President’s Letter – Spring 2025
Happy spring! What a difference a few extra hours of sunlight make in our gardens and our outlooks! I find it very hard to stay to indoors this time of year. Luckily, I have plenty of work outside to keep me occupied. Laundry can wait.
I was thrilled to see so many members at our February meeting. Scott McMahan gave a fascinating talk and introduced us to some wonderful new plants. I know many of us are eager to try some of these discoveries in our own gardens in the future. I was personally reminded of how important the work that Scott and his many colleagues are doing in the describing, trialing, and conservation of so many plant species throughout Asia.
Speaking of trialing plants, I look forward to hearing our April speaker Sam Hoadley discuss the work Mt. Cuba is doing to bring awareness to the best performing native plants, including Hydrangea arborescens and Hydrangea quercifolia. I was lucky to visit Mt. Cuba a couple of years ago to see the plant trials and got a tour from Sam. It will be interesting to hear an update on how the H. quercifolia trial is shaping up and what some of the early findings are. Our American Hydrangea Society meeting will be Monday, April 28, 2025, at 7pm in the Atlanta History Center’s McElreath Hall. Come early and peruse our legendary plant raffle and socialize with fellow hydrangea nuts. Bring a friend or neighbor, our meetings are always free and open to the public.
Spring is a busy time of year and there are many wonderful garden related events available on the calendar on our website. You can check it out here https://americanhydrangeasociety.membershiptoolkit.com/calendar
Two AHS events that I want to highlight are the North Fulton Master Gardeners’ event, GardenFaire, happening in The Grove at Wills Park in Alpharetta on April 12 from 9am to 3pm. The American Hydrangea Society will have a booth, and I will be giving a mini talk and demonstration. We would love to see you there! Of course, the biggest garden event of the season will be the annual AHS Garden Tour, happening on the second Saturday in June, June 14, 2025. Our tour chair, Dörte Wohman-Schmieta, and her committee have been hard at work selecting the gardens for this year’s tour and they are sure to delight visitors. Mark your calendars now because this is one spring ritual you don’t want to miss!
With dirty hands and a full heart,
Jennifer Petritz
AHS President
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