Many of us will soon be out in our yards and gardens trying to hurry spring along. To pass the time as you wait for warmer weather and to help you plan ahead, the library has already purchased new items that may be helpful as you think about gardening and landscaping projects.

Check out the following titles for new thoughts and ideas: “Plantiful: Start Small, Grow Big with 150 Plants that Spread, Self-Sow and Overwinter” by Kristin Gree; “Kiss My Aster” by Amanda Thomsen; “Gardening for the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard” by George Martin Adams; “The Beautiful Edible Garden” by Leslie Bennett; and “Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener” by Joseph Tychonievich.

We also subscribe to the Garden Gate and Organic Gardening magazines as well as several other magazines that feature lawn, garden, and landscaping articles. These resources will definitely get you in the mood for spring and ready to tackle those outdoor projects.

The library continues to hold story time on Mondays at 6:30 p.m., and Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:15 a.m. All programs include stories, interactive music with instruments, rhymes, finger plays, and crafts. Infants to preschoolers and their care providers are invited to attend.

We are celebrating Oscar weekend March 1-2 with “A Red Carpet Affair: All Oscars, All Weekend.” Test your knowledge of Academy Award history and cast your ballot for this year’s nominees. Six movies nominated in various categories for 2014 will be shown on the big screen in the library’s meeting room.  The first five guests at each movie will receive a “Swag Bag.” Movie-goers are welcome to bring their own refreshments. Bookmarks with movie titles, ratings and times are available at the circulation desk.

March 2 is the beloved Dr. Seuss’ birthday. In honor of this famous writer, we will feature his stories, crafts, rhymes and songs during the week of March 3. Our windows are painted and his books and movies are on display. We also have a great display of Dr. Seuss stuffed animals, ornaments and collectibles. The staff will be dressed in hats and ties throughout the week, so if you’d like to come dressed as your favorite Seuss character, we’d love to have you celebrate with us.

The library will host an author talk/book signing for Travis Gulbrandson at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 20. Travis, a local first-time author, will speak on and have his book “The Believers,” available for purchase.

“Book A Librarian” is your best way to get personal help with your eReader and “South Dakota Titles To Go …,” our downloadable books through OverDrive. If you need help setting up your account, downloading, placing holds, or anything else that may take 15-30 minutes, you can book time with librarians and get personalized answers to questions. This is for people who are familiar with their device but might be having a problem doing just one particular thing. Call and ask for Dana, Becky or Tonya when making your appointment.

Readers Anonymous will discuss Jodi Picoult’s book “The Storyteller” at 1 p.m. March 11. This club, which is open to new members, meets the second Tuesday of each month, at the library.

Between the Lines book club will discuss “The Journey of Crazy Horse” by Joseph M. Marshall III on Tuesday, March 18, at 5:30 p.m. This book club, which meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., at the library, is open to new members as well.

During our March Mac and Cheese Madness, we are collecting Mac and Cheese for Food for Fines. Collection dates are March 1-10, with all donations going to the Contact Center.

If you are hoping to catch up on South Dakota history reading during the year of our 125th celebration, look no further than the library. We have what you need!

Thanks to all who attended our focus groups or completed a survey for our strategic planning. I have compiled the results and, over the next few months, will be sharing results with the Library Board and working on a strategic plan for the library. With your help, we will bes able to set goals and move into the future, trying our best to meet the library needs of our service area.

Friends of the Library will hold their monthly book sale on Saturday, March 1, from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friends is always happy to accept gently used books for their sales.

If you’d like to get on our mailing list for our online newsletter, just e-mail kjacobs@sdln.net and type subscribe in the subject line.

Did you know that in 2013, a total of 159,268 people walked through our doors!

You can contact the library at 605-668-5275 or e-mail kjacobs@sdln.net. View us online at http://ycllib.sdln.net, visit us on Facebook by searching Yankton Community Library, or follow us on Twitter @ YanktonLibrary.

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A Garden Kaleidoscope, designed by Vicky Harris, Christelle Ras and Dean Sutton, reflects the design ethos of Gertrude Jekyll.

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Johannesburg – The annual Lifestyle Home Garden Design Show is on at Randpark Ridge and continues until the end of May.

