• President's Message
• Garden Club Program
• Upcoming Events
• Cultivating Friendships
• Noteworthy Natives
• Beyond the Trowel
• Savory Cracker Recipe
• Garden Creatures and Where to Find Them
• A Beautiful Pumpkin to Consider Growing
• Adventures in Gardening
• Hidden Messages
• A Poem for October
• Dirt on Our Roots
• Look What's Sprouting at the OIGC
• Member Raffle and Meeting Door Prize
• Exciting Upcoming Programs in 2025
• Made You Smile
• Membership Update - Here we Grow!
• Board Members 2025-2026

Orcas Island Garden Club

presents

Anne Long

Growing Anemones, Ranunculus, and Peonies

at the Orcas Fire Station



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!

Thank you to all who attended our last Garden Club Program featuring Madrona who spoke on The Forgotten Diversity of Island Apples! Click below to view pictures from this event.

We'll be discussing Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark, by Leigh Ann Henion. For more information on the book, Adrienne Walker wrote a review of it in the September OIGC newsletter so check it out! It's a wonderful reminder that nature doesn't just 'turn off' when we all head indoors at night. 

The book is available at the library and Darvill's. We also have a spare copy for anyone that needs it. Just reach out to Robin at oigc376@gmail.com — first come first serve.

The meeting will be co-facilitated by Sylvia Biddick and Adrienne Walker and there will be a virtual option for those who need it. Zoom details will be sent out the week before the meeting.

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

Meet Our New Members - Robin Latham

by Robin Latham, interviewed by Robin Sullivan

I am so excited to join the wonderful activities and efforts of the Orcas Island Garden Club. My partner and I began our dream of living on Orcas Island over 30 years ago when we purchased the foundation of our hillside home near Olga, among the Fir and Cedar trees. While I would never proclaim to be a seasoned gardener, I may have inherited my love for gardening from my maternal grandmother, who grew beautiful flowers, fruits, and vegetables and raised chickens at her family’s Punxsutawney home. She was also known as the “Country Aunt” by my cousins from the “big city” of Pittsburgh, who would come to visit every summer to enjoy her harvest and preserved bounty. She later moved in with my parents who had relocated to Southern California, where I was born and grew up at her elbow, learning the love of gardening and cooking. Her gardens were always filled with her prized roses.

After finishing our degrees, my husband and I moved to Bellingham to continue our careers in education and to raise our son, starting our own small family. We have always enjoyed hiking, lake swimming, and yes, the rain in the spectacular Pacific Northwest. Through trial and error, we started an edible garden in our backyard filled with fruit trees, berries, and a few raised beds with vegetables. We quickly learned that our son’s love for grazing grew along with his vocabulary. One of his first words was “bloop” for blueberry, which he would pick at random, whether purple or green. It was a fabulous way to introduce him to a variety of fruits and vegetables. While working the last 35 years in education with children of all ages, from toddlers to young adults, I fostered a passion for sharing the healing power and love of the natural world with families. Since retiring last year and moving out here full-time, I look forward to finding ways to connect with this wonderful community, continue to teach children, learn new skills, and create art, while cultivating beautiful and wild spaces.

A is for Amelanchier

by Laura Rensberry

Welcome to a new series on Native Plants! A little about the author... Laura Rensberry has developed two acres of her land for blueberries, raspberries and black currants, and a variety of native plant starts from dogwood to madrone to shore pine. After studying environmental horticulture in graduate school and living on Orcas for more than two decades, she's running her own nursery, Wren’s Berries and Native Plants. 

Those who visit Laura will receive a tour of the land and ideas about which native plants would work best for them, as well as meet Lucy, the goose, a flock of ducks, senior rescue dogs and her longtime friend Tracey Armstrong, who lives on the property and helps cultivate the land. 

Wren's Berries and Native Plants is open by appointment only at 360-622-6616 or laurarensberry@gmail.com.

Amelanchier alnifolia (am-el-ANG-key-er al NI-foal-ee-uh)

The common name is serviceberry, shadbush, sarvisberry, Saskatoon and others. Our native, A. alnifolia is found from Alaska into California and east to the Dakotas and New Mexico. It’s species is given the name alnifolia because the leaves look like alder.  

The serviceberry is in the rose family. It’s usually multitrunked and grows to 5-12'. It blooms in May, reliably around Mother's Day, profusely covered in inch long white petals. The flowers attract butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. The petals fall like snow on a breezy late-spring day. 

