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Garden club
members collect seeds to “re-green” storm-battered landscape
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 Local
garden club members, area Master Gardeners, and businesses have joined
in the Seeds for Salvo effort to “re-green” the battered landscape from
Rodanthe to Avon. As the area is cleared of debris, the loss
of
plant life has become obvious in the wake of Hurricane Irene.
Headed by Dare Master Gardener alumni Clair Sutton, Outer Banks volunteers are helping to revitalize Hatteras Island by sharing seeds from their own gardens and using seeds donated by individuals and companies. The Ace Hardware stores have been the donation drop-off points for seeds collected from area gardens that are then dried, labeled, and packaged in envelopes. Ace operations manager Kathy Seko and Rena Earnhardt, seed representative for Botanical Interests, generously donated several thousand packets of seeds to Hatteras residents. Earnhardt said her great-grandfather was a founder of the Hatteras Marlin Club, so she wanted to be involved in bringing the landscape back to its natural beauty. Many of the Botanical Interest packaged seeds are for winter and early spring vegetable gardens, with the remainder of flower seeds for yards and containers. Rye grass seed, suitable for stabilizing sand over the winter, is available in bulk. The Roadside Environmental Division of North Carolina Department of Transportation donated large amounts of native wildflower seeds, trees, and day lilies. Residents are encouraged to freely sow the coreopsis and biden seeds around their yards and along the roadside of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, and Avon for summer blooms throughout the towns. In addition, 100 smooth sumac trees and 250 day lilies are potted and ready to pick up and plant as soon as possible this fall. All packets and bags of wildflower seeds, rye seeds, the sumac trees, and day lilies are free to island residents and can be picked up at The Lifeboat Food Pantry in Salvo on Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday, from 9 a.m. until noon until all are taken. Anyone interested in getting wildflower seeds in bulk or volunteering to help with the Seeds for Salvo effort may contact Clair Sutton at crsutton@earthlink.net. |
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