• President's Message
• Friends of the Club Near and Far
• Garden Club Program - Marlene Finley
• Firesmart Landscaping Resources
• Upcoming Events
• Cultivating Friendships
• Succulent Gardens
• Beyond the Trowel
• Rainy Day Reads
• Caring for Birds During the Cold Months
• Garden Creatures and Where to Find Them
• Lessons from the Garden
• Hidden Messages - Floriography
• Dirt on Our Roots
• Look What's Sprouting at the OIGC
• Member Raffle and Meeting Door Prize
• Exciting Upcoming Programs
• Made You Smile
• Membership Update - Here we Grow!

Orcas Island Garden Club

presents

Marlene Finley

Creating a Fire Resilient Landscape

at the Orcas Center and via zoom



NEW! Join us for coffee and social time at 9:30 before the program starts at 10:00 am ~ and remember to bring things for the sharing table!

Did you know that the San Juan Islands Conservation District partners with the fire districts in the Wildfire Ready Neighbors Program?! If you have forestland (any size), you can schedule a free forest health consultation with Cathi Wining of the San Juan Islands Conservation District. She would be happy to connect with our members if they are interested! Below are some of the great sources she forwarded to us.

Fire Smart Landscaping

SJICD Wildfire Preparedness

SJICD Forest Stewardship

Join Gabe Epperson for a public lecture that explores the why and how of land conservation in the islands. Together we’ll look at the reasons conservation matters for our communities, how the San Juan Preservation Trust decides which properties to protect, and how this work happens through partnerships, land acquisitions, and community support. Registration Required.

Get your book now at Darvill's or through the library and join us for our next discussion about The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries From a Secret World. Evangeline O'Sullivan will be facilitating our discussion.

Author, Peter Wohlleben argues that trees are social beings that communicate, cooperate, and have complex lives, much like a human family. The book explains how trees support each other by sharing nutrients with struggling neighbors, warning each other of danger through chemical signals, and using a fungal network beneath the forest floor to connect and exchange information. By highlighting the scientific discoveries behind these processes, Wohlleben reveals how forests create a protected social network that fosters long-term health and resilience.  

If you have questions about the Book Club please reach out directly to Adrienne at adrienne.ewalker@yahoo.com

Michael Readey's Gardening Story

Interviewed by Robin Sullivan

Michael Readey (pictured right) is a new member of the Orcas Island Garden Club, having recently relocated to Orcas full-time in the summer of 2024. He and his wife, Mary Beth, moved from Boulder, Colorado, where he taught at the University. Now that he is retired, he can focus more of his time on gardening and in particular, gardening in the PNW.

We love these spring flowers at

Michael's Orcas home!

What plants can you identify?

Click the 'Read More' button to continue learning his story.

Where Water is Scarce, Beauty Still Blooms

by Robin Sullivan

When I travel, I am inevitably drawn to gardens—those quiet sanctuaries where human imagination connects with the will of the earth. I’m especially captivated by gardens that must contend with limitation: where drought dictates design, just like in parts of my own garden. Drought-tolerant landscapes speak of resilience, adaptation, and artistry shaped by nature. One of the more inspiring examples I’ve encountered is the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California—a living testament to how passion and perseverance can transform a barren landscape into an icon of botanical innovation.

Ruth Bancroft was born in Berkeley, CA in 1908, and by 1938 she had married and moved to a 300 acre farmhouse in Walnut Creek, CA. She was an avid gardener even in her youth, and although the climate and soil of her marital home was completely different than the one she grew up in, she fashioned a garden that was rooted in the romanticism of traditional cottage gardens—lush with roses, hollyhocks, and other water-hungry blooms. But life on the Bancroft family’s walnut farm, where the land offered little more than dust and drought, challenged her to reimagine what a garden could be.

In 1950, she purchased her first succulent—a modest potted Aeonium—and unknowingly began a lifelong pursuit. What started as curiosity blossomed into obsession: Bancroft began collecting and cultivating water-wise plants, experimenting with their forms and resilience in a series of small greenhouses scattered around her home. And as the farm gradually gave way to suburban development, she preserved three acres for her vision—a garden that would celebrate the sculptural beauty of arid-climate plants.

