The Hillsboro Garden Club held its first meeting of 2022 at the Arc of Appalachia’s Appalachian Forest Museum on Cave Road in eastern Highland County.

After being warmly welcomed by staff members Seth and Andrea, the eight members present held a short business meeting.

The roll call question was “what new plant varieties are you going to plant this year?” Apparently, the members have spent their winter planning and dreaming of new projects.

Ruth Anna Duff gave the treasurer’s report and collected fees for the Region 16 Spring meeting next month.

After discussion, Carol Gorby moved to invite the winners of the landscaping awards to a future garden club meeting. Lynn Luman seconded the motion, and all were in favor.

The meeting was adjourned and the members enjoyed an informative program on local Ohio wildflowers given by staff member Andrea. The Arc of Appalachia holds 7,000 acres of land in 20 preserve regions. This area protects more than 1,100 species of plants.

The Arc’s annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is in April. While there are summer and fall blooming wildflowers, it is the blooming of the spring wildflowers after a long winter that promise the coming warmth of summer.

Snacks were provided by Judith Stivender and Shelly Rayburn.

The next meeting will be April 26 at Floral Hall on the Highland County Fairgrounds. The program will be the Spring Plant and Garden Related Items Auction. It begins at 6:30 p.m. and gardeners are invited to attend.

Submitted by Jennifer West, Hillsboro Garden Club.