Clark Gardens Community

"Today a new sun rises for me.
Everything lives, everything is animated.
Everything seems to speak to me of my passion.
Everything invites me to cherish it."
- Anne De Lenclos

Every year I make a 12-month calendar for my Dad for Christmas. The pictures it contains are of all the good times and people past and present. It's fun to make and even more wonderful to see him enjoy it both at Christmas and throughout the year. Love my papa.

This past year I made a calendar for myself too. It has pictures of family and critters. Lots of critters. This month's calendar image is of the little wren above. The wren is one of my favorite birds, right up there with mockingbirds (for their spiritedness and fearlessness), chickadees (for their curiosity), and bluebirds (for their beauty in colors and song).

The wren is inquisitive and animated. And they are just so darned cute. Little balls of feathers with twitchy tails, hopping all around purposefully. They are always busy. Every so often one will look in my office window to see what is going on. It's nice to have such entertaining company.

Speaking of busy... I'm supposed to be putting a new screen in my window's screen frame. Don't want the smaller, buggy critters to come in my office to help me work. That would be bad. Until next time.

Clark Gardens, in partnership with Palo Pinto General Hospital, offers a free program this Thursday, April 12.

^{The program, presented by Dr Nanette Evans, will discuss women’s health issues emphasizing breast cancer risk factors, the diagnosis of breast cancer and the treatment options. Dr. Evans specializes in diagnostic radiology and serves as a vital resource to Palo Pinto General Hospital as a diagnostic digital mammography physician.}

^{April at Clark Gardens is "Plant it Pink" month. The gardens will donate a portion of the sale of all pink flowering plants to local health organizations that provide financial aid for breast cancer screenings.}

Admission to the presentation is free with light refreshments served. The presentation is at 7:00 pm in the Clark Gardens Chapel. Attendees are encouraged to come early and tour the garden. Bring a picnic to enjoy before the presentation.

“As the Garden Grows”…part one.

Clark Gardens is a family.  And like most other families in 2012 we aren't the traditional "Leave it to Beaver" family.  Our family consists of humans, plants and animals. Years come and go; some members leave the "nest" while others never leave.  Some go to sow their oats and return and then some go never to be seen again. 

Important members of the Clark Gardens family are the swans.  Over the years we have had several species of swans--trumpet swans, mute swans and black swans.  The all time favorite swan though would have to be Houdini, a mute swan.

Houdini was given to the gardens about four years ago by a neighbor.  Houdini had lost his mate and was trying to "break" up another couple-in others words he was a wife stealer and was kicked out of that lake!  His name Houdini came after it took a number of days to corral him.  Once corralled he would escape--hence his name Houdini.  Once caught Houdini moved into Oxbow and settled in with the other birds on that lake.

 On Emerald Lake a pair of trumpeter swans lived together until the female was killed by a predator. 

Thus Doc lived alone on Emerald Lake and Houdini lived alone on Oxbow separated by a few hundred yards.  The staff often times mused that it would be nice if they could be together.

 One day to our delight Houdini went knocking/splashing into Emerald Lake.  At first Doc was leery of the intruder but over time he warmed up to Houdini.  Then one day in early February some courtin' began causing quite a stir among family members. 

And just like in all families a great deal of gossip went around:  primarily Doc MUST is a female.  We were thrilled – the two could be together.  But Doc needed a new name.  On Valentines Day we hosted a competition to rename Doc.  He/she was renamed Judy Valentine after one of our favorite volunteers/photographer and extended family member. 

Can you imagine how excited we all were?  Clark Gardens hosts many wedding.  And like all newly married couples we thought life was going to be good. Judy and Houdini would live together forever, set up house and have a family.

Then problems started...first Houdini walked over to the waterfall at White Garden for a few days.  Then the worst of our fears played out...Houdini moved out for good.  He moved lock, stock and barrel to Lake Pavilion. 

Rumors flew around--was Doc really a Judy? Had Doc tricked Houdini?  Was Judy a gold digger? Was Houdini a bad mate?  Or was Doc a cross dresser?  Was their love purely physical?  But whatever the reason they were ‘split up’.

