offered by our own Pam Wilcox. Thank you, Pam, for sharing your knowledge with the group. And thanks to Marci Green for assisting Pam with assembling a slide show for her presentation.
Last month we also had our herb booth as well as an informational booth (staffed by our president Bernard Pages) at the 2023 Spring Plant-a-Palooza presented by the Mounts Botanical Garden. Business on Saturday was brisk and the weather on Saturday was hot but lovely. We sold many herbs and Bernard recruited three new members
for our Society. Sunday, however, was a bit of an adventure. We were advised of a tornado watch early in the morning, but no actual tornado warning. When we got there, the staff of the Mounts was advising vendors that there would be no penalty if we wanted to close down. Bernard decided to fold up the informational tent, but we decided that we would try to sell some of the remaining herbs, since we had quite a few left. Then the downpour began. For about an hour we huddled in the center of the tent keeping an eye on weather warnings, but there was no actual tornado in our area. When the rain cleared off, the weather became clear and lovely, much cooler than the day before. Some people began to come into the sale, and we were able to sell off some more of our stock. We did still have a quantity of leftovers. Some of those were donated to the Garden of Welling, the herb garden in the Mounts Botanical Garden. The rest will be presented at this months meeting either as part of the raffle or for sale outright. Please bring a few extra dollars to take advantage of this opportunity.
This month we welcome two more of our board members, Bernard Pages and Lynn Smelt, who will be presenting a cooking demonstration. And Bernard will also be telling you more about our upcoming summer adventures.
Mary
News from the Garden of Well Being/Herb Garden
The weatherman on TV said the rainy season is starting May 15th in South Florida. It was welcome news since the rain was more North or South of our area before that. So we had to rely on hand watering or, if lucky, let the sprinklers do the work. We discover where the weaknesses are due to lack of enough water; especially, if one of our favorite plants suffers or dies. It’s a tragedy when it happens the first time. I can vouch for that when I lost my first rosemary. Working at the Mounts, I have learned to select 3 rosemarys, 3 mints, 3 basils etc. There is always one that will make it.
The Peanut Butter tree grew to about 6+ feet and yes the bright red, medium size berry tasted just like
Peanut butter. It became so popular; I rarely got a ripe fruit off the tree. The tree outgrew its space and died. Last week, it was cut down. Not all is lost, there is another healthy specimen in the garden not far away.
Also, the Kava Kava plant was removed since the leaves looked like the size of elephant ears and started crowding everything around it. Another teaching moment.
The yellow Cosmos are terrific fillers in the garden. They don’t require much attention since they are self-seeding and will continue to grow and bloom for the whole summer. I started with one or two plants in my garden several years ago and they are all over now. I love it.
Now that the Wetlands have been totally reworked and are open to view again, when you get a chance to visit that area, buy some fish food when you check in at the Gift shop. The Koi and the turtles will love it and are fun to watch.
Hope to see you sometime soon in the garden.
Ingrid Menz