While guest speaker Glenda Wilson stressed the importance of developing individual native southern gardens in 2018, Wednesday’s meeting of the Wausau Garden Club was all about celebrating the Christmas holiday with fun and food.
Enjoying a delicious selection of finger foods for lunch, club members also played a rousing game of ‘Dirty Santa’ along with sharing a lot of laughter.
Wilson, a Master Gardener and a member of the Chipley Garden Club, talked with the garden club members about kicking off the new year with plans to create southern gardens with an emphasis on native plants.
Explaining that native plants are those plants that have been grown in the U.S. since before the 1500s, Wilsons said what many see as southern gardens are actually comprised of non-native plants that come from Asia, West Indies, Europe, and Mexico.
Wilson said most of the non-native plants came into the U.S. through the port at Charleston, South Carolina. She said in more recent years southern gardeners are turning to native plants to create outstanding gardens and are working hard to keep invasive plants out of those gardens.
For those interesed in finding out which plants are considered to be native, wilson said tach county’s Extension Office has a list of qualifying plants.