Rather than rely on instant landscaping, Bancroft planted small, one-gallon specimens, allowing them to adapt naturally to the challenging environment. Over time, her garden evolved into a textural masterpiece—less a riot of color than a symphony of form, line, and shadow. Today, visitors wander paths lined with towering aloes, spiked agaves, architectural yuccas, and clusters of silvery Echeveria, each plant telling a story of endurance and design.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden endures as more than a garden—it is an autobiography written in the framework of drought and light, a testament to how beauty can flourish precisely where it is most hard-won.

The Genius of Birds ~ A Book Review

Reviewed by Adrienne Walker

Chickadees are the cutest birds - prove me wrong! I grew up surrounded by black-capped chickadees and of course here on Orcas where many of us live we have chestnut-backed, but did you know there are actually 5 types in North America? And yes, they’re all adorable. But, I admit I never really thought of them as unusually intelligent. True, they’re often the first to find a new birdfeeder, and certainly they are smart enough to realize that I am no danger to them, unlike many birds that will scatter if I get too close.

Then I got to page 40 of Jennifer Ackerman’s fascinating book, “The Genius of Birds”, and read this: “the high, thin whistles and complex gargle calls of chickadees…have been parsed by scientists and declared one of the most sophisticated and exacting systems of communication of any land animal.” OF ANY LAND ANIMAL! As an example, the well-known ‘chickadee-dee-dee’ actually means they see a stationary predator, and the number of ‘dees’ indicates the size of the threat. Add that to the fact that they’re able to stash away seeds in thousands of different places over the course of a summer and can remember exactly where they all are for 6 months - they are doing far better than I am, given how often I lose my keys. 

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” Maya Angelou

Chickadees are just one of the many examples Ackerman uses to demonstrate the wonderful ways in which birds are far more intelligent than we’ve historically given them credit for. Not surprisingly there are myriad examples from the Corvid (crows and jays) family: by now I think we’ve all heard stories of their abilities with tools, but she details how baby crows raised in captivity learn to make basic tools on their own, while for more complex tools they need to ‘apprentice’ with adult crows. It can take them more than a year of training to consistently create tools that help them feed themselves.

A November morning chill is in the air and as I look out my window, a handsome downy woodpecker is diligently foraging for tidbits of food. The birds are finishing off the last bit of seeds from sunflowers, echinacea and grasses. This time of year, I always start worrying about the birds. I remember visiting Kim Middleton’s garden when I asked her the controversial question about whether we gardeners should or should not feed the birds. Some say that bird feeders are a bad idea since it negatively alters natural behavior like migration and foraging. But Kim’s answer delighted and saddened me. She said, “I feed the birds because they need all the help they can get”. 

SEED

Keep your feeders filled. To protect from the cold, birds need a high calorie, high fat birdseed mix. Black oil sunflower seed or blends with black oil sunflower seeds are excellent choices. Ground feeding species, like doves, juncos, sparrows, and towhees, need a space free from cats that might prey so they can eat safely.

SUET

These little cages of joy can be hung from just about any sturdy branch and will delight chickadees, woodpeckers, warblers and wrens. In the fall, birds eat suet to increase their body weight to prepare for migration to their wintering areas and those that stick around will also store body fat in preparation for winter.

NECTAR

Hummingbirds are known to feed between 5 to 8 times every hour and consume half their weight in sugar daily. Please feed your Anna's Hummingbirds year-round because they don't migrate! Check your feeders often to ensure the nectar hasn't frozen. Specialized heaters work well too to keep the liquid food from freezing.

WATER

Birds need water to survive just as we do, but unfortunately, water is often forgotten. Provide fresh water and when temperatures are freezing, change the water when necessary. Running water can often help.

SHELTER

Birds will be taking shelter during freezing nights. Add dry grass, wood shaving or even dryer lint to your bird houses to help your birds stay warm. Help preserve natural habitats like decaying logs. Evergreens and dense shrubs give shelter and plants with berries supply nutrition for them to enjoy.

A Homemade Craft for Feathered Friends

by Laura Walker

Try making your own homemade seed ornament to show your appreciation for these feathered friends and give them a little love back.

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups Wild Birdseed
• 3/4 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1 Envelope Unflavored Gelatin
• 3 Tablespoon Corn Syrup
• Cookie Cutters, Parchment, a skewer stick, twine and a little love

In a large bowl mix flour, water, gelatin & corn syrup to form a smooth paste. Slowly add birdseed until fully coated. Place well oiled cookie cutter molds on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Press mixture firmly into molds. Using a skewer stick, create a good sized hole about 1/4 inch at the top of the ornament. Let dry for 3-4 hours. Carefully remove from molds and allow them to dry overnight. Use twine to make hangers and place them outside and watch the magic happen!

