Spanish Trail District Meeting was Held at the White House Hotel, Biloxi

The Spanish Trail District of the Garden Clubs of Mississippi, Inc, held a meeting at the White House Hotel in Biloxi , on September. 30, 2015.  Our guest speaker was the director of the Pascagoula River Audubon Center, Mark La Salle.  Gulf Hills had five club members attending.

 Our own Sue Manley received state recognition as Gardener of the Year.  Sue loves gardening and serves as chairman of the Gulf Hills Memorial Garden committee.  Congrats, Sue.

 Above image shows the Gulf Hills president with Garden Clubs of Mississippi President, Debby Cooper, accepting the award for Sue.  Sue had just stepped out of the meeting.

Pictured above are several of the many beautiful Fall themed center pieces that Gulf Hills Garden Club members Beth Margherio and Julia Hartridge created for our table decorations.

Here we have Margaret Noblitt, dressed in her seasonal finery, inviting everyone to the State Convention here on the Gulf Coast, April 11-13, 2016.  The Ocean Springs Garden Club will be the host club this year.

If you would like to see more images from this meeting, please visit the Snap Fish photo album of 

Charla Jordan,

GCM Publicity Chairman/Photographer

   

To view the album please click on the Snap Fish photo album link above and then look to the right of the page, where the  yellow "create an account" button is located and click below it where it says "view this album as a guest".  It will take you directly to the album of 129 photos that Charla Jordan took of the meeting.

The Gulf Hills Garden Club's September Meeting

Our September club meeting was held at the MS Coastal Plain Land Trust facility in Ocean Springs, Known as Twelve Oaks. In the photo below we have seated, our hostess Julia Hartridge with guest artist Spencer Kellum, Artist in residence at Twelve Oaks, left, and MS Coastal Plain Land Trust Fund Development Officer Becky Ginn, on the right. A wonderful luncheon was provided by Lola Fleur (Visit on FaceBook), of Ocean Springs with wine pairing by our hostess' husband, Andrew Hartridge . We all had a  delightful day,  in a most beautiful and artistic setting. We would really like to thank our host member and her special guest for such a memorable meeting!
Please take note that our next scheduled meeting will be October 15.

 

Grenada Garden Club "Paints it Pink" for Breast Cancer Awareness

Promote a Passion for Pink
Plant Pink Flowers Everywhere!

 

Make a Statement with Pink Flowers for Breast Cancer Awareness

Our Friends at the Grenada Garden Club in Grenada, Ms., sent us a few images of their club's "Plant It Pink" Breast Cancer Awareness project, or should we say, in there case "Paint it Pink"!
They painted pumpkins pink to use as a display on the Grenada downtown square with pink mums.  A large cancer logo pink ribbon and sign have been placed at the intersection of Hwy 8-51 in Grenada.

The "Plant It Pink" Breast Cancer Awareness project is a project that is being endorsed by the National Garden Clubs. For more information on this project please visit the National Garden Clubs website.

 

Volunteers are shown installing the logo, as directed by Plant It Pink Chairman, Bobbye Dykes. 

Grenada Garden Club member Melanie Gousset is shown painting pumpkins to use in decorating the downtown Grenada Square for Breast Cancer Awareness.

4th Annual Hummingbird Festival Sept.19th, 2015 in Diamondhead, Mississippi

Just a quick reminder!

Click image above to view larger image.

The Hummingbirds Have Arrived in Gulf Hills and Ocean Springs, Mississippi

In mid-August the humming birds arrived once more in the Gulf Hills Garden Club area!  What a joy to watch them darting and tumbling through our late summer gardens!  If you love "hummers" as much as we do you can do a number of things to attract them to your garden and make their fast lives a little less hectic.  I have put in a number of links that will take you to fact-filled sites about hummingbirds, so please use them.

