Aiken Garden Club Council discusses Doll House issues

The Aiken Garden Club Council met on Sept. 2 at the Doll House.

Lisa Hall, Hopelands Gardens and Rye Patch supervisor, was the guest speaker. Hall told members she needed to be notified in advance if any of the garden clubs had an event scheduled at the Doll House. She also mentioned a new docent tour program and said she needs people with a general knowledge of the gardens. If an interested person is a senior citizen, then she could use the hours she works as a docent in the senior tax write-off program.

Also, Hall would like to extend the Doll House hours of operation to Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. She asked members to get input from clubs to see if they would agree to acting as hostesses on Saturdays and Sundays. Hall also informed the members that the Iselin family has provided old black-and-white photos of the gardens to the City. In November, Hall will give copies to the council to place in the Doll House.

President Jackie Langner told the ladies that she was to have a meeting on Sept. 10 with the Friends of Hopelands. Judy Clark requested that the garden club council donate $50 to the Friends. This motion was seconded and passed by a majority. Langner mentioned that the money raised by the Aiken Garden Club Council Flower Show in May was designated for Doll House repairs. She said Clark and Pam Kolb inventoried everything in the Doll House as requested by the City.

Langner said Donna Burns and her family worked on the flower beds in front of the Doll House. Burns is the council's landscape committee chairwoman. She and her husband donated $100 for mulch. City horticulturalist Tom Rapp said the council's flower beds can't extend beyond the sidewalk, Langner said.

Langner said that former council President Pam Kolb is the director of the S.C. Historic Landscape Initiative for the West Lowcountry District. She said South Carolina garden clubs are trying to document the state's historic gardens. The gardens must be more than 50 years old and have been at the home of a well-known person or designed by a well-known landscape designer. The gardens can be in golf courses, cemeteries or private and public gardens. This historic documentation is being done so that these gardens can be replaced in case of damage or loss.

Langner informed the ladies that several garden clubs are participating in the Go Gold Program. Garden Makers will plant an island section in front of the County Council building. The Garden Club of Aiken will plant a bed at the library. Sunshine Garden Club is applying for a grant for plants for the Cancer Center. These projects will be planted and maintained by these garden club members.

The president then asked that any person desiring membership in one of the Aiken Garden Council Garden Clubs call her at 643-3159.

The following is a listing of the garden clubs and meeting dates:

Cereus Gardens: third Thursday at 9:45 a.m.

Country Gardeners: third Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Garden Makers Garden Club: third Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Green Gardeners Garden Club: third Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Suburban Garden Club: fourth Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Sunshine Garden Club: first Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Wildwood Garden Club: second Thursday at 9:45 a.m.