A Season of Waiting

by Suzette Lamb

I’m not good at waiting. It’s more than impatience. It’s the wondering—will the thing I’m waiting for really happen? Will it happen the way I expect, or hope?

As a still-novice gardener, I’ve moved through the stages of building my botanical confidence. When we moved to Orcas, we hired a permaculture consultant to teach us what, where, and how to plant for our location on the island. Then she became less hands-on, and we ventured out on our own, choosing plants and placing them where we thought they’d do well.

At first, we bought fully grown potted things, then “starts” when we began growing food. Finally, last year, I had the courage to plant seeds—which stirred up my strained relationship with waiting. My worry softened when those bright green buds poked through the dirt in pots and raised beds (even if they didn’t always produce).

But this past weekend, I came face-to-face with real waiting: I planted bulbs.

I had painstakingly ordered the species (lily trees) and colors (purple and hot pink, of course) that I imagined would brighten our landscape. Even that involved waiting—they took months to arrive. When the box finally came, I read the directions, then waited again through a stretch of steady rain to plant them. When I finally did, I wrestled with both the rocky terrain and my own decision-making factors: sun, shade, voles, water, temperature, proximity to other plants. Thinking through every possibility wasn’t exactly waiting—but it felt like it.

Once planted, I felt satisfied but oddly unexcited about how they’d look next year. I realized I was holding back hope, protecting myself from possible disappointment. Looking back, I can see all the protective behaviors—overthinking, self-doubt, unrealistic expectations, and lack of self-compassion—all in service of avoiding disappointment. And yet, every season I’ve been delighted and surprised by what blooms and thrives.

Imagine if I could plant that anticipation—the delight itself—instead of worry and doubt. That’s my goal this season: to allow waiting to be hopeful, and to enjoy whatever emerges in its own time. Where are you being asked to wait this season?  

Hidden messages in flowers are conveyed through floriography, the "language of flowers," where different blooms and colors symbolize specific meanings. This practice, popularized during the Victorian era, uses floral arrangements to communicate emotions without words, with examples including red roses for love and yellow roses for friendship. Here's your chance to study up since this will be the subject of next month's OIGC presentation...

Match the flower with the message!

A. Lavender

B. A Striped Carnation

C. White Tulip

D. Sunflowers

E. A Single, Thornless Rose

F. Daisies

G. Yellow Pansy

• Remembrance of happy times.
• Adoration, loyalty, and happiness.
• Innocence, purity, and new beginnings.
• Serenity, tranquility, and devotion. 
• Love at first sight.
• "I'm sorry, I must say no".
• Forgiveness.

Be sure to check next month's newsletter for the answers!

Answers to last month's challenge...

1.) Lithophyte - a plant that grows on rocks or in sandy soil

2.) Cernuous - nodding; flowers with curved or drooping pedicels

3.) Emersed - raised out of or above water

4.) Pulverulent - powdery, covered in fine bloom, dusty

5.) Jardiniere - ornamental stand or container for plants (usually used indoors)

Branching Out

by Perri Gibbons

It seems that back in the day the SJI Garden Clubs made a lot of social visits between the islands, and it’s both charming and nostalgic to read about these get-togethers. I found some more info about that iconic hat photo widely shared.

“Hats that Bloom in the Spring Tra, La” was the theme when the Orcas Island Garden Club entertained the Friday Harbor and Lopez Garden Club on May 24th [1961]. Members of the Orcas Island Club made hats: pretty hats, novelty hats..and downright ridiculous hats, one for themselves and one for a visitor. Each guest drew a number and took the hat with the corresponding number. [If I were participating I would have ROCKED that big white daisy confection!]… Lunch was served in the dining room of Norton’s Inn [anyone heard of it?] Madelyn Dwyer sang some of her delightful songs [Bring back some singers!]

Then, on June 7th, 1961 the OIGC accepted an invitation to the Shaw Island Club: “They were met at the ferry by courtesy cars and taken to the beautiful home of the Fesenden’s at Neck Point…for a delicious lunch. Pictures were taken, some with a Polaroid camera, which is so speedy that the pictures were presented on the spot to the Orcas Members”. I think these are the speedy Polaroid photos from that visit.

Visit to San Juan:

“ All who made the trip to Friday Harbor to accept their hospitality on June 2nd [1966] report a wonderful time with a delicious dinner, and tour of many beautiful gardens. Grace Grantham of the Orcas Club brought home one of the prizes of the day. These exchanges of club activities are always fun and so much appreciated.”