The fruit turns from red to purplish-blue and is very valuable for wildlife. It’s a pome like an apple, and tastes like one too. By late summer the nutritious fruits are devoured by flocks of cedar waxwings and robins as they load up before heading south. 

Serviceberry grows well in sun or partial shade in soil either moist or dry. Sun and moist soil grows a larger shrub. More sun provides more blooms. 

Take a walk up Haven Street toward Madrona Point in Eastsound in May and early June to witness the light that fills the forest. It's glorious!

Cheesy Smoked Paprika Crackers

Recipe by Debra Nichols

If you were lucky enough to attend Dahlia Day, you may have tried Debra's sensational homemade crackers. She's letting us in on her secret recipe for you to try at home!

Ingredients:

• 10 T (5 oz) cold butter cut into small cubes
• 4 oz grated parmesan
• 4 oz grated sharp cheddar (I’m always overgenerous here)
• 1 cup + 2 T (about 6 oz) flour, spooned and leveled
• 4 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Smoked salt or sea salt of sprinkling on top lightly

Directions:

1. Whisk flour, paprika and cayenne together and then add cubed butter and rub it into the flour mixture.

2. Add grated Parmesan and cheddar and combine.

3. Using hands press mixture into a dough and roll the dough into a log 2 ¼” in diameter. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

5. Remove plastic wrap from log and slice into 1/8 to ¼ inch discs. Sprinkle lightly if salt if using.

6. Bake until deep golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating pans half way through.

7. Let crackers cool completely on pans.

Adapted from recipe on Food.com

Gardening on a Rock

by Daina Boden

When I look out at my yard, I don’t see rich soil or soft ground ready for planting. I see rock. Lots of rock. A whole rock bed that seems determined to resist anything green or leafy. It’s hard, stubborn, and, if I’m honest, a little intimidating. I’ve always wanted to grow plants and vegetables — to have a little patch of earth that feeds me and adds beauty to my home. But the truth is, I know very little about gardening. So, I decided to do something about it: I joined the local Garden Club.

So far, it’s been wonderful. I’ve learned more in a few meetings than I could have in months of trial and error. The people are welcoming, and their enthusiasm is contagious. Still, I must laugh — because no matter how many tips I gather, I keep coming back to the same question: How do you garden on a rock?



Gardening here is different from gardening in fertile soil or even my neighbor’s yard — which, despite similar challenges, somehow always looks better. It means raised beds, container gardens, and creative problem-solving. It means starting small and celebrating small wins. And most importantly, it means connecting with others who have been in the same spot (sometimes literally, with shovels bouncing off bedrock).  

Lastly, I’d like to share, my deck beds did well this spring and summer with herbs, tomatoes, and cacti, the side yard garden didn’t last (deer, dogs, owner neglect), and in my opinion my hanging pots crushed – they were small town lamppost worthy!

I may not have the perfect soil, but I have the determination to learn, the support of my community, and the humor to keep trying. Who knows, maybe one day my rocky yard will be blooming with food and flowers. For now, I’m just enjoying the process, rock and all.

TIPS: Ask for help, rock bed can ruin your body. Rent a tiller or hire some high schoolers to move that rock! Use local compost and manure, have a seat, and till until you can’t till no mo’. And always deer proof.

Daina's most recent favorite 'Bad Dad' Joke: My boss asked me why I got fired from old lawn mowing job; I told him I just couldn’t cut it.

The Wisdom of Containers

by Suzette Lamb

Along our rocky coastline, where the wind shapes everything it touches, my husband Brett built a garden bed from the trunk of a fallen madrona tree. What was once a towering presence is now a part of a natural container — a cradle for soil, roots, and possibility. Within its curved walls, heather, lavender, and rosemary have begun to take hold, their roots exploring the boundaries that protect them from the elements.

As both a gardener and a therapist, I’m aware that growth depends on containment. Plants and people all need a space that holds us — not too tightly, but with enough structure to foster strength and resilience. A good container offers definition and safety, allowing new life to take shape and flourish.

In gardening, containers create microclimates. They concentrate warmth, manage moisture, and buffer against wind and salt. In human development, emotional containers — supportive relationships, routines, and safe environments — serve a similar function. They help us weather change, hold complexity, and direct energy toward growth rather than survival. The madrona’s transformation reminds me that boundaries are not barriers; they are invitations to thrive. As fall deepens and winter approaches, I hope we can all find the containers that nurture us — a tended garden, a quiet morning, or a steady rhythm that holds space for rest and renewal.

