March-April 2011

N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E C H A P E L H I L L G A R D E N C L U B

CLIPPINGS

Lisa Wimpfheimer, Head Curator of Gardens at Tryon Palace, will speak on The Role of Landscapes in Historic Preservation. This lecture is an armchair tour through a few of North Carolina's historic gardens. We will look at how gardens surrounding historic homes have changed with time. Comparing the 18th, 19th, and 20th century designs and plants, we can appreciate the importance landscapes play in his-toric preservation. Included in Lisa's presentation, will be the story of Lavinia Ellis Cole (March 14,1883-1923) of New Bern. Lavinia, a "young lady of quality" was educated at the Bur- well School, right up the road in Hillsborough. She married and settled in New Bern with her husband. After the Civil War shattered her placid, elegant life and left her house in ashes and "her garden in a muddle", she fled to Warren County. In time, both house and garden were recreated and she eventually tended 500 rose bushes of 300 varieties. She kept extraordinary records and plant lists which give our imaginations a glimpse of the beauty of her garden. On February 28, 1882 she gathered over 1,000 jonquils, narcissi, and over 22 varieties of other flowers. As she aged, she sketched and painted flowers in water colors as well as embroidery silk. The gardens and history of our state are woven together just as the stitches of Lavinia's em-broidered "paintings". Come and hear how history is reflected in today's gardens and meet the gardeners of the past. As Head Curator at Tryon Palace, Lisa oversees plantings in the gardens, manages the department, coordinates Holiday decorating, and plans garden lectures. Pre- viously, she was the Horticulture Extension Agent in Carteret County. Lisa earned her B.S. and M.S. from North Carolina State University and is originally from New Jersey.

Chapel Hill Garden Club March General Meeting

North Carolina Botanical Garden Education Center

Tuesday, March 22 2011

9:30 am Meet and Greet coffee time

10:00 am Meeting begins with Featured Speaker, Lisa Wimpfheimer

Role of Landscapes in Historic Preservation

Gaines Steer Glynis Wilkes Madeline

Cains Denise

Vanderwoude Kathleen Findley

Pat Siewert

B J Vogel JoAnn Levo Daphne

McLeod Betsy

Ninninger Sara Laish

Enjoy the lovely smil‐ing faces of  some of our new members as they were enthusiasti‐cally welcomed at the New Member Tea/Coffee at Darlene Pomroy’s delightful new home.  They are already hard at work enriching the club.  See page 6 for Sara Laish’s lavish contri-bution.

Photo by Vicki Scott

Chapel Hill Garden Club April General Meeting

North Carolina Botanical Garden Education Center

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 9:30 am Meet and Greet coffee time

10:00 am Meeting begins with Featured Speaker, Allison Sanders

of Garden Supply Company, Cary

Container Design and Demonstration

Page 2

Feel the lightness in the air? Hear the birds singing? Aren't you just itching to get some dirt under your fingernails? Before you head out to the nursery, come listen to what Garden Supply Company of Cary's designer, Allison Sanders, has to say about the newest colors and plants for spring. Become a master of the TSF's of good container design: otherwise known as thriller the upright (1), spiller the trailer (2), and filler the colorful (3). Learn how to select the perfect plants from the multiple new options for this spring, how to determine which potting mixes are best suited for different growing environ-ments, how to select an appropriate container, and how to properly care for your container to keep it

looking lush throughout our hot Piedmont summer. Allison Sanders, our friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic presenter, fell in love with gardening when she and her husband bought their first home in San Jose, CA. This prompted her to earn an A.S. Degree in Ornamental Horticulture at Foothill College and then open her own residential maintenance company specializing in fine mainte-nance and organic gardening. She has had the privilege to work in gardens featured in Sunset Magazine and Organic Gardening Magazine. A North Carolina Master Gardener and 6 year veteran with Garden Supply, Allison is a sought after speaker in the garden community and she is ready to share her skills with us and have a good time getting her hands in the dirt!

Gethsemane Gardens is a farm-turned-nursery with 60,000 square feet of garden plants. Enough to tempt any Chapel Hill Garden Club member! We’ll have a brief tour of their 30 acres of woods, streams, open fields and encounter Holland Lop-eared rabbits, and possibly Buff Orpinton or Golden Laced Wyandotte chickens. The specialty this time of year is their assortment of Hellebores, in which they take great pride. Join us for a visit to this unusual nursery and optional lunch nearby. Sign up at the general meeting or contact Carol Candler, ccandler@nc.rr.com, 929-5011 Visit their website: gethgardens.com

March Field Trip

Hellebore Days in Greensboro Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Nearly every year, we trek to Big Bloomer Nursery in Sanford to savor their huge selection of herbs, succulents, annuals and perennials. A staff member of Big Bloomers will provide a short presentation on the HOT new plants for 2011. Then you can browse through their numer-ous greenhouses for about an hour and find those perfect plants for your containers or that empty spot by your front walk.

