Flummoxed by foliage, frustrated by failing flowers and floundering in a sea of seed packets? Then the brand new Lake Chapala Garden Club guide is information source made for you.
The “2016 Garden Guide: A Gardening Handbook for Lake Chapala” will be officially unveiled at the club’s monthly meeting, Wednesday, May 18, noon, at La Nueva Posada.
The handy sized 150-page paperback comprises more than 20 chapters, covering topics from “A” (A little Spanish for the garden) to “X” (Xeriscaping). It offers a month-by-month garden calendar and advice on cultivating all types of plants. It digs into the basics of garden care, including useful tips on container growing, composting and pest control. “Now in its the fifth edition, updated over nearly 40 years, it’s our best ever, with vital yet easy reading for garden lovers of all capabilities,” says Garden Club President Judie Keck. She anticipates that the handbook will become a bible for a new gardening master class program for expat and Mexican gardeners, soon to be launched by the Lake Chapala Society.
The opening chapter on planting seasons is a godsend for hopeful green thumbs, especially new arrivals:
“The Lakeside climate produces three seasons of growth. The cold, dry season extends from November to the end of February. The hot, dry season runs from March into June and the warm, wet season begins with the rains in mid-June and lasts through September and sometimes into October. The area surrounding Lake Chapala is by definition a ‘microclimate.’ We are sheltered from the cold, winter winds by the mountains to the north and the lake to the south. These help to moderate our temperatures year around. Our climate in Jalisco on the shores of Lake Chapala favors a combination of semi-tropical and semi-arid conditions, depending on the time of year, determined by our altitude as well as latitude.”
Next week’s lunch time launch of the 2016 Garden Guide is expected to draw a triple-figure audience. Priced at 150 pesos, comfortably under US$9, the book will be available afterwards via Lake Chapala Garden Club. For more details contact Sandy Feldman at (376) 766-2606, or go to www.lakechapalagardenclub.org.