The biggest thrill you could get on a summer family vacation a few years back was on a roller coaster in the confines of an expensive theme park. After more than two decades of gardening on Hilton Head Island, I'm still learning what to grow and, more importantly, what not to grow. In my own yard and in the yards of other island gardeners. Sap quickens in the pear trees, as white clouds dot the sky. South Carolina's state flower, gelsemium, flashes its Spanish gold blooms and shares the stage with the reds of the swamp maples.
Azaleas burst into bright colors.
Cardinals start their songs as dawn breaks, opening the chorus of bird songs greeting the day. And chattering gray squirrels streak with their tails streaming banner-like in the opening days of this frenzied new season. The Hilton Head Orchestra closed its 19th season Monday with a musical tour of Scotland. Director Mary Woodmansee Green and violinist Tamas Kocsis led the capacity crowd at First Presbyterian Church through a musical sampling of Scotland's turbulent political history, its notoriously fickle weather and the prickly Scottish temperament. The Hilton Head Jazz Society celebrated its 15th anniversary in grand style Sunday.