Ten members and two guests of the Great Bend Garden Club met on Sept. 15 at the Great Bend Senior Center meeting room. Hostess for the meeting was Alice Young.  

Alice Young gave a Rose Garden update. The old rose garden is in very bad condition. There is funding for the new Rose Garden but there seems to be little help to do maintenance or begin creating the new garden. Alice plans to ask again for the old garden to be demolished and to let the grass grow over the space. Alice will also approach Scott Keeler, director of Public Lands, and also the Great Bend Mayor about facilitating and encouraging the cemetery crew to get started with the New Rose Garden project. 

The morning’s program was given by Alice Young. A lively discussion of the members’ experiences with birds in their backyards was introduced by Alice first providing a list of the birds she has seen in her backyard over the years, along with photos of them. Her list of 24 different species brought questions and descriptions and members’ personal stories. The more unusual birds on her list included the red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches, the cat bird, the rufous-sided towhee and the night hawk. Most familiar and frequently seen were mourning doves, ringed-necked turtle doves, woodpeckers, blue jays, house wrens, robins, black birds, cardinals, and house finches. The cedar waxwing was declared to be the most beautiful and unusual because they come in large flocks, eat whatever berries are available and then are quickly gone.

The discussion also included descriptions of various types of bird feeders and the types of birdseed preferred by the various species of birds. Backyard Bird’s identification books are helpful in recognizing mystery species. The next meeting of Great Bend Garden Club will be at 10 a.m. on Oct. 10 in the Senior Center meeting room. Visitors are welcome.