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Kalmia Gardens - The Laurel Branch
February 07, 2025
Welcome to our e-newsletter, "The Laurel Branch."
Save the Date! March 15, 2025 Annual Oyster Roast Fundraiser
Kalmia Gardens’ famed Oyster Roast is rapidly approaching! March 15th from 4-7pm, we’ll be at it again with mounds of North Carolina, farm-raised select oysters, a variety of beers and wines, a signature cocktail, and live entertainment from Dee Tallon. Don’t think we forgot about you land lovers – we’ll have additional catered food available too!
This night of good food and good fun is not to be missed, and it’s known to sell out. If you haven’t yet gotten your tickets, you can do so by purchasing them online, here.
Interested in sponsoring the Oyster Roast? Sponsorships at various levels are also available and put your business in the spotlight! Did we mention all sponsorship levels include tickets to the Oyster Roast? To learn more about sponsorships, click here.
Behind the Scenes in the Greenhouse
In the chilly winter months, it’s hard to think about working in the garden. The frigid cold may keep some of the weeds at bay, but it also keeps many of us in the warm confines of the indoors, dreaming of our lush, spring gardens to come. For those who want to be warm and enjoy the company of plants, enter the greenhouse!
The greenhouse at Kalmia Gardens was donated by Stanley Byrd and has been here for over ten years. It is run and cared for almost exclusively by our volunteers. Theresa and Susan work throughout the winter, and beyond, in the greenhouse, tending to existing plants and potting up new additions, be it for use in Kalmia’s gardens, or for the Master Gardener Plant Sale. Susan has been volunteering in the greenhouse since its arrival at Kalmia, and Theresa has been volunteering in the greenhouse for four years, ever since a call for volunteers was issued. One thing they both enjoy is experimenting to learn what works, and what doesn’t, as they refine their methods based on their findings.
Are you itching to get out of the house and join the volunteers at Kalmia? Help in the greenhouse is needed now more than any other time of the year as we prepare for the upcoming Master Gardener Plant Sale on April 10 – 12, 2025. While greenhouse work may seem like it requires a botany degree, don’t worry – all you need is a willingness to learn, and Theresa and Susan are all but too happy to guide you along the way!
Are you interested in volunteering at Kalmia Gardens? If so, contact Lucy Contreras at LContreras@coker.edu to submit an application.
Kalmia Gardens Attends the First South Carolina Public Garden Alliance Symposium
South Carolina has a wealth of public gardens housed within its state lines. This rich community includes botanic gardens, arboreta, display gardens, zoos, historic gardens, and more. One thing that all of the gardens have in common is a desire to share their knowledge and passion with the public, and each other.
In spring of 2024, the South Carolina Public Garden Alliance was formed, creating a professional alliance for public gardens to stay informed of one another’s happenings – from public events, to larger garden developments, to being a resource to one another from general questions, to helping with recovery from large storms. In January, the first annual Symposium was hosted by Boone Hall Plantation, and Kalmia Gardens’ Director, Dan Hill, and Assistant Director, Lucy Contreras, were pleased to be in attendance. Lucy joined two other presenters and shared her experience with cool season annuals with the rest of the Alliance, and discussed the value of assessing annuals each year to determine if they performed well in the garden. Dan and Lucy also benefited from other presentations, including learning about camellias, their history, and their care, as well as about using edible plants to attractor pollinators.
Professional development helps to keep all of us here at Kalmia up to date on the latest happenings in our field, which in turn allows us to share an even better Kalmia Gardens with all our visitors. We look forward to next year’s Symposium and continuing to develop!
New Video Series on Facebook and Instagram: Kalmia Horticultural Minute (or Thereabouts…)
Do you love horticulture, plants, or nature? We sure do at Kalmia Gardens, and we just can’t keep it to ourselves! Join us on Facebook and Instagram to watch our new video series: Kalmia Horticultural Minute (or Thereabouts…), where our Kalmia Gardens’ staff will give you a deeper look into our gardens and grounds through plant highlights, helpful tips, and more!
To follow us on Facebook, click here and click the "Like" button!
To follow us on Instagram, click here and click the "Follow" button!Artesian Well Boardwalk Renovated
Around every turn is something unique at Kalmia Gardens. From the historic Thomas E. Hart House, to our beautiful gardens, to the sixty-foot bluff leading to the Black Creek. Let’s not forget about the artesian well!
We are incredibly grateful to Duke Energy, the Darlington County Master Gardeners Association, and our generous donors, who made it possible for us to renovate the boardwalk to the artesian well. The path out to see this special Kalmia feature is now even more accessible thanks to this much needed upgrade.
Kalmia Gardens relies on the generosity of our donors to keep the splendor of the Gardens as we know it today. To make a tax-deductible gift to Kalmia Gardens, please visit us here for more information.
Chris’s Tip
With the chill of winter firmly upon us, it’s hard to think about doing anything outside. While winter is a great time to peruse seed catalogs and start thinking about your spring garden to come, it’s also a good time to prune many, but not all, of your woody plants. Don’t worry, I’ll explain the “not all” a little later.
