From staff reports
The Lady’s Island Garden Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and in honor of this special occasion, the Club is sponsoring a special event on June 7. Louisa Pringle Cameron, an expert on Charleston gardens, will speak on this topic at St. Helena’s Parish Hall.
Lady’s Island Garden Club was formed as a civic-minded club working to provide education and beauty to the area, enriching the community by offering its people opportunities to learn about what the Lowcountry uniquely offers to its citizens and visitors.
The Club’s most important project, started in 2008, is The Beaufort Tree Walk that takes place in the Historic Old Point area. The newly revamped Walk is offered free to the public. The self-guided Walk booklet is available at the Visitors Center in the Arsenal, and the experience can be enjoyed at leisure anytime.
As part of it’s charter as a Federated Garden Club to provide an on-going service to the Lowcountry community and in celebration of its 50th anniversary, the club has invited Cameron, a Charleston native and a notable author on Southern gardens, to Beaufort.
Besides being a local Lowcountry author of three pictorial books about Southern Garden gems rarely seen by the public, Cameron is a lifetime gardener and artist.
At 2 p.m., Friday, June 7, Cameron will share stories about the history of some of these hidden treasures of Charleston. She will speak of landscape design and utilizing what is originally part of the area to the best advantage, such as trees, background views, house location, etc. Even an experienced gardener needs professional expertise, as she herself admits in her books.
The gardens Cameron will talk about are generally “in town” lot size, and their unique problems of utilization of space to its best potential is a keynote to the understanding of classic Southern gardening.
To be able to take a minimum size parcel, design and plant it to appear larger and have greater interest in the eye of the beholder, is an art unto itself. Ms. Cameron, with her perceptive background and artistic abilities will bring a special level of knowledge to this program.
Several years ago, the University of South Carolina Press asked her to write another book. This book, “Charleston: City of Gardens” will include private gardens on the peninsula, parks, and cemeteries, as well as a few gardens outside the Historic District. Her program in Beaufort will be on this subject – exploring the historic Lowcountry gardens of Charleston.
Tickets for this event are $30 and may be purchased by sending a check made out to Lady’s Island Garden Club to care of K. Pitman, P.O. Box 1258, Beaufort, S.C. 29901. Tickets by check will be Will Call. Tickets may also be purchased online by going to Eventbrite.com/Louisa Pringle Cameron and clicking on the link to purchase tickets. More information is available at http://ladysislandgardenclub.com.