Rainy Day Reads This Month

by Adrienne Walker

Do you find yourself thinking about wildfires every summer as it gets drier and drier until eventually the Fire Marshall announces a fire ban? I know I do. I’ve always been wary of fire, and clearly remember the first time I realized it’s dangerous: I was about 7 when my grandfather (foolishly) decided I was old enough to light the candles on the dining room table. After multiple burned fingers and matches flung onto the carpet, he decided maybe he should take over before I burned the house down. I’ve never completely trusted fire since!

Are you familiar with these gardening terms?

Match the lettered word with the numbered definition!

A. jardiniere

B. cernuous

C. emersed

D. lithophyte

E. pulverulent

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

2. nodding; flowers with curved or drooping pedicels

3. raised out of or above water

4. powdery, covered in fine bloom, dusty

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

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

_{Listen! The wind is rising}

_{And the air is wild with leaves,}

_{We have had our summer evenings}

_{Now for October eves!}

~ Humbert Wolfe

Submitted by Mary Nash

Club Seeds Are Planted

by Perri Gibbons

In October 1906 a women’s study group met at the home of Mary Templin in Eastsound. This first formal meeting represented the beginning of the Madrona Club out of which many organizations developed, including the Garden Club. Edith Pinneo, serving on the OI Medical Board, proposed a Garden Club to plant and to maintain grounds at the Medical Center Building. The first pages of the album are filled with information about our inaugural civic project seen in the news clipping.

To learn about the origins of the OIGC, visit this link where you'll be taken to Nita’s article in the Island Gardener from June 2023.

Progress is made through work parties on the Orcas Medical Center project. If anyone has more information about the folks in the photo, please contact Perri.

I love Meredith’s report read at a August 1962 meeting sharing the joy, frustrations and success of the club.

It reads in part: “We planted, we scratched, we weeded and watered… We grew weary and discouraged. We tried to give it back to the Medical Board, but they refused to take it. It was finally decided we could find no better project ...” That’s the CAN-DO attitude that carries the club to this day.

In a sweet postscript, the club entered the project in a Sears and Roebuck (remember them?) contest where they won first prize of $100 in District Beautification.

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

Great Island Clean Up Recap!

by Karen Miksch

The Olga Garbage Gardeners participated in the Great Island Clean Up on October 4th. We enjoyed doing the clean up in teams of two to five and covered the main roads from the one-way bridge at Moran State Park, all the way to the Doe Bay resort. After our clean up work, coffee cake and apple pie were enjoyed, along with lots of laughs.

Karen Johnston (garden club member) and Uuve Taylor (Olga community Club) vounteers picking up trash near Doe Bay

Karen and Uuve in action searching for trash.

Mark Mayer, President of the Exchange, packing up the trash and recycling collected by the Olga Garbage Gardeners

Recipe Calendar Project

by Michelle Zjhra

With your help, the OIGC is creating a calendar that celebrates the beautiful and delicious food that members contribute to our gatherings. The calendar is intended as a visual feast that features members’ edible creations with nature as the backdrop.

Something along these lines of this picture ….

 … But with our own OIGC vision!

If you would like to participate, please bring a dish that features something seasonal - perhaps made with ingredients from your garden and/or decorated with your own flowers. Provide the recipe and let us know the cookbook the recipe is from or if it is your own creation. And don’t forget to include your name!

All recipes will be featured in the monthly newsletter. Twelve recipes will be selected over the course of the year to be re-created, photographed in nature, and featured in the calendar.

We envision a desk calendar that each month visually showcases a beautiful and delicious dish in a garden or nature setting, the recipe, and perhaps a story about the recipe or a gardening tip for the season.  

This will be a fund-raiser, further supporting the OIGC’s many speakers, activities and grants that members and our community enjoy.

If you have questions, bring them to the next meeting or email OIGC376@gmail.com.

Family Tides Fall Fest Recap

by Robin Sullivan

Sunday, September 21st was the 3rd annual Family Tides Farm & Lummi Nation Fall Festival in Deer Harbor and we were honored to be invited to host a table for OIGC! We renewed old friendships and made new ones during this wonderful community outreach event and we are thrilled to welcome 20 new members to the club! Attendees enjoyed a fun round of “Guess the variety of the Dahlia,” and we shared strawflowers with everyone-a perfect symbol of enduring relationships. We raffled off a copy of Rooted, the book we discussed at the last OIGC book club, and our winner, Rayne Dawkins was overjoyed to win a copy! It was heartwarming to connect with fellow garden lovers, hear their stories and share what makes OIGC such a special community. 

