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The Laurel Branch November 2020
November 06, 2020
Welcome to our e-newsletter, "The Laurel Branch."
A Socially Distanced Morning with Santa
On December 5th from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. the Gardens are hosting a socially-distanced morning with Santa. The five minute mini-sessions include a professional photo, walkie-talkie chat with Santa, and a cookie. This fundraiser is $25 per session, and registration is required. Registration must be made by emailing kalmia@coker.edu. Face masks and temperature checks will also be required. Create a special holiday memory while helping your public garden.
Annual Giving Campagin
‘Tis the season for giving and, as many of you know, Kalmia Gardens relies heavily on donations from the public; after all, we are YOUR public garden. Please help us continue to serve you by making a gift to the Gardens. It is easy and tax deductible! Please send a check or donations can be made onlineHERE, just select KALMIA GARDENS in the DESIGNATION drop-down box. Thank you!
Kalmia Gear At The Key
Looking for that perfect gift for someone who has everything? Well then look no farther, Kalmia Gardens gear is here! Super comfy sweatshirts and great looking hats with the Kalmia Gardens logo are available at the Key in beautiful downtown Hartsville and they are also available by contacting Mary Ridgeway at mridgeway@coker.edu. Purchasing Kalmia gear is a great way to shop local and support a good cause, your public garden, Kalmia Gardens.
Special Thanks To Hartsville F3
Kalmia Gardens would like to extend a heartfelt “Thank you,” to the Hartsville F3 group. F3 is a national network including 2,264 free, peer-led workouts for men. Their mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. Go to https://f3nation.com/ to find out more about the group.
–pictured: Howard Tripp, Mary Ridgeway, Michael Holt, Chas Clark and David NuttKalmia Thanks The Coker Wrestling Team
The staff at Kalmia would like to recognize and thank the Coker University westernizing team for their hard work at the Gardens. Thanks guys!
Chris’s Tip
It is that time of year again: the air turns cool, the leaves change color, and they fall to the ground. Traditionally, leaf removal has involved three steps: rake leaves (or blast them with a blower) into piles, transfer the piles to bags and place the bags out to be hauled off to a landfill. However many conservationists are saying these actions not only harm the environment but rob your garden of nutrients while destroying wildlife habitat. What’s the alternative you may ask? I’d say, “Let fallen leaves stay on your property.” According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, leaves and other yard debris make up for more than 13 percent of the nation’s solid waste—a whopping 33 million tons a year! Add to that without enough oxygen to decompose, all this organic matter releases the greenhouse gas methane! For us gardeners, turning leaves into solid waste is extremely wasteful. Fallen leaves offer multiple benefits. Leaves form a natural mulch that helps suppress weeds and they fertilize soil during the process of decay. Why spend money on mulch and fertilizer when you can make your own? One thing Mary and Dan have taught me when it comes to leaves is that removing leaves also eliminates vital wildlife habitat. Critters ranging from turtles and toads to birds, mammals and invertebrates rely on leaf litter for food, shelter and nesting material. Many moth and butterfly caterpillars overwinter in fallen leaves before emerging in spring. How about this season, instead of spending your days raking leaves, take time to enjoy the fall weather and the wildlife that visits your garden. Happy autumn, friends!Dan’s Interesting Plant Chris has inspired me with his article, so I’m going to stick with his idea and run with it (wink wink). I’m going to write about Dan’s interesting obstacle course. We’ve all been a little cooped up because of COVID, so here’s a fun way to get out in the fresh air and get some exercise with the kids or grandkids.
You will need the following: bags, 3 bean bags (optional), yard full of leaves, and rakes.
What to do: 1- Design your course, decide where you will build your course, what shape it will take, and what obstacles you will include. Here are some obstacle ideas to get you started:
Pile of leaves to crawl through, bags of leaves to leap over, paper grocery bags that must be filled with leaves before continuing on, stations where your race runners must find three bean bags (or other objects) that are buried in a leaf pile, and the best part, a huge pile of leaves to dive into as the grand finale! To make an obstacle course, you’ll need leaves, lots of them. Give your child a small rake so he or she can help collect the leaves you’ll need. Then arrange the leaves into the obstacle course you designed earlier. (If you have two kids who want to race, make two identical courses.) Now it’s time to have fun. Race with your child or referee two kids racing. Or time your child as he or she runs the course. Change the obstacles to keep the fun going. This also opens the door for one of the things I really love, “a teachable moment.” Let your child know that autumn has another name – fall. Ask if he or she can guess why it is called that. Explain that it refers to this time of year when the leaves on some trees turn color and “fall” off. Another great question I ask all our young visitors this time of year is, “Why do leaves change color?” Explain that leaves are green because they contain chlorophyll, a substance that help plants make food from sunlight. In fall, leaves stop making chlorophyll, and their green color fades away. That’s when other colors that were underneath—the beautiful yellows, reds and oranges of autumn—can be seen. Ask your child to guess what the most common leaf color is. (Answer: yellow.) This is also a great chance to talk about fall recycling. Help your child discover ways that nature reuses old leaves. Overturn a bunch of leaves that have been on the ground for a while. You are likely to find insects and other neat creatures. That is because leaves provide these animals with food and shelter, something all animals need, including us! Look for leaves from last year, then show your child how the old leaves have begun to decay. Explain that these old, rotten leaves enrich the soil, supplying food so other plants can grow. Let them know that Mother Nature is very good at recycling things, and we should be too. Enjoy your race, have fun, explore and happy autumn!Volunteer Days
Are you interested in picking up some gardening tips while lending a hand at the Gardens? If so, you are in luck--volunteer days are back! We will meet in the main parking lot at Kalmia Gardens on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. Work gloves and hand tools are suggested, and masks will be required (so please wear your mask). We will meet every Thursday at 9:00 a.m. If you have any questions, email Mary at mridgeway@coker.edu. We’ll see you on Thursdays!
Beautiful Plants of Kalmia GardensAbelia (Abelia grandiflora)
Aster (Aster pilosus)
Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
Beech (Fagus grandiflora)
Begonia, Winged (Begoniaceae sp.)
Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)
Camellia (Camellia japonica)
Chrysanthemum (Asteraceae sp.)
Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstremia indica)
Dayflower (Commelina sp.)
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Goldenrod (Solidago sp.)
Hearts-a-bustin’ (Euonymus americana)
Lantana (Lantana sp.)
Maples (Acer sp.)
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Sage, Mexican (Salvia sp.)
Sage, Pineapple (Salvia rutilans)
Sasanqua (Camellia sasanqua)
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum)
Sunflower, swamp (Helianthus sp.)
Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
Tea (Camellia sinensis)
Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans)
Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolium)
Viburnum, Possumhaw (Viburnum nudum)EVENTS
Oyster Roast Saturday March 20, 2021
Contact:Mary Ridgewaymridgeway@coker.edu, (843) 383-8145