ARDITH'S JOTTINGS

 ARDITH'S JOTTINGS


Quote from the Iron Lady (Margaret Thatcher)  Prime Minister, Great Britain.

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end.  It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you had everything to do, and you've done it."  Doesn't this ring true and doesn't it give great insight to her character?


Cats and Plants

I would like to recommend a website which talks about cats and plants.  This was in the monthly newsletter I receive from my vet. I hope many of you cat lovers find the information valuable.   This site lists plants that are not injurious to our feline friends and those which are.  Check out www.catscans.com/plants.html.


Kiefer Landscaping and Nursery Opens for Spring

March 8th is the opening date for Kiefer Landscaping and Nursery at 2450 S. Alston Avenue, Durham.   Lots of surprises and goodies await you at this hidden garden treasure when you visit. Japanese Cedars are the opening special offer. On March 13th a class on Deer Resistant Plants for the NC Garden is offered. This is just one of the many classes available through the coming year.   Customer Appreciation Week with free hot dogs, give-aways,  special sale items and family activities will be held April 19th-22nd.  Miss Lily's Pad, their new home and garden shop, offering an expanded selection of items for outdoor living, opens soon.

I like Kiefer because their nursery stock survives my black thumb.  The plants I purchased from them before they closed survived "wonderfully well" [as the PA Dutch say] while those I got from another place died. They weren't purchased at end of season either! The advice I got from the nursery staff  was excellent.  Plus the plants are distinctive, I did not see them at any other nursery.   Visit them, talk to them, ask questions, discover this hidden treasure.  Tell them you discovered them on the DCGC Blog.

Note to Garden Club Program Chairman for the coming year:  Kiefer has a wonderful outdoor area where your club can hear a program from one of their experts and then tour the water gardens, the nursery and the koi house.  There is talk of offering refreshments and a discount on all nursery stock and plants purchased by your club when your meeting is held at Kiefer!  This sounds like a win-win for all program chairman.


The Gloucester Daffodil Festival  March 24-25, 2012

Looking for a great day trip with potential for expansion into a weekend mini-vacation?  Plan to visit the Gloucester Daffodil Festival in Gloucester, VA .  Therewill be a Daffodil parade along with entertainment, food and crafts.  BUT the best part is you can visit Brent and Becky's Bulb Farm for a walking guided tour by local Master Gardeners.  A 'Yellow Daffodil School Bus' will carry you from all the activities to see the Various Gardens, Brent and Becky offer.  There are a Catalogue Garden, a Courtyard Garden, a Children's Garden, a Native Garden to name a few.  Great Northern Neck seafood is available along with interesting shops.  You can even take a quick run up to Yorktown .  You can visit Montross, Irvington and the Tides Inn or Williamsburg or you can just savor Gloucester.  This is the area where Virginia and our Nation started.  (Would you believe I am a Virginian?)


Green Valley Book Fair, March 20-25,2012
Mt. Crawford, Virginia


Last Fall the Heritage Garden Club Travelers had a day out which included shopping, sales and good food in two states-NC and VA.  We visited Green Valley Book Fair in Mt. Crawford, Va just south of Harrisonburg, VA  for outstanding values on recently published books--really, really good prices on a wide range of books, stuffed children's animals and special items.  The cookbook, craft and garden selections  were very good.  The prices enticed us to stock up.  It's open  4-5 times a year for only 2 weeks.  Go to  www.gvbookfair.com for info about the upcoming sale. We had dinner at Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant, Staunton, Va just off Rte 81.  The fried chicken is great.  The cream pies, especially the coconut and the banana cream, are fabulous.  If you stop in Staunton , visit the American Shakespeare Center Blackfriars Playhouse.  The Playhouse replicates the stage of Shakespeare's time.  No cushy seats here!  Great theatre.  Plays focus mainly on those performed at the Globe in Shakespeare's time but there are some modern works.  For history buffs, Woodrow Wilson's Presidential Library and Museum are here. Visit the Fashion Gallery in Verona, VA for classic upscale clothes, gifts and accessories-all with a Southern flair.  The sales racks were fantastic. Sale prices better than Marshall' s or T J Maxx.  Stop here before sampling Mrs. Rowe's good country cooking. We did this all in one day-we were really exhausted but happy!