Perri and Ginger having fun and meeting lots of people

Rayne, winner of the book Roots!

Our favorite kind of hairstyle is one that involves flowers!

Robin interacting with visitors and facilitating the Dahlia Game

Update on the Library Garden

by Jenny Pederson

Several members of the committee (Robin, Laura, Kai, Jenny and Margretta) met Wednesday the 25th to discuss our plans for the garden. We reviewed feedback from Lynn at the Library and made a plan! We had all hoped to greatly reduce the overgrown juniper hedge and Lynn joined us with her pruners and went to work. That made us — and the uncovered cherry tree-very happy. It helped us get a better idea of the actual space we have. And we removed several sick lavender plants and that allowed the existing plants room to grow.

For the first stage, we decided to get trees and some bulbs planted this fall. After feedback from members and lots of discussion, we decided on a crabapple tree, a pink dogwood and several current bushes. These all met our criteria of deer at least resistant, drought tolerant and bird friendly — either food or habitat. And with interest in all seasons — fruit, flowers, color and foliage. It was noted that the crabapple tree in Stephanie’s garden on dahlia day was a haven for cedar waxwings. We will also plant some early season bulbs- snowdrops and crocus. 

We decided on the flow we wish the garden to have, starting with the placement of the beautiful arch from the Library. We are still in discussion on a bird feeder or water feature and decided to keep the conversation going. Robin is finding out about the durability of the bird house that Ruth has left to be part of the garden.

We are so excited about this project and the partnership with the Library. It is going to be a wonderful addition to the Library and the opportunity to work together to create a space of beauty, learning and community connection. Stay tuned for updates!

Jenny

Kai tackling the Juniper with determination

Robin, Jenny and Margretta planning the garden

Lynn using her favorite pruning tool

Dahlia Day Recap

by Debra Nichols

About 50 garden enthusiasts enjoyed touring Stefanie Susol’s 450 dahlia plants, resplendent in full bloom on September 20th! We all braved the wind and cooler temperatures.

Stefanie shared her tips on how best to plant, grow and stake dahlias, as well as digging and storing. If you missed her handout at Dahlia Day, please click the corresponding button below.

But that wasn’t all! Everyone was invited to join special guest, Carol Wetzel, owner of the Little Farm on Olga Road, as she demonstrated the technique of creating a flower bouquet using a spiraling technique. If you missed the handout, please click the corresponding button below. See a photo of Carol showing a group how to begin the bouquet below.

There were also snacks. Robin Sullivan brought two spectacular cheese and veggie platters. Debra Nichols brought Cheesy Smoked Paprika Crackers. Due to the number of requests, we included the recipe in our newsletter, see under 'RECIPES').

Susan Slapin enjoying the sunshine and thrilled at her take home bouquet

Carol Wetzel from Little Farm on Olga Road was a patient teacher

Priscilla Prescott was tinkled pink to win the raffle prize Dahlia book

Stefanie with members

Beautiful Dahlia shot

Carol educating the group

Our September 17th lucky door prize winner, guest visitor, Issa Parker, with her ‘Autumn Apple’ Hens and Chicken.

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 Jeanne Morris! Jeanne won the October raffle and is just thrilled to win the book, Encyclopedia of Dahlias by Bill McClaren!

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.

Encyclopedia of Dahlias by Bill McClaren

In this delightful and profusely illustrated encyclopedia, noted hybridizer and nurseryman Bill McClaren provides an authoritative account of garden-worthy dahlias for every garden design. Nearly 700 selections are included, complete with notes on their history, awards, and cultural peculiarities. Additional chapters on dahlia care and propagation, dahlia species in nature, hybridizing, and showing dahlias add to this well-rounded overview. Thorough appendices with resources on dahlia societies, nurseries, and gardens complete the book.

• November 12: Marlene Finley, Creating a Fire Resilient Landscape

• December 10: Kimberly Wilder, The Language of Flowers & an English Tea Party

Thank you to all who attended the Field Trip to Indralaya!

We hope you had as much fun as we did!

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!

2025-2026 Membership to date: 179

We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from our new and renewing members and the donations we've received! This year, we have a few free memberships available to those in financial need. Please reach out to our membership team and we would love to help you.

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