April Garden Hop

The Monroeville Garden decided to "Garden Hop" in April, touring the gardens of three members.

They began the tour at 9:30 that morning and traveled to Frisco City to Pat Hendrix's lovely shade garden. Following the tour, members were served muffins and coffee provided by Pat and Bev Colquett. 

Around 11 a.m. members returned to Monroeville to the beautiful blooming garden of Evelyn Bond. Though early in the season, there were blooms of irises, verbena, shasta daisies, viburnum and geraniums to name a few, with other varieties almost ready to bloom. Evelyn and Judi Burns served a brown bag lunch. The bags were decorated with pictures of Evelyn's garden and a packet of seeds was included as a favor.

The final tour was the garden of Vonceil Stringer's which featured interesting hardscape, garden structures, a perfectly manicured lawn and beautiful knockout roses. Vonceil and Sara Bradley served members butter pecan brownies and strawberry cupcakes served in bags Vonceil had made from magazine pages. They also included a packet of seeds as a favor. 

Everyone had a wonderful time!

Pat's patio

Fans for the tour

Pat's patio 

Pat's garden

Pat's garden

Pat's  garden

Pat's garden

Pat's garden

Pat's garden

Admiring Pat's garden

(L-R)Jean Singleton, Carolyn Hutcherson and Ree Smith

Judi Burns and Evelyn Bond 

Lunch from Evelyn's

Evelyn's patio

Evelyn Bond and Judi Burns

Vonceil's Garden

Vonceil's

Vonceil's

Vonceil Stringer and Jean Singleton

Vonceil's

 

May Luncheon

Summer will be here before we know it, and the Monroeville Garden Club knows just how to celebrate the season! Members and guests met at the Monroeville Presbyterian Church on May 13 for a luncheon hosted by Bev Colquett, Nancy Ziebach, Lynne Noah, Margaret Groves, and Dianne Bond. Member Carolyn Hutcherson led the program on making arrangements from grocery store flowers, and a handout was provided detailing the process. Guest Kathryn Taylor AKA Lily Rose Fescue performed a hilarious rendition of her trip to the local garden center.

The hostesses did a wonderful job of decorating each table with lovely bird cages, the larger ones holding fern greenery and hydrangea blooms, and smaller ones with candles inside. There were miniature faux bird nests and speckled eggs to accentuate the centerpieces. The decor was simply stunning and no detail was spared! Each place setting was plated with chicken salad on a bed of greens, crackers, mandarin orange fluff, and a caramel cheesecake mousse topped with toasted coconut and pecans. Sparkling water was also served. Each person left with a small birdhouse keepsake complete with a succulent covered moss roof. 

Garden Club members will enjoy the break and look forward to meeting again in September. We encourage everyone in the community to have a safe and wonderful summer! Let's not despair as the days grow hotter and remember, 

"Gardening requires lots of water, most of it in the form of perspiration." ~Lou Erickson

Entering fellowship hall

 

Centerpiece

Lovely tablescape including birdhouse keepsake

Yum!

Beautiful place setting

Kathryn Taylor as Lily Rose Fescue

Handout

Arrangement supplies

Building the base

Adding filler flowers

Lovely!

Carolyn Hutcherson with her beautiful creation

February Meeting

The Monroeville Garden Club was able to get together earlier this year for the annual pruning of the Katherine Lee Rose Garden. Six new roses were ordered to replace some of the older, poor-performing roses. Check out the garden if you get the chance!

Garden Club members also met in February at the Monroeville Presbyterian Church. The meeting was hosted by Jeanne Sewell and co-hosted by Elba Bonham.

Mrs. Wendy Byrd, PT, DPT, presented a program on "Body Mechanics in Gardening." She gave a handout on different stretching exercises and recommended these be done both before and after gardening. Another handout illustrated the proper way to use various gardening tools to prevent injuries. Mrs. Byrd also informed members that there are a number of different adaptive tools for the arthritic, the elderly, and physically challenged that can be purchased, depending on the need. A simple Google search for "adaptive garden tools" will present a number of choices.

Following the program members were given individual snack boxes decorated in a garden theme. The menu included pecan salad wraps, candied pecans, sausage pinwheel pastries, cookies, a fruit and cheese cup, along with a choice of spiced tea or water.

Mrs. Wendy Byrd, PT, DPT

 

Snack Boxes

Christmas Luncheon - December 2020

Monroeville Garden Club members met for their annual Christmas luncheon on December 17, at the Vanity Fair Country Club. In order to maintain social distancing guidelines, the luncheon was held in the large dining room. The meeting was hosted by Mrs. Patsy Wadlington and Mrs. Carolyn Hutcherson, who decorated the room beautifully. 

