Refreshing gardens and celebrating color will be the talk of the day at this year’s Home and Garden Symposium.
The event – which raises funds for the Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College Foundation – is set for Tuesday, May 13, on campus in Roquemore Auditorium. The day begins with a catered brunch and a silent auction featuring plants, décor and more generously donated by local businesses, individuals and garden clubs.
South Carolina natives Rebecca Bull Koraytem and Stephanie Summerson Hall will take the stage beginning at noon.
Growing up in Santee, Koraytem, U.S. sales executive for David Austin Roses, was surrounded by farms and gardens.
“Both of my grandmothers were big gardeners,” she said. “One grew the prettiest pansies and a great vegetable garden, and the other always had a camellia garden.”
Despite her upbringing, Koraytem chose to study food science at Clemson University. She stayed in that major until the beginning of her junior year.
“I was like, ‘I’ve got to find something that takes all this science background and combines it with something more creative,’” she said. “Horticulture was my ticket. I found my tribe.”
Koraytem worked at Southern Living for several years in the mid-1990s and returned in 2004. She was introduced to David Austin Roses when she was asked to do a feature on them as a garden editor at the magazine.
“I fell in love with them,” Koraytem said. She transitioned from the publishing world to championing the English roses in 2014.
“My talk will be ‘A Rosy Approach to Refreshing the Gardens,’” she said. “I’m taking the Southern garden and offering some tips and tricks for updating and redoing it.”
The first step, Koraytem said, is to evaluate your space and set goals. Do you enjoy spending time outdoors and tending to your plants, or do you rarely use your yard and need low-maintenance options?
“Be realistic about what to expect in your garden. It gets hot and humid here. Things grow real fast,” she said. “Many times, people overplant, wanting to see instant results, but you spend more money than you need to.”
Another thing to consider is using plants and garden designs that complement your home’s architecture.
“The front yard doesn’t have to be the show pony,” she said. “It can look neat and clean and welcoming.”
“At Southern Living, we always talked about pride of place and sense of space,” Koraytem said. “Memories can shape what you want to do in your garden. It all goes back to what you want your garden to be and your goals.”
Hall, founder of acclaimed Estelle Colored Glass, grew up in Holly Hill, one street away from her grandmother, Estelle Summerson Williams.
“One of her favorite things was shopping at variety stores,” Hall said. “She would go into a store and stay there for hours. She liked taking her time. She wasn’t looking for anything she needed. It was just a leisure day.”
Williams had a car but no license, so when her grandchildren came of age, they served as chauffeurs for her shopping excursions.
“During the summer months, she would call my parents and reserve me as the driver for that day,” Hall said.
Those leisurely treasure hunts – during which Williams amassed a large collection of colored glass – became a hobby for Hall as a law student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
And it’s that hobby that helped create Estelle Colored Glass.
After practicing law for 10 years in the Washington, D.C., area, Hall and her family moved to South Carolina to assist with another family business, Ruth’s House Event Rentals.
While building her house, Williams began her own treasure hunt for colored glass sets to use and display in her home.
“When I started searching, I saw nobody had modernized and streamlined these pieces,” she said. “It was just a lightbulb moment. I was like, ‘There have got to be other people who are looking for pieces like this.’”
Hall researched and read books about colored glass. She hired an industrial designer and contacted glassmakers, finding one in Poland that could produce the product she envisioned.
After five years, she was ready to bring her concept to life.
Estelle Colored Glass celebrated its fifth year in business in October. The beautiful stemware and cake stands are packaged in Holly Hill and distributed to nearly 250 locations nationwide. They are also sold online at estellecoloredglass.com.
“I would attribute my success not only to the quality of the product, but also the story,” Hall said. “This brand embodies memories, family and celebrating heritage. It’s authentic. I’m passionate about what we’ve done and the future of our brand.”
Following the presentation, guests will enjoy refreshments provided by Chick-fil-A of Orangeburg.
The presenting sponsor for this year’s Home and Garden Symposium is Hi Cotton Greenhouses.
Tickets are $60 per person. Funds raised at the Home and Garden Symposium help students with the cost of attending college through scholarships and emergency aid, and support additional educational projects that connect them to a world of possibilities.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Anna Padgett at 803.535.1246 or padgettam@octech.edu or visit octech.edu.
