Beach Bites
BY Mary Catherine Logan
In bloom
Salvia
Salvia also known as violet sage or perennial sage is our chosen flower of the month. The 2- to 3-foot tall plant is a good pick for your garden in the dry summer ahead. Blooming from June through early September this gorgeous perennial comes in red peach blue and violet grows best in drained or dry soil with full sunlight and is a low maintenance plant perfect for borders and rock gardens. The best part? The salvia grows well in our area because of the dry soil and heat during the summer.
Here’s an In Bloom tip: To keep your salvia blooming longer in the summer season dehead them when the flowers are spent.
In with the new
Wrightsville PhoneBook delivers more than numbers
The Wrightsville PhoneBook now in its third year was delivered door-to-door in May giving residents and tourists alike plenty of reasons to crack open this boutique-size phone directory. Full of great information it contains maps of Wrightsville Beach Landfall Porters Neck and Mayfaire an events calendar hurricane information and much more. The new better-than-ever www.wrightsvillebeach411.com Web site is full of the same great info. If you’ve yet to receive your new Wrightsville PhoneBook call (910) 256-6569 and don’t forget to recycle your old one!
Making waves on the air
Boat Talk makes its debut
We now have our own boating and waterfront lifestyle radio program: Boat Talk which made its debut April 14.
The show covers current boating news listener call-in discussions and interviews with expert boating-industry guests. The host is Captain Doug Dickinson who has 25 years of professional boating experience in both sail and power and is also an avid diver sailor and fisherman.
The idea of the program is to provide information to boaters who otherwise would have no means of accessing it. Boat Talk was designed for anyone with boating interest from novice boaters to those who eat sleep and breathe the waterfront lifestyle.
The show airs every Saturday morning from 10 – 11 a.m. on The Big Talker FM 93.7 and 106.3.
They’re Here!
Importing invasive species wreaks havoc
It’s a problem that started roughly 20 years ago. A problem that many people are unaware of. And a problem that will become much larger if nothing changes. What’s the problem? The infiltration of invasive species. From scorpions and spiders to small worm-like trematodes these parasites have made their way into our local ecosystem wreaking havoc and who’s to blame? We are … the caretakers of the earth.
Andy Wood education director for Audubon North Carolina points to two major causes for the infiltration of these pests: the mesquite grilling craze that occurred roughly 15-20 years ago and imports for residential landscaping. Both have contributed to scorpions and other parasites showing up in unexpected areas.
The latter is the main concern now — scorpion sightings and stings are on the rise.
More than 1 000 species of plants live and grow naturally in North Carolina yet many of the shrubs now being planted are Asian-imported or from Florida. The elements here provide no enemies for new insects or parasitic growth and so it propagates at an unmaintained rate.
Palm tree imports for residential use are currently under fire. Scorpions are making their way into North Carolina and disturbing unsuspecting victims from under flowerpots cardboard boxes and gas and electric meters.
“This is a very big issue ” says Wood. “Much bigger than just scorpions. Ecologically speaking the imports are presenting a huge threat to areas that are not used to the things they are now being exposed to.”
The newest threat is an unknown fungus carried by Asian beetles that are imported from South Carolina. The fungus which has no known cure is killing the red bay tree.
Wood says the main thing residents can do to help prevent the problem is to “buy local grow local.”
The Tempest at Greenfield
Shakespeare on the Green
The Shakespeare on the Green Festival is celebrating its 15th year in Wilmington and you’re invited to the celebration!
This excellent annual event is one of only 23 outdoor performance venues in the country and North Carolina’s oldest and largest free performance second in size only to Shakespeare in the Park in New York City.
The performances historically attract around 8 000 people from all over the country. “I’ve been striving to make it our very own Central Park-like performance ” said Cherri McKay managing producer and artistic director.
This year’s performance is As You Like It. The Shakespeare Youth Company will return for the third season to perform The Tempest.
The event will take place at the amphitheatre at Greenfield Lake. The Tempest will run on Friday Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. for two weekends starting May 18. As You Like It will run Friday Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. every weekend in June and the last two Thursdays in June. Guests are welcome to pack a picnic and come early (around 6:30 p.m.) for the pre-show entertainment. The festival is free and open to the public. For more information call 762-6393.
Your vote counts
Log on to help clean up the beach
During the warm season (which for Wrightsville is nearly all year long) our beach like many others struggles with its litter problem. In 2006 trash became such an issue that the police force had officers patrolling the beach during the summer to ensure that beachgoers were not littering. Let’s face it Wrightsville could use some help. And help is here. Well almost here.
Barefoot Wine in conjunction with the Surfrider Foundation is sponsoring a Beach Rescue Project on Aug. 18 to help clean up and restore beaches that have suffered from trash and debris issues. Wrightsville Beach has been selected as a possible community to be rescued … one of only 10 beach nominations in the entire country. But and it’s a big but only if we get the most votes.
You can help win Wrightsville’s cleanup by voting for our beach at www.barefootwine.com/beachrescue before July 15.
P.S. You can vote once a day every day. So vote!