Gardening News

Cape Fear Garden Club Designated North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Affiliate of the Year

Since 1925, Cape Fear Garden Club, Inc. has been sowing seeds—literally and metaphorically—throughout New Hanover County. The recent pandemic has curtailed the club’s illustrious work while giving the opportunity to focus on the organization’s roots: planting organic and sustainable backyards, and installing community gardens filled with beneficial plants for people, pollinators and wildlife.

Cape Fear Garden Club’s Gardening for Wildlife Committee is a member of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF), and continuously encourages the establishment of local Certified Wildlife Habitats®. In 2019, the committee chose Frances and Jim Parnell’s garden—which was slated for the 2020 Azalea Garden Tour—as a “teaching garden.” This garden has been tended to since 1966, and is covered with stands of native trees and vegetation that attract masses of bees, birds and butterflies.

Unfortunately, the 2020 tour was canceled due to COVID-19. However, the cancellation didn’t stop the committee. Since education is the cornerstone of the certification process, the committee opted to educate the public via a virtual tour of the Parnell property. The videos, orchestrated by Delores Hawes, cover four categories of wildlife habitat certification:

• Food

• Water

• Shelter

• Places to Raise Young

In 2022, the Parnell garden will be in the Azalea Garden Tour as a recognized Certified Wildlife Habitat®. During the tour, the Gardening for Wildlife Committee will be challenging club members and the general public to get involved in the effort to sustain our wildlife by being stewards of the earth. The committee’s goal is to increase the number of certified areas in New Hanover County by 30% in the 2021–2022 year.

The committee’s efforts resulted in Cape Fear Garden Club’s designation as the North Carolina Wildlife Federation Affiliate of the Year in 2021. By recognizing, publicizing and honoring conservation leaders, the North Carolina Wildlife Federation hopes to inspire North Carolinians to take an active role in protecting the state’s natural resources. Cape Fear Garden Club’s work was honored at the annual NCWF Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards banquet in Cary.

Want to get started on your Certified Wildlife Habitat? Visit www.capefeargardenclub.org and select “Gardening for Wildlife Challenge” under the events tab to watch the club’s informational videos. To learn more about certification, visit https:// www.nwf.org/certify.

Cape Fear Garden Club’s Gardening for Wildlife Committee members were honorees at the North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s 57th Annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards. After a thank you message from Gov. Roy Cooper, NCWF Board Chair John Hairr and NC Wildlife Resources Commission Executive Director Cameron Ingram presented honorees with specially-made wildlife statuettes. From left, Cameron Ingram, Mary Smith, Marion Kreh, Frances Parnell and John Hairr.

Contributed photo.

Greenhouse Tour

Hobby Greenhouse Club’s Annual Greenhouse Tour will be Saturday, March 5, from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. This is a self-driving tour of area greenhouses. Admission is free, and you may visit any or all of the greenhouses, as you choose. The starting point is the Ability Garden Greenhouse at the Arboretum, 6206 Oleander Drive, where you may pick up a map. Visit the website for greenhouse descriptions and directions: hobbygreenhouseclub.org.

Loblolly Garden Club

The Loblolly Garden Club is inviting new members to join. The group meets the third Tuesday of the month, from September to May at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 16 No. 16th Street in Wilmington. The doors open at 9:30 a.m. and the meeting begins at 10 a.m. For more information, visit their website (https://loblollygardenclubnc.com) or contact Marie Ashworth at (910) 762-2051 or marie.ashworth@twc. com.

Cape Fear Garden Club Wins 2021 Pelican Award

In August 2021 in Morehead City, NC, the North Carolina Coastal Federation presented a Pelican Award to the Cape Fear Garden Club (CFGC) of Wilmington, NC for an outstanding community effort to beautify, conserve, educate and inspire the citizens of Southeastern North Carolina to make the coast a better place to live, visit, work and play.

It was the action of CFGC’s Conservation Committee, presently lead by Virginia Teachey, that joined forces locally with the NC Coastal Federation to develop the Bradley Creek and Hewlett’s Creek watershed restoration plan. In 2010, four rain gardens were installed at Bradley Creek Elementary on Greenville Loop Road. The rain gardens are also used as outdoor classrooms for the school.

In fall 2020, CFGC’s Conservation Committee began much-needed maintenance of one of the four rain gardens that serve as bio-retention areas with two cells totaling 3,400 square feet. The project treats stormwater runoff from a portion of the school parking lots and front yard. The committee’s purpose is to keep one of the rain gardens in good condition so it will be able to catch the first 1½ inches of rainwater, which contains the most pollutants. Therefore, the committee members periodically weed, trim bushes and trees, edge, and clean the grates at the Bradley Creek site. The Conservation Committee identified and labeled all plants found in the rain gardens at the school.

The work of the Cape Fear Garden Club has also supported the installation of habitat gardens and wetland nurseries at the Stanback Coastal Education Center in Wrightsville Beach. In addition, the club provides scholarship grants to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Cape Fear Community College. Plus, a standing grant is given yearly to Audubon North Carolina for the bird sanctuary on Battery Island.

In granting the award, the NC Coastal Federation acknowledged that the Cape Fear Garden Club is dedicated to its mission to use horticulture and garden development to beautify, conserve, educate and inspire people of all ages.

From left, Ted, Wilgis, Coastal Scientist, North Carolina Coastal Federation; Virginia Teachey, Chair of the Conservation Committee; and Linda Snider, President of the Cape Fear Garden Club for 2021–22.

Contributed photo.