Olivia White Hospice Home Garden Volunteers: September 2012

Gardens Founded in 2001 - Home in 2002

Echinacea - Photo by Laura Davis

The garden began in 2001 with the help of Norm Erickson, a Northland Hospice volunteer, at the corner of Switzer Canyon Drive and Turquoise. At that time the home had not been completed but a beautiful sign was placed on the corner. Norm continued to work on the beds on the east side of the sidewalk along Switzer Canyon Drive and in front of the home, until 2008. The rest of the gardens were developed by a core of Coconino County Master Gardeners initially led by Laura Davis and since 2007 by Loni Shapiro.

The garden crew is active from April-October and sometimes in November weather permitting. Work happens weekly throughout the garden season on Monday and Thursday mornings from 8:00 am-12:00 pm. It also is scheduled for one Saturday a month from April through October. Cancellations due to weather will be posted by 6:00 am of the workday on this blog. You must attend a spring orientation to the garden and Northland Hospice & Palliative Care in order to work. A summary of the work that has been done is included on the blog. Look for weekly postings on this blog during the garden season.

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Volunteering in the Garden

2015 Calendar

April 13, 11:30-1:30 Lunch and orientation for new volunteers at hospice and TB testing for all

April 16, 9:15-10 TB tests read and 10:00 garden orientation. First Thursday workday 9-12

April 20, First Monday workday 9-12

May 2, Saturday workday 9-12

If you are interested in volunteering, please email CrysWells@gmail.com.

Please note: TB testing is required annually for all garden volunteers.

If you have current TB results that were done by a physician or at a hospital, these may be submitted to Northland Hospice.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please contact the volunteer coordinator Kathy Simmons (ksimmons@northlandhospice.org) to schedule a time for testing and orientation.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Workday 9/17 & 20

On Monday, Julie Holmes came and helped move plants from the area where the trees will be taken down. Since we have plenty in the garden already - volunteers took the plants home. Katarina Karjala cleaned tea pots and put them away for storage for the winter. She also did some deadheading. Linda Guarino came and finished the irrigation in the front bed.

On Tuesday, the two ponderosa trees next to the parking lot came down. They were removed to improve the effectiveness of the solar panels on the home. Work will begin this weekend in leveling the ground and the following weekend in placing our sheds. Next year we will work on making the shed less conspicuous in the garden with trellis and plantings.

Before

After

Thursday, was the day of our Annual Harvest Lunch. Several arrived early and participated in the workday before lunch. Jeanette Sletton worked on composting and mulching roses. Vicki Goodwin, Crys Wells, and Becky Lewis all helped with the mulching. Becky also helped Linda Guarino unload rock mulch for the front bed. Carol Lease worked on the irrigation. She added a few lines and plugged some lines where the sheds will be placed. Several people joined us for lunch - Debbie Crisp, David Hockman, Lee Lease, and Tess (resident). As usual we had a great meal - brats, German potato salad, baked beans, kale salad, calabacitas, jello salad, carrot and raisin salad and a couple of pies. Becky brought some homemade pickles and goat cheese, and Marcia Lamkin brought a banana bread. Katarina Karjala made an apple dessert using some of our apples from the garden, and Brandon Porter brought us a pie. We all ate to much and then enjoyed some thank yous and gifts for the season.

I will be on vacation the next 2 Thursdays - Monday workdays are cancelled. Laura Davis may be working on those Mondays if you want to work in the MMG. Contact her if you are interested. My next days supervising in the garden will be on October 8 and 11. While I am gone Betty (9/27) and Becky (10/4) will be in charge for the workdays. On the agenda for the next couple of weeks:
Deadheading all except penstemons
Watering indoors and all new transplants
Compost (empty red plastic can from pantry)
Cleaning and organizing the garage shelving (put questionable items in a box for my return)
Black plastic tubing behind the door can be put around treetrunks for the winter
Mulching sparse areas throughout the garden
Moving geraniums out of pots and beds (what doesn't fit on the sun porch is available for the taking)
Beginning to put away hardscape
Small items in the FG and throughout the garden (boxes in the greenhouse)
Water features (under the table and in the corner of the back patio)

We may have 2 Saturday workdays in October - 13th and 27th - weather permitting. The first will be a day for planting bulbs and the 2nd Make a Difference Day for final clean-up.