 

  

As gardeners we can plant many different plants in our gardens that will appeal not only to our own visual senses and also fulfill the needs of the hummingbird.  Here are two different websites with helpful lists of hummingbird friendly flowers  The Best 18 Plant Families for Natural Nectar and Planting a Hummingbird Garden

Keep in mind that hummingbirds also need a good supply of clean fresh water. it can be anything from a sprinkler for them to fly through to a very shallow bird bath.   Here is a very good article on providing water for hummingbirds.  Providing Water for Hummingbird

 

Hanging hummingbird feeders are the most common way for us to provide food for these high powered birds.  Here is a link to information about humming bird feeding.  

Debbie's Tips for Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds

It has been noticed that some humming birds are staying along the gulf Coast during the winter months.  Winter hummingbirds in the Gulf   Please help "Make a Home for Hummingbirds" along with the National Wildlife Federation.

Here's a fact-filled PDF article that you may download about the Ruby-throated hummingbird

Remember that hummingbirds can be one of the most delightful ornaments that we can have in our modern gardens.  Take a few minutes out of your life to enjoy the birds and the flowers.  

I'd like to thanks photographer Larry Keller for allowing us the use of his spectacular hummingbird photos on our gulf Hills Garden Club blog.  Clicking on the Hummingbird pictures above will take you to full size images of each photograph. If you click HERE you can enjoy his full gallery of amazing wildlife photography.

Gulf Hills Garden Club Yearbook Signing and Gardener of the Year Award

On August 20, 2015 we had evening to recognize our first ever, "Gardener of the Year" and distribute the 2015-16 Yearbook.

Sue Manley and husband Bob

 The 2015 "Gardener of the Year".  {Sue Manley with her husband Bob.}  Sue was selected because she has exemplified the purpose of Gulf Hills Garden Club to educate, stimulate the interest and love of gardening, encourage civic beautification and to protect native flora.  Congratulations!!

The 2015-16 Garden Club Yearbook was distributed to the members.  Everyone praised our new edition with the colorful images of Gulf Hills flowers and the beautiful cover.   If you were unable to attend Thursday, please contact Mary Ann to receive your copy.  The yearbooks will also be available at the first meeting in September.

We were honored to have a former member Marge D. join us for the evening.  Several of the husbands attended as well.  Rhonda, GCM Spanish Trails District Director, came and shared some of the coming events of The Garden Clubs of Mississippi, Inc.  One very important event is the 100th Birthday Bash in October, more information will be available at the club meeting.

Thank yous to our hostess, Jeanette, and to the club members who provided all the delicious culinary delights. 

The Gulf Hills Garden Club and Miss Lena Horne Present... Magnolia macrophylla

I remember, a very long time ago, seeing the movie "Cabin in the Sky, 1943".  In one of the scenes Lena Horne came out of her house and picked a giant magnolia off a tree and it was so big that she was able to wear it as a hat. I laughed and said to myself what a joke, whoever saw a magnolia that big.

Lena Horne, Cabin in the Sky, 1943

Well, a while back a friend of the GHGC was out and about town here in the Ocean Springs area and came across a fairly scarce and totally wonderful plant find. He discovered a Magnolia macrophylla,or Bigleaf Magnolia, in bloom. It was right along the road in a persons yard. What a treat to find one in the area. He took an image for us to post, and here it is!

 

Magnolia macrophylla

 What a stunning thing to see. Since then I have been informed that there is one at the Walter Anderson Museum here in downtown Ocean Springs.

This Mid-size deciduous tree reaches a height of approximately 40 to 60 feet. Bigleaf magnolias have huge leaves that are 12 to 36 inches long. The flowers are creamy ivory white and can be up to a foot across. Blooms are in summer and have a pleasant fragrance.  This tree can be grown in full sun or part shade. Preferring well-drained sand or loam and slightly alkaline to acidic soil. Hardy in USDA zones 5B-8.


For more information on the Magnolia macrophylla or Bigleaf Magnolia check out;

Missouri Botanical Garden.org  Plant Finder

University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

U.S. Forestry Service, FactSheet, PDF to Download