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August is like the Sunday of summer. The Garden Club will meet on Wed., Aug. 11, in the Main Clubhouse Ballroom, from 10 am to 12 pm. This month's guest speakers are from Beaumont Unique Flowers. Beaumont Unique Flowers has been the leading flower shop in Beaumont, CA for over 45 years. Kandy and Lydia will delight you with their knowledge of all things floral. They will bring a Dish Garden of plants and then show us how to put together a compact arrangement in a wooden box with bright and cheery colors! Won't you come and share the fun with your fellow garden enthusiasts? The sun shined brightly past dawn this morning and I realized, it's August, the last month of summer, or summer's last stand. This is what I recall most about August — it is National Back to School month, which is apt, since many children will head back to school at the end of the month. But it is also a time to catch up on some last outdoor activities, so time to get out there in that garden. It is also National Family Fun Month, National Golf Month and National Motorsports Awareness Month. But to me, August brings the best bounty of the season — ripened tomatoes, ripe melon, sweet corn on the cob, and zucchini are just a few of my favorites. After Lammas Day, corn ripens as much by night as by day. Here are some notable dates, and then some wacky, fun dates I found in August… Aug. 1, traditionally known as Lammas Day, was a festival to mark the annual wheat and corn harvest. Lammas also marked the mid- point between the summer solstice and autumn equinox, and was a cross-quarter day. Aug. 10 is St. Lawrence's Day, "Fair weather on St. Lawrence's Day presages a fair autumn." Aug. 11 marks the end of the Dog Days of Summer, which began on July 3. Aug. 17 is when the Cat Night begins, harking back to a rather obscure Irish legend concerning witches; this bit of folklore also led to the idea that a cat has nine lives. Aug. 19 brings National Aviation Day, chosen for the birthday of Orville Wright who piloted the first recorded flight of a powered heavier-than-air machine in 1903. Aug. 26 is Woman's Equality Day, which celebrates the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment and, with it, women's right to vote in the United States. And now my favorites-the wacky "Just for Fun" Days and do have fun with these strange celebrations! Aug. 1–7: International Clown Week; Aug. 8: "National Sneak Some Zucchini onto your Neighbors' Porch Day" (be sure and leave your neighbors your best zucchini bread recipe to use up that bounty); Aug. 10: National S'mores Day; Aug 12: Vinyl Record Day; Aug. 13: International Left-Handers Day; Aug. 17: International Geocaching Day; Aug. 17: World Honeybee Day. For membership contact Sherry Case at (951) 533-3584 or Linda Powers at (951) 769-3101. Do you have vegetable garden questions- contact Pat Pennington, (951) 314-9229, "The Garden of EAT-EM" advisor. For general information, contact President Pam Mikkelsen (951) 797-3080. Happy gardening! ~ Raelene Kretchman Garden Club 42 | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | AUGUST 2021 |