Houdini became so despondent that garden friend, Phyllis Glidewell saw him alongside Hwy 180 trying to run away.  But after contemplating his options he returned to Lake Pavilion to his bachelor pad. (smart move—hwy 180  can be dangerous for a swan)

So...as the Garden Grows our family remains intact but different, questions unanswered.  But what I can tell you there must have been no prenup.  Doc/Judy clearly got the house (Oxbow) and Houdini, broken and bitter, was kicked out to find a new home!!!  We will survive...well unless Houdini goes back down to Hwy 180!!

Houdini--after the breakup!

Stay tuned for part 2 of “As the Garden Grows”.

Aromatherapy Class

This class covers the therapeutic use of powerful natural essential oils derived from plants, to complement health naturally. In this class you will learn the history and manufacturing process of Pure Essential Oils. As well as the power of Aromatherapy to boost health naturally. Cost includes a take home kit of 6 Pure Essential Oils and recipes.

Cost $70.00 per person; members pay $65.00

Please dress comfortably.

Instructor: Dr Janet Tayler ND, BCIM

Reservations: Nonrefundable, pre-paid reservations are required. In the event the class is cancelled due to weather, participants will receive a full refund. A printable reservation form is available here. Fees may be paid online via PayPal, or with a credit card by phone (940) 682-4856), or in person at the Clark Gardens admissions booth.

Dates

Monday, April 23, 2012, 6:00 to 8:00 pm

For more information contact Beverly at beverly@clarkgardens.com or visit our website at www.clarkgardens.org

Class Description
Composted organic wastes can be used in your landscape to reduce the amount of fertilizers used and to conserve water. But how do you get started in a home composting system? This class is designed to teach you the basic steps and procedures to start your own home composting system.

Instructor: Stanley Liles

Reservations: Nonrefundable, pre-paid reservations are required. In the event the class is cancelled due to weather, participants will receive a full refund. A printable reservation form is available online at www.clarkgardens.org. Fees may be paid online via PayPal, or with a credit card by phone (940) 682-4856), or in person at the Clark Gardens admissions booth.

Dates
Saturday, April 28, 2012, 9:00 am to noon
Registration Deadline:  Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm.

Cost:
$30.00 per person
$25.00 per Clark Gardens Member

Clark Gardens is featured in an article entitled, "From the Ground Up," on the Texas Co-Op Power website.

Article by: Kaye Northcott
Issue: March 2012

"Clark Gardens Botanical Park spotlights hands-in-the-dirt work of two visionaries.

Clark Gardens Botanical Park is a remote oasis with an address in Weatherford but a physical location just three miles east of Mineral Wells. I took Interstate 20 west from Fort Worth and then jogged north on the Main Street exit to Weatherford. It’s a treat just to circle the ornate Parker County courthouse before heading west again on U.S. Highway 180. Before Mineral Wells, signs announce Maddux Road and direct you for a mile or so to the entrance of the 35-acre garden."

See the full article: http://www.texascooppower.com/travel/north-central-texas/from-the-ground-up

Janice Ellis is the Clark Garden Garden Club President and shared with our Garden Club members information on how to plant onions.I asked Janice if I could share this information on the Clark Gardens blog and she kindly agreed.The following are her notes:

Growing Onions

The size of the onion bulb is dependent upon the number and size of the green leaves or tops at the time of bulb maturity. For each leaf there will be a ring of onion; the larger the leaf, the larger the ring will be. The onion will first form a top and then, depending on the onion variety and length of daylight, start to form the bulb. Onions are characterized by day length; "long-day" onion varieties will quit forming tops and begin to form bulbs when the daylength reaches 14 to 16 hours while "short-day" onions will start making bulbs much earlier in the year when there are only 10 to 12 hours of daylight. A general rule of them is that "long-day" onions do better in northern states (north of 36th parallel) while "short-day" onions do better in states south of that line.

Care Of Transplant Instructions

When you receive live plants, they should be planted as soon as possible. Should conditions exist that make you unable to plant these plants right away, remove the onion plants from the box and spread them out in a cool, dry area. The roots and tops may begin to dry out but do not be alarmed, the onion is a member of the lily family and as such will live for approximately three weeks off the bulb. The first thing that the onion will do after planting will be to shoot new roots.

Preparing the Soil

Onions are best grown in a raised bed. Onion growth and yield can be greatly enhanced by banding a fertilizer rich in phosphorous 3” below transplants at planting time. Make a trench 4” deep, distribute one Tablespoon per 1’of the fertilizer, cover the fertilizer with two inches of soil and plant the transplants 1” deep.