Visit to Lopez:

“Members of the Orcas Island Garden Club will be traveling to Lopez Island for their May 25th, [1983] meeting. The group will visit Arbordourn Farm …to see the methods and results of organic gardening. At the Howard Cold farm, the club members will see the water conservation method of drip irrigation.”

“The enjoyable trips around the [San Juan] Island, the buffet lunch… and gifts of May baskets, the lovely musical number to our departure on the ferry” [I want to be serenaded as I leave islands!]

“The Lopez Garden Club entertained ….a luncheon at Ebb’s Tide. …The placecards were very cleverly made of seaweed and shells”

I know Laura Walker and Robin Sullivan recently made a visit to the Lopez Island GC and were glad to get some fun new ideas for the Club. I hope we can arrange a few get-togethers with our neighbor gardeners soon. The words from the 1961 author ring true today “These interisland visits create a warm feeling between the various clubs”.

We’ll take a break from old history, and for next month’s installment, we’ll be visiting Holiday Happenings through the years.

Have some stories? photos? Share them with us! Contact: Perri Gibbons

Orcas Isle Cidery Visit with Lisa Pederson

Members of the Orcas Island Garden Club visited Orcas Isle Farm for a special afternoon of tasting cider, a walk in the cider orchard, a cider facility tour and ended with a delicious cheese tasting from The Goat & Co. Each part of the tour was coupled with one of the ciders for guests to sip while learning and touring the farm!

A beautiful collaboration between the Orcas Isle Farm and The Goat & Co., thank you for making this event happen!

Bee Cocoon Harvest & Store Workshop with Tony Suruda

Members of the club and the community gathered at the library to learn all about taking care of mason bees so that they can aid us in our orchards and gardens. We opened up reeds, carefully lifted out the cocoons, cleaned them and stored them. We saved nearly 200 bees that day!

Sandora and Regent, winners of the bee tube hotel!

Completely Arbortrary Podcast and Author Presentation

A fun collaboration materialized when Ingrid Mattson along with Laura and Robin were finally able to convince Casey and Alex to visit Orcas and tell us a thing or two about PNW Trees. It was a hoot!

Here's a link to the YouTube video:

https://youtu.be/WPss7h-Z4Rs?si=hjbd1rA2dHedXRN0

Library Gardening in the Pouring Down Rain

Five hardy and generous souls met at the adopted library garden to plant 105 spring bulbs. Everyone had so much fun, even though we were pelted by falling rain and whistling wind. Here is a picture of some of the flowers we expect to come up next year as well as some smiling faces below!

Sowing and Growing Native Wildflowers Workshop with Eliza

The SJC Orcas Master Gardeners and Orcas Island Garden Club teamed up together to host local expert Eliza Habegger. She explained how to grow native wildflowers from seed in containers and directly in the ground. We learned that growing native plants helps pollinators, biodiversity and climate resilience. There were 38 in attendance and after the presentation, all were encouraged to take wildflower seeds to start at home.

In case you missed it... Check out the fun picture memories from Dahlia Day!

Extra special thanks to Michael Yeaman for capturing the fun and activities that day!

Our October lucky door prize winner, was Leith Templin, who won a potted orange Chrysanthemum.

Come join our presentation for a chance to win a plant from Market Garden!

At each monthly meeting, all guests joining us in person are entered for a chance to to win a door prize!

Congratulations Janet Marlow! Janet won the November raffle and is just thrilled to win the book, The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes by Robin Lee Carlson

Monthly Member-Only raffle winners are chosen at random from a list of current garden club members. Remember to renew or join the club to join in this fun contest! To see if you are an active member, contact Karen Hiller.

The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes

by Robin Lee Carl

About the book

When the nature reserve at Cold Canyon went up in flames—a casualty of California’s raging fire seasons—Robin Lee Carlson embarked on a five-year journey to learn the legacy of the burn. Spurred by scientific curiosity, Carlson’s deep digs into the natural history of this fire-swept ecosystem unearth mind-bending revelations about nature’s wild wisdom. Her transformative story of fire as a force for renewal underscores what scientists are urgently working to understand: that in California’s wildfire ecologies, fire functions as an elemental power that does not destroy the diverse habitats of California, but regenerates them.

