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Guest article
Each year, the Afton Federated Garden Club takes a tour. This year, Clarke County was the destination.
The morning of July 11 centered on the wildflowers of Clarke County, beginning with Barry Mateer’s gardens. He has many garden plots which feature a variety of plants, but mostly wildflowers. His gardens are designated as a Monarch Wayside. He raises and releases monarchs, but numbers are down considerably.
We only saw one monarch there. Two magnet plants for monarchs are meadow blazing star and purple prairie clover. We saw many unusual plants like the Tennessee coneflower and the Ozark coneflower, which is yellow.
We then went to Oakwood Preserve. There were 140 different species when the Clarke County Conservation Board took over. Now, they have a field of sunflowers, some natural areas with burning every few years, some experimental areas which may be natural, sprayed or mowed. There are at least six different types of milkweed with some unusual varieties like whorl milkweed and tall grass milkweed. Barry joined the tour along with Scott Kent, Clarke County Conservation Director, and Judy Kjellson, all sharing their knowledge.
We learned that later in the spring, burning gives some of the flowering plants more time to get started. While on our tour, we heard the call of a bobwhite, saw a fawn, got a glimpse of some turkeys and did see some monarchs. It was a full morning.
After lunch in Osceola, the first stop was Deb Talbott’s garden. Her front yard is very attractive with a variety of flowers. Many are wild flowers. Her backyard features some large plants like tall reed grass and a tall cup plant.
The highlight of her gardens were her pair of tortoises. The male followed Debi like a dog might. For only living there a short time, she has done a lot.
Next was Kathy Barr’s hideaway garden. It was compact, but had some beautiful lilies and about 27 different varieties of plants. She talked to the group and explained all she had done to her garden to make it a place to hide away and relax.
We went to Esther Malson’s gardens which have to be one of the nicest gardens in Osceola. Her gardens featured many plants with a concentration of day lilies which were in full bloom. Her entire yard is a large flower bed.
The last stop was the Clarke County Community Gardens. There were not as many garden plots this year, but still a good variety of plots were viewed. We were lucky to have finished the tour before it rained.
It was a full day for the club members, but they were able to enjoy and appreciate the gardens in Clarke County and the gardeners who opened their gardens to them.
Anyone interested in gardening is invited to attend the Afton Federated Garden Club. The club meets the second Friday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in the Afton Community Center.
A free wildflower walk at Oakwood Grassland, 1387 Highway 69, Osceola, will be held from 6 p.m. to dusk on Tuesday, July 29, the last one of the season. The public is invited to attend.