El Dedon Verde
Message from Francie McIntosh, President
This past spring, I took the time to attend the Texas Garden Club’s Spring Convention held in San Antonio. While there, we were honored as TGC Bronze Garden Club of the Year! Congratulations to all who made that possible. It took a trip 550 miles east to remind me just how special my hometown and the people who live here are. I’ve continued to keep this in mind as this year’s board plans the activities for the upcoming year.
One of the things I have enjoyed the most is the chance to flip through past yearbooks of this longstanding organization. The members who established El Dedon Verde in 1950 chose these words as the organization’s purpose “… to promote the love of gardening among amateurs, to protect and promote the growth of our native trees, flowers, and birds, and to encourage civic planning and civic beauty.” It is my hope that in May of 2024 we can all look back and know we have lived up to their intent.
In 2015, I was invited to join El Dedon Verde thinking it would be a fun opportunity to gather with friends, old and new, for lunch once a month. You know, a chance to visit beautiful homes, welcoming gardens, devour yummy lunches planned and prepared by our creative members and along the way I might learn a little something about gardening. Just as I was getting over the feeling of intimidation that our outstanding Flower Show seems to put on many of its members, our world was shook by the pandemic.
Out of every cloud comes a silver lining, right? To pass the time I started a small flower garden using some of the information I’d learned as a member of the garden club. As time passed I realized it truly is the simple things, stopping to smell the roses, watching a flower blossom, harvesting fresh tomatoes, you get the picture. One of my favorite things about gardening is to gathering seeds and cuttings from fellow gardeners and watching them grow. Another is the time spent harvesting what we’ve grown and bringing them inside to enjoy and share, whether it be flowers, veggies or herbs. As the world started to open up again, I took the bold move to become a Master Gardener. There is so much to learn about gardening and flowers! With all this in mind, I hope you have an idea of how I chose the famous quote from artist Claude Monet as this year’s theme – “There must be flowers, for always and always.” It is through the love of flowers that we celebrate our pollinator friends.
Jan Boone has been busy arranging a fabulous list of programs for the year including Fall and Winter Gardening by retired Master Gardener Ileana Kim, Growing Iris by Master Gardener Helen Abresch, Flower Arranging by local flower farmer Susannah Calhoun, Herbs …A Healthy Start to the New Year! by Master Gardener Penny Leslie and A Hidden Plant and Insect Museum at UTEP by Dr. Vickie Zhuang, and of course Flower Show 101.
Debbi Hester and Carolyn Overley have outdone themselves in preparation for our luncheons and selecting beautiful homes. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see another El Dedon Verde Cookbook in our future! As always, what would we do without our Sustainers! So, mark your calendars! You won’t want to miss out on all we have in store as we focus on a purpose-filled year.
We will continue to support projects throughout our community, including the first Butterfly Garden in El Paso that was started by immediate past president, Judy Wendt in conjunction with the City of El Paso Parks and Recreation, Montoya Heights Neighborhood Association, El Paso Water, Master Gardeners, and the Rotary Club. Other current projects include Keystone Heritage Park, Arbor Day and Share-A-Plant. Project Chair, Kim McGlone will be reaching out to you soon for suggestions for upcoming projects. We’ve also added a new feature to our meeting where members will share a “Plant of the Month”.
Please take the time to browse our newly updated website and enjoy all of the educational materials available including the link to El Paso County Master Gardeners website.
We are fast approaching the 75th year of El Dedon Verde Garden Club! It is an honor to serve as president of this longstanding organization that serves our unique community that sits at the edge of Texas,
Sincerely,
Francie McIntosh
El Dedon Verde
A Letter of Appreciation
The garden clubs of District IX recently hosted the 91st state Spring Convention in El
Paso. Eighty-six (86) ladies and gentlemen from cities around Texas gathered at the
Hilton Garden Inn Hotel on University from April 1 to April 4, 2019.
As Chairman of the convention, I want to take this opportunity to thank the many helpful
people who contributed to the success of this gathering. Jennie McCoy (El Dedon Verde)
and Kathy Cox (Park Foothills and EDV) were terrific co-chairs. In addition to their
numerous responsibilities, each of these two ladies hosted our two special ‘dinners’.
For the first time ever, convention attendees wined and dined at two beautiful homes.
Tania and Scott Schwartz hosted a Mexican Fiesta at their hacienda-style home in the
Upper Valley. L & J Café catered the buffet while mariachis entertained. Ginger and Rick
Francis hosted the second dinner at their Santa Barbara – style home on the mountain.
180° views of the city at night served as the background for an opening reception
honoring the outgoing state President – Betty Edwards – and the newly-elected state
President – District IX’s own Peggy Moreland! The installa- tion dinner was catered by
Chaplain’s. We are beyond indebted to these fabulous hosts. And none of this would have
worked so perfectly if not for all the efforts of our “Dinner Elves” – the wonderful
volunteers who set up and decorated the tables, served appetizers, refreshed drinks, and
washed dishes. What wonderful friends we have! Thank you, beautiful ladies!
And also, huge hugs to those who sold raffle tickets and registered our guests.
In addition to the mandated business meetings, guest speakers included The Honorable
Don Margo (Mayor of El Paso), Bernie Sargent (from Keystone Heritage Park ), and
Bonnie Satterthwaite – Espoma Co. – who presented a power point show on organic
gardening.
Special events included the dedication of the Blue Star Memorial at Keystone and the
“Floral Rodeo” design competition. A hospitality room was available – beautifully
stocked and hosted by Blanca Powers (EDV) and her committee members.
As you can see, we made every effort to show our guests some “Fun in the Sun”. For
each and every lady who helped in any way – Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! To all
who served as Sponsors – we could not have done it without your donations.
And finally, thank you for the opportunity to show off both District IX and El Paso,
Trish Lopez (EDV) District IX Trustee