What to Plant for Fall | Callawassie Island
 

A Perennial Sense of Service – the Garden Club Greets Fall

The Garden Club of Callawassie Island is built around love and dedicated to service. The Island inspires residents in so many ways, that this very direct and visible example – love of the flowers and plants that we see growing so abundant here – might seem an obvious way. From master gardeners to people who never considered gardening until they crossed the causeway, the Garden Club has welcomed members with every degree of interest and experience.

From its beginnings, the garden club has nurtured interest, offered education, and provided residents with the enrichment of growing things. Whether from taking part themselves, or simply enjoying the Club’s handiwork, there’s no one who isn’t touched by the beauty the Garden Club adds to our life here on Callawassie Island.


A New Twist to Cultivate

Garden Club president Wendy Hilty points out that the shift in gardening knowledge or skills that may be called for when people move to our subtropical island, is not too drastic or complex. But the changes are pervasive, because they start at the most fundamental level. “Up north people plant in the spring, so the roots have time to grow and deepen before the coming of winter. Down here it’s the opposite. A lot of things like to be planted in the fall, so their roots grow easily through our mild winter and are ready for the heat of summer,” she said.

“So now, as summer draws to a close, we’re thinking of fall plantings that can flower all winter,” Wendy said. Snapdragons planted in October, she said, can bloom until July. Dianthus, known as “Sweet Williams,” bloom all year long. Fall is the best time, too, Wendy advised, to plant shrubs, ferns, and shade plants. Composting works especially well here, when it is applied in the fall.

In this climate, fall is a good time to plant perennials, like cone flowers, coreopsis, asters, and cenna. “Any time of year is good for salvias, in any of their colors” Wendy said. “Something we appreciate here, is that salvias are deer resistant.” Choosing flowers that are less tempting to our lovely, gentle, four-footed neighbors would certainly qualify as an island gardening skill.

“Really, winter is my busiest time, gardening here,” Wendy said. “It’s easier to see what you’re doing, and to design things then. When spring comes, the burst of growth is so rich that it’s harder to get your ideas sorted out, and to really see the opportunities. On the other hand, I like to tell people that in gardening, nothing is forever,” Wendy said. “If something doesn’t work, just try something else. If you wish a certain plant were in another part of the yard or garden, you can just move it.”


Raising Funds for Raising Flowers

Coming November 20th is the bi-annual Garden Club Silent Auction, and the timing makes it great for Holiday shopping. It’s the club’s only fundraiser, and 100 percent of its proceeds go to pay for beautification projects around the island, filling in where Association budgets might be slim. The imagination and resourcefulness of the prizes and services offered for auction are a continual cause of comment.

A big example recently was landscaping for the new River Club, where substantial funding was provided by the Garden Club. Under the leadership of Callawassie Island’s staff master gardener, Ann Sauers, and certified arborist Billy Bagwell, the River Club garden plan began by understanding what foliage would be blooming at different times of the year. Of particular interest, too, may be the rain garden that was designed and installed behind the poolside pergola. Rain gardens are both beautiful and eco-friendly, being designed to prevent pooling and manage water runoff by installing plants that like specially to absorb water. The reduction of strain on drainage systems is often seen to save money.

In addition, the Garden Club maintains four of Callawassie Island’s gardens with their funds and by adding their work to the expertise of Ann Sauers and Billy Bagwell. Sugar Mill, the Butterfly Garden, Magnolia Park, and Sequoia Park all benefit from the Club’s devotion. Often residents, and not just Garden Club members, point out other areas of the island that call for a gardener’s attention.

Recently the Butterfly Garden was a backdrop for that kind of cooperation. Residents noticed that the Butterfly Garden had grown so thick that it was hiding its own riches. In a matter of days, Ann and the crew had thinned it out to restore its original beauty, and in the process added 30 new plants.


The Garden Club Inside and Out

The club itself has lots in common with those perennial plants we spoke with Wendy about. They live on, blooming year after year in a continual cycle. Energy and ingenuity, resourcefulness and imagination – all wrapped in dedication to put the Club’s own enthusiasms into service for the Island as a whole. So, whether you’re a Garden Club Member or not, the Club is an example of the connection we treasure here on Callawassie Island.

That spirit of connection extends to worthy causes in the communities around our Island that benefit from the Garden Club’s good works, too. The Festival of Trees in Historic Beaufort, the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center, and the “Monet’s Garden” project at Okatie Elementary School, are a few examples.

Yet this rippling out of blessings begins with the joy the Club brings to people who move to Callawassie Island. The first thing the Garden Club provides is the know-how to become a happy gardener in our lush, subtropical environment. New residents get new learning about the trees, shrubs, and flowers that are characteristic of our climate and our coastal, tidal rhythms. Not much, if anything, prepares you for the richness of our plants, our soil, our weather on Callawassie Island.

The same might be said about our warmth, our balance our connection, it grows on you.

