|
|
|
www.ucityinbloom.org
|
January 2012
|
|
President's Message
 | |
photo by Linda Wiggen-Kraft |
Welcome to our January e-newsletter. It will keep you in touch with the latest: "U City in Bloom News, Events, and Gardening Tips. Come Grow with Us and Volunteer!"
U City in Bloom has three new board members to add to our already impressive group. We welcome them and you will get to meet all three at the Plant Sale in April. They are:
*Linda Ballard, recently retired U City Library Director (we grabbed her on the way out the library door), is a vegetable gardener, fantastic writer, and has been a tremendous help to UCB over the years. She also created the UCB Facebook page.
*Jack Breier, who graciously showed his creative garden on the 2011 Garden Tour, is very involved with U City on the Urban Forestry Commission. Jack also serves as the volunteer coordinator for the Flora Conservancy at Forest Park.
*Jane Myers, long time U City resident and gardener, is responsible for the gardens for Christ the King Church, works part time at BJC, loves her new home on Kingsbury, and can't wait to work on her garden.
If you are not receiving the annual hard copy version of our spring newsletter in the mail, as well as our other mail out notices of U City in Bloom's events, you are missing out on lots of news. In addition to the end of the year wrap-up of U City in Bloom news in this annual newsletter, you are missing spring horticultural tips, upcoming events, and more volunteer opportunities. Just send an email to info@ucityinbloom.org to add your mailing address. Every publication you receive, be it hard copy or electronic, is part of our ongoing effort to keep you connected and part of all that is happening at U City in Bloom.
See you at the annual SPRING PLANT SALE on Saturday, April 28th & Sunday, 29th , and note the change of name - this year we will offer not only perennials, as in past seasons, but selected annual plants as well. Volunteers will set up at Heman Community Center on Friday, April 27th. Check out the Director's Report for all of the changes at the Bird Habitat Garden at Centennial Commons and watch for more to come about the Bird Habitat Garden fundraising event in September. We are looking for volunteers to serve on this committee, whether you are a "birder, gardener or just enjoy a good party, please email me at jprange@holycommunion.net to join this committee.
Judy Prange
|
|
Director's Report
 | | photo by Dick Shaw |
Report on the Bird Sanctuary Garden - first we have modified its name to Bird Habitat Garden. We'd like the expansive area to call ourselves a sanctuary but we are way too urban to correctly call ourselves that - but that also certainly makes us unique. With a helpful suggestion from Lynn Breakstone, St. Louis Audubon Society, we decided on Bird Habitat Garden.
Lots of improvements have been made since October, 2011. If you haven't been working out at Centennial Commons, at least take a walk around to the back toward the baseball fields and stop to look at the water feature that was added. The constantly flowing water is key to attracting migratory and local birds year round.
The soil has been prepped for the addition of native plants, shrubs, trees and wild flowers and the outdoor signage (which will be funded by grants from US Fish & Wildlife and the Boeing Employees Fund) our next phase of development. Working the soil in this spot was a big job and we couldn't have done it without the help of the U City Parks Department (thanks Ewald and Marck Townsend from the Parks Department) as well as U City in Bloom volunteers.
You will soon notice bird feeders placed in the garden. Ideally, we would have already had them out there but grants do not always arrive at the "optimal time" for execution.
Lynn Breakstone & Jerry Breakstone will be helping U City in Bloom in partnership with the St. Louis Audubon Society and the Parks Foundation to help ensure the ongoing development of the U City Bird Habitat Garden. Jerry Breakstone, an architect, has completed a professional design that will clearly show how the Garden will look when we have completed our different phases of development.
Lynn Breakstone will serve as Honorary Chair of a committee to organize the first fund raising event in September, 2012 as step in the ongoing support of the Bird Habitat Garden. It will be on a Sunday at Centennial Commons Recreational Center. Stay tuned for the exact date, committee members and more details about the event. We are looking for more volunteers to join this committee.