I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green.
~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse

Thanks,
Loni

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Workdays 9/10 & 13

On Monday Julie Holmes came and we worked on removing rocks from under the trees, moving a large succulent to several parts of the garden, and removing bellflower. There were more rocks than we anticipated - buried from years of erosion - so she called John and he came to help us. Between the two of us we only have 2 good knees, so we needed the help, and John came to our rescue. We did everything except plant all of the succulent. Some will be given away but others planted later this week.

With a small crew today we were able to get much done. Linda Guarino worked on the irrigation for the front bed revamp. She will finish on Monday and pick up rock mulch on Thursday. Betty Marcus, as usual did a variety of activities - watering indoors, dead heading, cleaning bird baths, and spraying the roses for aphids. Becky Lewis transplanted a couple of perennials that are under the pine trees that will come down and she planted some more of the transplanted ice plant. Crys Wells also worked on the ice plant. The house was very busy today with lots of traffic to work around. Dave Hill and Murphy brought out several residents. I helped Linda a little, watered the new plantings, made a trip to Home Depot for some more irrigation equipment, and pulled the plants out of the potato bed. They will be dug up some time this weekend, but one came to the top when pulling the plants. I should have taken it to the county fair as a freak vegetable, but didn't know it was there. I am sure it would have brought a blue ribbon. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's super-potato.
.

Blooming:
Ketchup and Mustard Rose, Julia Child's Rose
Lots of seed on the Job's Tears
Many apples on the Granny Smith
Beginning fall color on the Virginia creeper

Plans for next week:
Tree removal on Tues. Sept. 18 - 8am - no volunteers in the garden please
Thursday, Sept. 20 - 12pm - Harvest Lunch after workday
Mulching and tying large roses - mulching throughout the garden
Adding rock mulch to front bed

Upcoming:
Thursday, Sept. 20 - Harvest Lunch 12pm
Friday, Oct. 19 - Volunteer Lunch/Northland Hospice
Saturday, Oct 27 - Make a Difference Day in the garden 9am-12pm

The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Hope to see you in the garden next week.

Thanks,
Loni

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Workdays 9/3 & 6

Labor Day brought several volunteers to help Laura Davis in the MMG - Nancy Palmer and Toni Barnes. Debbie Crisp came and helped me weed and remove invasive plants (Wood's Rose and Bellflower). Congratulations to Toni Barnes for finishing her MG hours for certification today.

A photo taken Monday of a rose dedicated by the gardeners for a long time garden visitor.

On Thursday, Linda Guarino returned to work and added new plants to the front garden, and made repairs on the wood rings which have been driven over several times. We now have an iron fencing to protect the bed. With the help of Becky Lewis she added many ground covers and lots of drought tolerant perennial forbs and grasses. Next week she will work on installing the drip and on the following week adding rock mulch. That will end the work on that bed for the season. We had several other volunteers working in the garden that day. Vicki Goodwin came for a couple of hours and transplanted a 3rd peony into the rose garden. She also planted a moonshine yarrow in the north bed and a couple of pussy willow in the faerie garden. Jeanette Sletton spent her time transplanting vinca and kinnickinnick to the beds along Switzer Canyon Dr. These are plants that need to be moved in preparation for cutting down 2 pine trees. The pine trees will be replaced by our sheds. I helped Jeanette move rock from the corner to create a new bed for them. Betty Marcus continued collecting seed and for the 3rd time sprayed roses for aphids. The aphids have been worse this year with the moist and cool evening climate. Julie Holmes stopped by to pick up our August hours for tally.