Planting

Set plants out approximately 1” deep with a 3” spacing. Should you want to harvest some of the onions during the growing season as green onions, you may plant the plants as close as two inches apart. Pull every other one, prior to them beginning to bulb, leaving some for larger onions. Transplants should be set out 4 weeks prior to the date of the predicted last average spring freeze (March 17 for Palo Pinto county).

Fertilization and Growing Tips

Onions require a high source of nitrogen. A nitrogen-based organic fertilizer (such as blood meal*) should be used. The first application should be about three weeks after planting and then continue with applications every 2 to 3 weeks. In my SFG, I use 1 Tablespoon of blood meal per square foot. Once the onion neck starts feeling soft do not apply any more fertilizer. This should occur approximately 4 weeks prior to harvest. Always water immediately after feeding. The closer to harvest the more water the onion will require. Unfortunately, there is not any organic product available to assist in weed control so the only method will be cultivation. While cultivating be careful not to damage the onion bulb. As the onion begins to bulb the soil around the bulb should be loose so the onion is free to expand. Do not move dirt on top of the onion since this will prevent the onion from forming its natural bulb.

Disease and Insect Control

The two major diseases that will affect onions are blight and purple blotch. Should the leaves turn pale-green, then yellow, blight has probably affected the plant. Purple blotch causes purple lesions on the leaves. Heavy dew and foggy weather favor their rapid spread, and when prolonged rainy spells occur in warm weather. The best cure is prevention: use only well-drained soil, run the rows in the same direction as prevailing wind and avoid windbreaks or other protection.

The insect that causes the most damage is the onion thrip. They feed by rasping the surface of the leaves and sucking the liberated juices. The thrips are light-brown in color and are approximately 1mm long…very small and hard to see.so look for the leaves curling in places and becoming distorted. For control use an organic plant based insecticidal soap*, biological insecticide* or pyrithrin based insecticide*. Always follow label instructions.

Flowering -- Abnormal For Onions; Normal For Garlic

Most folks want to grow onion bulbs NOT onion flowers! What causes bulb onions to send up flower stalks? Flowering of onions can be caused by several things but usually the most prevalent is temperature fluctuation. An onion is classed as a biennial which means it normally takes 2 years to go from seed to seed. Temperature is the controlling or triggering factor in this process. If an onion plant is exposed to alternating cold and warm temperatures resulting in the onion plant going dormant, resuming growth, going dormant and then resuming growth again, the onion bulbs prematurely flower or bolt. The onion is deceived into believing it has completed two growth cycles or years of growth in its biennial life cycle so it finalizes the cycle by blooming. Flowering can be controlled by planting the right variety (short day for zone III) at the right time. Planting too early in the spring in our area may not be the way to go because we tend to have cold then warm spells early in the spring. It may be better to wait later in the spring until temperatures are more consistent…not fluctuating between cold and warm so much. Use only transplants that are pencil-sized or smaller in diameter when planting in early spring or always plant seed, NEVER transplants, in early fall in Texas Zones III - V (USDA Zones 8 and 9).

DON'T plant garlic in the spring! Bulb formation in garlic occurs in response to the lengthening days of spring, and bulbing and maturity are considerably hastened if temperatures are high. In addition to these requirements, the dormant cloves (divisions of the large bulb) or young growing plants must be exposed to cold temperatures between 32 and 50 degrees F. for one or two months in order to initiate bulbing. Plants that are never exposed to temperatures below 65 degrees F. may fail to form bulbs. With fall plantings, the cold treatment is accomplished quite naturally throughout the winter, but a spring planting spells disaster for garlic in Texas Zones III - V (USDA Zones 8 and 9)

What To Do About Flowering?

Onions. What can one do if flower stalks appear? Should the flower stalks be removed from the onion plants? Suit yourself but once the onion plant has bolted, or sent up a flower stalk, there is nothing you can do to eliminate this problem. The onion bulbs will be edible but smaller. Use these onions as soon as possible because the green flower stalk which emerges through the center of the bulb will make storage almost impossible.

