Muskogee Garden Club 2008-09 Year started today.

The purpose of the club is to provide an opportunity to meet new friends who are interested in plants and gardening. Speakers come to each meeting to teach, inspire and inform us about some aspect of making our natural environment more beautiful.

This year’s topics include America In Bloom, public horticulture at the Tulsa Zoo, shade gardening, seed starting, new trends in landscapes, curing plant diseases and Muskogee beautification projects.

The schedule of meetings below is an invitation for anyone interested in coming. Most of the meetings are held at the Kiwanis Senior Center at 119 Spaulding Blvd. in Muskogee.

Members serve as hostesses for each meeting so coffee and cake can be served at 9:30 a.m. This year, the business meeting will begin at 9:45 a.m. in order to give speakers time for their presentations. Meetings end by 11.

Muskogee Garden Club uses money wisely. All the money earned through annual membership dues, garden tour profits and the sale of garden gloves, is reinvested into the community.

If you drive down Chandler Road near the Okmulgee Avenue split, you will see one of the garden club’s projects. Members invested $1,000 in plants and amendments and the members donated a few hours of sweat equity to make the accessibility garden beautiful.

A thousand tulips are purchased and planted by club members every January on downtown Broadway St. Members also have planted pansies and summer flowers in the beds for the past few years.

The club awards annual scholarships to local college students majoring in horticulture. Trees are planted in the Muskogee Honor Heights Park Arboretum in memory of garden club members.

On June 13, 2009, the club will hold its garden tour in the Country Club area of Muskogee.

The public is invited to attend all meetings. Membership dues are $20 a year.

• Today, Cindi Cope — “America In Bloom.” Cope is the Chair of Fayetteville, Ark., America in Bloom. On the board of Northwest Arkansas Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, chair of the City of Fayetteville Tree and Landscape Committee.

• Oct. 16 — Jay Ross, “Who Knew, Plants at the Zoo.” Ross is horticulturist for the Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum, vice president of Association of Zoological Horticulture Inc.

• Nov. 20 — Russell Studebaker, “Beyond Hostas - Other Sociably Accepted Shade Perennials.” It is a one-hour slide program. Studebaker is a professional horticulturist, freelance garden writer, speaker, garden book author and garden columnist for the Tulsa World newspaper.

• Dec. 13 — 11 a.m., Christmas luncheon at Golden Corral

Jan. 15 — Martha Stoodley, “Start With Seeds - A Hands-on Introduction to Seed Starting.” Stoodley is Master Gardener, garden writer and former president Muskogee Garden Club.

• Feb. 19 — Michael L. Hazen, “Hot Trends in the Landscape: What’s New for 2009 Gardens.” Hazen is vice president, marketing, Berry Family of Nurseries. Berry family is the owner of Zelenka Nurseries, Tri-B Nursery, Park Hill Plants and Trees Judkins Nursery wholesale nurseries plus retail Sanders Nursery in Broken Arrow and Inola.

• March 19 — Matthew Weatherbee, “Top Five Solutions for the Top Five Garden Problems.” Weatherbee is a plant enthusiast and owner Blossoms garden center, 3012 E. Hancock. Information: 351-8384.

• April 16 — Mark Wilkerson, “Current and Planned Projects.” Wilkerson is director Muskogee Parks and Recreation.

• May 21 — 6 p.m., picnic and membership drive, Honor Heights Park.

Blossoms Garden Center Muskogee

Lora and Matthew Weatherbee, owners of Blossoms Garden Center in Muskogee gave me a peek into the greenhouses today. Over the next few blog entries you will get to see what's growing and will be available March 31st when Blossoms opens for the season.

One of the plants, Diamond Frost Euphorbia from Proven Winners has exceptional heat and drought tolerance and is said to produce a nonstop cloud of airy white blooms. The plant has already won 38-awards in its short life.

Horticulturist Tim Wood said on his gardening blog, The Plant Hunter (click to read), "The small white flowers are so abundant that the cumulative mass of flowers creates a beautiful show akin to Baby’s Breath. What is most remarkable is that this plant bloomed from the day I planted it until the day I had a heavy frost in my garden. It is a blooming machine."