Mary Ann Shaw
|
|
Featured Article
Every issue of the U City in Bloom newsletter allows you to tap into the savvy of our Horticulture team as well as outside experts. We welcome your suggestions and questions. |
|
|
|
HORTICULTURE NEWS
We dedicate this column to our community gardeners. University City is full of gardeners with varying degrees of interest and passion for their gardens, no matter what the size. We recognize it's not necessary to be a professional landscaper or horticultural expert to have a lovely and/or edible garden. Our goal is to be a resource of information and experience. Just ask lots of questions and get your hands dirty.
STARTING ANNUALS FROM SEED INDOORS
Advice for first-timers :
A gardener needs consolation in the bleak midwinter-and what could be better than watching seedlings sprout indoors for a spring move to your garden? There are practical benefits, too. It's cheaper; you'll spend a less than a buck for a seed packet from a catalogue in January, vs. $4-5 per plant from a garden store in May. The seed catalogues also offer a wider range of plants and colors.
Go to your garden center and say you want to start seeds, and they will offer time- and labor-saving options. You can buy soil mixes with fertilizer (called "medium"), plantable pots made from peat, even pre-sewn containers. Kits that include lights, shelves and flats are available for $80-100. Do-it-yourselfers can fill egg cartons and yogurt containers with potting mixes. Sufficient light is key to success. I recommend grow-lights, specifically 40-watt tubes, 6 inches above the flats. You want temperatures of 70-75˚ during germination, then 50-60˚ for the seedlings. Some recommend the top of the refrigerator for germination, then lights once the seedling emerges. You can also buy "heat mats," a sort of heating pad for germinating seed.
The back of the seed packet is a valuable reference for planting. Don't start too early. Tamp down the soil, sprinkle the seeds, and cover them with another quarter-inch of soil. Or, if you want to take some time now to save re-planting later, don't sprinkle but carefully place pairs of seeds, two to three inches apart. Then water, but don't overdo it. When you finish the medium should be moist but not soggy. Cover with a plastic sheet.
For a while, all you have to do is turn the lights on and off, and keep the medium moist. The plants should get about 12 hours of light each day. When green shoots show, take off the plastic. When leaves appear, after 4-6 weeks, fertilize with liquid feed at one-half strength, repeating every 10 days thereafter. If you went with the "paired seed" method, snip off the weaker plant. If you went with the sprinkle method, check if the plants are too close together. If so, transplant to a bigger container, being careful not to let the roots dry out.
One week before the move to the garden start hardening off the plants. Take the containers outside for a couple of hours, increasing the time each day. Just don't leave them out overnight if the temperature is expected to drop below 50.
April 15 is our last frost date. For instructions on replanting outside, again, consult the seed packet. The soil should crumble in your fingers. Prepare it with compost such as leaf-mould. Insert the plants as deep as they were in the container, being careful not to damage roots. Pinch off the growing tip to encourage robust, bushy growth.
 Some popular annuals that can be grown from seeds and can be started early indoors are lantana, geranium, verbena, impatiens and salvia. You can start these in the second or third week of February. You can make an earlier start-the last week of January-with vegetables like cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. They will be ready to transplant outdoors in early April because they can withstand frost. Check the seed packet or a reference search such as mobot.org for specific timing.
The best way to get seeds is from the catalogues that proliferate in January. They are stored in climate-controlled warehouse.
(Continued in next column)
|
|
|
They are stored in climate-controlled warehouse. Garden centers are liable to make the error of keeping their seed packets in the shop, where it's too warm. Have fun!
Claire Cain Linzee
EDITOR'S NOTES
For the less experienced gardener who has never started seeds indoors and will need supplies to get started, Garden Heights Nursery in Richmond Heights is good "one stop shopping" for most of what you need. If you aren't comfortable ordering from one of the gardening supply catalogues that are flooding you because you really need to talk to someone who is knowledgeable, Garden Heights is a good place to start.
Norma wants to clarify watering evergreens in winter. They need to be watered heavily in fall before the ground freezes and anytime through the winter would not hurt. We've put away our hoses but you can be resourceful.
In the October edition of the e-news we did not make it sufficiently clear that Norma plays a much bigger role in the Memorial Day run than as a dedicated runner. She has & continues to play an ongoing key role on the planning committee for the Memorial Day Run. Norma helps makes it all happen!
