by Judy Seeley
The Native Plant Demonstration Garden at the museum is maintained by volunteers from the SC Native Plant Society, Master Gardeners of the Foothills, and Upstate Master Naturalists Association. These volunteers give their time and effort to keep the garden as a showcase of SC native plants. Their work includes weeding, mulching, pruning, adding new plants, moving and removing plants to maintain the design of the garden, placing identification signs on plants, educating garden visitors, and spraying the walking paths for weeds.
We obtained a grant and designed an identification sign for the garden. With approval from museum staff, the City of Pickens, and the Department of Transportation, the sign was placed near the Hwy 178 entrance to the garden.
For over 10 years a noxious, invasive water plant, Floating Heart (Nymphoides peltata), has been present in the artificial stream bed. In 2018, this plant was declared illegal in South Carolina and Pickens County is under warning from the SC Department of Plant Industries (DPI) to remove it. Volunteers continue to wade the stream checking for and pulling the plant. Unfortunately, we continue to find and pull a small number of tiny plants each year and have needed to report that to the SC Department of Plant Industries (DPI). We will continue to monitor the stream carefully and will pull any plants found.
In the past year, 20 people volunteered, many dedicated to coming to every workday that occurs on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday from February through November. They are: Carol Asalon, John Batson, Betty Bishop, Laura Bishop, Phillip Buchanan, Georgia Connon, Kris Dorton, Jean Fontain, Jon Fritz, Anne Hall, John Landers, Steve Lewis, Melissa McDow, Polly Moxley, Kate Odom, Cathy Robison, Marti Sample, Andrea Seeley, Judy Seeley, and Beth Whitten. These folks come from Pickens, Anderson, and Oconee Counties and as far away as Japan and Kazakhstan! (We are international.)
Collectively, the regular volunteers donated a total of 391 hours since July 1, 2024. The current government value of volunteer hours is considered to be $34.79 per hour, making the value of these hours $13,602.89 to Pickens County and the Museum.
Pickens County provides mulch, takes away the garden debris, provides repairs to the stream and water systems, and does larger jobs which our volunteers cannot handle. Nick McKinney, Director of the Pickens County Museum, is responsive to volunteers’ questions and concerns. Our volunteers also have a modest amount of funds provided by the Master Gardeners of the Foothills for new plants, signage, and incidental expenses.
We hope the County Board recognizes the Native Plant Demonstration Garden as a valuable asset to the Museum and Pickens County. I encourage you to stop by and enjoy the garden. We are always in need of new volunteers. We appreciate your continued support. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Seeley