• December 10: Kimberly Wilder, The Language of Flowers & an English Tea Party
• January 21: Carol Miles, Growing Vegetables
• February 18: Peter Guillozet, Ponds and Ecology
• March 18: Kate Yturri, Insects
• April 15: Brenna Estrada, Pansies
• May 20: Nina Foster, Roses



Do you enjoy reading the monthly OIGC newsletter?

How can we make it better?

We'd love to hear your feedback, comments and suggestions.

Thank you in advance!

It's not easy bein' green and seen

and wondering how Sandra's Snail is fairing...

2025-2026 Membership to date: 202

This year, we have a few free memberships available to those in financial need. Please reach out to our membership and we would love to help you.

Please contact oigcnewsletter@gmail.com if you encounter any technical issues regarding accessing the newsletter. Thank you!

• President's Message
• Garden Club Program
• Friends of the Club Near and Far
• Upcoming Events
• Cultivating Friendships
• Succulent Gardens
• Beyond the Trowel
• Rainy Day Reads
• Caring for Birds During the Cold Months
• Garden Creatures and Where to Find Them
• Lessons from the Garden
• Hidden Messages - Floriography
• Dirt on Our Roots
• Look What's Sprouting at the OIGC
• Member Raffle and Meeting Door Prize
• Exciting Upcoming Programs
• Made You Smile
• Membership Update - Here we Grow!

Orcas Island Garden Club

presents

Marlene Finley

Creating a Fire Resilient Landscape

at the Orcas Center and via zoom



NEW! Join us for coffee and social time at 9:30 before the program starts at 10:00 am ~ and remember to bring things for the sharing table!

Join Gabe Epperson for a public lecture that explores the why and how of land conservation in the islands. Together we’ll look at the reasons conservation matters for our communities, how the San Juan Preservation Trust decides which properties to protect, and how this work happens through partnerships, land acquisitions, and community support. Registration Required.

Get your book now at Darvill's or through the library and join us for our next discussion about The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries From a Secret World. Evangeline O'Sullivan will be facilitating our discussion.

Author, Peter Wohlleben argues that trees are social beings that communicate, cooperate, and have complex lives, much like a human family. The book explains how trees support each other by sharing nutrients with struggling neighbors, warning each other of danger through chemical signals, and using a fungal network beneath the forest floor to connect and exchange information. By highlighting the scientific discoveries behind these processes, Wohlleben reveals how forests create a protected social network that fosters long-term health and resilience.  

If you have questions about the Book Club please reach out directly to Adrienne at adrienne.ewalker@yahoo.com

Michael Readey's Gardening Story

Interviewed by Robin Sullivan

Michael Readey (pictured right) is a new member of the Orcas Island Garden Club, having recently relocated to Orcas full-time in the summer of 2024. He and his wife, Mary Beth, moved from Boulder, Colorado, where he taught at the University. Now that he is retired, he can focus more of his time on gardening and in particular, gardening in the PNW.

We love these spring flowers at

Michael's Orcas home!

What plants can you identify?

Click the 'Read More' button to continue learning his story.

Where Water is Scarce, Beauty Still Blooms

by Robin Sullivan

When I travel, I am inevitably drawn to gardens—those quiet sanctuaries where human imagination connects with the will of the earth. I’m especially captivated by gardens that must contend with limitation: where drought dictates design, just like in parts of my own garden. Drought-tolerant landscapes speak of resilience, adaptation, and artistry shaped by nature. One of the more inspiring examples I’ve encountered is the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California—a living testament to how passion and perseverance can transform a barren landscape into an icon of botanical innovation.

Ruth Bancroft was born in Berkeley, CA in 1908, and by 1938 she had married and moved to a 300 acre farmhouse in Walnut Creek, CA. She was an avid gardener even in her youth, and although the climate and soil of her marital home was completely different than the one she grew up in, she fashioned a garden that was rooted in the romanticism of traditional cottage gardens—lush with roses, hollyhocks, and other water-hungry blooms. But life on the Bancroft family’s walnut farm, where the land offered little more than dust and drought, challenged her to reimagine what a garden could be.

In 1950, she purchased her first succulent—a modest potted Aeonium—and unknowingly began a lifelong pursuit. What started as curiosity blossomed into obsession: Bancroft began collecting and cultivating water-wise plants, experimenting with their forms and resilience in a series of small greenhouses scattered around her home. And as the farm gradually gave way to suburban development, she preserved three acres for her vision—a garden that would celebrate the sculptural beauty of arid-climate plants.

