Zane - Friend and Therapy Dog Extraordinaire

Nancy Palmer with Zane at our Fall Harvest Lunch

On December 24th, our friend and therapy dog Zane, passed over the "rainbow bridge". He succumbed to lymphoma after working at the Olivia White Home for more than 6 years.

Zane was the Pet Idol of Flagstaff for 2006, but was more more than just a pretty face.
As a hospice volunteer and friend Zane had “all the right stuff”.
He was kind, gentle, and comforting to all he met.
He was playful or serious as the situation indicated.
He always made each person he encountered feel special and important by sensing what they needed.
He knowingly lay quiet by their side or nudged them for his favorite treat.
When you stroked or petted him he always made you feel you found just the right spot.
He soothed residents, family members in time of sorrow, staff on a busy day, and volunteer gardeners between chores.
It is hard to imagine the Olivia White Home without his presence. He will bring a smile to the face of all who think of him when visiting the home and garden. They will remember how he would place his head on a resident’s lap, lay quietly near a sleeping resident, drink from the bird baths (even though he had a dish), seek out those he knew had treats, lie on the ground with his tongue hanging out after a massage, and chase an occasional squirrel or fox. The garden and home came alive with his presence.
Through the tears I smile just thinking of him.

Loni Shapiro
Volunteer Garden Coordinator
Olivia White Hospice Home

Thank You for 2010

Appeared in the AZ Daily Sun 12/27/10

Thank you to all who volunteered donated and supported the volunteer gardeners at the Olivia White Hospice Home after our recent episode with vandalism. We can’t express how much it meant to us to see the outpouring of support and generosity. We had extra volunteers for the last few weeks of the season to plant our fall bulbs, phone calls, many donations, and people just stopping by to thanks us for what we do. We have always felt appreciated, but this just reinforced how much this garden means to the community in addition to how they feel about Northland Hospice.

As a result of your generosity we were able to replace some broken/lost items, up our security, and had enough left over to complete our drip system in the gardens. Special thanks go to Bobby Goita and the Fishing 4 FUNds donation. We were the recipients of their yearly donation to the Flagstaff community.

Thanks also go to our regular volunteer gardeners (master gardeners & hospice supporters) for a very successful season. Additional thanks to those that supported us throughout the year with their generous donations of materials and time. Warner’s Landscape and Nursery continued with a 7th year of 10% of proceeds day for Northland Hospice. We received many donations from families who received care at the home including a bent wood bench. The Bountiful Alliance foundation awarded us a grant to develop a garden to honor Michael Moore (writer and naturalist). Work on the Native Medicinal Garden began this year and will continue in 2011. Last of all Dave & Terri Hill continued their generous support of the gardens by donating a new stone bench and a chipper for our compost pile. We had our usual group help from Coconino High School Seniors, Upward Bound Students, CREC (Coconino Rural Environmental Core), AmeriCorps, the Grand Canyon Youth, and Northland Prep Honor Society).

We would also like to thank the Daily Sun for publicizing the vandalism. The publicity resulted not only in help for the gardens, but at least for now an end to the vandalism.

“Seeds of discouragement will not grow in a thankful heart.”
Anonymous

Loni Shapiro
and the volunteer gardeners of Olivia White Hospice Home

Last Workday of the 2010 Season 11/11/10

We spent the last workday of the garden season at Olivia White Hospice Home trying to stay warm. The temperatures the night before were below 20 and today not much warmer until about 11am. Many of our regular crew braved the cold to help close up the garden for the season.

Most of the crew worked on spreading the remaining mulch throughout the garden (Linda Guarino, Marilynn VanWagner, Becky Nelson, Julie Holmes, Judith Chaddock, and Debbie Crisp (a master gardener trainee)). Marcia Lamkin took care of the birds and watered inside. Crys Wells cleaned out our rainbarrel and planted some leftover bulbs with Debbie. Linda added the last of the food waste to the compost. During the off season it will be gathered once a week and added to the pile. Leslie Penick stopped by to say hi and visit a resident. Dave and Terri Hill came with their dog Zane to visit residents. I spent my time emptying the rain barrels (already had ice) and putting hardscape away.