Garlic. Seedstalk formation (bolting) of garlic is not induced by exposure to fluctuating temperatures, as is the case with onions, which means that a wide range of fall planting dates is permissible for this crop. I plant garlic bulbs on the first day of winter. Seedstalk formation is also not damaging to garlic since the cloves are arranged around the seedstalk and will be removed from the dried seedstalk. When the tops become yellowish and partly dry, garlic is ready for harvest.

Harvesting And Storage

Onions are fully mature when their tops have fallen over. After pulling from the ground allow the onion to dry, clip the roots and cut the tops back to one inch. The key to preserving onions and to prevent bruising is to keep them cool, dry and separated. I usually store onions is in a nylon stocking. Place an onion in the leg of the stocking and tie a knot or put a plastic tie between the onions and continue until the stocking is full. Loop the stocking over a rafter or nail in a cool dry building and when an onion is desired, simply clip off the bottom onion with a pair of scissors or remove the plastic tie. Another suggestion is to spread the onions out on a screen which will allow adequate ventilation, but remember to keep them from touching each other. As a general rule, the sweeter the onion, the higher the water content, and therefore the less shelf life. A more pungent onion will store longer so eat the sweet varieties first and save the more pungent onions for storage.

*For organice fertilizer and insecticide, go to  Organic Materials Review Institute and reference the products list

Notes: Much of this info came from TAMU and Plant Answers at TAMU and what I have learned from experience.

Our beloved Houdini has found true love. We ran a contest to rename the trumpter swan as she was mistakenly named Doc. And the winner is (drum roll please)....Debbi Robertson. Thanks to Debbi Doc's new name is Judy Valentine.

We chose the name Judy Valentine for a couple of reasons.  Judy and Paul Valentine are two special friends of the garden.  Judy takes amazing pictures of the gardens and generously shares them with us.  Her husband Paul is a conscientous, dedicated volunteer at the Clark Garden Depot.  Yesterday on Valentine's Day Judy and Paul celebrated their 51st anniversary.  Now that's true love!!!  And lastly, Judy was Houdini's first love.  He loves to follow Judy around the garden on her visits.

Here's to Houdini and Judy (the swan) sharing many more Valentines Days together.

"Is not this the true romantic feeling - not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you."
- Thomas Wolfe

"I was not a classic mother. But my kids were never palmed off to boarding school. So, I didn't bake cookies. You can buy cookies, but you can't buy love."
- Raquel Welch

Wishing for you a Valentine's day of warmth, kindness and peace - and love in any one of its many beautiful forms.

It's been an incredibly busy time.

This photo journal entry was going to be of a cottontail rabbit. I'm guessing you noticed the picture above is not that of a bunny. When taking the dogs to and from the back yard, they have frequently paused on the deck to sniff - really sniff - between the boards in one particular spot. I honestly do not know how they keep from hyperventilating some times. This usually means that some little critter has made a home under the deck. As long as it isn't a skunk, I'm okay with that. There are probably other creatures that are on the please don't make your home under the deck list, but I digress.

One day while eating lunch and looking out the bay window onto the deck this winter, a young cottontail rabbit ever so slowly appeared out from under the deck steps. The fur on the top of his head was all a muss, like that of a little kid when popping its head out from under the bed covers. This prompted the thought of posting a rabbit picture.

During work today, I came across a folder of warm, richly orange colored gladiolus pictures taken last summer. (Just before the deer ate them - and the drought hit.) Happy, soothing colors. Sounds great to make a quick addition to the pictures in rotation of the computer wallpaper. That's how the quick break started. But the photo had other ideas. The photo said it had delicate grace, light and form and that all that color, though nice, was distracting. Hummingbirds would surely disagree. The hummingbirds are wintering south of the border, so they didn't get a vote.

The key word for the selected quotes was supposed to be, "classic," - prompted by the feel of many black and white photos. That lead to a quote about "not a classic mother," and the word love. That lead to thoughts of my mom who liked Thomas Wolfe, which lead to a quote about true romantic feeling, which reminds me - Hey! It's Valentine's Day.

So, Happy Valentine's Day.

On this beeautiful spring day we can't help but start talking Spring Festival presented by .

This year's theme is "The Art of Living....Texas Style" and will be held March 31 and April 1st (all joking aside )

We will have our Education Stations again this year. One of the returning education stations is the

They bring an awesome display and talk about the importance of bees to our environment.