Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A, The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, May 29,2024
The University of Georgia • Cooperative Extension Service
Southern Magnolias
Doug Collins, Lee County
Extension Coordinator
Putting Knowledge toWorCI
The Southern Magnolia has one of, if not the
largest, bloom of any tree native to the South
east. Its color, size, form, and fragrance make
it a very attractive flower.
Southern Magnolias
With its large size,
tapering form, dark,
glossy evergreen foliage,
and large, fragrant,
off-white blooms, the
southern magnolia is a
regal tree of the south
ern landscape. This
tree is actually native
to Georgia and can be
found growing wild in
the woods. You can see
some along Highway 32
east of Leesburg near
the Muckalee Creek.
There are also some
in the woods adjacent
to U.S. 82 that can be
easily seen since other
trees have been removed
from the tract. Mag
nolias growing in the
woods with competition
from other trees are
often more spindly than
their landscape-grown
cousins. The foliage and
flowers of wild mag
nolias is usually much
less dense than that of
magnolias grown in the
landscape.
There are four south
ern magnolia trees
on the grounds of the
White House. Two of
these are immediately
in front (south side)
of the White House.
These were brought
from Nashville in 1830
by President Andrew
Jackson to honor his late
wife Rachel. These can
be seen pictured on the
back of the twenty dollar
bill.
Magnolias are easy to
grow. They do well in
rich, well drained soils.
They thrive in full sun
or partial shade. Place
magnolias where they
have room to grow.
They can reach heights
of eighty feet with
spreads up to fifty feet.
After planting, the shock
of being transplanted
often causes the magno
lia tree to lose many of
its interior leaves. With
fertilizer and water,
magnolias grow fairly
fast.
Although many mag
nolias in landscapes
are grown from seeds,
there are several named
varieties. The most
notable of these named
varieties is ‘Little Gem’.
‘Little Gem’ is a very
small variety. It could be
described as a “minia
ture magnolia”. Not only
is its height and spread
small, but its leaves
and flowers are also
smaller. This variety
has bloomed within a
year of being rooted.
It also has a longer
blooming season than
other southern magnolia
varieties, blooming into
November. It is a prolific
bloomer. Because of
its smaller size, it can
be used for landscape
applications for which
larger southern magno
lia varieties would not
be suited. I am surprised
that this variety is not
used more as a hedge.
Specimens of this
variety were planted
and growing against the
Lee County Courthouse
not too long ago, but
have since been re
moved. You can still see
specimens growing in
commercial landscapes
around Leesburg.
While many people
like to remove the lower
limbs of the magno
lia tree, a magnolia is
attractive with the limbs
down to the ground.
With the lower limbs in
place, many of the fallen
leaves and cone-like
seed bearing structures
are concealed, doing
away with the necessity
of cleaning them up in
order to maintain a clean
landscape.
For more information,
call the Lee County
Extension Office at
759-6025 or email me at
c ollinsd@uga. edu
The Lee County Ledger
Established August 24,1978
lcledger@bellsouth.net
P.O. Box 715 (126 4th Street) (229) 759-2413
Leesburg, Georgia 31763 USPS 470-310
Official Organ of Lee County
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Sharing the Word
By Harry R. Martinez,
Ph.D
Christ’s Work or
Man’s Deeds
Sometimes, little
thought is given to the
fact that the mental
processes occurring be
tween the ears governs
our lives. It is in that
space that motivations,
attitudes and lifestyles
are determined. King
Solomon, relentless in
his pursuit for satisfac
tion and happiness wrote
... “I denied
myself
nothing my
eyes desired;
I refused
my heart no
pleasure. My
heart took
delight in all
my work,
and this was
the reward
for all my
labor. Yet
when I surveyed all
that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to
achieve, everything was
meaningless, a chasing
after the wind; nothing
was gained under the
sun” (Eccl 2:10-11 NIV).
Here was a great king
who had everything
except contentment
of soul. Solomon had
placed his faith in the
pre-incarnate Christ
who would one day go
to the Cross and bear
his sins. However, he
had determined to go
his own way and not
God’s. Though living
luxuriously and the envy
of many, he found no
lasting peace of mind
until he admitted his sin
to God and was re
stored to fellowship. It
was then that he would
write ... “Now all has
been heard; here is the
conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his
commandments, for
this is the whole [duty]
of man. For God will
bring every deed into
judgment, including ev
ery hidden thing, wheth
er it is good or evil”
(Eccl 12:13-14 NIV).
Note the king’s choice
of words. Solomon did
not say God would judge
sins but the quality of
the deeds. Man’s debt
of sin, past, present and
future, would be paid
in full by Christ on the
Cross. Therefore, any
individual would be rec
onciled to God through
faith in Christ.
However, Scripture
does speak of future
judgments. The judg
ment faced by the
unbeliever evaluates
the good deeds that are
substituted for faith in
Christ. John described
this awe
some judg
ment at the
Great White
Throne.
“Then I saw
a great white
throne and
him who was
seated on it.
Earth and
sky fled from
his presence,
and there
was no place for them.
And I saw the dead,
great and small, stand
ing before the throne,
and books were opened.
Another book was
opened, which is the
book of life. The dead
were judged according
to what they had done as
recorded in the books.
The sea gave up the
dead that were in it, and
death and Hades gave
up the dead that were in
them, and each person
was judged according
to what he had done”
(Rev 20:11-13). Howev
er, the judicial verdict
states that none of those
worthy deeds compare
to the perfect work of
Christ on the Cross.
Only His payment for
sin satisfied God’s jus
tice and righteousness.