Thank you:
Joanie Abbott and her crew from Foxglove Gardening for getting in the last of our drip system's main line before the frost came.
Al Katte for repairing our standing raised bed and painting our new plant stand.

We had a long but very productive season this year with all the winter snow and monsoon rains. Much was accomplished!

Usual garden maintenance (weeding, watering, planting (annuals and lost perennials), repairing drip lines and walkways, general garden maintenance))

Work at improving sustainability
Installed 2 rainwater collection barrels
Added 2 new composters
Began adding food scraps from the house
Began using a new chipper for cuttings from the garden

Re-doing some of the front gardens to decrease water use
Reduced size of the north bed to what is believed to be the property line
Began clustering plants and adding mulch to decrease water use
Added drip lines

Educational items revised and added for visitors and residents
Sign on back patio with:
Food available to pick
What’s blooming?
Rainwater levels
What’s new in the garden?
Revised Scavenger Hunt, General Info about the entire garden and the native garden

Worked on a grant for a new garden from Donna Chesner (widow of Michael Moore), who visited the site. This is $5oo for the 1st year and and may include more next year. Money will provide plants, signage and needed improvement to the existing beds. Planting scheduled for spring of 2011.

Michael Moore Native Medicinal Garden 2010 Moved rock to line garden with help from Norvel Owens and his bobcat
Moved some non-native shrubs/plants to other parts of the garden
Planted some aspen and a native Walnut tree
Developed a plan and began creating a plant list
Installed a stone bench donated by Dave Hill

We added a cedar split rail fence on Switzer Canyon Drive for safety near a large sink hole on the property. Lee Treece filled that hole with rock for us and we topped it off with mulch.

Work groups who helped this year:
Regular crew of master gardeners and hospice volunteers (12 regulars and 3 new volunteers)
Coconino High School Seniors
Upward Bound students from NAU
CREC – Coconino Rural Environmental Corp
AmeriCorps
Grand Canyon Youth Corp
Northland Prep Honor Society

Publicity:
2 articles for the Master Gardener Column in the Daily Sun
2 articles for the Northland Hospice newsletter
Coconino County Fair Display
2 photos in the 2011 Master Gardener Calendar
Created a blog for weekly updates on the garden (owhospicegardenvolunteers.blogspot.com)
Front page article in the newspaper on recent vandalism in the garden.

Fundraising:
Cards, bookmarks, and bricks for gazebo
Plant and Garden Sale in June (over $800)
Annual 10% Day at Warner’s (over $1900)
Wish List Book Donations
Electric Chipper and Stone Bench for the new garden – Dave and Terri Hill
Willow Bench for the Faerie Garden – Susan Roe and Family
Other items donated (see 2010 Donations at right)
Helped put in for a Home Depot grant for continued greening of the garden (shed, composter, rainwater collection, wheel barrows, and a weed whacker)
A $500 grant from the Bountiful Alliance foundation to honor Michael Moore

Goals for 2011:
-Plant seedlings in the spring in the newly fitted greenhouse. We may need to borrow space from Linda Guarino until the greenhouse is emptied in the spring.
Look at adding a tile floor and growing some of our own veggies and annuals
-Regular workday 2 days a week – Monday/Thursday with 1 Saturday a month if supervision help available
-Finish work on redoing the front beds including drip lines
-Add drippers to the new main lines in back of the house
-Begin planting and create signs for the Michael Moore Native Medicinal Garden
-Hold a 2nd Plant and Garden Sale with the goal of improving sustainability in the garden
-Work with the city on revising the corner garden with the new FUTS trail and sidewalk
-Continue articles for the Daily Sun and the Northland Hospice newsletter
-Update educational materials
-Look at seasonal scavenger hunts
-Continue to look for bench/glider donors

Thank you to all who helped with donations or time this year. It takes a village.

Loni Shapiro

Garden Workday 11/4/10

On a warm day, we had a small crew helping in the garden today. Crys Wells, Vicki Goodwin, and Marilynn VanWagner all deep watered tree and shrubs in the garden. We turned off the water a couple of weeks ago and their has been no rain and warm weather. Linda Guarino worked on taking hanging baskets down from the gazebo. Marcia Lamkin watered inside and took care of the birds (feeders and birdbaths). I spent my time cleaning up the standing raised bed, working on the compost, and putting away hardscape. After lunch I finished watering the trees and shrubs.