This year’s show takes a look at gardens through the ages that were designed by the legends of landscape design. The landscape icons include Gertrude Jekyll, Roberto Burle Marx, Diarmuid Gavin, Capability Brown, Luis Barragán, Martha Swartz and Kitayama Yasuo.

“Over the past century, their masterpieces of garden design have influenced generations of scholars in this ancient and complex art,” said Lifestyle College principal, Richard Gibb.

The highlights of the show are eight designer gardens built by students of the Lifestyle College. Two additional gardens have been created by lecturers from the Lifestyle College and members of the Guild of Landscape Designers (GoLD), bringing the total number of designer gardens at the show to 10.

“This is a completely different show with a whole new look that challenges the essence of design,” said Gibb.

“The brief given to the student designers to create a garden inspired from a landscape icon was a tough challenge.”

“First staged in 1997, the show was created to give the students of the Lifestyle College a platform for developing their skills in exhibition design and garden installation,” said Lifestyle Home Garden’s Mike Gibbons.

The judges of this year’s show said all the gardens incorporated strong colour, with grey being used to offset the brightness. The traditional penny royal groundcover as well as pink and white gaura is used extensively in all the gardens.

Look out for the garden featuring the unusual tortured willow (Salix matsudana “Tortuosa”) and the old- fashioned favourite, silver birch (Betula alba), which can be seen in two of the gardens.

The judges all agreed that elements of each iconic designer can be seen in each garden, although the students have interpreted them in their own way.

The levels of creativity were remarkable this year and included students welding three standard metal bicycles together to form a sculpture and using wire hanging baskets to create air plant balls.

Best on show

The top award at the show went to A Garden Kaleidoscope designed by Vicky Harris, Christelle Ras and Dean Sutton. Their garden was inspired by the design ideas of British landscaping icon Jekyll, who believed a garden should reveal unexpected views and pictorial surprises.

Jekyll popularised the informal, naturalistic look that we identify with English country gardens today – a tradition that informs gardens in this style around the world.

The judges said the winning garden showed careful attention to detail and an excellent presentation, with one of the male students dressing up as Jekyll, which kept the judges thoroughly entertained.

Second place, and a platinum award at the show, went to the garden entitled Moarography created by Keith Carter, Kelsey Gray, Shannon Gray and Lauren Keeve.

Based on the work of Brendan Moar, this garden is an expression of individuality.

The garden uses recycled, repurposed and upcycled items and objects in new and innovative ways, while never compromising on quality, comfort or style. The garden also incorporates water-wise conservation principles and encourages gardeners to think beyond the ordinary.

Third place and a gold award at the show went to Carmen Arrand, Warren Goode and Kristen Lovell who created a garden entitled Deconstructing the Eye of Martha Schwartz.

Schwartz has been referred to as the Andy Warhol of landscape architecture, in that she challenged the world to think about what a garden should be.

“Should they always have to be green?” she asked. “What’s wrong with using gaudy pink flamingos?”

Against this backdrop and with an element of humour in the garden, the students have created a garden which challenges the eye.

A portfolio of the gardens has been created for the 15th consecutive year to raise funds for the Childhood Cancer Foundation of SA.

The full colour portfolio details all the gardens, providing insight into the rationale behind each one, hard landscaping and plant lists and some tips on how you can achieve the same look in your own garden.

Interested in seeing 10 innovative mini gardens?

* Visit the Lifestyle Garden Design Show. Ends May 31. Lifestyle Home Garden, cnr Beyers Naudé Drive and Ysterhout Ave, Randpark Ridge, Gauteng. Free. Tel: 011 792 5616 or e-mail mike@lifeimp.co.za. www.lifestyle.co.za.

GENERAL GARDENING TIPS

Never be afraid to plant boldly in groups. Repeat a particular plant at regular intervals for greater impact. It helps unify the garden.

Lift and divide evergreen arums if they are crowded. Remove the old leaves and replant in moisture-retentive, composted soil to which a handful of superphosphate has been added. Once the plants have finished flowering, lift deciduous coloured arums and store them in a cool, dry place.