Plant Sale Notes Some employers allow you to take off a day to do community service. Check what your company's policy is and keep an eye out (on the website & through e-blast messages) for the days we need volunteers to help with potting. Linda usually likes to get started mid-March.
|
|
|
|
VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT
We're grateful to all our volunteers, without whom UCB couldn't operate. As a way of saluting their generosity and capabilities, from time to time we'll spotlight remarkable-even astonishing-individuals.
 | | photo by Cherie Perlow |
Have you noticed the new look of our website, www.ucityinbloom.org?The updated information, frequent screen refreshes and linked e-newsletter are all thanks to one volunteer's technical skill. He saw the site's potential not just for U City in Bloom fans but for home gardeners as well. Where did we find this amazing volunteer? Arno Perlow found us!
Arno's work with the National Weather Service transferred him to St. Louis in 1998, and after three years of living in St. Charles (near the office), he and wife Cherie moved to University City in 2001. He was immediately struck with the diversity of his new neighborhood, the amount of work involved in owning a hundred year-old house...and the beautiful gardens along U City's boulevards, public buildings and parks. "I was so impressed that this work was done primarily by volunteers," he says, "that when I got an envelope in the mail asking for a contribution to U City in Bloom, I responded with a check and an offer to help with web design."
U City in Boom took him up on it, and he set to work on the site. He comments, "It not only gave me the opportunity to play a small part in this worthwhile effort, but I had the pleasure of meeting some of those wonderful people involved with the organization."
The many changes that have taken place over the last year and a half are the result of a simple question: "Arno, do you have any ideas for how to add a little more information to the site about what we do and who we are?" Arno was off and running. He's not out of ideas yet; he's just waiting for us to catch up with him.
Arno was also frustrated by our lack of "day of" photos from the 2009 Garden Tour. Nan Rochberg had taken outstanding pre-event photos of the tour gardens, and Arno knew the photos in the 2011 brochure would be just as good. He was so determined to have photos of the tour day that he took some himself. Like the rest of our photographers on that memorable day in September, he had to brave the rain.
After 35 years of federal service that included 19 moves to different states and countries, Arno says he is glad to have settled here: "I love my neighborhood and its people." Retired now, he and Cherie have time to volunteer for community service. Aside from gardening, his interests include soccer, cycling and walking.
"I am grateful to have the time and ability to give back to give back to my community," Arno says, and we're grateful for the skill and imagination he applies to our website.
Thank you, Arno, for your extraordinary energy and commitment!
|
 U Cityinbloom.org
www.ucityinbloom.org
Keep an eye on the UCB website www.ucityinbloom.org for its new look, its Calendar of Events and a U City Weather link! For gardeners and farmers weather is a most important topic! Thanks to our webmaster, Arno Perlow, for all of the time he's spent revising our site.
U City in Bloom now has its own Facebook page. Find us through our website, www.ucityinbloom.org . We hope you will "like" UCB on Facebook where you can keep up with UCB news and learn more about upcoming events. Please invite all your friends to do the same. Leave a message on the wall while you are there.
It is now possible to sign up to receive UCB's e-news by going to our website: www.ucityinbloom.org. Just click on "The Lion and the Rose." The link will take you to Constant Contact. You only have to add your name and email address.
*If you are not receiving the annual mail out newsletter as well as other special event information and would like to please send your name, address and zip code to info@ucityinbloom.org and we will add it to our master mailing list.*
U City in Bloom never sells or shares its email list with anyone and will not send you junk mail.
|
|
Watch for these Dates
April 28th & 29th - U City in Bloom's Spring Plant Sale at Heman Community Center.
Some employers allow you to take off a day to do community service. Check what your company's policy is and keep an eye out (on the website & through e-blast messages) for the days we need volunteers to help with potting. Linda usually likes to get started mid-March.
Reminders for volunteers to help by donating plants that have been split or divided will also be going out through e-blast messages. We will be starting in the early spring and we will keep you informed of how you can help. It will be a busy time of year for U City in Bloom volunteers!
