HL April 13.indd - Harbour Light Magazine

Huntington Harbour Garden Clubby Kitty RozenstratenAt the planting workshop on February 19. From left to right: Marian Galanis, Carol Weningir, Kitty Rozenstraten, Wendy Gingerich.Wintry weather does not keep thebirds from building their nests and itdoesn’t keep the Huntington HarbourGarden Club from meeting and planningactivities.Some members have spotted the fi rsthummingbirds building nests, layingeggs and raising their families. These tinybirds are a tenacious lot, and dare I say soare the members of the HHGC. Nothingcan stop them from learning new ways tomake their home gardens more beautifuland from promoting better horticulturalpractices to beautify the community.On January 15, members convened atthe home of Anna Belle Parsons Radcliffe.The main attraction that morning wasBob Franz from the Southern CaliforniaBluebird Club.Mr. Franz gave a most interestingpresentation on “Western Bluebirds”or WEBLs. Bluebirds and robins arecousins belonging to the thrush family.Until the middle of the nineteenthcentury bluebirds, Western, Eastern andMountain bluebirds, were a familiar sightthroughout the United States. Other birdspecies introduced from Europe becamecompetitors of the bluebirds. Bluebirdsdo not build a nest in a tree but seek out acavity inside a tree, a post or a man-madenest box. And while many backyardbirds – for example the hummingbirds inthe beginning of this article - like a cozyprotected garden, nesting bluebirds preferopen to semi open areas.The decline of bluebirds led tothe foundation of the North AmericanBluebird Society (NABS) in 1978 inMaryland. Soon other bluebird clubswere hatched in states from east to west.California has a NABS affi liate calledthe California Bluebird Recovery Act(CBRP). Members of NABS are activein installing and maintaining nest boxesthroughout southern California. Throughtheir efforts the WEBL population hasbecome much more stable. If you wish tofi nd out how you can volunteer, Mr Franzcan be reached via Bluebirds.bob@gmail.com or by calling (714) 528-5082. Oryou might be interested in making yourbackyard attractive to to actively attractthem to their backyard You can also stopby the Shipley Nature Center to purchasea nest box for $25. Club member andShipley Nature Center volunteer KayGoddard describes the wooden box ashandsome and sturdy and made to lastfor several years.Like busy nesting birds in spring,members got busy organizing a hands-onplanting workshop on February 19,at the clubhouse of Rancho del ReyesMobile Home Estates. After a shortbusiness meeting, members gatheredaround the potting table piled with pots,cuttings, seedlings, seeds, and plantingsoil. Gardening successes and failureswere shared and everybody went homewith several items for the home garden.Hostess Pearl Holmes and co-hostessesMary Johnston, Carol Weninger, BarbaraSimone and Gloria Beckstrom served adelicious lunch.Important business discussedincluded the General Meetings on March19 and April 1, the field trip to BainbridgeHouse on April 16 and, most important,the Annual Fundraiser on September3117 at the Yacht Club. Still far awaybut already in the planning, the eventis not just a fundraiser but also a greatopportunity to acquaint the communitywith the many philanthropic projects ofthe club.These projects include monetarydonations to five schools in the area:Golden View Elementary, HarborView Elementary, Margaret LandellElementary, Edison High School andGoldenwest College. Donations, and inmany cases physical labor, help maintainthe school gardens. This year, forexample, HHGC members are involvedwith the Edison High School TherapeuticGarden. Students with special needs arelearning important life skills by growingvegetables and flowers. Other clubprojects include Roger Senior Center,Shipley Nature Center, Bolsa Chica LandTrust and the Norma Brandel GibbsButterfly Park. If you haven’t been to theButterfly Park recently, you will delightin seeing the beautiful tiles illustratingthe life cycle of the Monarch butterfly.We invite family and friends,gardeners and would-be gardeners toparticipate in the fundraiser to benefitthe different projects. The festivities willinclude wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres, asilent auction and, of course, plants. PutSeptember 17, 2013 on your calendar.More information will follow in the nextissue of Harbour Light.Anybody wishing to attend anyof the meetings and field trips can getinformation from Connie Mandic at714-377-0017.