Geneva Area Pond Club's free meeting on June 15

Pond club leaders Suzanne and Peter will host this meeting in their garden in Nyon, about 15 minutes northeast of Geneva. We'll meet beside the two water-lily ponds teeming with hundreds of goldfish and golden orfes. Swimming with the fish or basking on the banks will be twelve water turtles, and fifteen land tortoises will be strolling through the entire garden or in their spacious 'tortoisearium.'

The main topic of discussion at this meeting will be the selection, placement, planting, and propagation of the many aquatic and bog plants available for Geneva-area water gardens. Suzanne and Peter's ponds are liberally planted with over 100 varieties, each serving its particular function as well as adding natural beauty.

Underwater plants help provide oxygen for the fish, food for their stomachs, spawning material for their eggs, and hiding places for their young. Water-lilies and other plants whose leaves float at the surface provide protection from herons, shade to keep the water from overheating, and floating flowers for us to admire. Emergent plants offer additional flowers, a wide variety of leaf shapes, tall accents to enhance the pond's appearance, and perches for visiting butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies and songbirds. Bog plants along the pond's edge profide more colorful flowers and leaves, and create a beautiful transition to the garden's other plants, visually placing the pond in a more natural setting.

During the formal part of the meeting, Peter will describe the best water plants that survive winters in the Geneva area, the advantages of planting various plants in solid tubs instead of mesh baskets or directly in the pond bottom, the ideal position for each species at its proper depth and correct location in the pond, and the best ways to divide water-lily tubers and propagate other plants. Many other pond-related subjects always come up at these meetings, so bring your questions for the experts and other club members to answer.

The informal snack-and-chat part of each meeting invariably brings up every other topic under the sun, because these events are social as well as educational. Visitors are always welcome, so bring along any interested friends and neighbors, whether they do or don't have a pond. Several guests were so impressed with the beauty of ponds at these events that they have since installed one in their own gardens.

The start of the summer season always brings greater attendance at pond club meetings. Eighteen club members have voted so far in one of the club's online Polls to help determine the various ways to conduct large meetings. According to attendees' wishes, the June 15 meeting can be divided into two special-interest groups so discussions can be separated for English-speakers and for French-speakers, or for experienced pond owners and for beginners, or for the various other options in that Poll. Everyone can log on to the Polls at http://ponds.meetup.c... to see the current vote-count in each of our Polls. Note that only club members can then submit or revise their votes, and instantly see the change in results.

Non-members need not feel rejected, because they can instantly become members for free right on the club's web site. Log on to http://ponds.meetup.c... to read all about the club, and how to navigate the many pages of its informative web site. If you like what you read, just click on the red link marked 'Sign up' to join the club. Fill in your name and other details, click 'Submit,' confirm your e-mail address, and you'll be our newest member. We currently have 99 families or individuals in the club, and you could be the historic 100th.

Membership has its privileges. Members can vote in our Polls to determine the club's management. Members can post photos of their ponds in our web site's Photos section. If a member e-mails a group of digital photos to PeterSuzanne2@hotmail.com, Peter will create a new photo album for that member. For examples, log on to http://ponds.meetup.c..., and scroll down the screen to see photos of other club members' ponds. Click on each photo to enlarge it, then click on the enlarged photo to enlarge it again.

The Calendar section at http://ponds.meetup.c... lists all our upcoming meetings. Click on an event's title to read its location and full details, then submit your RSVP by clicking Yes, Maybe, or No to indicate if you can attend. Each other section of the web site is informative, so check them all out.