Be sure to leave plenty of space in the trunk of your car. If you would like to stay for lunch, we’ll head over to the charming Mrs. Lacey’s Magnolia House around 11:30. If you plan to attend, please sign up at the general meeting or contact Carol Candler at 929-5011 or ccan-dler@nc.rr.com.

April Field Trip

IT’S BIG BLOOMER TIME! Thursday, April 7, 2011

Lunch at Mrs. Lacey’s Magnolia House Meet at NCBG at 9:00 to carpool

Fine Field Trips Brought to you by Carol Candler

Field Trip Chair & 2012 Tour Chair

Branches and Leaves By Nina Forsyth, OCMG Container gardening has taken off in the last several years with attractive and colorful pottery available in all shapes and sizes, even lightweight synthetics are looking better and better. Containers are great for gardeners who want less garden responsibility yet want flowers, herbs or vegeta-bles nearby. Pots can add ac-cents within borders, become a focal point in the landscape and when clustered on a deck or patio, they make a wonder-ful display. The key to successful plant performance in containers is the quality of the potting mix you use. Look for the words “Premium” or “Professional” on the label as a guide. Large bags seem to have better in-gredients and the same brand

can vary from time to time. Most mixes are called “soilless,” a combination of peat moss, composted materi-als, and perlite (white pellets for drainage) and/or pine fines (ground pine bark). It can be hard to find good potting mixes without added fertilizer, a minimal and pricey ingredient. If you add your own supplements you can control how much you need. I like the Fafard brand potting soil from Southern States with no added fertilizer or moisture granules. I usually amend potting soil for better drainage with pine fines, per-lite and Black Kow manure for potted vegetables or a shrub. A wheelbarrow is a good mixing bowl and you can store leftovers in the original bag. Here is what I found at a few local businesses:

Dickinson Garden Center carries a variety of Fafard mixes. They use an all-purpose Fafard mix for their containers. Fertilizer and moisture granules are in-cluded in the bag. Southern States carries Fafard with and without additives and also Professional Potting Mix with their store brand name. Metro Mix brand, found at both Dickinson and Southern States, is a premium product which comes in a large bale and costs about $20. It can be shared if it is too much soil for one person. Ace Hardware at Eastgate has a premium organic potting soil called Dr. Earth that looks promising. Niche Gardens makes their own potting mix: 60% com-posted pine bark, 25% peat moss, plus Osmocote and perlite.

Branches and Leaves

By Nina Forsyth, OCMG

Page 3

CONTAINER PREPARATION TIPS

1 – Fill containers with mois-tened potting mix to ½ inch of rim. 2 – If using moisture granules, soak BEFORE adding to pot-ting soil. 3 – A layer of stones or gravel in the bottom of the pot is not advisable (ask Tony Avent!). 4 – There is better drainage when pots are slightly raised from the deck surface.

TREASURER’S REPORT  Darlene Pomroy 

 January 2011 INCOME: Sharing table $ 266.00 Dues 1610.00 Total: $ 1876.00 EXPENSES Postage/treasurer 5.50 Newsletter copies 24.23 Program…door prizes 41.70 Historian 17.39 Membership 18.41 Hospitality: Holiday Tea 137.85 New member coffee 10.50 Total: $ 255.58 Balance on 1/31/2011 is: $18,828.26

Our native deciduous hollies were especially nice this winter. They were hard to miss in the winter landscape as many of these small trees were covered with tiny bright red berries. I noticed many in the woods and along our highways. Ilex decidua, common name Possum Haw, is native to this area and is a dis-ease resistant, hardy tree. There are several cultivars sold locally . These large shrubs or small trees add winter interest in a couple ways. The smooth, bare branches

when covered in red berries attract flocks of robins and cedar waxwings. If you decide to add this native to your landscape, be sure to purchase both male and female plants in order to as-sure pollination and fruiting.

Horticulture Note from Chairman

Elaine Norwood

Tip from Ty

If you haven’t already, it is time to cut back your Knock-Out– Roses to about 5

canes each 12 to 14 inches tall. Cut off all branches smaller than a pencil.

THE CHAPEL HILL GARDEN CLUB

INVITES YOU TO A

SPRING SYMPOSIUM & LUNCHEON

A SOUTHERN GARDEN- A SENSE OF PLACE SPEAKERS

LEE & LARRY NEWLIN

To read more about Lee Newlin, please visit www.LeeNewlin.com.

