On February 13th, 19 members of the Glove and Trowel Garden Club met at the barn of member Julie Hatcher for their monthly meeting which was hosted by Holli Strickland.
The club discussed plans for continuing the butterfly project with the second graders at East Elementary School in Dillon. The project has not only been fun for the students, but it also encourages the study of butterflies Funds are supplied by the Garden club for the purchase of kits which include posters, butterfly boxes, larvae and worksheets. Students can watch as the larvae progress from the larvae stage to emergent butterflies. The project culminates with a ceremony where the butterflies are released.
Members also discussed the upcoming Coastal District Meeting, ‘Hats Off to Gardeners’, scheduled for Thursday, March 14th, at the Wild Wings Plantation in Conway and made plans for several members to attend.
The topic of the February meeting was ‘Growing Hydrangeas’ which was presented by member, Sally Harrison. There are six main groups of Hydrangea native to North America – Big Leaf, Mountain, Panical, Smooth, Oakleaf and Climbing. Hydrangea are appealing to many gardeners because of their stunning flowers and will bloom from spring well into summer. In addition, they are fairly easy to grow and grow quickly reaching up to 15 feet in height.
Hydrangeas like warm sunny mornings but dislike the heat of afternoon. As a result, the best location to plant these bushes is in a sheltered location with sunny mornings and shady afternoons. The soil preferred by these plants is moist with lots of organic material, but soggy poorly drained soil will cause root rot.
The blooms from Hydrangea can easily be cut and dried. The best time to cut the flowers is when they start to dry on the bush. If picked too early the flowers will just wilt.
The color of the blooms can be modified. If you want pink flowers just add lime to the soil and for blue blooms add more acid. To make the soil more acidic just add coffee grounds, egg shells or even rusty nails.
The Glove and Trowel Garden Club was organized in January 1953 and is a member of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. the South-Atlantic Region, the Garden Club of South Carolina Inc, and the Coastal District of the GCSC.