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A Perennial Sense of Service – the Garden Club Greets Fall

The Garden Club of Callawassie Island is built around love and dedicated to service. The Island inspires residents in so many ways, that this very direct and visible example – love of the flowers and plants that we see growing so abundant here – might seem an obvious way. From master gardeners to people who never considered gardening until they crossed the causeway, the Garden Club has welcomed members with every degree of interest and experience.

From its beginnings, the garden club has nurtured interest, offered education, and provided residents with the enrichment of growing things. Whether from taking part themselves, or simply enjoying the Club’s handiwork, there’s no one who isn’t touched by the beauty the Garden Club adds to our life here on Callawassie Island.


A New Twist to Cultivate

Garden Club president Wendy Hilty points out that the shift in gardening knowledge or skills that may be called for when people move to our subtropical island, is not too drastic or complex. But the changes are pervasive, because they start at the most fundamental level. “Up north people plant in the spring, so the roots have time to grow and deepen before the coming of winter. Down here it’s the opposite. A lot of things like to be planted in the fall, so their roots grow easily through our mild winter and are ready for the heat of summer,” she said.

“So now, as summer draws to a close, we’re thinking of fall plantings that can flower all winter,” Wendy said. Snapdragons planted in October, she said, can bloom until July. Dianthus, known as “Sweet Williams,” bloom all year long. Fall is the best time, too, Wendy advised, to plant shrubs, ferns, and shade plants. Composting works especially well here, when it is applied in the fall.

In this climate, fall is a good time to plant perennials, like cone flowers, coreopsis, asters, and cenna. “Any time of year is good for salvias, in any of their colors” Wendy said. “Something we appreciate here, is that salvias are deer resistant.” Choosing flowers that are less tempting to our lovely, gentle, four-footed neighbors would certainly qualify as an island gardening skill.

“Really, winter is my busiest time, gardening here,” Wendy said. “It’s easier to see what you’re doing, and to design things then. When spring comes, the burst of growth is so rich that it’s harder to get your ideas sorted out, and to really see the opportunities. On the other hand, I like to tell people that in gardening, nothing is forever,” Wendy said. “If something doesn’t work, just try something else. If you wish a certain plant were in another part of the yard or garden, you can just move it.”


Raising Funds for Raising Flowers

Coming November 20th is the bi-annual Garden Club Silent Auction, and the timing makes it great for Holiday shopping. It’s the club’s only fundraiser, and 100 percent of its proceeds go to pay for beautification projects around the island, filling in where Association budgets might be slim. The imagination and resourcefulness of the prizes and services offered for auction are a continual cause of comment.

A big example recently was landscaping for the new River Club, where substantial funding was provided by the Garden Club. Under the leadership of Callawassie Island’s staff master gardener, Ann Sauers, and certified arborist Billy Bagwell, the River Club garden plan began by understanding what foliage would be blooming at different times of the year. Of particular interest, too, may be the rain garden that was designed and installed behind the poolside pergola. Rain gardens are both beautiful and eco-friendly, being designed to prevent pooling and manage water runoff by installing plants that like specially to absorb water. The reduction of strain on drainage systems is often seen to save money.

In addition, the Garden Club maintains four of Callawassie Island’s gardens with their funds and by adding their work to the expertise of Ann Sauers and Billy Bagwell. Sugar Mill, the Butterfly Garden, Magnolia Park, and Sequoia Park all benefit from the Club’s devotion. Often residents, and not just Garden Club members, point out other areas of the island that call for a gardener’s attention.

Recently the Butterfly Garden was a backdrop for that kind of cooperation. Residents noticed that the Butterfly Garden had grown so thick that it was hiding its own riches. In a matter of days, Ann and the crew had thinned it out to restore its original beauty, and in the process added 30 new plants.


The Garden Club Inside and Out

The club itself has lots in common with those perennial plants we spoke with Wendy about. They live on, blooming year after year in a continual cycle. Energy and ingenuity, resourcefulness and imagination – all wrapped in dedication to put the Club’s own enthusiasms into service for the Island as a whole. So, whether you’re a Garden Club Member or not, the Club is an example of the connection we treasure here on Callawassie Island.

That spirit of connection extends to worthy causes in the communities around our Island that benefit from the Garden Club’s good works, too. The Festival of Trees in Historic Beaufort, the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center, and the “Monet’s Garden” project at Okatie Elementary School, are a few examples.

Yet this rippling out of blessings begins with the joy the Club brings to people who move to Callawassie Island. The first thing the Garden Club provides is the know-how to become a happy gardener in our lush, subtropical environment. New residents get new learning about the trees, shrubs, and flowers that are characteristic of our climate and our coastal, tidal rhythms. Not much, if anything, prepares you for the richness of our plants, our soil, our weather on Callawassie Island.

The same might be said about our warmth, our balance our connection, it grows on you.

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