On the menu was chicken parmesan, rice, green beans, and rolls, and dessert choices were pumpkin pie or cheesecake. All of the food was absolutely delicious! 

After enjoying a delicious lunch, members carried on the tradition of an ornament exchange. Each member drew out a number and chose a wrapped ornament in that order. No Dirty Santa this year, but the time together was just as sweet and memorable as in years past. Everyone was gifted favors of fine chocolate candy when departing. 

Beautifully decorated tables

Beautiful flowers and greenery

Wrapped ornament table

Members Ree Smith and Judi Burns

Member Lynne Noah

Members Jean Singleton and Sharon Brewton 

Member Jessica Hocutt

Member Nancy Ziebach

Member Jean Singleton

Member Ree Smith

Members (back) Patsy Wadlington
and (front) Jeanne Sewell 

Member Sharon Brewton

Member Carolyn Hutcherson

Parting gift of chocolates

  

November Meeting

 Monroeville Garden Club members met in November at the Monroeville Presbyterian Church for a fun time of fellowship and instruction. Club member Carolyn Hutcherson led the meeting with a DIY tutorial on bow-making. Carolyn demonstrated each step of the process thoughtfully and patiently while members followed along. Everyone got to keep the bows they created, and Carolyn also brought several pre-wrapped packages showing different ways to display bows and other decorative pieces. Designing and decorating has been a hobby of Carolyn's for quite some time, and she enjoys sharing her creativity with others. In fact, Carolyn and fellow member Patsy Wadlington took on the task of redecorating the planters along the square. Fall plantings were removed and replaced with Christmas-themed plants and decor, and each pot is finished with a beautiful bow made by Carolyn. Beautiful job, ladies! 

The meeting was hosted by Holly Tennimon and Laura Bodiford, who prepared lunch boxes for each member of chicken salad croissants, cheese wafers, fresh fruit cups of red and green grapes, strawberries and blueberries drizzled with orange-vanilla syrup, salted caramel chocolate chips bars, and pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies. Bottled water was also available. 

The message of Thanksgiving is nothing new, though it is always worth celebrating. This year has presented us with new challenges and uncertainty, but it has not been without blessings. May we begin and end each day with a grateful heart, counting our blessings and being a blessing to others, too. The Monroeville Garden Club would like to wish everyone in and around the community a safe, healthy, and joyous holiday season.

"The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us."

 ~ James E. Faust

Supplies to use for bow-making

Carolyn during presentation

Carolyn giving instructions

Examples provided by Carolyn

Members Patsy Wadlington (L) and Carolyn Hutcherson (R) work to
decorate planters around the square. 

    

October Meeting

The Monroeville Garden Club met in October at the home of Mrs. Sharon Brewton. Sharon hosted the meeting and Mrs. Jean Singleton co-hosted. Club member Laura Bodiford presented a program on The Basics of Vermiculture. 

Vermiculture is the practice of keeping/controlled growing of worms, and it is becoming a big business. Worms spend their whole lives burrowing, eating, digesting, and excreting, and every part of the process is beneficial. When worms burrow they create channels in the soil which makes it porous, and porous soil allows air and water in. While burrowing, worms are eating organic material and digesting it, and excreting nutrient-rich castings back into the soil. Worm castings are completely organic, incredible fertilizers, and they greatly improve soil conditions. In short, little worms do big things!

Worm farms are a thing, and many folks are buying or building their own on a smaller scale. Club member Laura Bodiford brought in her worm bin as an model, and also gave great advice based on her own experiences with different wormeries she had created and used. If you're on the fence about DIY wormeries, check out the book How to Start a Worm Bin: Your Guide to Getting Started by Henry Owen, or the website https://working-worms.com/how-to-make-your-own-worm-farm/. Red wigglers are the best type of worm to use because they are the most resilient and reproduce quickly. Worms need air and food to survive, so worm bins should have holes in them and contain the right type of food. Kitchen scraps are excellent (most fruit and veggie leaves/peels, coffee grounds, breads, grains) but avoid dairy products (egg shells are the exception), meat, citrus, pet waste, and anything oily. Building a worm bed is much like making a real bed in that you just add layers. You might start with damp, shredded newspaper, then dirt or homemade compost, add worms, then food, and finish with another layer of shredded newspaper or pine straw. Keep your worms happy and let them work for you!

Following the presentation, there were Take-A-Treat boxes packaged for each member. Tucked inside were pimento cheese sandwich rounds (topped with a gummy worm), whole pecans, fresh grapes and blueberries, cheese straws, and an apple pecan muffin inside. Bottled water was on hand for refreshment.

Finally, so many of us are trying to wrap up any loose ends in our gardens and flower beds before late fall and early winter set in. Preen.com has a great checklist of you're interested: https://preen.com/checklists/october