by | | Gardening, Horticulture, Inspiration, Plants
I like to buy plants for my containers that can be planted in the yard at the end of their bloom season. This fall I felt the need for large bursts of color and enticing texture, so I did a little research before heading out and put Brown’s Japanese Yew, Huechera, Floral Berry (St. John’s Wort), Stone Crop, Hens & Chicks, Compact Oregon Grape, and Lime Twist Sedum on my list of plants to look for.
After my first stop, Snow ‘N Summer Asiatic Jasmine, mugo pine, cabbage, and violas were added to the list. I hadn’t bought anything yet, though. At my next stop, Frenzy Juncus, an Autumn Empress Encore Azalea, a few Hazy Dark Pink Asters, and a pack of SnapdDragons jumped the list and hopped into my cart. They called my name, and there weren’t many of them, so I needed to get them right away. Oh, and 5 hot fuscia cyclamen. I love cyclamen. I’d forgotten that there were varieties that are hardy to -25 degrees, so I was thrilled to read the plant tag and see that these gorgeous plants should thrive here in metro Atlanta. Then I remembered a container I’d seen in Gardens Illustrated’s Pots of Style that included cyclamen in winter in England. Those cyclamen were definitely hardy to very low temperatures.
I headed back to stop one and picked up some of the Snow ‘N Summer Asiatic Jasmine (hardy to 0 – 10 degrees); some gorgeous dark purple cabbage (an exception to my replant rule), and a Blue Point Juniper to add to the mix.
My day is brightened by their beauty every time I look out one of my windows. The plants look like they are very happy out there. I hope you get the chance to bring such beauty into your day whether the plants are inside or outside.
by | | Environment
Inspired by 16-year-old Greta Thernberg’s speech to the UN and the National Garden Club, Inc.’s Conservation Pledge – “I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of the planet earth and promise to promote education so we may become caretakers of our air, water, forest, land, and wildlife”, Roswell Garden Club invited high school students from public, private, and home schools in Roswell, GA, to write a blog post exploring how we in Roswell can become caretakers of our air, water, forest, land, and wildlife.
Each year the focus shifted slightly from the first year’s focus on the National Garden Club’s Conservation Pledge. In year two, the focus was on recycling, in year three posts focused on the Chattahoochee River. We invite you to look at the posts on our High School Environmental Blog Posts
We hope you are as inspired by the posts as we are and choose a student’s suggestion and take action on it to help change our world.
by | | Education, Gardening
Last month’s speaker, Jeanne Singer, inspired me to put together a container project I had been thinking about for some time. It involves a length of rebar or other sturdy thin rod and various sizes of pots with drain holes in the bottom (I used 4), then stacking them on top of each other and putting in plants. You can even stack them topsy turvy at angles for fun. Rebar can be found in various lengths and is inexpensive.
Steps: Find a fairly level spot in your yard or flower bed and hammer the rebar, pipe, etc. into the ground several inches (be careful not to puncture your sprinkler system, cable or utilities) then place your largest container down over it and weigh the bottom with bricks, stones, etc and cover with potting soil and pat down firmly especially in the center, then place the next pot on top but just fill with your potting soil and do the same for how ever many pots you want to use. Then fill with your plants around the open edges. You can have fun with it by placing some themed decorative items around the plants if desired. In the featured image, you can see that, unfortunately, the deer discovered this new salad buffet and sampled some mums before I took the photo.
by | | Historic Preservation, Projects
RGC is excited to announce its new partnership with Roswell Historical Society at the Old Roswell Cemetery. We kicked off the partnership on September 6 with a tour led by Janet Jackson, Roswell Historical Society Cemetery Project Coordinator, highlighting history and the landscape elements, trees, plantings, native plants and wildflowers. We are adopting a plot and working with overall clean-up and maintenance of the cemetery.
On September 22, we had a mini work session to get the ball rolling at the cemetery. We were trained on how to groom the heirloom irises. Additional sessions are on Oct. 4, 11, and 18 at 10 am.
Want to get in on the fun? E-mail Florence Anne Berna
Looking for historical bulbs? Brent and Becky’s Bulbs is a great source
Looking for a book about the symbolism of flowers in the Victorian Period? Check out Language of Flowers by Kate Greenway, originally published in 1884, reprinted in 1994
by | | Adaptive Programs, Education, Gardening
As part of our Adaptive Recreation partnership with Roswell’s ARC, on June 12, several RGC members worked with about 16 children attending the Adaptive Summer Camp at the Waller Park Gym. Three crafts related to gardening and the outdoors were provided: a flower, a rainbow and a butterfly.
Crafts included gluing colorful cupcake liners of varying sizes onto a sheet of paper with grass and leaves creating a flower with leaves.
The second activity was making a rainbow mobile. Beforehand, a rainbow design was cut from paper and lines added to create spaces for colors of the rainbow. The children colored these and glued on cotton balls for the clouds. Blue raindrops were attached with string, and a string was attached to the top for hanging. 
The third activity was a coloring sheet with a large butterfly design.
The children were divided into 3 groups according to the difficulty of the craft and their capabilities. Everyone involved had a wonderful time. Friendship is a hallmark of these activities. We are excited about our ever-increasing partnership with the Roswell ARC and with Roswell’s adaptive programs.