APRIL 2, 2011 9:30 AM

CHAPEL HILL COUNTRY CLUB

103 LANCASTER DRIVE

LIMITED TO 150 GUESTS TICKET PRICE: $45.00

CHECK PAYABLE TO CHAPEL HILL GARDEN CLUB

SEND YOUR RESERVATION TO

CHAPEL HILL GARDEN CLUB P.O BOX 10054 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. 27515

YOU MUST INCLUDE E-MAIL ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER

RESERVATION WILL BE CONFIRMED UPON RECEIPT OF YOUR CHECK

We look forward to hearing our delightful speakers and sharing a Spring luncheon with you!

A Southern Garden – A Sense of Place A reflection

Stepheny F. Houghtlin, 2010-11 President

Page 4

Clippings

Growing up in the North, we wore our bobby socks cuffed, but when I arrived at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the southern girls all wore their socks straight up. Here begins the story of how I became a Southerner. Over time, I stopped saying, “You guys,” and with a slight drawl could say, “You all.” There were colloquialisms I came to understand, which today, seem quite charming. The first time a young man asked if he could carry me downtown, I had no idea that he was offering to drive me there. Once, driving from a small town in western Kentucky to a wedding in the central part of the state, I followed a detailed set of directions, the last line of which read, turn right, and it’s down the road apiece. I came to realize that it is not a snooty question when asking who someone’s father is – rather it is an attempt to place that person within a family and in a location. The South introduced me to pulled pork barbeque, fried chicken on Sundays, sweet tea, and a life-long love affair with the southern voice in literature. I discovered that everybody in the south knows everybody else…they all went to the same “prestigious” summer camps, dated the same people at one time or another, and share a fierce sense of pride in place. Steve Bender wrote in The Southern Living Gar-den Book, that “that the spirit of southern gardening is more than a geographical location; it’s more than a practiced style. True Southernness grows from a fervent quest for continuity – an instinctive recognition that the seeds we sow and the bulbs we share tell the world who we are and where we’ve been.” Think of the garden club in 1931, when those southern women began the club. It’s easy to think of their lives as quite small compared to the lives we lead today. Certainly the academic life of the university, and the intellectual discourse around them, informed who they were. With all their southern accoutrements; oil portraits and gleaming sterling tea services, book-lined shelves, and wicker rockers on screen porches, they filled their gardens with roses, azaleas, hydrangeas, hollies, crepe myrtles and magnolias. Today, my “Southern Garden” contains these same plants. Perhaps your favorite “Southern Garden” is your own, or the one you dream of when pouring through garden magazines and books. Steve Bender says, ‘we garden to establish a link with the past. We garden to build a road to the future’. At our general meetings, I’d like to begin hearing why you garden, and how you interpret a “Southern Garden”. Think about it and get ready to share in March.

Community Service Volunteers - We Need You! Vicki Scott & Sue Tiedeman

Page 5

Find us on the web at: www.chapelhillgardenclub.net

SEEDS YOUTH GARDEN CLUB

Our second session with our SEEDS Youth Garden Club will take place on March 2, 2011. This is the meeting where we plant early spring veggies. We can always use another pair of gloved hands holding a trowel to guide our future gardeners. Join us at 8:45 at the driveway leading to the planters to be included in this lively community service project. Park in the Teachers’ Parking Lot at McDougle Elementary School, 890 Old Fayetteville Rd. Carrboro. Email Vicki Scott vickis001@att.net or Sue Tiedeman stiedeman@nc.rr.com. for more infor-mation and so we know you are joining us. We need you!

As we begin preparations for the 2012 Chapel Hill Spring Garden Tour, some of you (particularly new members) may won-der how the proceeds of the tour are distributed. Our main support is directed to the NC Botanical Garden, but we also sup-port the outreach programs and operations of our club. The Policies and Procedures of the Garden Club were last revised in 2004 and specifically address this issue: 8. Disbursement of Proceeds “(b) For each tour, the Garden Tour Committee shall make a recommendation to the Board on how to dis-tribute the proceeds among: the Club’s reserve fund for financing the next tour, the NC Botanical Garden, com-munity and educational projects, and the Club’s operating budget. Due to the close and long-lived association with the North Carolina Botanical Garden and the positive response from the public, garden hosts and volunteers, The North Carolina Botanical Garden remains the primary beneficiary of the tour proceeds.”

