Wonderful World Of Bromeliads
Charlie Birdsong is someone that loves working with plants and spoke at the September meeting of the Hammond Garden Club. What a beautiful name for a person that loves gardening and he must, as he cares for over 4500 specimens of bromeliads! He learned about them growing up in New Orleans from his parents and moved to Baton Rouge to go to college at LSU and has been there ever since.
He is the president of the Bromeliad Society in Baton Rouge and has spoken to groups throughout Louisiana, Texas, Florida and even Australia! He spoke to us about how to grow them, the medium they need to survive, how wet or dry their needs are and how many different genera there are of them. You can see a small amount of their beauty in the photos included with the column. There were many oohs and aahs as we looked at the wondrous collection he brought. Following his presentation there were many questions by the members.....looks like we may be seeing many
bromeliads in our gardens soon!
When Mr. Birdsong's presentation had ended Carolyn Schwebel our President began the business part of our meeting since the Pledge of Allegiance and opening prayer led by Mary Thornhill and introduction of guests had been recognized before the speaker was introduced.
All members were asked to complete and return the registration forms for the District VI Fall Meeting which our club is hosting at Michabelle Inn this October 24. The arrangements for the tables and other decor were discussed as well as needing raffle items.
Carolyn also stated that collections were being asked for to help in the restoration of the Houston, Texas Garden Clubs and motions were made and accepted by all to do so.
Carolyn then asked if anyone else had new news and Juanita Pearson, Vice President said that she had been approached by Matt Cotton of Edward Jones to ask if our club would be interested in having a table at his Fall Fest on November 3, 2017 at the Event Center in Hammond. We were asked to consider this because our club is active in the community and after a small discussion it was tabled until our October meeting.
Next on the agenda was the Fish Fry which we originally thought it would be held in October but with all we have going on this month it was decided to wait until the spring, probably March, to have it.
Carolyn then called on Phyllis diBenedetto, Treasurer for her report, Joy Peterson said the Garden of the Month was presented to Chantelle Cortez of 20226 Thornwood Drive in Woodlake Estates and Jewel Jamal reported that the Link Award went to Zaxby's Chicken on Morrison Blvd.
Margaret Hawkins announced that an Ikebana class on September 28 at the Ponchatoula Community Center was going to be attended by eight of the Hammond Garden Club members including Phillis Mire, Lee Collins, Cathryn Rossie, Leah Sadden, Clara Houston, Sheila Reno, Pat Graves and Margaret. Maybe a demonstration after the class to the rest of the club will have all of us able to make those arrangements!
There being no further news (as if that wasn't enough), to discuss Carolyn closed the meeting with Peggy Dunn reading a Children's Prayer, (sob) and six lucky recipients won door prizes, potted blooming plants and an
original painting by Margaret Hawkins.
Whew! we have a lot on our plates this month and right behind it comes decorating for the holidays! We will be some busy bees. I hope everyone has enjoyed, (well we didn’t have to water our gardens very much) this long, wet summer and are really anxious for the beautiful fall season to be upon us soon full of fluffy yellow and rust colored chrysanthemums and the perky little pansies gracing our gardens.
The Hammond Garden Club is a proud member of the Louisiana Garden Club Federation, Inc. District VI and a member and a member of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. Deep South Region doing our best to unify and beautify our homes, gardens, our city and our nation every day to the best of our ability. God Bless America, our beautiful city Hammond and all the members of the HGC!
by Linda Broussard she is a member of the Hammond Garden Club