Let your flowers say, ‘Welcome’

Spring and summer arrive in the Lowcountry with warming temperatures turning practically every blade of grass green. It actually spreads like a contagious disease to a lot of homeowners’ hands, turning their thumbs green, too. 

Hordes of gardeners head to local stores to snag some flats of blooming annuals to get their gardens off to a perky start. 

Debbie McNeely's line of bright yellow lemon lilies seems to shout, "Welcome, come in and visit awhile."

For those in search of larger plants and shrubs, as well as a variety of potting plants and gardening essentials, several nurseries offer these items.

Southern Marsh Nursery at 190 May River Rd., in Pritchardville has a vast supply of garden necessities. Owner Andrew Ahmann and salesperson Tori Mikell are on hand to provide gardening information. Another is Sunshine Hardscape Landscape and Nursery at 36 Plantation Park Dr., in Bluffton, with owner Frank Sipala on hand to help you. Taylors Landscape Supply and Nursery is at 36 Cecil Reynolds Dr., off S.C. 170 across from Okatie Village. 

“The earth laughs in flowers.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Back in the early 1960s, my mother-in-law Josie Altman Tanner, lovingly referred to as Mammy, lived in a small trailer on our side yard. Born, I believe, with a natural green thumb up in Johnsonville, tobacco-growing country, she prepared small areas on both sides of the walkway leading to her screened-in porch to plant seasonal flowers.