TOUR DISBURSEMENT POLICY from Tour Chair Carol Candler

Report of the Nominating Committee Margy King, Chair Ty Elliott, Jane Gribbin, Ruth Moleski

President Stephen Houghtlin First Vice President Elizabeth McLachlan Second Vice President Christine Ellestad Recording Secretary Daphne McLeod Corresponding Secretary Glynis Wilkes Treasurer Darlene Pomroy Council/District Representative Hilda Patterson Parliamentarian Ty Elliott

According to our Club Constitution, this slate will be pre-sented to the CHGC Board in early February and to the mem-bership at the regular February meeting. Nominations may also be made from the floor. The consent of each nominee must be secured before his/her name is presented. Elections will be at the March meeting. These officers assume their duties following their installation at the May meeting.

Photos Vicki Scott

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Clippings

ADDITIONS to YEARBOOK: NANCY CLEMENT 72109 MOSELEY CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 929-6261 NANCY@CLEMENTDIRECT.COM NINA COMISKEY 97612 FRANKLIN RIDGE CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 928-8045 NINA_EDCOM@BELLSOUTH.NET * THERE IS A LINE BETWEEN NINA _ED MARILYN HOSPODAR 73003 HARVEY CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 918-3966 HOSPODAR@NC.RR.COM SUSAN JAY 72105 MOSELEY CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 240-5791 SUSANJAY3288@MSN.COM KAREN LAZARUS 235 MT. BOLUS RD. CHAPEL HILL, NC 27514 240-7171 KARUNTA@AOL.COM

MARTHA RUTHERFORD 10135 GOVERNORS DRIVE CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 932-6655 MBRUTHERFORD@BELLSOUTH.NET

GAINES STEER 536 EDWARDS RIDGE ROAD CHAPEL HILL, NC 27517 968-8440 INFO@THELASTUNICORN.COM

Changes in BOLD Address changes/corrections: Lee Butler 7007 Knotty Pine Drive Carol Candler 104 Essex Drive Chapel Hill 27514 Jan Dean 100 Painted Turtle Lane Liz Fudge 122 Carolina Meadows Chapel Hill 27517 Eunice Kraybill 317 Carolina Meadows Pam Moffatt 304 Hoot Owl Lane Chapel Hill 27514 904-415-0933 cell phone pcmoffatt@juno.com

E-mail changes only: Jane Gribbin janegribbin@yahoo.com Betsy Nininger bwnininger@yahoo.com Jane Walker j_c_walk@yahoo.com Heidi Sawyer-Clark sawyer-clark@att.net Telephone Number Lyn Pfefferkorn 933-3422

New Member Sara Laish’s

opulent offering of choco-

late and other sweets in

all forms. She generously

set up this delicious and

elegant and varied valen-

tine table.

The proceeds of the delec-

table sale were donated to

the Garden Club adding

$260 to our treasury.

Have you

ever seen a

Chocolate

Filled Frog?

Another Timely

Tip from Ty

March is a good time to

fertilize your shrubs

with 10-10-10 or 12-

12-12 granular fertil-

izer which is readily

available at garden cen-

ters. spreading it under

mulch will help more of

it reach the plant’s

roots.

Page 7

February General Meeting

Our special Valentine,

Jessie McIntyre joined the Gar-

den Club in 1976, a life member

of 35 years.

Jessie chatting

with new mem-

ber Betsy

Ninninger.

Our lovely Program

Chair, Christine and

our Speaker Butch

If you don’t see yourself in this lunch pic-

ture, please consider joining us next

time. Lunch is a great way to bolster

friendships begun in the garden.

New member Denise Vanderwoude

And Elizabeth McLachlan enjoying Vicki

Scott’s wonderful club history book.

Three colorful Valentines

Char Thomann, Denise Vander-

woude, and Carol Candler

Photos supplied by photographer extraordinaire Daphne McLeod

Clippings MARCH - APRIL 2011

The Chapel Hill Garden Club

P.O. Box 10054

Chapel Hill, NC 27515

Gus St. John, Editor

Jane Walker, Circulation

Educational focus of the National Garden Clubs Through our membership in the National Garden Clubs (NGC), many of us in the Chapel Hill Garden Club might be interested to learn about the wealth of educational opportunities of-fered by our national organization. Among the array of schools/courses offered are in subjects such as: Flower Show Schools, Landscape Design, Environmental Study and Gardening Study. Although the NGC presently does not offer on-line courses, it has ample information on its website about the various cur-riculums and how/where to sign up for course work. The series of courses for flower show schools are intended for gaining accreditation as flower show judges. Becoming accomplished as a horticulturist is the focus of the garden study courses. And who wouldn't want to improve their landscape designs skills with some instruction from landscape architects? For anyone interested to read up on the educational programs and schools offered by the National Garden Clubs, go to http://www.gardenclub.org/Schools.aspx

Note from Katherine Livas Council and District Representative