The Pierremont Hills Garden Club was organized in 1960 and federated the same year. There are 24 members at present, with Kay Lee serving as president. The club is affiliated with National Garden Clubs Inc., the Louisiana Garden Club Federation Inc., District IV, Friends of Barnwell, and Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve. Their projects include maintenance of the plantings at the Blue Star Memorial Marker at the entrance to LSUS on Youree Drive and the flower beds at the Cedar Grove/Line Avenue Library. One of their members, Sylvia Colicchio, has recently been elected president of the Louisiana Garden Club Federation.

Some of the group's more recent projects included a donation of $1,000 toward the purchase of plants for the master gardeners' new teaching garden at the Randall T. Moore Center. They provided a bench for the Pink Ribbon Garden at Betty Virginia Park, and also planted trees at the new veterans home in Bossier City.

This group of ladies did not invent the garden club, but they certainly have helped define it. The meetings and programs are serious, yet relaxed and enjoyable with all members executing their assigned tasks efficiently. I thank Elizabeth Sedlak, historian, who graciously supplied me with historical information.

These ladies are as comfortable in the kitchen as they are in the garden. The hostess for each month prepares and serves delicious finger foods following the meeting. On the day I attended, the table was exquisite, with silver and crystal in abundance. Place cards were used to identify the dishes, which were all prepared with edible flowers or leaves.

The menu was made up of 13 luscious dishes. To list a few, there was lemon thyme chicken salad in rose cups, cheese straws with marigolds, couscous with pansies and dianthus (featured), pansy sorbet (featured), clover blossoms and honey tea sandwiches, day lily sausage tarts (featured), calendula and marigold quiche (featured), rose geranium jelly and pound cake sandwiches. ... Members also shared favorite recipes: tomato bacon squares, pink lavender sipping lemonade and apple sausage ring.

Sources of information for the program were the Internet, also the following books: "The Edible Flower Garden," "The Edible Herb Garden," "Edible Flowers from Garden to Palate" by Cathy Barash, and "The Forgotten Art of Flower Cookery" by Leona Smith.

I learned many interesting facts about flowers and plants that day — what is edible and what is not. For instance, the leaves of potato plants are poisonous, yet we eat the potato. Napoleon's favorite flower was the violet and is a symbol of the Bonaparte family. Violets and roses grew profusely in our flower garden when I was young. Many a morning Mom sent me off to school with a nosegay of roses and violets tied with ribbon for my teacher. Incidentally, both these flowers are edible — bet Mom never knew that. Of course, she hardly suspected the teacher would eat the flowers. I did, however, suffer one teacher in high school and may have entertained the idea of oleander.

Before taking my reluctant departure, I took a stroll through the Murrays' well-tended garden. The peaceful setting gave me the urge to sip a cup of pink lavender lemonade, munch on sugared pansies and rest awhile. ...

In ending, I'd like to share words of Henry Ward Beecher, which are featured in the club's yearbook: "What a pity flowers can utter no sound — a singing rose, a whispering violet, a murmuring honeysuckle — oh, what a rare and exquisite miracle would these be!"