Rather than rely on instant landscaping, Bancroft planted small, one-gallon specimens, allowing them to adapt naturally to the challenging environment. Over time, her garden evolved into a textural masterpiece—less a riot of color than a symphony of form, line, and shadow. Today, visitors wander paths lined with towering aloes, spiked agaves, architectural yuccas, and clusters of silvery Echeveria, each plant telling a story of endurance and design.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden endures as more than a garden—it is an autobiography written in the framework of drought and light, a testament to how beauty can flourish precisely where it is most hard-won.

The Genius of Birds ~ A Book Review

Reviewed by Adrienne Walker

Chickadees are the cutest birds - prove me wrong! I grew up surrounded by black-capped chickadees and of course here on Orcas where many of us live we have chestnut-backed, but did you know there are actually 5 types in North America? And yes, they’re all adorable. But, I admit I never really thought of them as unusually intelligent. True, they’re often the first to find a new birdfeeder, and certainly they are smart enough to realize that I am no danger to them, unlike many birds that will scatter if I get too close.

Then I got to page 40 of Jennifer Ackerman’s fascinating book, “The Genius of Birds”, and read this: “the high, thin whistles and complex gargle calls of chickadees…have been parsed by scientists and declared one of the most sophisticated and exacting systems of communication of any land animal.” OF ANY LAND ANIMAL! As an example, the well-known ‘chickadee-dee-dee’ actually means they see a stationary predator, and the number of ‘dees’ indicates the size of the threat. Add that to the fact that they’re able to stash away seeds in thousands of different places over the course of a summer and can remember exactly where they all are for 6 months - they are doing far better than I am, given how often I lose my keys. 

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” Maya Angelou

Chickadees are just one of the many examples Ackerman uses to demonstrate the wonderful ways in which birds are far more intelligent than we’ve historically given them credit for. Not surprisingly there are myriad examples from the Corvid (crows and jays) family: by now I think we’ve all heard stories of their abilities with tools, but she details how baby crows raised in captivity learn to make basic tools on their own, while for more complex tools they need to ‘apprentice’ with adult crows. It can take them more than a year of training to consistently create tools that help them feed themselves.

A November morning chill is in the air and as I look out my window, a handsome downy woodpecker is diligently foraging for tidbits of food. The birds are finishing off the last bit of seeds from sunflowers, echinacea and grasses. This time of year, I always start worrying about the birds. I remember visiting Kim Middleton’s garden when I asked her the controversial question about whether we gardeners should or should not feed the birds. Some say that bird feeders are a bad idea since it negatively alters natural behavior like migration and foraging. But Kim’s answer delighted and saddened me. She said, “I feed the birds because they need all the help they can get”. 

SEED

Keep your feeders filled. To protect from the cold, birds need a high calorie, high fat birdseed mix. Black oil sunflower seed or blends with black oil sunflower seeds are excellent choices. Ground feeding species, like doves, juncos, sparrows, and towhees, need a space free from cats that might prey so they can eat safely.

SUET

These little cages of joy can be hung from just about any sturdy branch and will delight chickadees, woodpeckers, warblers and wrens. In the fall, birds eat suet to increase their body weight to prepare for migration to their wintering areas and those that stick around will also store body fat in preparation for winter.

NECTAR

Hummingbirds are known to feed between 5 to 8 times every hour and consume half their weight in sugar daily. Please feed your Anna's Hummingbirds year-round because they don't migrate! Check your feeders often to ensure the nectar hasn't frozen. Specialized heaters work well too to keep the liquid food from freezing.

WATER

Birds need water to survive just as we do, but unfortunately, water is often forgotten. Provide fresh water and when temperatures are freezing, change the water when necessary. Running water can often help.

SHELTER

Birds will be taking shelter during freezing nights. Add dry grass, wood shaving or even dryer lint to your bird houses to help your birds stay warm. Help preserve natural habitats like decaying logs. Evergreens and dense shrubs give shelter and plants with berries supply nutrition for them to enjoy.

A Homemade Craft for Feathered Friends

by Laura Walker

Try making your own homemade seed ornament to show your appreciation for these feathered friends and give them a little love back.

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups Wild Birdseed
• 3/4 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1 Envelope Unflavored Gelatin
• 3 Tablespoon Corn Syrup
• Cookie Cutters, Parchment, a skewer stick, twine and a little love

In a large bowl mix flour, water, gelatin & corn syrup to form a smooth paste. Slowly add birdseed until fully coated. Place well oiled cookie cutter molds on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Press mixture firmly into molds. Using a skewer stick, create a good sized hole about 1/4 inch at the top of the ornament. Let dry for 3-4 hours. Carefully remove from molds and allow them to dry overnight. Use twine to make hangers and place them outside and watch the magic happen!

