-
Kalmia Gardens - ''The Laurel Branch''
June 02, 2023
Welcome to our e-newsletter, "The Laurel Branch."
A Special Guest at the Gardens The Gardens hosted a fabulous guest last month. Amanda McNulty from ETV’s award-winning show Making it Grow visited to film at our humble Kalmia Gardens. We were so thrilled to have her and her wonderful crew come and highlight Kalmia’s beauty for all of the viewers out there. So tune in to ETV and see Dan and Amanda talk about all things growing and green at our very own Kalmia Gardens.
Online Upgrade
Kalmia’s webpage is getting an upgrade thanks to a grant from Sonoco Foundation and an in-kind donation from Beam and Hinge, the website developer. We are overjoyed for the help in making our webpage more efficient for all who look to it for information.Adopt-A-Stream Opportunity
If you have not heard of this fun citizen science organization, you are missing out. Adopt-A-Stream, or AAS, is a stream monitoring organization that engages citizen volunteers to help in the fight to keep all of our streams healthy. Water is vital for life, and keeping it clean is essential. As an AAS-certified volunteer, you can take a small amount of time each month to collect data and report on the water quality at a particular location. Dan Hill and Nancy Ellis both have become trainers to help more people get their start in AAS. The next training is on June 24th from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm at The Joslin Education Center, 1520 West Carolina Avenue, Hartsville SC 29550.
Please dress for the weather and bring your lunch. For more information, contact Nancy Ellis at nancytroysc@gmail.com or follow this link here. We hope you will take this opportunity to be a part of AAS.
Homeschool Group Comes to Help
Thank you to the Hartsville Home Educators who helped bag oyster shells for the Oyster Shell Recycling Project. The shells will be returned to the water to make an eco-friendly anchor for young oysters to use as they grow. Oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of seawater a day, improving our water quality. Recycling the shells saves space in our landfills and gives back to our coast. The Kalmia team and the next generation of young oysters thank these students for their time.
Necessary Maintenance
Good news for the Gardens: the septic tank has been repaired at the public bathrooms behind the little white house. It required some updating and repairs, and now the bathrooms are up and running better than ever. We appreciate all of your patience while this project was underway. We are also very thankful for the excellence and efficiency that Thee Irish Plumbers brought to this project. Kalmia is happy to have its bathrooms back in action. We still ask that you refrain from flushing anything other than toilet tissue down the toilets so we can keep things working well for years to come.
Week in the Wild
Exciting summer fun will be returning to Kalmia Gardens again this summer with Week in the Wild! Week in the Wild is a half-day camp that provides an awesome way for your child to have a safe, fun, hands-on learning experience in the natural environment. Our program is open to rising 1st through 6th graders. Nature study, arts and crafts, hikes, and games are just some of the activities we have planned for these amazing summer mornings. Registration will open on May 1st and the half-day, week-long camp costs $125. Dates for camp are July 10-14 for rising first and second grades, July 17-21 for rising third and fourth grades, and July 24-28 for rising fifth and sixth grades. Registration closes on June 23rd. We look forward to seeing your child in camp. Email Elizabeth at Efloyd@coker.edu for more information.
