Our club was less than a year old when we approached
SBF management with a request. We wanted to take over the plot around the
SBF agreed to initially prepare and amend the soil,
provide some basic gardening equipment, and give us a few kinds of spring
flowering bulbs, plus the red, white and blue annuals. We agreed to handle care
of the garden: acquiring and planting the perennials and doing all the weeding,
watering, etc. Over three dozen varieties of perennials were dug from our own
gardens in the fall of 2005, and planted in the old oblong garden plot.
In the spring of 2006, in conjunction with the
The garden had an older fruit-bearing pear tree
which pre-dated SBF’s establishment as a residential community. Over
time, several problems had emerged regarding the tree: the fallen fruit was
messy and attracted yellow jackets, and the tree itself was showing serious
signs of age. We recommended that SBF Management replace it, even though
the process would require immediate shifting of many plants, plus more the
following year, to compensate for a new tree’s reduced shade canopy.
Their response was proactive and timely.
We now have a Chanticleer Pear, an award-winning ornamental related to
the “
Although we favored having a mainly perennial
garden, we did want a few more annuals. We also knew that our display of
in-ground planted perennials didn’t necessarily relate well to the
current abilities of residents who can no longer get down on the ground to
garden. So, when a weathered wooden
garden cart was donated to us, we decided to fill it with pots of annuals. This
lets us display many colorful flowering plants, and at the same time
demonstrates one way to do accessible gardening. The cart’s winter home
is in our shed, to prevent further unnecessary weathering, and to keep the
garden’s ‘winter interest’ strictly horticultural. Now, a
much anticipated mid-spring event, overseen by Jan Stone and Ann Shanks, is
getting out the cart and filling it with the year’s selection of annuals.
Winter interest includes an evergreen berry-bearing holly bush and grasses,
plus a few plants left standing which are suited for wintering-over.
Our garden’s wide variety of flowers attracts
all sorts of pollinators: bees, hummingbirds and several kinds of
butterflies. There is something in bloom from the time the early spring
daffodils and tulips emerge all the way to late fall.
Visit our Photo Gallery of the