July 10th and 13th, 2019
Home of Rich Lesage
Wednesday attendance: 49 members, 11 guests plus 2 children
Saturday attendance: 23 members and 7 guests
Marsha Gebhardt, the chapter president, welcomed all to the beautiful native gardens at the home of Rich Lesage. We had three people share that this was their first WO gathering!
Rich prepared before and after pictures for the group to see what he has been doing in his yard the last four years. His was not a typical suburban lot! Not only were his plant groupings beautiful, but every plant was labeled with tall yellow metal markers—common name and scientific name! He also prepared a plant list for the front and back yard to give to those who were interested. Several members were interested in where Rich got his labels, they came from metalgardenmarkers.com.
A fun feature in his front yard was a a large water feature, a bubbler installed by Nature’s Recreations in Arnold, MO. Hearing the call of several large red-tailed hawks in the neighborhood, Rich explained that his bubbler was their bathing station! Rich also showed how many of his rock were covered in beautiful moss, a special request by him.
In the back yard there was a shady hill where he had removed honeysuckle. At the bottom of the hill is a rain garden that catches all the water run off from his neighbors. A gazebo that used to house a hot-tub was converted into a nice sitting area right next to his large pond. He shared that there are times when the frogs migrate down the hill to his pond to serenade him and his wife. He’s surprised that the neighbors haven’t complained as they are very loud!
Plants and fish all looked very healthy and happy.
Submitted by Ginny Johnson, Secretary
