Wildf lower Boost Travel Pleasures
BY C. BRUCE WILLIAMS
Extension Area
Turf Specialist
Ihc roadsides in North Carolina arc spectacular this
spring. Wild flowers of all sizes and colors make travel
ing an adventure.
splashes of red Corn Poppy (Pup
aver rhoeas), Ox-Eye Daisy ( Chry
santhemum leucanihemum ) and m
California Poppy (Eschschohia
californica) on the roadsides.
Judging from the letters and WILLIAMS
questions I have been receiving, quite a few other folks
have also been noting the beautiful roadside plantings.
Contrary to popular opinion, wildflowers must be
carefully cultivated.
Most wildlflowers arc not really so wild. Wild
flowers require proper soil preparation, fertilization and
cultivation. Some wildflower seed arc expensive and
will have poor germination or seedling vigor. Most gar
deners who try wildflowers will usually give up in frus
tration after a few attempts at establishment.
Harold Ritter is the staff horliculluralist at the North
Carolina Department of Transportation. He has commit
ted a significant portion of his time to finding out which
wildflowers grow best on North Carolina roadsides. He
has done his job well. I have traveled in no other south
eastern slate with such beautiful displays of roadside
wildflowers.
I do a great deal of driving in
my line of work and will often stop
by the side of the road to identify a
wildflower or grass. On a recent
trip across the stale, I spotted large
THE PLANT DOCTOR
The N.C. Department of Transportation's Roadside
Environmental Unit has recently reprinted its well-doc
umented informational booklet with beautiful color
plates of wildflowers used on North Carolina roadsides.
This booklet details wildflowcr cultural practices, fertil
ization and biology in an easy-to-rvad format. The book
is organized by flower color so you can quickly use the
color pictures to locate a wildflowcr.
If you would like to have one of these booklets,
they can be obtained free from N.C. DOT by request
ing, Wildflowers on North Carolina Roadsides. Send
your request to Harold Ritter, NCDOT-Roadsidc Envir
onmental Unit, P.O. Box 25201, Raleigh, N.C. 27611.
* ? ?
All of the turfgrasses used on North Carolina lawns,
golf courses and roadsides have been introduced from
other parts of the world.
Research on native grass spccies selection, estab
lishment and maintenance in eastern North Carolina is
sparse.
Some of the native grasses will make beautiful
prairie-like open spaces that arc wonderful for wildlife.
However, problems with cultivation, maintenance
and spccics succession abound and intentional estab
lishment of native eastern grasslands is unusual at best.
1 hope to evaluate native grass spccics this summer
for wildlife or vegetation efforts. 1 will keep you in
formed on the progress.
(Send your gardening questions to The Plant
Doctor, P.O. Box 109, Bolivia, N.C. 28422.)
Yard Takes Honors
Billie Yount (far right) likes puttering about her yard at 45 Live Oak Drive, Sea Trails. An extra bonus
for her efforts: the May Yard of the Month award from the Sunset Sands Garden Club. Presenting the
award above are Mildred Bernard and Marie Summerlin. Since retiring here from Greensboro 2 7/2
years ago Ms. Yount has transformed a landscape of pine trees and sand into a garden sampler that in
cludes lanuina, dusty miller, annual and creeping phlox, Gerber daisies, mums, candytuft, hostas, se
dum, cocoa palms and varied shrubs.
Pig Pickin' Benefits Infant
A pig pickin' this weekend will
benefit a local infant scheduled for
open heart surgery next month at
Duke Medical Center in Durham.
Proceeds will be used to pay
medical bills of Casey Marce Allen,
the three-month-old daughter of
Candy Allen of Shallottc and the
granddaughter of Cathy Winfrce of
Shallottc.
Dinner will be served Saturday,
May 25, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at
CASEY ALLEN
Can't believe you're 81!
Always loving, always fun...
Happy Birthday, Grandma
We love you,
Your Entire Family
Ocean Aire Restaurant on U.S. 17
near Grissettown. Plates will be
sold for S3.25, with pork available
for $4.50 per pound.
Mrs. Winfree said Casey has been
in and out of the hospital since she
was bom Jan. 30. She has two holes
in her heart and only one valve at
the top of her heart instead of two.
