September is here and that means that it is the start of a new year for the Garden Club of Celebration.
You do not need to be an avid gardener to join us. You just need to be a person that likes to learn new things, go on field trips and have fun at our social gatherings. We are not all green thumbed people but through the garden club, you can learn to be a good steward of the land while having fun. We are a non-profit 501(c) (3) group. The Club has yearly fundraisers and sponsors scholarships. Members also plant and maintain the Memorial Garden in Celebration and we are hoping to branch into making butterfly gardens and having Poinsettia sales this year. Our meetings are the third Wednesday of each month beginning at 9 a.m. Our dues are $30 per year for a single membership and $40 per couple, with additional modest fees for our monthly field trips. We will be following CROA policies regarding COVID for meetings.
This falls’ lineup of events includes:
Lectures
September 15 – Mr. George Chen, owner of Island Grove Wine Company at Formosa Gardens, will talk about bee keeping as well as the day-to-day challenges of running a winery. He is a Master Gardener, developer, scuba diver and has a black belt in a martial art. An interesting person!
October 20 – Maggie O’Halloran, of the Florida School of Holistic Living, will give a talk about edible plants in and around our town. Many of the Florida plants around us are not edible, but many are edible and good for you.
November 17 – Virgil Weiss, a local Celebration Resident and Bonsai expert, will give a lecture on the art of Bonsai plant growing. He is a long time enthusiast of this branch of gardening and has a number of his specimens to display.
December 8 – Our annual holiday party at Artisan Park.
Field Trips
September 16 – The day after George Chen talks about his winery, Island Grove Wine Company, he will invite us to a behind the scenes tour of his gardens, show us more about bee keeping and treat us to a honey tasting and wine tasting.
October 9 – Entrance to Leu Gardens and an evening concert presenting three groups on stages around the grounds. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets and picnic basket for an enjoyable evening at a beautiful garden. Leu Gardens is one of the premier gardens in Florida.
October 22 – A trip to The Barn in Lake Alfred. This has been a popular field trip in the past and it has been number of years since we have visited. We visit boutique stores and see antiques before having lunch at the Back Porch Café.
November 14 – A visit to the Orlando Museum of Art to take in the annual Festival of Trees with a dinner first.
November 19 – A visit to the Stetson Mansion in DeLand. The mansion, formerly owned by the man behind the Stetson hat, is gloriously bedeck for the holidays. A very memorable visit. Thomas Edison wired the house for electricity! We will also have lunch in DeLand.
As you can see we have a full slate of activities lined up this year. Come have some fun with us. Let’s hope the COVID virus allows us to have these events as planned. If you are interested in learning more about the Garden Club of Celebration, contact Brad at Docwags@gmail.com and/or visit our website at Celebrationgardenclub.org. You can join the club on our website!
According to plant guru Tom McCubbin the following are plants that can be placed in the ground in September. Many plants have a narrow time window to plant in here in Florida. Remember also, “Right plant, right place.” Tom often has great, informative articles in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.
• Vegetables: Early plantings include lima bean, snap bean, corn, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, southern pea, rhubarb, squash, and tomato; End of the month crops include broccoli, cabbage,
celery, collard, endive, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, strawberry and turnip.
• Flowers: Ageratum, angelonia, begonia, blue daze, butterfly weed, cat's whiskers, celosia, cleome, coleus, coreopsis, cosmos, garden mums, gaura, gazania, gerbera, goldenrod,
gomphrena, heliotrope, impatiens, jacobinia, lantana, marigold, melampodium, nicotiana, pentas, periwinkle, ruellia, salvia, sunflower, sweet alyssum, torenia, verbena and zinnia.
• Herbs: Anise, basil, bay laurel, borage, chives, coriander, dill, lemon balm, lavender, Mexican tarragon, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, sweet fennel, sweet marjoram and thyme.
• Bulbs: African iris, agapanthus, amaryllis, blackberry lily, bulbine, calla lily, crinum, crocosmia, day lily, gladiolus, kaffir lily, narcissus, society garlic, spider lily, rain
lilies and walking iris.