Therefore, the sentence
imposed for rejecting
Christ as Savior is
eternal separation from
God. The writer to the
Hebrews warned... “It
is a dreadful thing to
fall into the hands of the
living God” (Heb 10:31
NIV).
The judgment [evalu
ation] of Christians ex
amines the power source
by which their deeds
were accomplished. Did
the believer function in
Harry R. Martinez
Letter T© The Editor
Memorial Mass
Not This Year
Score another victory
for the liberals and vet
eran haters out there.
For the last 46 years
the Knights of Colum
bus from Albany, have
hosted a Memorial
Mass at Andersonville
Cemetery for our de
ceased brethren buried
there and around the
world inclusively.
The mass was attend
ed by many different
denominations over
the years. We have had
speakers who have
served in Our Armed
Forces in a variety of
occupations, all dedi
cated to the service of
this Country. We have
had descendants of
Armed Forces per
sonnel who are buried
there speak.
Against the backdrop
of Andersonville these
Memorial masses have
always been very mov
ing experiences. This
year after lumping our
memorial mass in with
protesting, picketing,
rioting and demon
strations, our permit,
which was approved
in February this year
for Andersonville, was
withdrawn by the Na
tional Park Service.
So in my opinion
the “National Parks
Service” has just said
God and remembrance
of our veterans, who
gave their lives for this
Country, are not wel
come in “Their” parks.
This steps all over our
rights of Freedom of
Speech and Religion.
This just follows right
along with the Obama
parks/monuments clos
ing in October of 2013,
blocking veterans from
several monuments in
D.C. just because.
So what will be next,
not allowing the plac
ing of American Flags
on the graves at An
dersonville Cemetery
in honor of Memorial
day, wouldn’t that be a
demonstration?
Joe Svoboda
the energy of the flesh,
i.e., self-effort, or in
the power of the Spriit,
i.e., God working in
and through them? In
writing to the Corin
thian churches, Paul
likened the believer’s
best self-effort to wood,
hay and straw, and that
which God accom
plished in and through
the life of the Christian,
as gold silver and pre
cious stone.
It is obvious then that
Scripture contrasts two
types of “good” that
can be produced in the
Christian’s life - hu
man good energized by
self-effort and divine
good empowered by the
Spirit of God. When
there is unconfessed sin
in the believer’s life, self
is at work. When sin is
confessed, God does the
work. John said ... “If we
confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and
purify us from all un
righteousness” (1 John
1:9 NIV). It is then that
divine good is produced
... “for it is God who
works in you to will
and to act according to
his good purpose” (Phil
2:13 NIV).
Editor’s note: Dr.
Martinez is an ordained
minister and was a
professor and head of
the music department at
Florida State University
School from 1975 to
2003. He is the father of
five adult children and
resides in Lee County
with his wife, Sara.
Soul Food
from the Hood
by Keith Hood
Janice’s grandfather at Normandy WWII
Special to the Ledger
Saving Private Adam
Saving Private Ryan
is a classic. Oh look, I
missed Memorial Day by
two days. Actually, it’s
still Memorial Day as I
am writing this. I’m also
presently speaking with
my son who is in the
Army. We are speaking
about his counselling
other soldiers during
times of stress. Captain
Miller, played by Tom
Hanks in Saving Private
Ryan, hit the beaches on
Normandy. My wife’s
grandfather parachut
ed in as a paratrooper
during WWII.
In 1995, 50 years after
D Day, my wife and
I went to Normandy,
France. Our year was
1994. We stood where a
machine gunner emptied
50,000 rounds down
upon the American
troops as they tried to
make it across the beach.
It is estimated that over
10,000 Allied troops
were killed on D day.
6,603 were Americans.
The waves continue to
roll in.
We visited the ceme
tery where crosses fill
the countryside. For
those singing the man
tra that America was
never a Christian nation,
explain why crosses.
There was the occasional
Jewish Star of David.
On the grave markers,
names, thousands of
names. One of those
names was the brother of
the now famous Private
Ryan. Another of those
names is the Theodore
Roosevelt III. His grave
shows The Medal of
Honor. He was among
the first wave of those
crossing Utah Beach on
the Normandy invasion.
He would be dead 36
days later. I think of the
gentleman in Savannah
who commented, “I
stepped across them like
the rest of us.”
We went into a bunker
that looked out over the
ocean. There were still
great craters in the land
where bombs landed
from American destroy
ers. We traveled over
to Pointe du Hoc where
Army Rangers scaled
straight up the 100ft rock
cliffs with 100ft things
they called ladders. They
were looking straight
up into machinegun
fire from the Germans.
Pointe du Hoc was cru
cial because it divided
Utah Beach from Omaha
Beach. From this point,
the Germans could spray
down on the Allied
invasion forces. It was
nothing less than heroic.
Freedom isn’t free.
Captain John H. Miller
and his company finally
found Private Ryan. It
would cost him his life.
As Captain Miller sat
mortally wounded, he
commissioned Private
Ryan with his dying
words: “Earn this . . .
Earn this.”
2000 years ago, a Man
was sent to rescue Adam
from the captivity and
doom of the cosmic war.
“For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall
all be made alive.”(I
Corinthians 15:22) “For
all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of
God.”(Romans 3:23)
Freedom isn’t free.
“And according to the
law, almost all things
are purified by blood,
and without shedding of
blood, there is no remis
sion (forgiveness).”(He-
brews 9:22)
“For God so loved the
world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish,
but have everlasting
life.”(John 3:16) He’s
here to take you home.
But you won’t be asked
to earn it. The debt has
been paid in full. “For
by grace have you been
saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not of
works so that no one can
boast.”(Ephesian 2:8-
9) Ask for forgiveness
of your sins and follow
Him. He’s got this.