Someone dropped by some materials as a donation - wildflower sheeting, herb indoor planters, and paper whites. They did not leave a name for the donation but we thank them.

Several people stopped by to place their bricks in the gazebo floor.

Next week plans are to finish placing the mulch pile, put away remaining hardscape, and paint a donated plant stand to use on the sun porch. We also need to finish filling a sink hole just east of the street on Switzer Canyon Drive. This should be our last day in the garden except for winter watering if needed. We will meet in the winter, beginning in January (once a month) for planning. If you want to join us send me your e-mail address at cnslds@q.com.

We will also have Joanie Abbott and her crew from Foxglove Gardening here to finish our main drip lines in the back of the house (yeah). So all the beds will have the possibility of drippers and cut our work down considerably. Our regular garden crew will add drippers in the spring. It is such a huge garden we hope we have enough pressure to get it watered successfully.

Thank you:
Anonymous donation of paper whites, herb pots, and wildflower meadow cloth
$500 from Fishing 4 FUNds which will go towards our new drip lines and purchase of safety equipment for the garden.

New in the garden:
A new arbor trellis
Solar motion sensitive lights

"Seeds of discouragement will not grow in a thankful heart."
Anonymous

We can't thank you enough for your generous donation and support following our story in the AZ Daily Sun.

Loni

Garden Workdays 10/23-28-30/10

On Saturday (10/23) we had a small crew that worked on mulching the roses, turning the compost, and general garden clean-up. Cynthia Katte one of our regulars worked on the compost and helped us begin to mulch the garden for winter. Ann Eagan worked on the roses with Laura Davis and me. We tied up some large shrubs and mulched all the roses in the garden. We also had 2 young men from the Grand Canyon Youth Corp. who helped move mulch, compost and clean-up.

On Thursday which started out cold but ended up being very sunny and warm, we managed to get many things done. Linda Guarino worked on the compost pile, helped me put away the fountain, and planted many bulbs. Becky Nelson and Marcia Lamkin planted bulbs and Marcia did her usual check on the birds (baths and feeders). Laura Davis and Nancy Palmer moved some rocks to the new garden and put together our new arbor which will be stored until spring.

Laura and Nancy with the new trellis in the garden.

Judith Chaddock cleaned up the front beds - gathered hollyhock seed and deadheaed the Russian sage. Marilynn VanWagner moved compost to the raised beds and helped clean-up. I spent my time deadheading the sensory pots and mulching and began to empty the standing raised bed in hopes that Al Katte might be able to repair it. This was it's 4th year and it is really leaning to one side and has bottom slats that neet to be replaced.

This Saturday (10/30) we finished planting bulbs, continued to mulch the garden, and emptyed the standing raised bed. We had a couple of new master gardener trainees, some people from the Grand Canyon Youth Corp, one of our regular who we haven't seen in a while - Leslie Penick, and Peggy Scurlock and her daughter Chela (volunteers from hospice).

Thank you to:
Richard Wilson for a solar birdbath donated this week in rememberance of his wife Jean Wilson.
Board President Lee Treece for dumping a load of rocks in our sink hole.
Thanks to the garden crew for a wonderful end of season gift certificate for the Seasoned Kitchen.
Thanks to the community for all their support regarding the newspaper article/vandalism and to the police department to keeping a watchful eye on the garden.

On that note, we did find some strange happenings in the garden this am in the Faerie Garden, tree branches broken, bricks moved, and a few plants disturbed, but it seems to have been animals this time. We also found Zane's water dish moved to the garden with leaves and mud in it.

Weather permitting we will be in the garden for a couple of more weeks on Thursdays. Come join us to help us wrap up the garden season. We will continue to mulch, may need to water, and put the garden away.


