Joan Reid, Lorna Lyle and Elizabeth Hahn
The Grand Orinda Pot Replanting
On the morning of June 19th, about a dozen members of three local garden clubs--Montelindo, Orinda, and Lamorinda (formerly Orinda Juniors)--pitched in to replant and beautify twenty-four large community flower pots in the Theater District of Orinda. June was one of the months that Montelindo was charged with caring for the pots, and so it was extraordinary that all three clubs joined in to help with this task. In the crew from Montelindo Garden Club were Elizabeth Hahn, Lorna Lyle, Joan Reid, Tré Frane, and myself, Montelindo’ s “Pot Lady-in Chief.”
This wonderful event was actually kicked off by an email in early June from Barb Weikert and Susan Romak of the Orinda Garden Club politely asking if Montelindo, which was tasked with pot maintenance for June, was considering freshening up the pots before the 4th of July parade. I hadn’t realized that there was a problem as our work day was set for later that month. But, it turned out that, due to staffing problems, the city had neglected to water the community pots, and most of the plants were dead. I was grateful for this “heads-up,” and searched twolocal nurseries, Orchard and McDonnell, for plants I thought would look good and work in the pots. That included quite a few red, white, and blue plants for the parade route!
A huge “thank you” goes to Lisa Jorgens from the Lamorinda Garden Club, who went above and beyond to clear out all the dead plants from the pots, leaving us with a clean slate on June 19 to replant! And so, all dozen or so “pot ladies” descended on downtown Orinda with our spades, watering cans, sun hats, and oodles of colorful plants to transform the community flower pots from drab to stunning!
Many thanks to all who helped! It was an amazing day of cooperation and comradery. Montelindo is on duty for pot maintenance again in September. Please let me know if you’d like to join our crew.
Judy Hammon
On the morning of June 19th, about a dozen members of three local garden clubs--Montelindo, Orinda, and Lamorinda (formerly Orinda Juniors)--pitched in to replant and beautify twenty-four large community flower pots in the Theater District of Orinda. June was one of the months that Montelindo was charged with caring for the pots, and so it was extraordinary that all three clubs joined in to help with this task. In the crew from Montelindo Garden Club were Elizabeth Hahn, Lorna Lyle, Joan Reid, Tré Frane, and myself, Montelindo’ s “Pot Lady-in Chief.”
This wonderful event was actually kicked off by an email in early June from Barb Weikert and Susan Romak of the Orinda Garden Club politely asking if Montelindo, which was tasked with pot maintenance for June, was considering freshening up the pots before the 4th of July parade. I hadn’t realized that there was a problem as our work day was set for later that month. But, it turned out that, due to staffing problems, the city had neglected to water the community pots, and most of the plants were dead. I was grateful for this “heads-up,” and searched twolocal nurseries, Orchard and McDonnell, for plants I thought would look good and work in the pots. That included quite a few red, white, and blue plants for the parade route!
A huge “thank you” goes to Lisa Jorgens from the Lamorinda Garden Club, who went above and beyond to clear out all the dead plants from the pots, leaving us with a clean slate on June 19 to replant! And so, all dozen or so “pot ladies” descended on downtown Orinda with our spades, watering cans, sun hats, and oodles of colorful plants to transform the community flower pots from drab to stunning!
Many thanks to all who helped! It was an amazing day of cooperation and comradery. Montelindo is on duty for pot maintenance again in September. Please let me know if you’d like to join our crew.
Judy Hammon