A Season of Waiting

by Suzette Lamb

I’m not good at waiting. It’s more than impatience. It’s the wondering—will the thing I’m waiting for really happen? Will it happen the way I expect, or hope?

As a still-novice gardener, I’ve moved through the stages of building my botanical confidence. When we moved to Orcas, we hired a permaculture consultant to teach us what, where, and how to plant for our location on the island. Then she became less hands-on, and we ventured out on our own, choosing plants and placing them where we thought they’d do well.

At first, we bought fully grown potted things, then “starts” when we began growing food. Finally, last year, I had the courage to plant seeds—which stirred up my strained relationship with waiting. My worry softened when those bright green buds poked through the dirt in pots and raised beds (even if they didn’t always produce).

But this past weekend, I came face-to-face with real waiting: I planted bulbs.

I had painstakingly ordered the species (lily trees) and colors (purple and hot pink, of course) that I imagined would brighten our landscape. Even that involved waiting—they took months to arrive. When the box finally came, I read the directions, then waited again through a stretch of steady rain to plant them. When I finally did, I wrestled with both the rocky terrain and my own decision-making factors: sun, shade, voles, water, temperature, proximity to other plants. Thinking through every possibility wasn’t exactly waiting—but it felt like it.

Once planted, I felt satisfied but oddly unexcited about how they’d look next year. I realized I was holding back hope, protecting myself from possible disappointment. Looking back, I can see all the protective behaviors—overthinking, self-doubt, unrealistic expectations, and lack of self-compassion—all in service of avoiding disappointment. And yet, every season I’ve been delighted and surprised by what blooms and thrives.

Imagine if I could plant that anticipation—the delight itself—instead of worry and doubt. That’s my goal this season: to allow waiting to be hopeful, and to enjoy whatever emerges in its own time. Where are you being asked to wait this season?  

Hidden messages in flowers are conveyed through floriography, the "language of flowers," where different blooms and colors symbolize specific meanings. This practice, popularized during the Victorian era, uses floral arrangements to communicate emotions without words, with examples including red roses for love and yellow roses for friendship. Here's your chance to study up since this will be the subject of next month's OIGC presentation...

Match the flower with the message!

A. Lavender

B. A Striped Carnation

C. White Tulip

D. Sunflowers

E. A Single, Thornless Rose

F. Daisies

G. Yellow Pansy

• Remembrance of happy times.
• Adoration, loyalty, and happiness.
• Innocence, purity, and new beginnings.
• Serenity, tranquility, and devotion. 
• Love at first sight.
• "I'm sorry, I must say no".
• Forgiveness.

Be sure to check next month's newsletter for the answers!

Answers to last month's challenge...

1.) Lithophyte - a plant that grows on rocks or in sandy soil

2.) Cernuous - nodding; flowers with curved or drooping pedicels

3.) Emersed - raised out of or above water

4.) Pulverulent - powdery, covered in fine bloom, dusty

5.) Jardiniere - ornamental stand or container for plants (usually used indoors)

Branching Out

by Perri Gibbons

It seems that back in the day the SJI Garden Clubs made a lot of social visits between the islands, and it’s both charming and nostalgic to read about these get-togethers. I found some more info about that iconic hat photo widely shared.

“Hats that Bloom in the Spring Tra, La” was the theme when the Orcas Island Garden Club entertained the Friday Harbor and Lopez Garden Club on May 24th [1961]. Members of the Orcas Island Club made hats: pretty hats, novelty hats..and downright ridiculous hats, one for themselves and one for a visitor. Each guest drew a number and took the hat with the corresponding number. [If I were participating I would have ROCKED that big white daisy confection!]… Lunch was served in the dining room of Norton’s Inn [anyone heard of it?] Madelyn Dwyer sang some of her delightful songs [Bring back some singers!]

Then, on June 7th, 1961 the OIGC accepted an invitation to the Shaw Island Club: “They were met at the ferry by courtesy cars and taken to the beautiful home of the Fesenden’s at Neck Point…for a delicious lunch. Pictures were taken, some with a Polaroid camera, which is so speedy that the pictures were presented on the spot to the Orcas Members”. I think these are the speedy Polaroid photos from that visit.

