GARDENS CAN OVERCOME ANY CHALLENGE

BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH

AN INDIAN BUTTERFLY LEGEND

    If anyone desires a wish to come true they must capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it.
    Since they make no sound, they can't tell the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit.

    So by making the wish and releasing the butterfly it will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

                                                                                                                  ~Author Unknown

First: that butterfly on an esperanza, above left. It was taken by Tom Clark, one of the most talented nature photographers I've ever seen. No special reason for publishing it other than it made me so happy to look at it.

MOVING ON . . .

I love any garden technique that helps someone cope more successfully with any frustrating roadblocks, whether huge or minor. Thinking here about the challenges faced by those who have issues with bending, reaching, lifting, stamina, heat, cold, etc.

So often we view such challenges as overwhelming problems to solve rather than just using "Occam's razor." If you have used, or been fascinated by, a technique  - no matter how unconventional - used to overcome such gardening challenges, do share!

When the term "horticulture therapy" was adopted decades ago by those using gardening to help with recovery of both physical and mental impairments, I immediately realized that almost everything proposed was also a great technique for lazy gardeners.

For example, bringing plants up to eye level makes it so much easier to water, feed, enjoy and/or harvest than in-ground plantings. "Table" planters so a chair can easily slide underneath helps with standing or stamina problems. 

When I heard the Houston Federation of Garden Club was bringing Bobbie Mason to town to speak on "Garden Walls," I immediately contacted them to see if she would write a Spotlight article for us. 

Truth be told, when Bobbie first wrote me about the "Garden Wall" her Dallas-based Ovilla Garden Club erected and maintains at Dallas Health South Veteran's Hospital, I conjured up a totally wrong mental image.  

I pictured a smaller version of the incredible "wall garden" the Palm Beach Garden Club had erected and maintains at Saks Fifth Avenue in that Florida city. Pictured at center above, this 24 ft. high, 840-square foot vertical garden is filled with almost 11,000 plants. Lovely to look at, but definitely no for lazy (or challenged) gardeners!

But then Bobbie, Texas Garden Club, Inc., Trustee, send me the picture (at right above) of the truly ingenious hospital vertical "planter" that will be one of the many "wall gardens" she'll discuss Friday, Sept. 11, at the free HFGC lecture, 10:45am, at the White Oak Conference Center, 7603 Antoine Dr.

Bobbie calls wall gardens a "forever old idea for gardening in small spaces" and speaks from experience. Her own walls, inside and out, are covered with plants. She notes that these days, whole "walls" for planting can be ordered off the internet, along with all the necessary mechanics.  

If you've been toying with the idea of joining a local area garden club, the Houston Federation of Garden Clubs is the place to start.  www.houstonfederationgardenclubs.org. Since the 1930s, the Federation has been helping garden clubs to best serve their members. Sixty-eight area clubs are now members and, through the Federation, are continually contributing to this community and working with other horticulture organizations.  

The Federation is a member of Texas Garden Clubs, Inc., now a coalition of over 315 Texas area garden clubs, 17 councils and 65 horticultural affiliates. http://texasgardenclubs.org/.

Who else would tell you these things?

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* SNAKES FOR SENIORS?  Not really. Just thought that might draw your eye to a new free ecology-focus program starting Sept. 4 at Jesse Jones Park & Nature Center, 20634 Kenswick Dr., Humble. First Friday Friends, geared to 55+ adults, will open with "Getting to Know Snakes" by Monte Parks. Hey, we all need to be able to identify our local snakes, especially those that love our gardens and why. More titles of this 1-3pm series: hcp4.net/community/parks/jones or 281-446-8588.

*  Brenda's "LAZY GARDENER'S GUIDE" - a when-to-do-what in Greater Houston area gardens - is now available on CD only (pdf file). $20. For a free page of this month's TO-DO list, email Brenda at lazy gardener@sbcglobal.net

WALL GARDENS: A FOREVER OLD IDEA FOR GARDENING IN SMALL SPACES

BY BOBBIE MASON

TEXAS GARDEN CLUBS, INC. TRUSTEE

Ovilia Garden Club, Dallas

You can put wall gardens on the smallest of quaint areas - fences, whole walls and roofs. Each person is only limited by his imagination: A ship with a United States Shaped Wall Garden, A United States Flag, balconies in New Orleans have many beautiful areas that are small, European Cottages have beautiful walls completely covered.

One side of my home has Virginia Creeper folding around to the front walls with beautiful morning glories from my great grandmother. A copper metal picture frame hangs on a west wall with succulents and sedums. Because it is a wooden wall, my husband put a Plexiglas barrier on the back.

Wire hanging baskets cut in half make planters for a deeper plant pocket. Also useful: baling wire from hay for horses. Be very careful when making wall gardens choose plants that have the same water and sun requirements.

The Ovilia Garden Club's Living Wall (pictured above) on the mental health patio at the Dallas Health South Veteran's Hospital, brings much joy to the patrons. It measures 10' x 20', incorporating 160 eight-inch planters. We provide about twenty flats of four-inch plants according to the season.

Everything is organic. Water is provided by a ten-gallon sprayer on wheels. Watch out for hoses with lead, for animals as well as people.

Keeping a wall garden within your imagination is the key to success. If you like orchids, air plats, ferns, succulents and sedum, cactus, trailing ivy or water plants, you only need to consider your location and decorating design preference when choosing your containers. 

You can plant almost any container with something you love. 

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FRI., SEPT. 11: WALL GARDENS IN MANY WAYS WITH SUCCULENTS AND SEDUM 10-12 am, program 10:45-11:30. Speaker: Bobbie Mason, TX Garden Clubs, Inc. trustee. Houston Federation of Garden Clubs, White Oak Conference Center, 7603 Antoine Drive, Houston. Free.