GARDEN CLUB SPRINGS INTO APRIL
April always finds Chipley Garden Club busy with gardening activities. Club members finished March by weeding and installing new native plants in the Joyce Carter Memorial Butterfly Garden at Falling Waters State Park. This is an on-going project and it won’t be long before it will in full bloom!
Monday, April 3rd found garden club members and Clint Fussell of Fussell Daylilies enjoying a field trip to The Amaryllis Man, Charlie Johnston, in Dellwood. With over 50 years of Amaryllis gardening knowledge, Mr. Johnston stated, “I ship bulbs all over the world and import bulbs from Israel, South Africa, and Holland. This is really a hobby gone wild!” He spoke of the history of the Amaryllis, different types of propagation, division procedures, seeds, varieties, and so much more, and then led the group out into “the garden” for hands-on enjoyment.
Wednesday, April 5th the regular monthly meeting was hosted at the home of Debbie & Jerry Mitchell.
The business portion of the meeting was conducted by President Gail Exum. She read thank you notes from the Food Pantry and Julie Dillard, UF/IFAS and led discussions of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. District II Spring Meeting which the club will be hosting on May 10th with Wausau Garden Club, CHS Project Graduation, participation in the Farm Tour at Fussell’s Daylilies, and National Garden Week in June. Non-perishable food items were again collected to be delivered to the Food Pantry.
New officers for the 2023-24 Club Year were elected: President Gweneth Collins, Vice President Linda Pigott, Secretary Dorothy Odom, and Treasurer Debbie Mitchell. The new officers will be installed in May.
Wildflower Chair Glenda Wilson updated the group on the butterfly garden and presented the wildflower of the month – Curly Dock aka Rubex crispus. This plant is a perennial that grows in ditches and fence rows in our area. It makes excellent dried material for arrangements and has many medicinal uses.
The program, entitled “Native Americans’ Uses for Plants,” was presented by club member Pam Morzos, a Native American of the Ojibwa tribe. She shared her personal history, displayed artifacts from her family collection, and provided “real” maple sugar candy, wild rice pudding, and wild rice cookies for the tasting pleasure of the group. She also shared the relationship between Native Americans and the plants and animals in the world around us.
The next regular meeting of the club will be at 10:00AM on Wednesday, May 3rd at Falling Waters State Park. If you would like information on the club and its activities, please contact Club President Gail Exum at 850-638—0950. We welcome new members at anytime during the year.
