Mandarin Garden Club Plant Exchange

On Saturday, September 6th, the Mandarin Garden Club held a plant exchange.  Members of the club brought plants, gardening accessories, garden art, books, and magazines.  With a crowd of 50 or more ladies and gents, the exchange was quite lively!  Might I even say rowdy???

Watching the members jockey for position, and laying hands on their first choice was quite entertaining.    Some were discreet, and some were bold in marking their territory.

The plant exchange takes me back to a time when guests to our homes always left with a “cutting” in hand for their garden.  Watching our  Exchange plants grow or making use of the garden accessories will be a constant reminder of the friends we have made at the Mandarin Garden Club.

Many thanks to Becky Bathen and Mary Forester for their organization of this fun event and the memories we made.

This post was written by Karen Rowe, a member of the Mandarin Garden Club's Dogwood Circle.

Live Oak: Betsey H's Spectacular Garden

Wow look at Live Oak member Betsey H’s spectacular garden!  Betsey has done an outstanding job mixing native plants, non-native plants, butterfly plants, trees, and shrubs.  Betsey has a large selection of native plants:  oak leaf hydrangea, coral bean, beauty berry, Florida anise, cinnamon fern, and many more.  She also has a large selection of butterfly plants.  The red pentas and bottlebrush get lots of action from giant swallowtails & zebra longwings.  Many different birds enjoy her feeders too.  Congratulations to Betsey & Mark for creating such a beautiful backyard habitat.

Live Oak Circle - Summer Garden Pictures

While the Mandarin Garden Club is on summer hiatus to keep everyone in the gardening spirit, some of the Live Oak circle members are submitting their garden pictures and/or gardens that inspires them to Gretchen M.  All Circles are welcome to send their pictures to Gretchen via e-mail.  Pictures will be posted on the blog throughout the summer.

This post was provided by Susan W.

Hi Gretchen, 

Here are some pictures from my yard to share with the Live Oak Circle.  Good Gardening, Susan.

1.  Caladiums & ferns grow great under the shade of my giant live oak tree.  For years & years I included impatiens with the caladiums & ferns, but now they won’t grow because of the impatiens downy mildew epidemic.  I keep the invasive fern in control because it is planted in an old rusted out fire pit.  I’ts elevated just enough to keep the fern from spreading.

2.  Hydrangea, swamp hibiscus & white shrimp plant all growing under the live oak tree.  All of these were given to me by garden club members or I got them at our plant swaps.

3.  Mary C. from the Cherokee Rose Circle gave me a small rooted cutting of this outstanding red salvia a couple years ago.  It is about 5 feet tall now & never falls over.  It blooms from spring until we get freezing temperatures.  That area is also planted with black & blue salvia & pineapple sage, but the big red salvia towers over the other sage/salvias.  I have it planted so that I can see it from my kitchen sink window.  It makes doing the dishes much more pleasant when I often get to watch hummingbirds & butterflies on that big red salvia.

Good Gardening,
Susan

Live Oak Circle - Summer Garden Pictures

While the Mandarin Garden Club is on summer hiatus to keep everyone in the gardening spirit, some of the Live Oak circle members are submitting their garden pictures and/or gardens that inspires them to Gretchen M.  All Circles are welcome to send their pictures to Gretchen via e-mail.  Pictures will be posted on the blog throughout the summer.

This post was provided by Susan W.

Hi Gretchen,

Love the idea of sharing our garden pictures with our Live Oak Circle friends.  These pictures were taken in the Potager Garden at the Garden Club.  Becky B. & I tend this charming kitchen garden that provides vegetables, fruits, herbs & cutting flowers all together from one small space. Becky & I are standing behind the outstanding Alachua Red Rose, a.k.a Red Cascade.  Babies from this rose are usually available at the MGC Spring Plant Sale & Garden Festival.  I look forward to seeing pictures from other Live Oak members’ gardens.

Good Gardening, 
Susan W.

Live Oak Circle - Summer Garden Pictures

While the Mandarin Garden Club is on summer hiatus to keep everyone in the gardening spirit, some of the Live Oak circle members are submitting their garden pictures and/or gardens that inspires them to Gretchen M.  All Circles are welcome to send their pictures to Gretchen via e-mail.  Pictures will be posted on the blog throughout the summer.

This post was provided by Lisa D.

From Lisa D.

My backyard is quite small and very shaded by large trees.  Through the years we learned, the expensive way, that we could not grow grass there, soooo after making our own concrete stepping stones with a mold, I planted miniature mondo grass to replace sod.  It has taken beautifully.  The orchid my husband gave me years ago for an anniversary has only bloomed  a few flowers a few times.  This year I was so excited to get 6 pairs of blooms!  Love my little frog pics.  They lived in the drip pan for months.

Live Oak Circle - Summer Garden Pictures

While the Mandarin Garden Club is on summer hiatus to keep everyone in the gardening spirit, some of the Live Oak circle members are submitting their garden pictures and/or gardens that inspires them to Gretchen M.  All Circles are welcome to send their pictures to Gretchen via e-mail.  Pictures will be posted on the blog throughout the summer.

This post was provided by Gretchen M.

From Gretchen M.

I've attached a couple of pictures from one of the flower gardens in my front yard.  Gaurda (Whirling Butterflies) is the focus of two of the shots (top).  The garden itself is a mixture of a lot of plants including pentas, bulbine, salvias, and daylilies. 

Live Oak Circle - Hypertufa Demo

For the last meeting of the 2012-2013 season, Live Oak members got the chance to make hypertufa containers courtesy of new Live Oak member, Stephanie S. (pictured).  

Hypertufa is an anthropic rock made from various aggregates bonded together by Portland cement.  Originally invented for use in alpine gardens, hypertufas can withstand harsh winters as low as −30 °C (−22 °F).  Hypertufas are popular as garden ornaments (pots/planters or various shapes) and are lightweight compared to terracotta or traditional concrete planters.

Live Oak members used small- to medium-sized plastic containers and lined with plastic drop cloths to create their hypertufa.  Hypertufa can be shaped and molded into anything.  Judy, Circle Co-Chair, brought her hypertufa mushroom (pictured) as an example.  Everyone had a great time!  The recipe is listed below if you want to make your own hypertufa.

Interested in participating in events like this?  Come join the Mandarin Garden Club!  For more information, check out our Membership page.

---

Hypertufa Recipe

Materials: 7 parts Peat Moss 5 parts Portland Cement 4 parts Vermiculite 3 parts Perlite 6 parts Water

Equipment: Dust mask Rubber gloves Mixing tub Measuring cups Molds Inexpensive plastic drop cloth

Technique:
Measure, then mix dry ingredients thoroughly.  Make sure to wear a dust mask  and wear gloves during this part of process.  Add water and mix thoroughly again.  Consistency should be something like brownie mix.  Cake mix consistency is too runny; bread dough too stiff.

After mixing, do not add large amounts of water.  It may inhibit the cement from setting.

Line your mold with the plastic drop cloth.  After molding the hypertufa, leave it molded for 24 hours (longer in cold/cloudy weather or for large molds).  Gently work to remove the hypertufa from the mold.

After removing from the mold, your piece will be soft.  Don't handle it a lot, rather place it a quiet spot and you will see it start to harden and cure.  It is not completely cured for 90 days but you may plant in it after a week or so.  You will need to drill a drain hole with a masonry bit before or after drying.

Note:  After molding your hypertufa, you may "drill" a hole using a pencil while it is still soft and has not harden or set.