Elizabeth's Volunteer Spotlight
Kalmia would like to introduce a very special new recurring segment starting in this June issue. It is, as you can guess from the title, Elizabeth’s Volunteer Spotlight. This segment will feature either one of our amazing volunteers or a special group project they have been working hard on. I know the rest of the Kalmia team would agree with me when I say we cannot say thank you enough to our volunteers who spend their spare time at Kalmia. It means the world to us all to see our community of volunteers love the Gardens as much as we do. Without further ado, for this issue, I have chosen Julia Fulmer for our volunteer spotlight. Julia is a student at Francis Marion University, Dan’s, and my alma mater. She has many passions, and we are lucky one of them is giving back to the Gardens. She has learned many new things about plants while helping to remove invasive species. The gate to the pergola gleams with a fresh coat of paint, thanks to Julia’s hard work. However, keeping Kalmia clean and fresh is only one of the many wonderful things she has accomplished. Julia was just inducted into the ODK Honors Society at Francis Marion University and is currently studying abroad in Germany. All around, she is a joy and a great help to have around at the Gardens. If you have a few spare hours to give back to the Gardens you enjoy, email Efloyd@coker.edu to get started
Pictured above are volunteer, Julia Fulmer (Left) and Assistant Director, Elizabeth Floyd (Right)Chris’s Tip
Resources are everything! As gardeners, we know plants need certain resources, like water and sunlight to grow and thrive. Knowledge is a valuable resource to gardeners of all kinds. Today I am going to let you in on a not-so-hidden gem to help improve your knowledge base. Look no further than Clemson Extension Home and Garden Information Center-HGIC hgic.clemson.edu for information on any gardening topic. The website covers weed control, plan location, pest management, and everything in between. You can access it HERE as well. This web resource is simply full of research-based information. The learning doesn’t stop in the garden— it also covers nutrition, food safety, and health. Learning and knowledge are the foundation of all good gardening decisions, so I encourage you all to take advantage of this awesome websiteDan's Interesting Plant
The interesting plant chosen for this issue of the Laurel Branch is the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia Grandiflora). This tree and its large white to pale yellow flowers can be seen in many places throughout the Gardens. The flowers bloom in the late spring and have a faint citronella scent. After flowering, a bright red or deep orange fruit is produced in individual follicles from a structure that resembles a pinecone in its oblong shape. Its leaves are large, dark green, and leathery on the upper surface. The underside of the leave is often a brown-yellow color with a felt texture. The leaves are smooth-margined and have a slightly concave shape. This evergreen tree can grow up to 120 feet tall. The Magnolia’s growth is pyramidal, being slightly wider at its base. The Magnolia keeps most of its lower limbs which contributes to its pyramidal silhouette. In some cases, given enough time, the lower ground touching branches will root to form a grove. All in all, this tree is a beauty we are happy to have in the Gardens.
Magnolia GrandifloraBeautiful Plants of Kalmia Gardens
Abelia (Abelia grandiflora)
Baptisia (Baptisia australis)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)
Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)
Coneflower, Purple (Echinacea purpurea)
Coralbean (Erythrina herbacea)
Daylily (Hemerocallis varieties)
Dill (Anethum graveolens)
Elderberry (Sambucus americana)
Feverbark, Georgia (Pinckneya pubens)
Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides)
Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys)
Honeysuckle, Coral (Lonicera sempervirens)
Hydrangea, Japanese Blue (Hydrangea macrophylla)
Hydrangea, Oakleaf (Hydrangea quercifolia)
Jasmine, Confederate (Tracelospermum jasminoides)
Lantana (Lantana species)
Lizard's Tail (Saururus cernuus)
Magnolia, Southern (Magnolia grandiflora)
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Queen Annes Lace (Daucus carota)
Rhododendron, Rosebay (Rhododendron maximum)
Rose, Butterfly (Rosa chinensis Mutabilis)
Rose, Knock Out (Rosa Knock Out)
Rose, Pink Knock Out (Rosa Pink Knock Out)
Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
Thyme (Thymus species)
Ti-ti (Cyrilla racemosa)
Trumpet-vine (Campsis radicans)
Water-lily (Nymphaea odorata)
Wintergreen, Spotted (Chimaphila maculata)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yucca (Yucca filamentosa)EVENTS:
Registration for Week in the Wild Now Open
Week in the Wild:
Rising 1st & 2nd Grades July 10-14
Rising 3rd & 4th Grades July 17-21
Rising 5th & 6th Grades July 24-28
Registration ends June 23rd
Copyright © 2016 Kalmia Gardens of Coker College, All rights reserved.
Laurel Branch
Our mailing address is:
www.kalmiagardens.org
Contact:Dan Hilldhill@coker.edu, (843) 383-8145