June Events Are Here!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our May programming! We enjoyed exploring the wilds of Kalmia with you under the expert direction of nationally renowned naturalist, Josh Arrants, as well as learning how to manage stormwater runoff in the home landscape with Geraldine Cuypers.

Interested in learning more? Save the dates for our upcoming 2026 lectures, and purchase tickets while they are still available!

June 17, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
A Hypochondriac’s Guide to Gardening
Lucy Contreras, Assistant Director of Kalmia Gardens
August 19, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
Invasive Species: Rebalancing Your Backyard Ecosystem
Kaela Miller, Plant Collections Coordinator at Brookgreen Gardens
September 16, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
How You Can Improve the World - Starting in Your Own Backyard
Mary Ridgeway, Director Emeritus of Kalmia Gardens
October 21, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
Thomas Hart, The Land, Money, and the Legacy
Brian Gandy, Historian and Director of Darlington County Historical Commission and Museum
Sorry, no refunds on customer-initiated cancellations or no-shows for all lectures.

Sign Up Your Child for a Week in the Wild!
Kalmia Gardens' youth summer camp, Week in the Wild, is now accepting registration for campers! If your child is a rising first through rising sixth grader who loves spending time in the great outdoors, this camp is for them. Campers explore Kalmia Gardens through hikes, arts and crafts, games, and with visits from special guests. To register your child while space is still available, call (843) 383-8145.

Warm Season Switch Out
With colder weather behind us, the team at Kalmia Gardens switched out our cool season plants for warm season ones. Mustards, pansies, and monkey flowers were swapped for zinnias, sweet potato vines, and globe amaranth that can take the heat. In Chris's tip this month, he discusses the logic behind the midyear switch. We're looking forward to watching these plants grow and put on a show! Take a look below at our cool season planting at its peak, and our new, freshly planted warm season display.

Chris's Tip
Once a year we make the gut-wrenching decision to remove our beautifully flowering cool season plants, often while they still look healthy and are in their peak, to replace them with wimpy, puny-looking plants that look like the runts of the litter. How do we stomach this? Well, it's not easy, but we have to put our emotions aside and let logic take the wheel. 
When it comes time to switch out our plantings, there is a method to this seemingly utter madness. The story begins months earlier, usually around January and February, when we start these new plants from seed. Sowing time is determined by when we want these plants to be in the ground, usually in May. May is typically our Goldilocks month - it's not hot, but it's not too cold, it's just right. This also gives our cool season plants a little longer to put on a show before we unceremoniously yank them.
I know what you're thinking - why not just wait then? Put the warm season plants in the ground when the cool season ones are finished flowering and voila! Well, it's a bit more complicated. Getting the new plants started in the ground before it gets too hot is going to help them acclimate and do well. It also helps to get them established before they flower consistently throughout the season. Plus, if we waited until the cool season plants were done, we would have some root-bound plants that would not be too happy with us!
We repeat this process again come October for our cool season display. Usually, pulling the warm season plants at the end of the summer is not as emotionally draining, since they are often exhausted from the heat and are ready to be done!
Make sure to stop by and see as our new plants take root and put on another great show for us this year!

 

Dan’s Interesting Plant
With June upon us, it's time for the Rose-of-Sharon, or Hibiscus syriacus to begin to flower. While this plant may be called Rose-of-Sharon, it's actually more closely related to a Hibiscus. We can easily see its family resemblance when we look at it's very hibiscus-like flowers. Rose or Hibiscus, this plant is well loved by pollinators and admired by people for its wonderful flowers. 
Interestingly, our Assistant Director shared with me that this plant is one that grows aggressively back up north, where she is originally from. It would seed profusely, popping up, unplanned, throughout the garden, all while being quite cumbersome to pull and remove. Fortunately, they seem a little more mannerly in our southern gardens, tending to put on a show, but not hogging the stage, so to speak. 
As with many ornamental plants, there are a lot of different cultivars, or cultivated varieties, out there, including ones with different growth habits and different flower types and colors. This is a great plant in our southern landscape but, to our northern neighbors, this may be one you plant with a seed of caution.

Beautiful Plants of Kalmia Gardens
Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Daylily (Hemerocallis cvs.)
Elderberry (Sambucus candanensis)
Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides cvs.)
Georgia Feverbark (Pinckneya pubens)
Honeysuckle, Coral (Lonicera sempervirens)
Hydrangea, Bigleaf (Hydrangea macrophylla)
Hydrangea, Oakleaf (Hydrangea quercifolia)
Leucothoe (Leucothoe axillaris)
Honeysuckle, Coral (Lonicera sempervirens)
Magnolia, Southern (Magnolia grandiflora)
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Rhododendron, Rosebay (Rhododendron maximum)
Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum)
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
Titi (Cyrilla racemiflora)
Waterlily (Nymphaea odorata)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

EVENTS:
Jun. 17, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
Cultivating Knowledge: A Lecture Series:
A Hypochondriac’s Guide to Gardening
Jul. 6 - 10, 2026, 9 a.m. - Noon
Week in the Wild (Rising 1st - 3rd Grade)
Jul. 13 - 17, 2026 9 a.m. - Noon
Week in the Wild (Rising 4th - 6th Grade)
Aug. 19, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
Cultivating Knowledge: A Lecture Series:
Invasive Species: Rebalancing Your Backyard Ecosystem
Sep. 16, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
Cultivating Knowledge: A Lecture Series:
How You Can Improve the World - Starting in Your Own Backyard
Oct. 21, 2026, Noon - 1 p.m.
Cultivating Knowledge: A Lecture Series:
Thomas Hart, The Land, Money, and the Legacy

Copyright © 2026 Kalmia Gardens of Coker University, All rights reserved.
 Laurel Branch

Our mailing address is:
www.kalmiagardens.org