The rose-coloured flowers of the March lily, Amaryllis belladonna, appear in late summer and early autumn before the leaves. Ideal for containers, this is a true bulb that resents disturbance and may not flower for several seasons after transplanting. Keep watch for the lily borer.

Low-growing, clipped hedges provide a living framework for informal plantings in borders. These include Euonymus microphyllus, box (buxus), Abelia Cardinal, ‘Confetti’ and ‘Dwarf Gnome’, Cuphea mexicana ‘White Wonder’ and Euonymous japonicus ‘Microphyllus’. Duranta ‘Sheena’s Gold’ is an all-time favourite for hedging and topiary.

Saturday Star

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After a winter with icicles, sleet and freezing temperatures, gardens are in need of some revitalization and rejuvenation. The Northshore Garden Show and Plant Sale will be held on March 14 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. and on March 15 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds, 1304 Columbia St. in Covington. Hours on Friday have been extended this year so working gardeners can attend.

“The purpose of our Garden Show and Plant Sale is to kick off the spring season by allowing local vendors to display and sell a wide variety of plants and garden art and accessories,” said Ty Guidroz, chairman of the show along with Julie Deus. “We expect about 3,000 people to attend the sale where they can buy items for their gardens and landscape, receive horticultural education from LSU AgCenter experts and St. Tammany Master Gardeners. Proceeds from our sale go towards the Bobby Fletcher Scholarship fund, as well as many horticultural education projects throughout the Parish. Vendors will display plant materials such as gardenia, azalea, fruit trees and vegetables, too much to list. We will have a garden art market place where vendors will have bird houses, bird feeders, bird baths, wooden furniture plus much more.”

Committee members include Susie Andres, Peggy Goertz, Pam Peltier, Rodney Cross, Wes Goostrey, Kappy Goodwin, Judy Wood, Cindy Manger, Barbara Moore, Lisann Cheaney, Eileen Gremillion, Dede Hanby, Chris Stellingworth, Anne Ciggali, Debi Schoen, Lyn Monteleone, Donna Dicahrry, Kathleen Guidry, Susan L’Hoste, Linda Deslatte, Glenda Nanz, Karla Partridge, Bob Doolittle, Kay Hanson and Pete Hanson.

Gardening and landscaping enthusiasts also will find camellias; hardwood trees; ferns; hanging baskets; herbs; ornamental flowers, both perennials and annuals; vegetable plants such as tomatoes, bell pepper, squash and mirlitons; blueberry bushes; exotic plants; tropical plants; ceramic pots; wooden swings and outdoor furniture; yard art; pine straw and pine straw rakes.

There will be a Plant Corral available free of charge, where shoppers can leave their purchases until they are ready to leave. Plan to bring plant-related problems to plant pathologist Nick Singh, “the Plant Doctor.” There also will be a booth sponsored by the Master Gardeners, with activities for children.

On March 14, speakers at the Garden Show will include Mariah Brock, associate county agent for St. John Parish, speaking at 10 a.m. about Conventional and Organic Insect Control for the Home Gardener; Allen Owings, LSU AgCenter professor/director of the Hammond Research Station presenting 20 Considerations for 2014 Garden/Landscape at noon; Scotty May, county agent for Washington Parish speaking about Watermelons in the Home Garden at 2 p.m.; and Dan Gill, LSU AgCenter consumer horticulturalist talking about Ornamental Grasses for Your Landscape at 4 p.m.

On March 15, presentations will include Chefs Nealy and Keith Frentz of Lola Restaurant doing a cooking demonstration at 10 a.m.; plant breeder Buddy Lee speaking about Southern Living Plant Varieties at noon; and Ron Strahan, LSU AgCenter professor talking about Weed Control and Plant Care at 2 p.m.

St. Tammany Parish Master Gardeners will present Table Talks about Culinary Herbs, Old Garden Roses and Birdscaping on March 14. Topics on Saturday

March 15 will include Softwood Propagation, Birdscaping and Steps to Become a Master Gardener.

Admission to the Northshore Garden and Plant Sale is $5 and includes free parking. For information, call 875.2635. Last year, about 2,500 people attended the event.