Amy Websdale's Teapot

On Friday, a small group of visitors from the Retired Senior Volunteer Program came and gave us a beautiful Japanese teapot from Amy Websdale. Earlier this year she came to enjoy the garden and particularly loved the tea garden. We lost her recently to a long time illness and she wanted us to have one of her teapots. It is now in the garden with a backdrop of Hyssop and surrounded by mint.

Plans for next week include:
Possible tree removal?
Finish removing plants from under the trees on Monday (succulent and any others needed for tree removal)
The usual deadheading, compost, and watering indoors
Begin mulching roses when mulch available
Add drip lines to front bed
Clean and organize the garage shelves

Upcoming:
Fall Harvest Lunch - September 20, at 12pm (contact Loni for potluck items)
October 27 - Make a Difference Day - possible group project to finish the season

Change is such hard work.
Billy Crystal
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_change5.html#ZYuphrRjAhvQrBq0.99

and what we have in front of us for the next several weeks is no exception. The pine trees will come down and the sheds will replace them - maybe the end of this week or beginning of next. Our job will be to make the garden welcoming again after that happens. We will not make any changes this fall but think about it over the winter and talk in January about what we would like to do.

Thanks for all your help and support. Looking forward to the end of this garden season (probably Oct. 27 - Make a Difference Day).

Loni

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Reporting OWHH Volunteer Hours

For the 2015 garden season all volunteers will report hours in the book on the back patio at the garden. If you are there on a scheduled workday the book will be on the table. If you come on a non-workday, maybe to water or complete something you wanted to finish, the keys and sign-in book will be inside the home in the table drawer to the left as you enter.

Please record all hours in the garden, at meetings, and for home activities.

At the end of each month the sign in sheets will be sent to the office so please get your hours in by the end of the month.

Wish List 2015

Wish list book is kept on the table in the lobby of the Olivia White Home. Check the book for further details. Contact one of the gardeners if you want to donate.

General plant related materials not available at Warners (where we have an account from a yearly fundraiser) – up to $250 (cash/gardeners will purchase as needed); includes special fertilizers, perlite, sand, soil, and other repair items. Purchase of unusual plants at other nurseries (Viola’s, NP & Seed & HCG).

Special feed for roses (we have 50) - $250 per season or what you want to donate. Gardeners will purchase.

4 Pruners/clippers - $10-40 (see book for ideas)

A variety of long/short handled, cut and hold, small and large diameter.

Craftsman Handi-cut for irrigation (see book for details)

4 Weeders – variety of long and short handled (see book for ideas)

4 Trowels – variety

Mud Gloves (8 Pair – 1 small-5 med-2 light weight) (see book for details).

Spray nozzles for hoses – prefer short handled with multiple settings.

Birdhouses for trellis (new or used in good condition).

Bat or butterfly house for grounds.

Hulled sunflower seed or chips for bird feeders ($28-85 depending on size).

We only use this type of seed, because of clean-up requirements for millet or black oiled sunflower. We also need niger seed (cost ?) for the goldfinches. This takes more than $500 out of our garden budget.

Replacement wheelbarrows-prefer metal with no-flat wheels. (1 needed)

Welcome to the Gardens at Olivia White Hospice Home

The gardens surrounding the home were created for all who find themselves here. The history below reflects the many hands that have worked in the gardens. The volunteer gardeners have worked to create a quiet, peaceful place to experience alone or with those you love. The garden design enhances the sensory experience. You can hear zipping hummingbirds, water fountains, and the sound of wind chimes. It is a place to stop and smell the roses or the soothing fragrance of lavender. The many vegetables and herbs grown allow residents and staff to taste the gifts of nature. You can feel the gentle embrace of the wind and touch the soft leaves of lamb’s ear or bunny tail grass along with other more prickly plants in a ‘touch pot’. Another design consideration was providing universal access to all visitors and special beds/pots that allow interested residents to participate in gardening. Sitting and standing raised beds, and ‘sensory pots’ accessible to wheelchairs are enjoyed by many residents.
Peace to all who enter…

