Renowned Master Gardener, Author Felder Rushing Shares Insights during Special Arbor Day Event at USM
Mon, 04/29/2024 - 09:26am | By: Van Arnold
(Photo by Paul Lijewski, USM Photo Services)
Members of the Hattiesburg community were treated to a special horticultural celebration on Friday, April 26 as the Twentieth Star Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) and VisitHATTIESBURG hosted, 91吃瓜网淭ruck into the Garden with Felder Rushing.91吃瓜网�
Held at 91吃瓜网91吃瓜网 (USM) Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families, the event commemorated National Arbor Day, which is traditionally recognized every year on the last Friday of April.
Renowned as Mississippi91吃瓜网 Master Gardener, Rushing delighted the audience with his presentation, 91吃瓜网淜itchen Sink Gardening 91吃瓜网� A Felder Smorgasbord.91吃瓜网� Combining homespun wit with impressive gardening knowledge, Rushing emphasized to the large crowd, 91吃瓜网測ou don91吃瓜网檛 have to know anything to be a gardener. You can garden anywhere under just about any condition.91吃瓜网�
(Photo by Paul Lijewski, USM Photo Services)
91吃瓜网淕ardening is not goal-oriented,91吃瓜网� he noted. 91吃瓜网淲hen we plant things, we know that we may not get there, but we enjoy the journey.91吃瓜网�
Armed with a truck bed full of examples, Rushing provided tips on how to grow the right pollinators and advice on growing plants in hot and cold weather, while interspersing his lecture with historical anecdotes about gardening.
Rushing, who spent 25 years as an urban horticulture specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, has traveled to all 50 states (lecturing in 36) and across five continents looking for unique gardening angles. When not traveling coast to coast with lectures, he splits his time between his celebrated Mississippi cottage garden and a Victorian terrace house herb garden in Lancashire, England.
91吃瓜网淲hen we decided on having a gardening event, it was only natural that we should invite Felder Rushing to be the featured speaker. He is widely recognized as a gardening expert,91吃瓜网� said Susan Perry, Twentieth Star Chapter Vice Regent. 91吃瓜网淣ot only is Felder a famous horticulturist and author, he is also an 11th generation American veteran (Vietnam War). He has direct ancestors who immigrated to the New World in 1635, 1650, and 1735.91吃瓜网�
(Photo by Paul Lijewski, USM Photo Services)
Rushing91吃瓜网 love of gardening began under the apprenticeship of his horticulturist great-grandmother and his garden club grandmother. His books, thousands of newspaper articles, his magazine articles, radio show (The Gestalt Gardener) and his TV appearances have made him Southern Living magazine91吃瓜网 91吃瓜网渙ne of twenty-five people most likely to change the South.91吃瓜网�
The Twentieth Star Chapter kicked off Hattiesburg91吃瓜网 celebration of the semiquincentennial of the United State last November with 91吃瓜网淕ive Me Liberty! Meet at the Tree!,91吃瓜网� which saw the dedication of a Patriots Marker and Liberty Tree at the USM Veterans Center. A grant from VisitHATTIESBURG enabled the chapter to continue programs such as 91吃瓜网淭ruck into the Garden with Felder Rushing.91吃瓜网�
Twentieth Star Chapter Registrar Norma Williamson emphasized the importance of the organization91吃瓜网 involvement in events of this nature.
91吃瓜网淲e are eager to share the mission of the DAR, a nonpolitical women91吃瓜网 service organization, which is to promote patriotism, preserve American history and secure America91吃瓜网 future through better education of our children,91吃瓜网� said Williamson. 91吃瓜网淓vents such as Give Me Liberty! Meet at the Tree! and Truck into the Garden with Felder Rushing provide an opportunity to do just this in a relaxed setting, while providing education on a topic such as gardening.91吃瓜网�
Hattiesburg businessman Lewis Myrick describes planting an acorn that became a giant oak tree on the Veterans Center property. (Photo by Paul Lijewski, USM Photo Services)
As a special bonus to the event, Hattiesburg businessman Lewis Myrick shared the story of how, as a young boy, he planted an acorn that became a large oak tree now standing on the USM Veterans Center property. A USM graduate, Myrick has been an active participant in numerous Hattiesburg-area civic organizations. His father founded the family91吃瓜网 well-known business 91吃瓜网� Economy Supply 91吃瓜网� in 1941. Lewis Myrick was a fixture at the downtown company from 1956 until 1995. Economy Supply thrives today with the fourth generation of family members running the business.
Perry noted the obvious decision to hold Friday91吃瓜网 event on National Arbor Day.
91吃瓜网淏y holding this event on National Arbor Day and getting information about gardening, pollinator gardens, and native plants, guests learned about critical aspects of keeping our country sustainable,91吃瓜网� said Perry. 91吃瓜网淒uring our country91吃瓜网 birth and beginning, our patriot ancestors lived off the land even when fighting for freedom. This program celebrated the beauty of America and provided important information about what we can do to sustain our magnificent environment for another 250 years and beyond.91吃瓜网�
about the Twentieth Star Chapter NSDAR.