Visit to San Juan:

“ All who made the trip to Friday Harbor to accept their hospitality on June 2nd [1966] report a wonderful time with a delicious dinner, and tour of many beautiful gardens. Grace Grantham of the Orcas Club brought home one of the prizes of the day. These exchanges of club activities are always fun and so much appreciated.”

Visit to Lopez:

“Members of the Orcas Island Garden Club will be traveling to Lopez Island for their May 25th, [1983] meeting. The group will visit Arbordourn Farm …to see the methods and results of organic gardening. At the Howard Cold farm, the club members will see the water conservation method of drip irrigation.”

“The enjoyable trips around the [San Juan] Island, the buffet lunch… and gifts of May baskets, the lovely musical number to our departure on the ferry” [I want to be serenaded as I leave islands!]

“The Lopez Garden Club entertained ….a luncheon at Ebb’s Tide. …The placecards were very cleverly made of seaweed and shells”

I know Laura Walker and Robin Sullivan recently made a visit to the Lopez Island GC and were glad to get some fun new ideas for the Club. I hope we can arrange a few get-togethers with our neighbor gardeners soon. The words from the 1961 author ring true today “These interisland visits create a warm feeling between the various clubs”.

We’ll take a break from old history, and for next month’s installment, we’ll be visiting Holiday Happenings through the years.

Have some stories? photos? Share them with us! Contact: Perri Gibbons

Orcas Isle Cidery Visit with Lisa Pederson

Members of the Orcas Island Garden Club visited Orcas Isle Farm for a special afternoon of tasting cider, a walk in the cider orchard, a cider facility tour and ended with a delicious cheese tasting from The Goat & Co. Each part of the tour was coupled with one of the ciders for guests to sip while learning and touring the farm!

A beautiful collaboration between the Orcas Isle Farm and The Goat & Co., thank you for making this event happen!

Bee Cocoon Harvest & Store Workshop with Tony Suruda

Members of the club and the community gathered at the library to learn all about taking care of mason bees so that they can aid us in our orchards and gardens. We opened up reeds, carefully lifted out the cocoons, cleaned them and stored them. We saved nearly 200 bees that day!

Sandora and Regent, winners of the bee tube hotel!

Completely Arbortrary Podcast and Author Presentation

A fun collaboration materialized when Ingrid Mattson along with Laura and Robin were finally able to convince Casey and Alex to visit Orcas and tell us a thing or two about PNW Trees. It was a hoot!

Library Gardening in the Pouring Down Rain

Five hardy and generous souls met at the adopted library garden to plant 105 spring bulbs. Everyone had so much fun, even though we were pelted by falling rain and whistling wind. Here is a picture of some of the flowers we expect to come up next year as well as some smiling faces below!

Sowing and Growing Native Wildflowers Workshop with Eliza Habegger

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In case you missed it... Check out the fun picture memories from Dahlia Day!

Extra special thanks to Michael Yeaman for capturing the fun and activities that day!

Our October lucky door prize winner, was Leith Templin, who won a potted orange Chrysanthemum.

Come join our presentation for a chance to win a plant from Market Garden!

At each monthly meeting, all guests joining us in person are entered for a chance to to win a door prize!

Congratulations Janet Marlow! Janet won the November raffle and is just thrilled to win the book, The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes by Robin Lee Carlson

Monthly Member-Only raffle winners are chosen at random from a list of current garden club members. Remember to renew or join the club to join in this fun contest! To see if you are an active member, contact Karen Hiller.

The Cold Canyon Fire Journals: Green Shoots and Silver Linings in the Ashes

by Robin Lee Carl

About the book

When the nature reserve at Cold Canyon went up in flames—a casualty of California’s raging fire seasons—Robin Lee Carlson embarked on a five-year journey to learn the legacy of the burn. Spurred by scientific curiosity, Carlson’s deep digs into the natural history of this fire-swept ecosystem unearth mind-bending revelations about nature’s wild wisdom. Her transformative story of fire as a force for renewal underscores what scientists are urgently working to understand: that in California’s wildfire ecologies, fire functions as an elemental power that does not destroy the diverse habitats of California, but regenerates them.

• December 10: Kimberly Wilder, The Language of Flowers & an English Tea Party
• January 21: Carol Miles, Growing Vegetables
• February 18: Peter Guillozet, Ponds and Ecology
• March 18: Kate Yturri, Insects
• April 15: Brenna Estrada, Pansies
• May 20: Nina Foster, Roses



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