Fall Sessions Begin

It was a beautiful day to welcome the Arc of Abilities (AoA) group back to Williamsburg Botanical Garden (WBG) after our summer break. The AoA friends greeted Master Gardeners with clever cards they had created using herbs and other plants as puns! It was a wonderful surprise to start our session and greet old and new friends!

Karen Brooks and Barbara Floyd, project leads, created an interesting program based on the current growing season in the garden. We talked about our crops in the WBG, and Angela Cingale told us about pawpaws. These trees grow in the forests and parks in our area and have tasty fruit. We learned how to recognize both the fruit and the tree. Barb Floyd showed plants from her garden, including the pomegranate flower and its small fruit. We all enjoyed smelling the flowers and learning more about late summer blooming plants.

Pat Crowe talked about rosemary and ways we can cook with this herb, including a trick of using it as skewers when grilling meats. There was plenty of told us rosemary to see, smell, and feel.  There are several rosemary bushes in the garden that the AoA can use for future cooking adventures.

Before coming to the garden, AoA had made art pieces for a mobile which they assembled during the session. The mobiles depicted the pumpkin’s growing cycle from seed to roots, to leaves and flowers, and finally to pumpkins. In addition, the group took a pumpkin home to try roasting the seeds with rosemary, joining these two program components.

To cap off a great session to the beginning of our fall meetings, we released black swallowtail butterflies into the garden. Angela brought them along with caterpillars and chrysalis from her garden. Karen Brooks planted fall seeds and plants for tending during our upcoming fall sessions.