Pine Needle Baskets and Drying Hydrangeas

The Merry Weather Garden Club met on Tuesday the 19^th of August, 2014 at the home of Patti Acheson in Woodbury.  Ellen McEwen cohosted with Patti. Neighbors or the “Imlac Crew” made up of Phyllis Daniel, Mary Beth Tsoukalis, and Carla Snider, all contributed to the delicious brunch served with shrimp and grits, egg and vegetable casserole, coffee cake, zucchini, squares, fresh fruit garnished with mint and feta, orange yeast rolls, and much more.

Club members enjoyed touring the Acheson home because Patti and her husband A.J. have made much of the furniture and décor themselves. Both have a professionals’ eye and touch. Patti has recently turned her talents to creating a stunning garden which surrounds the new swimming pool and also she has refitted an old camper.  Acheson is part of a group that goes “glamping.” Glamourous camping as the ladies and their campers, eighty plus meet this weekend at Stone Mountain and will enjoy shopping, wine and cheese tasting, and chatting-definitely not the rugged outdoor experience.  The camper has been painted, refitted and upholstered in delightful fabrics.  A miniature crystal chandelier hangs over the bed! The fifth wheel is encased in a box that has been painted to look like an earlier period trunk.  Creative and clever touches in every nook made the Acheson home, garden, and camper a fun and inspiring adventure for the garden club.

In club business Marylyn Carter told the club about entering the flower show last May that was a fundraiser for the art museum in LaGrange. The Downton Abbey theme was furthered by member Jane Morrison who was asked to bring her ancestor’s crocheted handbag, hats, and umbrellas.

Linda Wilburn reported to the club on the state of the Streetscapes in the county seat noting that it took four years to do Phase 1 and she thought this phase would go faster-but no.  The bids are due in September and will be awarded in October and construction will begin immediately.

Helen Claussen reported on the 34 lots that are covenant recorded properties around the airport that she hopes will be developed.  The county owns the land and the lots would make a good fly in community.

Carla Snider reported on the Keep Meriwether Beautiful workshop coming up September 9^th from 1-5 at the Commissioners’ Building.  This is training for those who want to see something done about the litter problem in our county.  Many club members plan to be part of this and take the program into the schools and communities to implement.

Linda Wilburn also passed out flyers with information about purchasing a poster or posters of our seven cities. The poster collages currently are on display at the Court Square Café and have received rave reviews. The café and art gallery in Greenville, café in Woodbury, and Refreshingly Country shop in Warm Springs are all part of the Southern Loop now which goes from Fairburn to Warm Springs, LaGrange to Tyrone in its appeal to tourists who want to see the towns that Sherman missed!

Ellen McEwen introduced her dear friend and Cotton Pickin’ Fair exhibitor of approximately thirty five years Patricia Hendricks of Woodland. Patricia, McEwen said, has a beautiful home and garden, was married to the late Dr. Hendricks, a state veterinarian. Hendricks explained she began her hobby of making pine needle baskets when “the empty nest” occurred in her home. She praised her mentor and teacher Mrs. Corley and she has taken classes in North Carolina and Charleston to further educate herself and see how others make the baskets.

Hendricks praised Johnny Walker of Gay who has a long leaf pine and saves her the needles shed every year. Hendricks begins by washing the needles with warm soapy water and drying them. She uses RIT dye to color them saying she had tried natural dyes but they don’t last as well. She uses loblolly needles for smaller baskets and the miniature pieces.

Hendricks does not work from a pattern but visualizes her creation much like a potter with clay. She uses very strong waxed linen thread to sew the needles together.  Club members were amazed at her precise stitches that themselves make a pretty pattern in each piece both on the outside and inside of the work. She starts every piece with six needle leaves sometimes attached to a walnut and builds out from there. She displayed a variety of baskets, a lovely hat, and trays she had made. The baskets each take numerous hours to create.

A second hobby is drying hydrangeas. Club members appreciated that she grew such beautiful large blossoms! Limelight and Snowflake hydrangeas are two especially good varieties for this. She mulches with chipped composted limbs and fertilizes with 10-10-10 in the spring. She adds aluminum sulfate to keep the flowers blue and purple.

Picking at the correct time is the key to drying hydrangeas and she does this in late July and August as the color starts fading from the blossom. She has a log house where she hangs the blooms from the rafters, and they are dry in a few days. She colors some with RIT dye and boiling water.  She dips until she gets the desired color and them dries them by simply hanging them on a clothesline. Fabric softener in water is sometimes sprayed on the bloom to soften it for arranging.

The garden club will next meet in September at Greenville United Methodist Church to hear our Extension Agent Trey Gafnea discuss gardening problems and the checklist to do in the fall and to prepare for winter.