Boost the flavor and beauty of your landscape by adding a few ornamental edible plants to your garden beds and containers. Look for opportunities to substitute ornamental vegetables, fruit, herbs, and edible flowers for ornamental but nonedible plants.

Two seasons ago Debbie Waskom added pH to change her pink hydrangeas to blue. Last season the hydrangeas all had blue blossoms. She chose to let the hydrangeas go “natural” this year. Instead, Mother Nature chose to surprise and delight with multicolored hydrangeas! Debbie invites all to trek 2 1/4 miles down Fish Hatchery Road, on the right from Hwy 1, to see for yourself! She has a circle driveway you can use if you want a closer look.

Madison Claire Ackel, DDS, and Samuel Evans Mullen, DDS, were married on December 16, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Reverend Craig Scott officiated the Nuptial Mass.

Donald Smith of Opelousas will collect a diploma from Northwestern State University on May 9, a goal in the making since 1971. Smith, 70, will receive a Bachelor of General Studies during afternoon commencement, a bucket list item that involved learning to navigate online classes while balancing family responsibilities.

Dr. Nicole Lobdell, assistant professor of English in the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University, has been selected for a summer fellowship at the University of Oxford, England, where she will research early biographies on the life of the English writer Mary Shelley (1797-1851), best known for the novel “Frankenstein.”

Northwestern State University’s Department of Engineering Technology will hold two summer camps for students interested in robotics. Junior Camp for students in grades 3-7 will take place May 2830.

Brandy Smith of Tyler, Texas, a mother of five and first-generation college graduate, said that pushing fear aside, accepting help and believing in her own abilities were key factors in completing her degree. Smith will graduate from Northwestern State University with a Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Sciences May 8.

Two Northwestern State music students, Lennon Cooke of Pineville and Hallie Ward of Cleveland, have received scholarships to attend the 35th Galway Summer Flute Festival in Meggen, Luzern, Switzerland, on June 13-17.

Hallie Guidry of Ragley, a graduating senior at Northwestern State University, is already on an exciting career path at Walt Disney World, but her journey to earning a degree through NSU’s Hospitality Management and Tourism program was anything but easy. Serious health issues impacted her life and studies, but her determination to return to Disney motivated her to keep going.

Carol Kirkland of Natchitoches, an artist, former art teacher and lifelong learner, announced a planned gift to the Northwestern State University Foundation that will benefit students in the Department of Fine and Graphic Art. Kirkland created the James and Carol Kirkland Scholarship and made the announcement on her birthday April 23.