June’s The Month to  Tour Everyone’s  Garden

June 7-13 is National  Garden Week, as proclaimed  by former President Ronald  Reagan more than twenty  years ago. National  Gardening Exercise Day is  June 6th, though, so I hope  you started early, and June  22-28 is National Pollinator  Week. Based on the olio  performances at Sawdusters  this year, even they are rooting  for our hard-working  pollinators. Oregon Garden  Club will be having their  state convention in Lincoln  City June 15-17, (information  is at OSFGC website  online.) Bandon will have a  garden tour in late July, and  Coos Bay will have one the  first Saturday in August.

There. That should set your  calendar up nicely, if you’d  like to focus on gardens.  It was my privilege to meet  a woman at one of the plant  sales I helped at in May  who started our Coquille  Garden club many years  ago. It was quite difficult to  restrain myself from asking  her to assist us in beginning  another one again. We have  many fine garden organizations  already in town,  though, and they could use  all of our assistance.

I also had the privilege  of speaking with the gentleman  who owns the Auto  Clinic across from Safeway,  whose garden I’ve commented  on before. He and a  former garden writer for this  publication both let me  know they don’t always  agree with me. This is an  absolute delight, for it lets  me know folks not only  read, but respond to, and  care about gardening here,  locally. I believe we will  always need a diversity of  opinions, and I’m grateful  that with my brief contacts  with all the Master  Gardeners, with the Coquille  Community Garden folks,  and with those who care for  our hanging and stationary  ground planters, we have  both differences of opinion,  and a heart to join in unity  to get the job done. May it  always be so.