Our Projects
Hilton Head|
Current Projects

On this warm October day, Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists are working in the Karen Werthemer Butterfly Enclosure at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn. Today, under the guidance of Carlos Chacon, the Manager of Natural History, they are working to tidy up the garden and are making preparations for nurturing each stage of the butterfly's life cycle. This life cycle is one of nature's amazing feats: an egg turns into a larva (caterpillar) that eats and grows a tremendous amount before it turns into the pupa (Chrysalis) stage, which becomes the adult butterfly. The enclosure at Honey Horn prepares the environment to serve as a home for these stages. They do this by providing host plants such as parsley, dill and milkweed for the larva stage and nectar plants such as lantana, butterfly bush and mildweed to feed the hungry butterflies.

Master Gardener and Project Leader Sue Roderus is working inside the enclosure, planting host plants and weeding, while the butterflies land and feast on nectar plants.

Outside the enclosure, Master Gardener Carol Simmons is trimming back the butterfly bush and thinning out the salvia while Irene Randall is working nearby on moving to other locations plants that are neither host nor nectar plants.

All the volunteers working on this particular day found it easy to state why they volunteer here. Irene sums up the feelings of all the volunteers when she says that she's learned so much through this experience. Jan says it helps her understand the environment while Jack says it addresses the "mental" side of gardening. Carol has an appreciation for the classroom learning that surfaces as children tour the garden and enclosure. Project Leader Sue describes how she has become "enthralled" by the wonderful atmosphere and rich learning that takes place here.

You, too, can have this satisfying and educational experience by volunteering any amount of time you can give.

ROSES WITHOUT PESTICIDES?
 YES!

One of the projects for which the LMGA provides leadership is the Rose Garden at Hilton Head Island High School.  The garden is located behind the school.

On this 20th day of August, Master Gardener Becky Guin who is also the project leader, has gathered a group of Master Gardeners and Master Gardener Interns to work on fertilizing the roses.  The fertilizer used is organic, composed of alfalfa meal, bone meal, blood meal, cottonseed meal, epsom salts and 5-year-old composted horse manure.  No pesticides are used; Becky is proud to demonstrate that roses can be grown here without the use of pesticides!

The group, Master Gardeners:  Helen Abbott, Annemarie Kinsky, Rosemary Kratz, Christy Marsden, Carol Simmons and George Westerfield and Master Gardener Interns: Mim Jacobs and Jan Miskin began the morning by pulling back the mulch, checking for weeds at the same time.  Once the mulch was pulled away, the fertilizer was spread on the open areas.  The mulch was moved back over the fertilizer and the entire garden was watered. Rosemary Kratz summarized the work of the day when she said, "It's hard work but it's worth it!"

The lesson here is that roses can be grown here organically; visit the garden and see for yourself!

Here is a "Before" Picture before the
Master Gardens were involved!