Garden Club visits Henrietta Creek Apple Orchard

Photo by Joan Petre

Photo by Joan Petre

Barbara Anderson

The Robson Ranch Garden Club enjoyed a beautiful morning on Monday, October 17, at Henrietta Creek Apple Orchard in Roanoke, TX. Comfortable temperatures and a nice cloud cover enhanced the incredible colors of flowers galore. We learned that “if you plant them, they will come.” Plant Zinnias and Gregg’s Mistflower and Monarch butterflies will come in abundance. Every step on our guided tour of the orchard and gardens brought hundreds of startled butterflies off of their food source, so essential for their long trip from the northern states of the U.S. and Canada to their over-winter site in Mexico. One word sums it up: gorgeous. Not so much for the apple trees, however, many of which have suffered from the excesses of too much rain or too little at the worst time for producing fruit. The Orchard also has an apiary to supply its own bees for spring pollination with the delicious side-product of honey! The talk by the owner about the bee population was fascinating; what a complex community.

We look forward to our next meeting on the 21st of November, Monday, at 10:30 a.m. in the Lone Star Room at The Clubhouse. After a short business meeting we will be treated to a program on forcing amaryllis or paper white bulbs for the Christmas season.

We welcome new members. For those new to “retirement,” now is the time to learn a wonderful and for the most part rewarding hobby. Our dues are $10 per household, payable at the meeting or by calling our membership chair, Barbara Warren, at 425-443-4578 or the club president, Barbara Anderson, at 940-239-6504. The Lone Star Room is nice and big, so we are eager to accommodate a good crowd!