History
The gardens were started by Norm Erickson, a hospice volunteer, before the home was built in 2001, on the corner of Switzer Canyon and Turquoise where the Olivia White sign is found. Norm also created the gardens directly in front of the home. In 2001 Laura Davis, a master gardener began designing and planning for the gardens that surround the home. Loni Shapiro assumed responsibility for garden coordination and planning in 2007. The first project in 2002 was to lay the cement pathway which was done by NAU’s Construction Management class led by Dave Grider. A flagstone patio was created east of the home by Joanie Abbott of Foxglove Gardening with the help of Heber Trunnel. The first two plantings by the master gardeners included an Inferno Strip on Switzer Canyon led by Terra Crampton, and a Rose Garden led by Hattie Braun with a large donation of roses by Bill Brechan. Coconino County Park and Recreation at Fort Tuthill donated many truckloads of compost, and Bill Eichinger used his bobcat to help edge with rocks the gardens you see today. In 2004 a core of master gardeners and hospice volunteers (Loni Shapiro, Karen Kent, Cynthia Katte, David Hockman and Nancy Palmer) joined Laura and began creating the many gardens here today. Today we have a regular crew of master gardeners and hospice volunteers, with two workdays each week throughout each spring and summer. They are supported by many other church groups, scout troops, AmeriCorp, college - high school - middle school groups, Coconino County Adult Probation Community Service, Upward Bound, and businesses throughout Flagstaff. Warner’s Landscape and Nursery needs to be singled out for their continuing support for the gardens since their inception with yearly fundraisers and discounts on plant and hardscape materials. In 2006 the gazebo designed by Jill Morris was completed with the help of Terry Payne and John Adams, from Christ’s Church, and Loven Contracting. John Adams along with the help of the Sunshine Lion’s Club finished it with a brick pathway. Foxglove Gardening installed the drip system over three years from 2008-10. Most of their time was donated. From 2010-2012 we received grants from the Bountiful Alliance to create a Native Medicinal Garden in honor of Michael Moore, writer and naturalist. The work on that garden continues along Switzer Canyon Drive. The garden was dedicated by a Navajo elder in 2012. A small garden was dedicated in 2011 to our long time therapy dog “Zane” Hill. Plans for 2013 include continued revamping of some front gardens, work on the corner of Turquoise with the installation of the FUTS trail, and landscaping our new shed area.

The gardens continue to evolve each year. Some have already been altered from the original plan, such as the Rose Garden, east front and ½ Circle gardens, and north Switzer Canyon beds. In addition, many other trees, shrubs, plants and hardscape items have been donated. A list of donors is located in the library of the Olivia White Home. The library also includes a binder of all the roses found in our garden (over 40). A map of the garden was completed under the direction of Cynthia Katte and Kathy Pate that includes the location of most of the gardens and the special features. This will be updated in 2013 to include the changes along Turquoise and Switzer Canyon. A copy of the current map is included with this handout and can also be found in the Rose binder.

Donations/Volunteering
A “Wish List” for donations is provided in the home that includes yearly needs as well as special projects. Our main fundraisers to help pay for materials and water are memorial bricks (brochures available in the home), an annual 10% of proceeds day at Warner's Nursery, and a summer Plant & Garden Sale at the home. In addition, we sell note cards made from original paintings of the garden, photo note cards, and earrings made from Job’s Tear seeds grown in the garden. All can be found on the table in the entry of the home. We are always looking for new volunteers to help in the garden. Our weekly garden activities during the year can be found on the Volunteer Blog (owhospicegardenvolunteers.blogspot.com) or by contacting,Sierra Gadsberry, Volunteer Cordinator at sgadsberry@northlandhospice.org.

Revised 11/12