Berne Garden Club

01/08/2022

OUR GARDEN CLUB IS NO LONGER ACTIVE. I WILL NOT BE POSTING ON THIS SITE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PAST INTEREST.

02/17/2021

Thanks to my friend Terri Gorney for sharing this article with me.

Source: Berne Witness, 5 May 1939, p. 1, col. 5.

Garden Club is Launching Park Planting Order
More Than 100 Trees, Shrubs Included in Beautification Program

Members of the Berne Garden Club, assisted by volunteers will plant about 100 trees at Lehman park here Saturday afternoon, according to Mrs. E.D. Bixler, president of the club.

A committee is in charge of planting the trees and several men have volunteered to aid in the work. Thirty fairly large trees were purchased from the Riverside Nurseries west of town, and 100 seedlings are being received from the forestry department at the Wells County CCC Camp and game farm. Among the trees and seedlings are silver maple, tulip, elm, evergreen, dogwood, sycamore, pine, and several other varieties. The larger trees bought from the Riverside Nurseries will be planted on and around the park, while the seedlings will be planted along the edges of the park and replanted later.

Shrubs and flower plants are also being planted in the park, some of which were donated. Several nice plots have been prepared along the edges or around the park, where trees, flowers and shrubs will be planted.

The park has been cleaned by Andrew Sprunger and Dave Dubuch and other improvements have been made. The park is expected to formally open for the summer on Saturday, May 13, if the weather is favorable, the exact opening date will be fixed by the town council at their meeting next Monday evening.

07/04/2020

Thank you to those of you who have liked our post and thanked us for what we have done in the town of Berne. In the past five years our membership has dwindled greatly, and we have lost members also. Those of us who were left are getting older and find it more difficult to keep up the work of planting and caring for the flower beds at Lehman Park. Therefore, we are no longer a garden club. The club has a rich history which goes back some 80 years and once had a membership of 30-40 people. It saddened us to have to make this decision. Again, thank you for your support through the years. Keep gardening!

08/26/2019

My husband and I walked through the Loblolly marsh early this month. These are some of the prairie wild flowers we saw. If you go now you will see a lot of Prairie Dock which is lovely. Walking through the marsh is always relaxing and well worth your time.

06/28/2019

The Lehman Park flower beds are planted and look lovely. Several members of the Berne Garden Club worked hard to plant these lovely flowers. They make the park look beautiful! Thanks to these faithful ladies! Go check out the flower bed and enjoy!

06/06/2019

Did you know that every third bite of food we eat is due to pollinators? It's true! Honey bees, butterflies, birds and other pollinators help grow our food, keep our flowers blooming and make our lands healthy. However, for many reasons, including lack of habitat, pollinators are struggling.

In 2014, President Obama directed all federal agencies to assist in pollinator conservation to protect the health of our nation's food security and keep bees, birds and butterflies flying. The President's National Pollinator Initiative was committed to sustaining the future of pollinators through research, policy, education and action.

Your help is needed! By planting seeds in your home or school garden you can be a part of the effort to build pollinator habitats and help the pollinators.

The following are some of the seeds you can plant to help the pollinators:
Lupins, Echinacea, Zinnia, Cosmos, Calendula, Gaillardia, Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, Delphinium, Monarda, and Aster. Also, milkweed native to your area will help the Monarch butterflies to continue to thrive.

Please consider helping in this most important effort!

04/24/2019

At last the sun creeps nearer and smiles ardently, and the heart of the pregnant marsh grows warm. The winds come sweeping with wailing notes and carry away earth's leafy covering; the rains pour, and vegetation springs to meet them.
The Music of the Marsh, Part II of Music of the Wild by Gene Stratton--Porter. Picture by Bill Hubbard

03/28/2019

This is a post I write occasionally. I enjoy doing it and I hope you enjoy it also.

03/27/2019

Bring to your attention all the insects--bees, dragonflies, lightning bugs, butterflies--all the little creatures that in habit our planet. Think of all the services they provide us--they who help pollinate the flowers and plants, who help break down waste, who enrich the soil--all of them playing crucial roles in the interconnected mystery of life on our planet. Bring to mind the other winged creatures--sparrows, songbirds, bluebirds, great birds of prey. Bring them into your circle of awareness, all of God's creatures being breathed by life right now in this present moment. These creatures around us are, indeed, gifts from God.

from Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth.

01/20/2019

I had planned to write about some newer flowers I'd like to plant this spring, but since it's been snowing all day, and now blowing and drifting, I decided to switch gears.
I enjoy my indoor plants as much as my outdoor flowers in the spring and summer. Right now I have four plants blooming and my orchid has 10 buds on it. This will be the third time it has bloomed, but it will still be a few weeks before I'll see them. I brought my Mandevilla in and it is doing well and starting to vine!
Maybe you are as ready for spring as I am, but we'll just have to study the seed catalogs and start planning our spring and summer gardens right now. And enjoy those indoor plants!

12/18/2018

My husband and I are bird watchers. Several weeks ago he went to the Limberlost Swamp and was lucky enough to see these sandhill cranes. Among them however was a whooping crane, which are endangered and protected. He was excited. I'm including a picture that he took of them. Last evening we went back to the swamp and saw at least 200 sandhills flying in for the night. Keep your eyes open and look for migrating birds. You will enjoy it!

07/05/2018