The last meeting of the year was very productive and a lot of announcements were made.
Grants this year will go to Naples Botanical Garden’s Summer Intern Program and Avalon School’s Global Gardening after school program. The Club also gives five scholarships to FGCU students each year from a separate fund.
Attendance at this year’s Naples Flower Show was a record breaker at 5688 over the two-day event. Naples Garden Clubbers volunteered 429 hours during Show week. Two popular vote winners were announced: Judy Bergauer in Horticulture and Mercy Abrams in Floral Design.
This year’s Service Award recipient is Abbie Sladick (shown left).
Joel Toledo of Green Door Nursery provided the program and shared tips on planting out a succulent container:
- Buy Florida-sourced succulents.
- Use a South Florida soil mix. Joel recommends Fafard.
- Use non-liquid slow release fertilizer. He likes a 14-14-14 release.
- Terracotta or ceramic containers are best.
- Add 1″ of gravel first to the bottom of taller containers.
- Add 1″ of soil to the container before planting.
- Stage the plants based on how the container will be viewed.
- Always wear gloves.
- Today’s lanai screens block out a good 30% of sunlight.
- SW Florida gets 60 inches of rain annually so some folks tilt their planter in the summer to allow for more drainage.
- White roots on a plant mean it is healthy.
- Water your succulents before you plant them.
- Use the rule of three for containers: Thriller, Filler, and Spiller
- Pencil cactus such as Sticks on Fire is a great thriller.
- Fillers include hens and chickens.
- Spillers should be planted so they are angled over the edge.
- Sedum Is a good spiller choice.
- Aloe and Sensevieiria are good choices for shady spots.
- Full sun is considered 6 to 8 hours daily.
- Succulents are very architectural. Plant various colors and textures next to each other in your container.
- Succulents only need to be watered twice monthly in winter.