The Edgecombe Garden Club met for a noon luncheon Oct. 7 at the Fountains of the Albemarle.

After President Pauline Nicolas welcomed everyone, members learned some good ideas of things to do “Just for Today” read by Sandra Joyner, devotion chairwoman.

Candies Owens introduced her guests, Barbara Campbell Davis and Lisa Moss. Glenda Joyner introduced her guest, Betsy James.

Lynn Brady explained their design arrangement included Dusty Miller, Cleome, Russian Sage, Muhly Grass, yellow Mums, Gaurav and Sedum placed in a strawberry pot. All were from the yards of Nicolas, Marilyn Douglass and Brady.

Hostesses who arranged the table flower arrangements were JoAnn Brown, Dee Long and Paula Paluch. Brown explained plant materials were hardy colorful Walmart mums, pine and white flower (unknown) from the woods, cotton out of a cotton field, American boxwood and pompus grass. One hand-cut, gold wrapping paper doily was placed under each arrangement.

Nicolas made several announcements, including:

The winner of the 2012 Edgecombe Garden Club Scholarship from Edgecombe Community College was Kaitlyn Barnes.
The club will decorate the Blount Bridger’s House for Christmas.
N.C. Garden Club 2013 calendars are for sale for $8.

Third Vice President Maryann Retinol introduced speaker Linda May, a Wilson Garden Club member and Master Gardener, who spoke on “Shade Gardening, Outside the Box.”

Many things are going on in a yard all the time. Things are growing year round. What about your yard shade?

There are three kinds – light shade, medium shade and full shade. Things that will stand out in shade are texture, form and color. Have plants with all these three varieties.

There are six different textures in the six host plants. Ferns also have wonderful texture.

Form can show off in shade. If everything is low to the ground, it is boring. Growers want some that are pyramidal, rounded, weeping and spreading.

Here are some yard extras. Have statuary, low or high bird baths, bird feeders, bird houses, and piece of trellis, wind chimes, stones, shells, driftwood, benches and paths.

Gardeners can use bird houses and bird feeders. Bird houses can be real ones or decorative ones. For those who do not have a fence, fake it with a trellis. Put in a piece of a fence. Use wind chimes with the deep sound of the metal chimes, the tinkling of glass chimes, or the wooden wind chimes.

May said that when she goes to the beach, she picks up white, tan and grey shells. The shells are used around the spouts from the drains on the house. She outlines each area with large shells and then fills in with beach stones and shells.

May said she built her sister a unique shell garden. She put up netting with a crab in it, driftwood and a place to sit. Then she covered the area with all kinds of shells.

A number of plant pictures were shown in a PowerPoint presentation, including:

• Autumn fern, orangey color when new leaves. Japanese painted fern she loves, silver in it.
• Bleeding heart, beautiful.
• Cast iron plant, evergreen can be ordered from a catalog or bought locally.
• Foxglove, pure white, one pink in mid-day sun, biennials.
• Hellebores or Lenten roses improved on colors.
• Toad lily have September and October bloom, look like orchids, form a little colony, lots of leaf forms and color.
• May apple grows in shade, looks like an umbrella upside down, will spread.
• Jewels of Opera grows in part shade, rapidly reseeds.
• Virginia bluebells forms a colony.
• Coral Bells, low growing, come in all kinds of color, do not like full day of sun.
• Columbine, yellow and red old fashioned one, have some white grown from seed.
• Elephant Ears can be in all colors, will winter over here, grow mostly where shade is, and come out late.
• Spiderwort-‘Sweet Kate’ has yellow leaves with purple blooms, not invasive. Let spread where it wants.
• Ogon Sedge needs some sun, variegated color is really pretty.
• Black Mondo Grass BEAUTIFUL, puts in strawberry pot, in border, will always be there, and multiplies from seed and division, very popular, beautiful.
• Leopard plant, low growing, beautiful spots, yellow blooms in fall. ‘Crispate’ all curly.
• Primrose, hot pink, yellow, got from Harris Teeter, needs two hours sun, blooms very early spring.
• Oxalis, some have tiny leaves, very pretty leaves and blooms.
• Jack-in-the pulpit, Jack then pulpit, forms a little group of Jacks, gets some sun, have with it some trillium plants.
• Trillium, “wake robin, old fashioned variety, grows three petals and three leaves, some upright, red, pink, yellow, expensive.
• Pink Lady’s Slipper (yellow lady slipper) expensive, native orchid, some “showy lady’s slipper”

EXTRAS: 1. Driftwood. 2. Quartz rocks – cairn marks a path, 3. Jack-in-Pulpit berries. 4. Leaf castings: Leave with water for birds. Rain proofing is what she sprays to protect metal items.

Benches and Paths: Places for people to rest, linger, look.

A good trip would be to Wilson Botanical Gardens which is now Children’s Secret Garden.

Call to set up a tour with a tour guide for May 3-4. One plant smells like buttered popcorn. April 13 is the date for a big plant sale. Many plants are grown in the greenhouse.