Happy Halloween,
Loni

Garden Workday 10/21/10

I returned from Chicago this week, after visiting the beautiful Chicago Botanic Gardens. If you ever travel to that area it is a must see. They have almost 400 acres of formal gardens, with 9 islands. On arrival you keep looking for a castle on the property. They also have some unique areas; a large garden on the roof of their science center, a state of the art enabling garden, an amazing bonzai collection, and a very large garden railway (16 trains). I have encluded a couple of photos of the hundreds I took. One is a view of one of the islands, and the other a bed adapted for wheelchairs.




This bed has a duel purpose. It has three levels for various sized wheelchairs and it is water efficient with the water draining from the highest bed to the lowest.

While I was gone much has happened at the Hospice Home Garden. The gardens have been vandalized twice. We had broken hardscape, pulled plants, and some items just tossed in the canyon. Most of the damage was to the Faerie Garden, which was designed as a children's play area. We even received threatening notes demanding money. It is very sad and difficult to comprehend why someone would do this. The police have been notified and the newspaper came on Thursday to ask questions. You may see something in the Daily Sun. We have put all items of value away in our greenhouse, except for a few that are too large, or might be repaired. It is really not the cost of the items but what they mean to the people who donated them for their loved ones.

On Thursday, we had a small crew that worked on mulching the roses, and putting away the garden for the winter. Even though I say winter, I picked several roses yesterday to bring in the house. It really hasn't been cold enough to freeze them out. Linda Guarino returned from her trip to Africa. She transplanted some herbs, and put the tea and faerie garden items in storage. Cynthia Katte and Marilynn VanWagner also put items away and then helped me mulch the roses. Thanks to A & A Tree service we got a large load of wood chips.

We will be in the garden on Saturday from 9am-12pm planting bulbs and continuing our mulching. We will continue at the garden probably until mid-November weather permitting. Most of our time will be spent watering as needed and mulching for winter. Come join us if you can on our regular Thursday workdays.

While I was gone I attended a horticultural therapy conference and I will occasionally share some ideas from that. In several of my classes we talked about the Green Man which has been a garden symbol for centuries. He symbolizes growth and renewal. Google that if your interested in what it is all about. I actually made my own Green Man box to put small treasures in.

Thanks,
Loni Shapiro

Garden Workday 10/7/10

On a cold, windy day in the garden we managed to get some fall clean-up done. I checked the rain guage after the big storms but found it broken. We have had almost 28 inches of rain this summer so far, and the stream was flowing in the canyon today.
David Hockman came and planted some mums purchased this week on sale. After he finished he and Julie Holmes worked on weeding and cleaning up the corner of Switzer Canyon and Turquoise one last time. It was a good day for weeding after all the rain. Nancy Palmer spent her time putting away hardscape from the Faerie Garden. Cynthia Katte worked on compost and dead heading. Judith Chaddock dead headed and cleaned-up plants on the sunporch. We are expecting our first frost this week, and most of the tender plants have been moved inside for the winter. Vicki Goodwin returned after a busy summer and spent her time cleaning up the tea garden for winter. Laura Davis stopped by for a short time to plant some seeds in the Michael Moore Garden. Carol Lease stopped by to say goodbye. She is off to the valley for the winter.

New in the garden:
5 mums planted in the front gardens for color

Thank you:
Cynthia Katte for helping put together our seed packets for distribution to families. We now have two (Mexican hat and hollyhocks).

Next week:
Plans for next week include putting away hardscape, weeding the front gardens one last time, watering as needed, collecting some hollyhock seed, deadheading and tying up large roses, spreading mulch, and planting a couple of perennials weather permitting.

October happenings:
October 23, 2010 9am-12pm Bulb Planting
We will have Iris (Dutch and bearded), Daffodils, Tulips, Crocus, Alliums, Scilla and Snowdrops to get in the ground - more than 200 bulbs to replace those eaten this spring. We also hope to have the Grand Canyon Youth Corp. to help us that day.

"An iris likes to sit on the ground the way a duck sits on the water: half in, half out." Anne Raver Deep in the Green (1995)

"It is a greater act of faith to plant a bulb than to plant a tree."
Clare Leighton Four Hedges (1935)

I will be gone for a week - Horticultural Therapy Conference in Chicago. Hope I have new ideas to share on my return.

Loni