2nd Garden Planning Meeting for 2010

We met at the Olivia White Hospice Home for our 2nd meeting. First on the agenda was General Updates:
A. A discussion of what to do about the rocks on the corner opend the meeting. They will most likely be used for the Michael Moore Medicinal Native Plant Garden to line the back and define the garden. Other possibilities include surrounding the sign area or a rock garden.
B. The CSA is set with Linda, Laura, Loni and hospice spliting a full share beginning in May.
C. Loni and Cynthia K will present to the MG Class on April 6 - time to be advised.
D. Michael Moore Grant is approved for $500 - Laura Davis in charge. The Home Depot grant is completed and we will hear about it by April 1st. Shelves for the greenhouse were added.
E. Jennifer Rummery a nursing student from CCC who has expertise in greenhouses has agreed to help us this season on Saturdays. John Gordon will help us remove the floor if approved by Joe Costian.
F. New Northland Hospice Director to start on March 15 - Sam Younger who comes from Banner Health in Phoenix.
G. New Northland Hospice Volunteer class to start on March 20. If interested contact Jacque Auxier at the office.

2. Plans for 2010
A. Look for people to adopt gardens/activities
Greenhouse - Jennifer Rummery
Saturday Workdays - working on sharing the load (May-Sept) regulars one month
Upward Bound - Jacque contacted/interested but need to clarify 3 or 5 hours
AmeriCorps- Jacque contacted will call later
B. Immediate material needs - April/May
Compost, soil
C. Additional goals for season
Worked on group workdays for AmeriCorps (Jacque), Grand Canyon Youth (Loni), Coconino High School (Jacque), Upward Bound (Jacque), Earth Day (Loni)
Resident involvement (Jacque to advise if appropriate patients)
Thin plants for plant sale (Lambs Ear, Germander, Yarrow, Iris)
Improve climber care surrounding gazebo
Add more plantings to rose garden walkway
Find shade tolerant plants for arbor bench

3. Provided plants for each room, repotted large palm, and added two new plants to
home.

Next Meeting: March 25, 2010 9am-12pm
Short meeting followed by repotting 3 large plants and cleaning sun porch.

Loni Shapiro

2nd Garden Planning Meeting for 2010

Our 2nd planning meeting for the 2010 garden season will be held at the Olivia White Hospice Home on February 25th from 9am-12pm. We will have a short meeting followed by repotting houseplants in the home and cleaning the sunporch. On the agenda for the meeting: updates from 1st meeting, call for help for specific gardens/projects, and scheduling groups for the season. Refreshments will be provided. Parking is available only at the 1st Congregational Church on Turquoise just past Switzer Canyon Drive. Parking at the home is reserved for resident families and staff.

Anyone interested in attending or helping this season should contact Loni Shapiro at maxmaddy@infomagic.net.

Master Gardener Column 1/23/10

Olivia White Garden Gazebo in the Moonlight
Theme Gardens

Organization is something I enjoy. Indeed, family and friends have been driven crazy with my obsessions. I love lists. One of the reasons I became an Occupational Therapist was that I could help people who'd suffered illness or injury reorganize their lives under new circumstances. When confronted with changes in our physical or mental abilities, we often need to find new ways of doing ordinary things like eating or dressing.

So when I began to spend more time gardening in retirement, it was only natural for me to find a way to organize it. In Flagstaff, I began by cataloging all the plants in my yard by their needs. A difficult task because I'd lived in Oregon for 20 years and didn’t recognize most of the plants. I soon began clustering them by their needs for water and sun.

Most gardeners go to the nursery, see a plant they like, buy it, and find a place for it. I found that to be overwhelming with so many wonderful plants, so little space, and even more work. When I began working as a volunteer at the Arboretum in the greenhouse, Jan Busco the horticulturist, had a great project for Suzanne Carney and me for Christmas. She had us put together “theme container bowls” (Italian, Thai, scent, and cat) for the Christmas plant sale. What a concept! All the frustrated gardeners got to garden happily through the winter. Also, it was useful, actually quite attractive and, need I say, organized.

A few years ago, I took some classes in Horticultural Therapy. In one of the classes we spent time creating “theme garden lists” that might be utilized for programming. One of my favorites was a cat garden – cat mint, catnip, pussy toes, cat’s claw, pussy willow, and cattails, only many of them have very different needs regarding water, sun, and soil. However, there are ways of doing theme gardens successfully with a little organization.

First, find an interesting theme. The possibilities are endless – countries, such as English Cottage. Some are hardscape, such as rock, and others by type of plant, such as bonsai. Still others use senses, like color, aroma, taste, and touch. Sometimes a hobby works, such as a model railroader with a Garden Railway with dwarf conifers and rock plants.

The second step would be to decide on the design, size, and location of the garden. It could be very small, even a container. Loyalton once did a pizza garden in a very large pot with peppers and herbs used in pizza.

The third step consumes the most time along with being the most enjoyable, finding plants that fit the theme and need similar light, water, and soil.

The last step is actually planting the garden and adding hardscape features fitting the theme.

At hospice in the fall of 2008, we began creating a moon garden after hearing a lecture at the Coconino Center for the Arts. With many different kinds of moon gardens, our goal was to have a white/silver theme, visible from our new arbor bench at night. In the fall of 2008, we created a small garden bed with white/silver rock, filling it with compost from the garden. In the spring, we transplanted sun loving Shasta daisy, snow in summer, white elfin thyme. Then we added new plants, phlox, carpet rose, heather, linaria, bellflower, evening primrose, and creeping baby’s breath. We used drip lines. Most are perennials with a few showy annuals, like dusty miller, licorice plant, and cleome. Then in the fall we added tulips, daffodils, and crocus. Two solar gazing balls with moons were added for daytime beauty and night light. On a walk during the full moon, the white flowers were visible, but the silver shone.


Moon Garden fall 2010

For anyone thinking about a theme garden and having trouble coming up with an idea, try googling “theme gardens” or the book Theme Gardens by Barbara Damrosch. Public gardens like the Arboretum are also a good source for ideas. Stop by Olivia White Hospice Home during the garden season to check out our Inferno Strips, Tea Garden, Faerie Garden, Rock Garden, Native Garden, and Moon Garden.
(Loni Shapiro is a Master Gardener volunteer. Dana Prom Smith, a Master Gardener volunteer, is coordinating editor for the Master Gardener Column. He can be contacted at stpauls@npgcable.com. For more information about the Master Gardener Program, call Hattie Braun, Coordinator of the Master Gardener Program, at 774-1868 ext.17 or visit our Web Site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.)