The Charleston Magnolia Garden Club is very busy with a tree planting, plants at the nursing home and supporting visits to our nearby garden clubs and Charleston Elementary school.
Sassy Mauldin, the Garden Clubs of Mississippi (GCM) president, researched and found two Yoshino cherry trees for our club to purchase. One of them was given to our friends of the Cleveland Garden Club for their beginnings as a new garden club. The other lovely tree will be planted on Thursday this week on the courthouse grounds. It will go directly in front of the south window on the eastern side of the building.
Two years ago, we planted on the west side of the courthouse the same type of tree. Our summer that year and the next were record-breaking brutal with no rain and all sunny days. Since this tree needed water care for the first two years of planting, that tree did not survive. The garden club members hope the new tree will be a pleasant reminder of the beauty that can be enjoyed.
Last Tuesday, we met at First Presbyterian Church of Charleston and potted 12 charming types of succulents in terra cotta pots for the dining hall of the nursing home. These garden club ladies then regrouped at Tallahatchie General Hospital to give these low-maintenance plants to the staff for placing on the dining tables for the patients.
Succulents are one of the best plants to brighten a room because these varied types require so little care. (A common complaint of garden club friends is forgetting to water.)
Finally, Oxford Garden Club will be hosting a flower show and Charleston Elementary wants to circle back to the raised beds that we installed two years ago for the school. After 10 years of not having a flower show, Oxford will host one at the Oxford Conference Center at Ed Perry Boulevard. Our club will attend in solidarity to provide support, and since we will not have a flower show this April as in the past, we look forward to the event and its beauty. Put it on your calendar, too for March 26, from 1-5 pm.
To close out this month with activities, our friend Jennifer O’Brien at the elementary school wants her kindergarteners to experience the joy of gardening with the expertise of Marline Carpenter and Martha Joe Venable of our club.
They will show how to prepare the raised beds for planting bulbs or seeds, depending on Jennifer’s preference. They will follow up with monitoring the progress of the beds and the children’s participation.
As you can certainly realize, Charleston is blessed to have a garden club that is truly involved in the community and surrounding towns to promote “Mahvelous Mississippi” clubs and gardens.
Keep it green!
