dorothy Helms, Dennis Sindelar, and myself all being lucky winners. Elena Murillo won the big prize of submersible lights! Cake, ice cream and goodies were served by the host and hostess. Yummy…
Respectfully submitted, Jackie Allsup
August 26th 2006 4 PM
The pond club gathered at the pond of Robert and Roberta Ward in NW Cedar Rapids. There were 23 members attending. The Wards built their pond themselves and acknowledge that all of the rock, tons, they hauled in from a farm field near Coggon. Besides the stream and waterfall in the very sunny pond area, it had a very nice Water hibiscus that solicited quite the discussion. Sharon Weiss reminded members not to add Hibiscus to the pond until it had started growing in the spring or it will rot. Roberta also had a variegated bearded Iris grown in a pot in the pond. Very nice.
The speaker for the evening was Linn County Master Gardener Kevin Habel. Fall planting of Bulbs and Fall Cleanup was the topic and although the sun was too bright to view his slides, they presentation was still interesting and affective using handouts.
Treasurer, Joe Olsen was present and able to answer all questions concerning the treasury. No problems and the balance is $4502.
Old Business: Remember the hat contest for the next meeting. (Information is available in this newsletter)
New Business: Sharon Weiss was curious why the expanded membership lists that are available (shows memberships covering several years) did not go back to the beginning. Monica explained that there was no intent to not be inclusive; this was just what was available when it was printed. Nancy Baldwin was the source for the list we have. She acknowledged with some digging, a complete list could be created.
Ron Rife brought a picture of wife Edna and dog Spencer next to a Thailand Giant elephant ear. He sent away for the plant and it came in a 3-inch pot. He called the company to complain, thinking it can’t possible grow big from this tiny start. The company said, just repot it and stand back. So he did. WOW.
Ponds problems & Questions:
Monica shared that she accidentally left the hose running in her pond for 3 hours and panicked that the fish would die. She added a whole bottle of water conditioner. Everything was OK, no deaths. She was curious as to whether she needed to panic. Members shared their stories of forgetting the hose, some with sad ending and others with happy endings. There were no consciences as to why some were ok and some died.
Reminder: Brucemore is September 9th and should be another great event. The speaker is from the program The Victory Garden.
Door prizes and winners were:
Tetra Pond Dyna Mag 750 pump – Pat Beuter
OSI Blueberry Koi Food – Monica Morley
OSI Orange Koi Food – Rosie Michel
Tetra Pond Floating Koi Sticks – Ron Rife
Pond Care Algae Fix – Dennis Sindelar
Pond Master Koi & Pond Food – Robert Ward
Wardley Pond Stix – Joe Hall
Jungle Binox – SJ Taylor
Jungle Start Right – Jo Hunerdosse
Jungle Fungus Clear – Herman Michel
Wardley 3 in 1 – Elena Murillo
Tetra Ponds Aqua Rem – Dorothy Helms
Midor Green & Grow – Eileen Serbousek
Respectfully submitted
Carol Sindelar
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