Dr. Lynda Acker – a “Monarch Mama” – gave us a fabulous presentation at Clara McLean House on the life and times of Monarch Butterflies and what we can do to help. She made us aware of all these Mamas do to raise and then release Monarch butterflies into the wild. They give a lot of attention to educating the public on the importance of preserving this beautiful yet threatened wildlife species, with an amazing migration pattern which takes them all the way to Mexico every year. An important part of our role is the planting of native plants such as dozens of species of milkweed.  It was a fun and extremely educational meeting. 

We had a chance to tour the amazing gardens of horticulturist, Brie Authur. The small houses belied the amazing gardens behind and around them. Brie gave us the opportunity to view all the interesting and diverse gardens she has planted. What she has been able to accomplish is nothing shy of amazing. 

Our Garden Club began our year with a road trip to the James Creek Cider House in Cameron. James Creek makes premium, harvest-based ciders from Southern heirloom, and cider apple varieties grown in their orchards here in Moore County. This is a type of horticulture that we haven’t studied before and our hostess, Anne Marie Thornton, gave us a strong grounding in first the history of James Creek, as well as cider making, and sourcing for their apple orchards. We also got to sample the product!