KEY WEST GARDEN CLUB !

Fall Newsletter ! ! ! !!2014! !

Message from the President What!a!sensational!quarter!!We!started!off!by!distributing!6,000!orchids!to!our!members,!MARC!House,!and!!Orchid!Society!members.!That!was!followed!by!hard!work!in!preparation!for!our!highly!successful!Fall!Plant!Sale.!!Two!balmy!days,!many,!many!Garden!Club!hands!helping,!and!a!marvelous!turnout!left!everyone!smiling.!!The!completion!of!our!new!Pavilion!Room!required!taking!a!new!look!at!the!landscaping!around!it.!!And,!finally,!we!hosted!a!dance!performance!by!Kayla!Piscopo!and!a!Fringe!Theater!production!with!our!own!Rosi!Ware!as!a!star.!We!may!be!the!best!garden!club!in!the!country!! !

Can!you!say!Trip%Advisor?!!Thanks!to!members!Kitty!and!Steve!Somerville,!the!Key!West!Garden!Club!is!now!#6!in!a!list!of!71!attractions!in!Key!West.!!Kitty!and!Steve!have!worked!hard!to!get!the!kinks!out!of!the!site.!Now!negative!comments!which!are!aimed!at!other!places!in!Key!West!are!removed!and!only!comments!about!our!Gardens!and!West!Martello!are!seen.!We!have!many!complimentary!comments.!Here is Robin Robinson and a Trip Advisor 2014 Certificate of Excellence awarded

to West Martello with 4.5 stars. We would also like to thank Karon Rzad and all the volunteers who have placed rack cards promoting our Gardens in the inns and hotels in the area. It all helps bring visitors to see our beautiful spot. As Robin mentioned, we were the conduit for many free orchids going to good homes after we were contacted by Jay Pfahl, president of the Orchid Society. An orchid nursery in Homestead was changing its business so some Club members and Orchid Society members drove to the mainland and picked up the orchids. Over a couple of weekends the plants were all gone. We did receive some donations too. A special thanks to Shirley Freeman and Harvey Server for their generous donation. This was a project that benefitted all. Jay Pfahl was also kind enough to loan us his amazing Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciousum, a huge orchid with five inch blooms. The Sultan of Brunei has his private jet carry his Tiger Orchid to orchid societies meetings.

Doesn’t this look like fun? Rene Robinson, Robin’s sister, taught a basket weaving course in October. It was a long day and lots of tired fingers but everyone was pleased with her completed handiwork. If you look closely there is a Buddhist monk in the background surveying the activities. He appears to be enjoying himself too. This was a very Zen experience. Hazel and Bob (“bring’em back alive”) Hans have been busy in many ways taking care of the Fort. They trapped quite a few chickens this summer. Peggy Coontz at Key West Wildlife Rescue was gracious enough to lend us a trap even though they are not giving them out to the general public right now. The chickens loved to dig up our gardens but are now happily ensconced on farms on the mainland. Working with Wildlife Rescue is a good way to keep the chicken population down at our Club.

Our first two General Meetings were held at 1800 Atlantic and that went very well Thank you to Robin Robinson, Hazel Hans and Mary LaDue for working out the details. Peter Kouchalakos, owner of PCK Orchid and Exotics spoke on the care and feeding of orchids and brought many beautiful plants. His is always a fact-filled talk. Orchids

love trees and Kouchalakos prefers hanging orchids without adding anything but a “meatball of orchid food.” Jeff Stotts gave a lecture on Hydroponic Gardening that was very well attended. This is a method of gardening that can grow food at DisneyWorld, on cruise ships, in space and in New Jersey as well as Key West. Now that covers a lot of territory!

TADA!! Our new Pavilion Room is almost complete. We had our first meeting there in December and it is wonderful. Lots of beautiful light and comfortable temperatures. It took a lot of cooperation between the County, the City, architect( Bert Bender), Barracuda Builders Construction Company and Garden Club volunteers.

Garden Chair, Rosi Ware, is very busy with improvements to the area so the gardens around the Pavilion Room will be as pleasing to the eye. But really, the entire Fort looks gorgeous with Rosi’s planning and all the wonderful volunteers encouraging

Mother Nature to keep the KWGC “spot on.” Art! Key West took place over the weekend of November 28th and the Key West Garden Club was a venue for the event. Kayla Piscopo, founder of Dance Key West, performed a dance number in our new room and it was a delightful piece. The Fringe Theatre also had performances of two of their plays which opened on December 3rd. Our Rosi Ware was in one of them and it was fantastic. The plays were put on in the courtyard and it turned out to be a perfect setting. I guess it is true that “All the world’s a stage….”

Well, our Garden Club once again “staged” a perfect November Plant and Art Sale. Here Sharon Thomas and Cynthia Edwards are making fertilizer “meatballs” which sold out during the event. Ron Hamburger, Bobbie Sauvageau and Margaret Nygren getting ready to move plants.

Steve Somerville doing heavy lifting before the sale.

Propagation’s Debby Crowley looking things over before we start. Sadly, Deb is moving back to Ohio this January She will be sorely missed. A positive note is that Debby was nominated to be this year’s Unsung Hero of the Garden Club. She graciously accepted but because of her move cannot attend the event. Her co-partner in Propagation, Kitty Somerville, will accept the award for Deb and we will take lots of pictures!!!

We had great attendance at our sale, including this little guy. The members of The Key West Garden Club should take great pride in the success of our Plant and Art Sale. This event brings all the community together and makes people happy. We sold lots of plants and did well with the raffle. We also sold lots at the food booth. Thank you to Danni Becker and Patti Rodriguez. Some were disappointed that we did not have our large yard sale but there is always next year…

None of this is possible without the help of all our volunteers and a heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you. A special note of gratitude to Patti Johnson (last year’s Unsung Hero) who donates her time to help with creative advertising.

FLORAL DESIGN Thanksgiving by the Sea

Conch Christmas

Holidays By the Sea Thanks to Ellen Engelson, Donna Froelich and everyone who helped with the decorations. The mimosas were a good incentive. It was lovely to have Fran Ford visit us that day.

Winter Luncheon Our yearly winter luncheon will be held at the Key West Yacht Club on Saturday, January10, 2015. It is always a favorite venue. You may arrive at 11:30AM. Lunch will be from noon to 2:00 PM. There will be a fabulous buffet along with a chance to catch up with all of your friends. The cost is $30.00 and you can make reservations on line by going to our website, keywestgardenclub.com Click on the luncheon button and follow the instructions. Or you can mail a check to Sue Sullivan at 1210 Watson St Key West 33040. If you drop off a check at the Club please be sure to write “Winter Luncheon” on the memo line. We wish all of our members happy, peaceful and healthy holidays. Be sure to bring your families and holiday company to visit the Fort and the gardens that you are such a big part of. The Fort is beautiful with its festive decorations – a different and refreshing part of Key West. Hugs and Peace, Sue Sullivan, Editor Thank you for photographs from Eloise Pratt, Robin Robinson, Lynne Bentley-Kemp, Sue Sullivan. Thanks for proofreading by Amalia Wagner and Joyce Drake. Look who came to see our Gardens!!