The child suffered a stroke about
1 1/2 months ago shortly after un
dergoing a cardiac catheterization, a
procedure designed to find out what
was wrong with her heart.
Mrs. Winfree said the family
moved to Brunswick County from
Shelby last summer. Donations are
being accepted at the main branch
of United Carolina Bank in Shallot
te in the child's name.
Vienna
The Art Of
Fine Cabinetry
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siitii while finish toenhame am cJcmh
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poiarv \ow can add a tcclmgof riihncv* .md
ele^ime 10 ViHii kill hen with the inastertul
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Sea Coast Trading
754-6330 ? 120 Blake St., Shallotte
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Aristokrcrft -J
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
\VIIJ)FIX)\VERS like Ox-Eye daisies, coreopsis and nodding catchfly blend with more domesticated
species to add eye-pleasing color to the state rest area on U.S. 17 at Bolivia. Wild/lower beds planted hy
the N.C. DOT Roadside Environmental Unit in the Winnabow and Iceland areas of Brunswick County
are a hit with motorists.
Brunswick Adult Day Care
Secures Site In Shallotte
BY SUSAN USHER
Brunswick Adull Day Care Inc.
will open a Shallotte site this sum
mer, approximately one year after
its first facility opened in Southport,
board members announced last
Friday.
Applications arc being acccptcd
in advance of the targeted opening
Adult Day Care
Plans Yard Sale
Appliances, books, toys, fur
niture and home and office sup
plies arc among the items being
accepted for the second annual
yard sale to benefit Brunswick
Adull Day Care, Inc.
Everything except clothing is
being collected for the June 1
yard sale at Trinity United Meth
odist Church in Southport.
Proceeds from the sale will
help meet operating expenses at
the Southport center and start-up
costs of a new center to be locat
ed in Shallotte.
For more information on the
sale, or to donate items, call Ruth
Law at 457-4945 or Drusilla
Smittlc at 278-9738.
date of July 1.
However, the actual opening date
will be determined mainly by how
quickly the site can be readied for
and inspected by both county and
state agencies for licensure, said
Dave Gibson, acting chairperson.
An ad hoc group from Camp
United Methodist Church has com
mitted to doing the work necessary
to make the site accessible to the
handicapped.
The center will be housed in a
building at 106 A1 Street that is be
ing leased from Mr. and Mrs. Alton
Millikcn of Shallotte.
"There were several places we
looked at and for whatever reason,
didn't go through," said Jean
Marshall, program director. "Just as
it was in Southport, it has been a
struggle to find just the right place
in a centralized location."
However, she said board mem
bers arc very pleased with the site,
which is located on a quiet, dead
end street with easy acccss to and
from Main Street in Shallotte.
Initially the program will be able
to serve up to eight persons each
day, said Ms. Marshall, but that
doesn't mean only eight people can
apply for service.
The center provides day care on
an as-nccded basis for adults age 60
or older who arc mobile or scmi
mobile. Adults who have completed
applications and arc registered as
clients can call ahead to spend an
occasional day at the center to pro
vide a time of relief for their regular
care providers, or they may partici
pate daily, freeing family members
for employment opportunities. The
center may provide an alternative to
nursing home placement in some
situations.
Day care center clients partici
pate in a variety of activities, but
Ms. Marshall said that community
service has been the key to the suc
cess of the Southport site.
"They make tray favors for the
local hospital and work with
schools, churches or other organiza
tions that need similar items on oc
casion," she said. "They look for
ward to that. They come ft asking,
'What are we going to do? Who are
we going to help today?"*
Information on the center and on
how to apply or to refer a client is
available from Ms. Marshall by
writing Brunswick Adult Day Care,
P.O. Box 310, Supply, N.C. 28462.
Interested persons may also call
Percy Bray, 579-3447. or Jean
Marshall, 457-0400.
INTERIORS
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Leather Wrapped
* We Build our own
Sofas
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* Over 100 Stock Fabrics
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* The Largest Selection
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WE GUARANTEE OUR PRODUCTS AND OUR PRICE
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3
WAYSIDE INTERIORS
1-800-845-0819 ? 449-3346
OPEN 9-5:30 MON. THRU SAT.
HWY 17 N IN THE HEART OF RESTAURANT ROW NEXT TO SLUGS RIB