LADYBUG SAYS... PLANT SALE BLOSSOMS AS SPRINGTIME EVENT

As sure as April rolls around bringing with it the welcomed showers and lovely spring blossoms, then comes the annual Plant Sale sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Council of Garden Clubs.

This year's sale is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, at the Missouri Conservation Shelter in Arena Park from 8 a.m. until noon. Members of the garden clubs will be on hand to answer questions, offer tips and growing suggestions for the plants on sale. It is their hope, also, to encourage customers to try new and different varieties of plants for their garden cites.

The Council purchases plants from reputable growers in the area, and like everything which has bloomed this summer, they will be outstanding. There will be a large variety of hanging baskets, including begonias, impatiens, geraniums, ivy geraniums, and ferns. Bedding plants will include petunias, begonias, impatiens, marigold, geraniums, dusty miller and others. There will also be a large selection of perennials.

Lynn Westrich, plant sale co-chairman, said, "The main project of all five of the garden clubs is the maintenance of the Rose Display Garden in Capaha Park. Although each garden club has its own projects, this is our main one and the one the garden clubs have supported since its establishment in 1953."

Presently the Council is made up of Cape Girardeau Garden Club, Four Season Garden Club, Ramblewood Garden Club, River Hills Garden Club and Rose Hills Garden Club. The Council is also a member of the National Council Central Region of State Garden Clubs and Southeast District of Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri.

Members of garden clubs do pruning, mulching and feeding of the roses in the garden. Each club is assigned a designated bed and that is their responsibility for the duration of the season. From the very beginning of the garden, members have worked in the Garden and helped keep it neat, attractive and inviting to its thousands of visitors each year.

Located in the northwest corner of Capaha Park, this display garden is one of three in the state. The others are located in St. Louis and Kansas City.

This season promises to be the most enchanting ever for roses, for they have come through the winter, just like everything which has bloomed in excellent condition, and like other plants, they are one to two weeks ahead of schedule.

Remember when it was difficult to find a rose to wear on Mother's Day?

Shortly after the late Dr. W.W. Parker came to Cape Girardeau to be president of Southeast Missouri State College in 1933, he wrote a letter to the Cape Girardeau Garden Club saying he was surprised that the city did not have an official flower. Since he had observed the beautiful roses growing here and it was his favorite flower, he said he would like to suggest the rose. A poll was taken in most organizations, and the rose won by popular vote.

The late Mrs. O.L. Seabaugh, who was later state president of Garden Clubs (as was her daughter, Mrs. Jack Knehans, now of Longboat Key, FL and the late Mrs. John H. Gehrs, for many years head of the Home Economics Department of the college, went before the City Council and asked that they designate the rose as the city flower. In March 1938, the late Charles G. Wilson (father of Dr. Charles F. Wilson) the mayor, signed a resolution making the rose the official flower of Cape Girardeau.

"Roses are like people, they respond to love," said the late Mrs. Arla Harris one of the co-founders of the Rose Display Garden. She, along with her very close friend, the late Mrs. Gladys Stiver, also a "dirt gardener," horticulturist, and intellectual person, had the vision and dream of this rose garden.

In the spring of 1953 they presented their idea to the City Beautification Committee of the Chamber of Commerce. It was approved and Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Stiver were named co-chairmen and an overall committee was appointed with one member from each of the garden clubs.

The Council of Garden Clubs gave $1,000 to begin the project, along with other gifts from individuals as well as funds from flower shows and pilgrimages, (remember the one the day of the 1949 tornado?). They financed the project.

Only a few roses were planted the first year. The late J.W. Gerhardt laid out the plans for the Garden. In early March in 1955, the irrigation system was complete, and actual planting began. Soon it was accredited as a display garden. All through the years, and even today, roses grow under number for testing in this area and climate. There are many kinds of roses including climbers, hybrid teas, hybrid perpetual, shrub roses, floribundas, grandifloras and miniatures.

The original co-chairmen continued their work throughout their lifetime, recording the records of all plants received from nurseries, their growth, the reports of foliar feedings, various fertilizers, work completed, etc.

At that time women worked each Wednesday morning from 9 until noon in the Garden, but these two women came at 7 a.m. to begin their day's work. Working with them was a pleasure and a horticultural experience.

Pay a tribute to the Garden, its founders, and today's workers by supporting the Plant Sale or making a contribution to the project.