We also wanted to add some important dates for our partner,
The Green Center
The Green Center's
"Nature Play" Programs
Connecting children to nature has beneficial effects on a child's health, development and well being. Worldwide research continues to report that as children continue to have less contact and time outdoors, they lose touch with the natural world. "Nature play" programs reconnect children to nature and offer them experiences to explore, discover and interact with the natural environment.
Many "nature play" programs will take place in our Discovery Garden which became a certified Nature Explore Classroom in 2011!
2012 Winter Programs
Dates Program Topics
Tuesday, January 31..........Birds of Winter
If you look outside your window, what birds do you see? During the winter, you might see a bald eagle or trumpeter swan fly by! Learn about these winter birds and create a fun bird craft to take home.
Tuesday, February 7................ Making Tracks
Whose tracks do these belong to? Learn to identify animal tracks, what they mean and where you can look for them. We will explore the outdoors to discover who has been visiting the Center and create a track stamp to take home.
Tuesday, February 14............... Winter Wildlife
Brrr...it's cold outside! Find out how animals survive our cold winter months and go on a short hike to look for wildlife!
Tuesday, February 21............... Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
Stop to look at the shape of snow flakes and you will discover that each one is different. Create your own snowflake and snack on a snowy sweet treat!
Time: 3:45-5:00pm
Ages: Pre-K through 2nd grade
Cost: $8 per student/ program (includes all materials)
Payment must be received in advance of the registered class.
Pre-registration is required for each program!
To register for a class, contact:
Kathleen Evans at 314-725-8314 X 105 or kevans@thegreencenter.org
|
|
Job Opportunities
Contact Information
To help in the Gardens:
Betsy Sweeny - sweenerd@sbcglobal.net
Fall cleanup, flower bed preparation all year round and bulb planting need lots of hands to get the work done. We need your help working in the 325 public garden locations we have created.
|
|
Contribute
Some employers have a matching gifts program so remember to check it out. It's a painless way to increase your donation to U City in Bloom.
You want to give a friend or family member a gift, but their attics and garages are already too full of stuff. Instead, make a contribution in their name to UCB, to mark a birthday, anniversary or holiday or any other occasion. If a friend or relative has passed away a memorial contribution honors and preserves their name, and is a gift that will benefit the entire community.
We have received a donation in memory of Larry Lieberman from Susan Glassman; in memory of Jane Schaefer's father from Anthony & Judith Kulcsycki; in memory of Mary Lou Tobin from Joan Walker; in memory of Steven Schmalz from Susan Schmalz; in memory of Ariella Rose from Dr. Debra Shatoff; in memory of Barbara Rezny from Harley M Smith; in memory of Mrs. Sherry Witherspoon from La Verne Ford-Williams; and in memory of Helen Peden Johnson from Kaye Abight.
Three contributions were received in honor of Mary Ann Shaw from Laura Street, Sondra Ellis and Helen M. McDonnell; in honor of Diane Davenport from Rosalyn Wykes; in honor of Debby Silverberg's Anniversary from Alan & Debby Silverberg; in honor of Maggie Flood from Judith & Craig Mold; in honor of Alex Trovillion from Deborah Stopsky; in honor of Anne Roever from Fred Roever.
A matching gift for Richard Brickson was received from Jacques Allou.
Thanks to all for these thoughtful contributions,
To make donating more convenient, we've made it possible for you to use MasterCard, Visa, and Discover. Go to our website, www.ucityinbloom.org, for donor information.
|
 Who We Are
U City in Bloom is a volunteer not-for-profit organization that plants and maintains 325 public flower garden locations throughout University City. Started in 1985 by three citizens, U City in Bloom now has over 200 volunteers and a staff of several part-time professional gardeners. Our gardens are located all over University City...in the Civic Plaza, The Loop, at all of our schools, in parks, along major streets, and in quiet neighborhoods all over our city.
|
|
The Lion and The Rose
Editor: Helen Fuller
Co-editor: David Linzee
Lead Writers: David and Claire Linzee
Contributing Writers: Mary Ann Shaw, Linda Ballard, Susan White, Harry Asher, Ted Slegesky
and Mary Fahey
Arborist Consultant: Norma Schechter
|
|
|
|
|
|
