The Niles Garden Club held its March meeting Tuesday, March 1 at the Niles Law Enforcement Complex.
The meeting was called to order at 1 p.m. by President Wendie Stephenson. Carol Peters was introduced as a guest and the newest member to the club.
Carol Pilewski told everyone about the upcoming garden party at the Niles District Library March 19. The garden party is garden specialists brought in by The Niles Garden Club and the Niles District Library to speak to local gardeners. The speakers this year will be Greg Leyes, master gardener for Ginger Valley in Granger, Ind.; Nancy Clough, advanced master gardener; and Janine Frizzo-Horrigan. Starting the party is Greg Leyes talking about “What’s New in Plant Varieties” at 10 a.m.; he will follow with a talk at 11:30 a.m. on “Gardening for Birds and Butterflies.”
After a break for lunch, Nancy Clough, an advanced master gardener and member of The Niles Garden Club, will talk about “Growing Herbs and Vegetables as Companions at 2 p.m., followed by Frizzo-Horrigan speaking about “the Growing and Uses of Herbs.”
All are invited to attend any or all of the sessions, which are free to the public as a service from The Niles Garden Club and the Niles District Library. Information on the Garden Party can be found at www.michianahort.com.

Garden clubs’ annual sale
The Niles Garden Club and the Four Flags Garden Club will hold their annual plant sale May 21 at the Riverfront Park again this year. Perennials from the Welcome to Niles Garden and from members personal gardens will be for sale for three one-gallon containers for $10.

Regional meeting
The Central Regional Meeting will in October this year and it will be in Grand Rapids. This meeting will have members from Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio. All members are encouraged to attend.

Spring cutting gardens
The meeting was adjourned and Bobbie Quick was introduced to talk about “Planning for a Spring Cutting Garden.”
Quick started her talk about ordering seeds from catalogs or online. There are various catalog companies and you can also order from online companies. A couple examples of sites are www.selectseeds.com and www. local.com. Also, nurseries and greenhouses have an ample supply. She will buy 4-inch plants and add seeds to the dirt when she plants them to have additional flowers.
The main thing about cutting flowers to last when placed in an arrangement is conditioning, conditioning, conditioning. This is done by keeping them in water right after they have been cut. Be sure cutters are clean. Place them in cool water so they don’t open too fast.
Quick likes to soak them overnight. Add packets to the water at this time if desired, then cut all the leaves that will be underwater off the stem, place in fresh water and arrange in a clean container.
For poppies and some flowers, searing is a good idea. This means searing the end of the stem with fire. Quick uses a lighter to lightly sear the stem of the flower.

April 5 meeting
Their next meeting will be April 5 at the Niles Law Enforcement Complex on the corner of Silverbrook Avenue near the corner of Silverbrook and Main Street. The speaker will be from the Jones area Department of Natural Resources and he will talk about the invasion of Asian carp and the disastrous effect it could have on our Great Lakes.
All are invited to attend. Refreshments are served at 12:30 p.m. with a business meeting at 1 p.m.
For more information, call Wendie Stephenson at 262-0034 or check out www.thenilesgardenclub.com.