New Officers Elected for Mississippi Gulf Coast Council of Garden Clubs for 2015-16

 

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Council of Garden Clubs has new council members!

 

A luncheon meeting was held Monday, May 11, at the Great Southern Club, in Gulfport,

during which our new officers for 2015-16 were elected.

 

Congratulations, to all our new officers and we at the Gulf Hills Garden Club would like to wish them the very best during their term in office!

 

Below is an image of the new council members taken at the meeting.

From left to right Council President, Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, 3rd Vice President, 2nd Vice President and 1st Vice President.

Gulf Hills Garden Club Memorial and Arbor Day Celebration 2015

The Gulf Hills Garden Club held a Memorial and Arbor Day Celebration on April 18, 2015.  This year, as in years past, plants were planted in the Memorial Garden with a Memorial Service.

 

A Louisiana Sapphire tree was planted in memory of Margie Dill, a past Garden Club member.  Abelia plants and blue Hydrangeas were planted in memory of Mildred Brown, Mother of a garden club member; William Spigener, Brother of a garden club member and John Curley, Father of a garden club member. 

A swing, that was donated to the Memorial Garden by Dr. and Mrs. Lee Vance, was dedicated, as well.  A blue Hydrangea was planted in the garden in appreciation to Dr. Vance's generous donation.  Our sincere gratitude to Doris for her generous contributions to the Garden. 

The event was planned and coordinated by Mr. and Mrs. Jay Schmidt.  The table featured white Easter Lilies and wonderful refreshments. Thank you to all that helped. 

Ice Cream Cone Planters and the Annual Gulf Hills Garden Club Auction

 Warm Spring days can make you think of two things:  gardening and ice cream.  Now you can combine both right now!  Seriously now, this is an idea for making a planter out of all things a flat bottomed, cake ice cream cone.  Think of it as a biodegradable seed stater much like a more expensive peat pot.  This isn't as crazy as it seems.  Ice cream cones are far less expensive than peat pots and they degrade quickly and are available in most stores. Once the seeds have sprouted and are ready to go outside, all you have to do is plant the cone.  Any leftovers can be used for ... ice cream.

The other evening the Gulf Hills Garden Club had it's annual plant auction. Every year we get together and the members bring in all manner of interesting and beautiful plants that are auctioned at our club fund raiser. This year we had many exciting plants such as Rice Paper Plant (Tetrapanax),  Loquot Tree (Eriobotrya japonica),   and the Night Blooming Cereus,  as seen in the picture below, featuring our auctioneer, local artist and Gulf Hills Garden Club member, Michael W. Moses.  

This years auction was a lot of fun and a lively good time was had by all. 

We would especially like to take a moment and thank our hosts for this years auction and our monthly meeting. They had a elegantly laid out table that was in many of our members words nothing more than a work of art!  Everything was just perfect!

2015 Gulf Coast Spring Pilgrimage Brochure is off to Press!

The 2015 Gulf Coast Spring Pilgrimage brochure is off to press and should be available this coming week!  The image above shows part of our creative production staff taking a last final look at the mock up of the brochure.  It was a lot of work, but it was worth the effort!   

For further information please contact:

MS. Peyton Readman

Receptionist

Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau

P O Box 8298 ~ Biloxi, MS 39535-8298

2350 Beach Blvd, Ste A ~ Biloxi, MS 39531

228-896-6699 ext. 224; 1-888-467-4853 ext. 224

Fax: 228-896-6788

peytonr@gulfcoast.org, www.gulfcoast.org

Gulf Hills Garden Club Marjorie Albrycht Yard Award for March of 2015

A local Gardner was presented by the Gulf Hills Garden Club, with the Marjorie Albrycht Yard Award for March of 2015.
The long time Gulf Hills resident and Gardner was also given a Camellia Japonica "Delores Edwards" (1989) hybrid to plant in his beautiful garden.  At this time of year on the Gulf Coast it can be a bit difficult to find a garden that has not been hit by the ravages of winter. This one was full of glorious blooms that made us all feel a bit closer to actual spring, which for us will be not to far down the road...Oh, wait, what is that??? I can see it just ahead! Spring is truly almost here!

Among the many plants that were flowering in our yard of the month choice were,

Magnolia liliiflora or Japanese magnolia

 Galanthus or Snow Drops

And three different types of Camellia

We hope that the images above will give  you a small glimpse of why we chose this garden as the yard of the month!

