EVERYDAY LIVING Last year, a St. James Service Club member, Ann O'Malley suggested the non-profit group stage a garden tour to help raise funds for the charitable activities it supports. But O'Malley knew the event also would provide a setting where St. James neighbors could meet. Now, she is watching that happen at Accordino's place this first morning of the June 4-5 inaugural tour. O'Malley and Accordino co-chaired Plantation Pleasures: The Gardens and Porches of St. James Plantation. As a participating gardener, Accordino also fussed over her flowers for weeks before the tour. She and husband Bob are among 11 couples who the two women say eagerly opened their gardens to the public in an effort to raise funds for Southport's New Hope Clinic, which serves the underinsured and unemployed. "One person in particular sent me an e-mail almost right away and said, 'I would like to be part of the tour,' and I was wowed,? O'Malley recalls of early planning. Various St. James gardens were chosen, none of them flawless, as gardeners, most of whom moved here from more forgiving Northeast climates, are learning to deal with Southern heat, dry spells, sandy soils, and deer who munch new plantings. "It wasn't like we were expecting residents who just had this perfection in the ground because we (Service Club) like to think of fund raisers that will really have some legs and go on for years,? Accordino says. "I think one of the really neat things about when our tour-goers walk around is they can say, 'I can do this. I can be on this tour.'? Initially, Accordino was a little intimidated about displaying her yard, located on the Members Club golf course, but she and her husband's efforts to make the property look its best paid off not only in the garden's aesthetic but also in the experience that 61 49 www.stjamesplantation.com Accordino gained and freely shares during the tour. Here and there blemishes surface, for instance the eucalyptus scarred by a late frost. When people ask what happened, Accordino not only tells them the story but also how she dealt with the problem. In addition to the 100 volunteers who helped put on the tour, a master gardener and Service Club hostesses are stationed at every home to answer gardeners questions. At each home's entrance, visitors are given a list of plants that thrive in St. James Plantation along with the phone number of the local Cooperative Extension office. Vendors or artists stationed in some gardens take questions, too, and show garden ornaments. Plantation Pleasures is a fun forum for troubleshooting garden woes, but it also provides design inspiration. Displays range from Jo and Mel Cornillaud's formal boxwood-lined beds full of pink and white petunias, impatients and begonias to Diane and Dave Kulp's natural woodland landscape. "There's something different every time,? O'Malley says of visiting homes on the tour. "That's what is so wonderful about these gardens.? Judy Coddington's Mediterranean-style courtyard is centered with a contemporary blue fountain that Coddington fashioned from a ceramic garden stool she had on hand. "This was the first time I had put a garden together. I'm a beginner,? Coddington says, "but I thought, 'I'm going to be really brave and show it off.'? Coddington, like many of the tour's gardeners, also shared her home, inviting visitors to linger on the screened porch with a glass of iced tea. "That's what we love about the St. James community,? Accordino says. "Everybody gets right in there. They jump in with both feet.?
12a message18 22 42 44 46 54 70 60 32 38downtown wilmington78downtown wilmington's art and culture, get involved at the cameron art museum1112the downtown art scene includes unique performance opportunities14a home like no other family is the heart of the home at st. james plantation.a sense of placethe st. james chapel19new woodlands park homesites planned for october release212223golf 's best-kept secret -irelandin other words, links golf is nothing like american golf. nothing. that's why anyone who calls him or herself a golfer needs to take a week or so and travel to experience the differences.27the charm of orton plantation 29'going green' becomesa neighborhood affair32going green: anall-volunteerfire department 36it could be said that a community gets the fire department it deserves. and thanks to community-wide support, the st. james fire department has evolved into one of the best firehouses in the area.3839splish-splashing is fun and exercise for this group of ladies.4142harborwalka new 45st. james university47plantationsome of the first neighbors ann o'malley met in st. james plantation were flowers. drives around the community introduced her to various gardens she wished to know better. today, o'malley is roaming those yards, and she's brought a few hundred people along. "you can drive by all of these houses and see how beautiful they are in the front, but there are things in the back,? o'malley says, joining several folks nosing about powder blue hydrangeas, sunny yellow lantanas, and soft pink mimosas decorating pattie accordino's lush rear lawn.50 5152531 45556fun + learning = owner spotlight: 59he said, she said 61st. james properties, llc resale division 3891 ridge crest drive the reserve collection3310 sparkleberry court the nature view collection3565 st. james drive the links collection4135 south lagoon court the links collection3030 marshwinds circle, villa 1104 the plantation villa collection3776 ridge crest drive the reserve collection3840 worthington place the reserve collection3350 club villa, villa 305 the plantation villa collection4152 skeffington court the nature view collectionhole by holehole #11hole #127576