Pruning is simply cutting your plants, whether it’s to reduce height, open airflow, rejuvenate the plant, or remove dead, damaged, or diseased parts, to name a few common practices. The reason I recommend pruning in the winter, is because your deciduous plants, or the plants that drop their leaves, have their structure on full display. By seeing the structure of the plant, you’re better able to see what you’re working with, which isn’t as clear when the stems are obscured by leaves. Another bonus? When you’re hauling the debris away – it’s a lot lighter when you don’t have the added weight of the leaves!
No matter when you prune, you always want to remove anything that is dead, damaged, or diseased first. These 3 D’s can be removed any time of the year, but if you’re doing a big prune, don’t forget to cut these out first. Sometimes just removing the 3 D’s is all you need and your prune job is complete. For most woody plants, I also recommend opening up for air flow, and this is done by removing branches that are rubbing together (which can lead to damage), removing crossing branches (which can lead to rubbing), and removing inward facing growth.
With all pruning, you want to cut to a point that makes sense, or a “point of origin”, as I like to refer to it. You don’t want to cut to an arbitrary point, but you do want to cut to a bud, in the case of plants like roses, or to a main stem so you are not leaving an awkward nub.
While pruning in the winter is good for many plants, you probably want to hold off on plants that bloom on old wood. Plants that bloom on old wood set their flower buds a few months after they finish flowering, so plants like once blooming azaleas and certain hydrangeas, are great examples. We often want to prune them shortly after they flower to preserve their flowers for the coming year. With so much breeding happening in plants, including plants flowering throughout the year that traditionally were once a year bloomers, I recommend keeping a list of the plants you have and looking up pruning recommendations to ensure your pruning time is the best fit for you, and your plants.
Dan’s Interesting Plant
This month’s interesting plant is the Yaupon Holly. But wait – before you boo me off the newsletter – hear me out! I know this plant can be a little divisive, as it can often play the part of a weed, appearing throughout the garden uninvited. Despite its weedy potential, did you know that Yaupon Holly, or Ilex vomitoria, as its botanically known, is a native plant? Not only that, but it’s the only United States native plant that contains caffeine!
This plant is unique, despite its often-pesky placement in the landscape, because it is something known as diecious. What that means is that while some plants have both male and female flowers on the same plant, or are monecious, other plants have either entirely male flowers, or entirely female flowers, and thus require a male plant and female plant to successfully reproduce. Basically, for us in an ornamental landscape, we need a female plant to have the colorful fruit of the Yaupon Holly that we so enjoy, but we, or a neighbor, also need a male plant that will successfully pollinate and fertilize the female plant’s flowers, resulting in the subsequent fruit.
Yaupon Hollies are also intentionally used in the landscape, often as cultivars, or cultivated varieties. You can find Yaupons that are in weeping tree forms, such as Ilex vomitoria ‘Pendula’, to even dwarf forms, like Ilex vomitoria ‘Nana’, which can be used for hedging. Yaupon Hollies also bear a resemblance to boxwoods, and the dwarf forms can be used as a boxwood alternative. This can be a helpful substitute, as boxwoods tend to fall victim to disease and insect pests, where our native Yaupon Holly will likely be a tougher contender.
Beautiful Plants of Kalmia Gardens
Alder, Tag (Alnus serrulata)
Apricot, Flowering (Prunus mume cvs.)
Camellia, Japanese (Camellia japonica cvs.)
Camellia, Sasanqua (Camellia sasanqua cvs.)
Daffodil (Narcissus spp.)
Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Honeysuckle, Fragrant (Lonicera fragrantissima)
Magnolia, Saucer (Magnolia x soulangeana)
Mahonia, Leatherleaf (Berberis bealei)
Maple, Japanese Coral Bark (Acer palmatum cvs.)
Nandina (Nandina domestica)
Quince (Chaenomeles japonica)
Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)
Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)
Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria)EVENTS:Oyster Roast Annual Fundraiser: March 15, 2025 4pm - 7pm
Master Gardener Plant Sale: April 10 – 12, 2025
April 10 - 11: 9am - 3pm, April 12: 9am - 1pm
Earth Day: April 12, 2025, 10am - 1pm
Week in the Wild Youth Summer Camp:
1st and 2nd Grade: July 7-11, 2025, 9am - 12pm
3rd and 4th Grade July 14 – 18, 2025 9am - 12pm
5th and 6th Grade: July 21 – 25, 2025 9am - 12pm
Registration For Camp Opens: April 1, 2025Find Us On Facebook and Instagram
If you are on Facebook or Instagram, make sure you “like” Kalmia Gardens on Facebook and "follow" Kalmia Gardens on Instagram. It’s a great way to hear about events, stay updated on what’s happening, and view some nice pictures. We look forward to seeing your “thumbs up.”
Copyright © 2025 Kalmia Gardens of Coker University, All rights reserved.
Laurel Branch
Our mailing address is:
www.kalmiagardens.orgContact:Dan Hill, Director Kalmia Gardens of Coker Universitydhill@coker.edu, (843) 383-8145
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