Gulf Hills Garden Clubs Presentation of Lagerstroemia Indica AKA Crepe Myrtle

Lagerstroemia  Indica or Crepe Myrtle as it is commonly referred, was originally native to the East Indian subcontinent, South East Asia, Northern Australia, and parts of Oceania.  The genus is named after the 18th cent Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström, who supplied Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus with plants.

First imported to England from China in 1759.  Unfortunately, it was discovered that this plant would not easily bloom in England, due to the cooler climate.  André Michaux plant explorer and botanist to King Louis XVI  introduced both the Crepe Myrtle and the Camellia here in America at Charleston, South Carolina, around the mid 18th century.  The exact is disputed by sources, but some say 1747, others 1786, but it's enough for this article that it was mid to late 18th century.

Crepe Myrtle was an immediate hit early on here in the southern part of the United States!  It did not take very long before plants were being off loaded on ships in the harbors of Mobile and New Orleans.  It spread to gardens throughout the south very quickly.  The early appearance Crepe Myrtle in the deep south makes this a very traditional southern heirloom garden plant. So remember that Crepe Myrtle is perfect for almost any period Southern garden.

A funny aside for me, is that I always thought that many Crepe Myrtle had been named after Southern towns. Catawba, Biloxi, Natchez, Osage, Miami , etc.  It seems that the Latin name Lagerstroemia Indica may have been misunderstood by some and hybrids of this plant were named after Native American tribes, to include Arapaho, Chickasaw, Pecos, Seminole, Sioux, and Zuni
There are about 50 species  mostly deciduous and even a  few evergreen, trees and shrubs.  Some may grow up to 30 ft tall full size trees and others can stay under 1 ft in height and they come in every size in between.

Typical size categorizes are:

Very Dwarf ; 1 - 2 feet Mature Height,
Chickasaw

Dwarf; 3 - 6 feet Mature Height,
Bourbon Street

Semi-Dwarf; 5 - 12 feet Mature Height,

Acoma

Small Tree; 10 - 20 feet Mature Height,
Near East

Tree; 20 + feet Mature Height,
Biloxi

Average Water Needs; Water regularly; do not over water. Once established they are not very demanding with the water.
Unlike the azalea, camellia, and gardenia, which pine for acid soil, crepe myrtle are not fussy about soil and will flourishes in just about any type.

No wonder it ranks as the South’s most popular (and desirable) ornamental tree.
There are a number of good articles on the Southern Living.com website.

The Texas A&M University Horticulture website has a lot of extremely useful information about Characteristics of Crape Myrtle Varieties

I hope this quick article( an excerpt from a presentation at our last meeting)from the Gulf Hills Garden Club will be helpful to gardeners and that the Crepe Myrtle will continue to be a standard plant in traditional southern gardens.

Valentine's Day Tip From the Harrison County Extension Service of MS State University

Wishing you a Happy Valentines Day 
from the Gulf Hills Garden Club!

A Valentine's Day Tip from the 

 All of you gardeners out there might be looking for something different to bestow on your special Valentine other than the traditional red roses. If so, how about putting together a Valentine Garden Basket of potted flowering plants that will last for weeks or even months to delight your sweetheart and impress them with your creativity and thoughtfulness!

Select a large basket or container and line with plastic or I have used aluminum foil to prevent water from spilling onto your furniture or table. Check the local garden centers for small potted plants of kalanchoes, cyclamen, azaleas, violets or other blooming plants. Look for pots of spring bulbs that are just beginning to open their flowers. Hyacinths, tulips, paperwhites, crocuses are just a few of the selections of spring potted bulbs.

Arrange these pots in the container or basket (you can even add a pot of a foliage plant such as pothos, philodendron, ferns, or English ivy to fill in the space) and conceal the tops of the pots with Spanish moss or moss taken from your own yard.

You could also conceal a small vase in the basket and put the traditional red rose or other cut flower in there as well! Keeping the plants in their pots makes it easy to water and to quickly replace any flowering plant that begins to fade—without disturbing the entire arrangement.

If you valentine is a gardener or gardener want-to-be you might include a nice pair of gardening gloves or a lovely botanical plaque or other small garden related gift item.

Keep in mind that because your gift contains plants that are still growing, you’ll need to share with your Valentine how to care for their special present. Be sure to remind them that these flowers will need exposure daily to bright light and to shield them from direct sun and cold drafts. Check the soil in the pots to see when water is needed and remind them not to overwater.

If possible cool indoor temperatures of 60 to 65 degrees F will extend the life of the blooms. You might suggest that the arrangement be moved to an enclosed porch or other cooler area of the house when your sweetie will not be home and moved back into the warmer, inhabited areas to be enjoyed up close when sweetie is around.