Alexander County Garden Club plants more flowers in Taylorsville

SPRING TAYLORSVILLE BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT — The Alexander County Garden Club enjoyed some ice cream at 16/90 T’ville Scoops following an evening of planting in Taylorsville recently. Pictured above, left to right: front row – Mai Yang, Shirley Mays, Sharold Abernathy, Sandy Abernathy, Amy Bucknum, Phill Bowman, Babs Warden, Venus Bowman, and Regina Bruns; back row – Wayne Wooten, Jennifer Schumacher, Eugene Connolly, Mike Roberson, Don Alexander, Diane Self, Susan Lydick Greene, and Peggy Meyer.

Do you agree with English poet, Alfred Austin? He wrote: “The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.” Author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood, seems to agree, with, “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”

If you closely identify with either of those statements, you will definitely feel at home with the like-minded people in the Alexander County Garden Club. The Garden Club is open to all interested residents of Alexander County and exists to provide a non-profit, philanthropic, and educational organization for its members.

Community members who have an interest in any type of gardening, horticultural, agricultural, and environment activities will find the club warm, welcoming and educational. The club meets once a month, on the second Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. and unless a field trip is scheduled, meets at the Alexander County Cooperative Extension Office at 376 1st Ave SW, Taylorsville.

The April 12, 2018, meeting saw the club gathering at the Cooperative Extension office to gather up plants purchased from Carmen’s Greenhouse in Hiddenite by the Town of Taylorsville. In September of last year, the club took on a town beautification project that had members planting the empty cement pots that lined Main Avenue in Taylorsville, as well as the flower beds in front of Alexander County Public Library. September’s plantings included plants that were expected to be hardy enough to survive through winter and plants that would provide color in both the fall and spring.

April’s project included cleaning up and freshening the pots with additional color, replacing plants that did not survive, and repositioning several planters. Store owners have been asked and agreed to water the plants.

ACGC President, Susan Lydick Greene stated, “The club really enjoys working together on projects like these. It was a fun evening for the group and we ended up at 16/90 T’ville Scoops, whose owners kept the store open for an additional two hours so we could finish up our night with a quick meeting and some great ice cream. This project is really special because it requires the cooperation of the club, the Town, the shop owners, and Carmen Huffman from Carmen’s Greenhouse. Additionally, when we check with the store owners before we place the pots, we find they are really pleased to be included in the project by watering the plants that brighten their store fronts. We don’t need to do anything to the pot in front of Cline’s Florist, but we always stop in to check, and this year they donated some supplies to the project, which was really lovely.”

The next general meeting will be held Thursday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Cooperative Extension office. The Speaker will be Sophie Shelton from the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina. She will speak on their projects that assist in preserving native habitats. Refreshments are available during the meeting, and there will be a small door-prize awarded.

For further information about the club, visit the website at http://alexandercountygardenclub.org, or Facebook page at “Alexander County Garden Club” or contact Susan Lydick Greene at slgreene13@gmail.com or 828-638-8513. For directions to the Alexander County Cooperative Extension, you may call Susan or the Cooperative Extension Office at 376 1st Ave SW, Taylorsville, NC 28681, phone 828-632-4451.