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Garden Tips: Gardeners have taste for heirloom tomatoes

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New garden catalogs are arriving daily, telling me that it is time to start planning this year’s garden. Spring must be around the corner!

Of course tomatoes are at the top on my list of vegetables to grow. There is nothing like a homegrown tomato fresh from the garden. If you plan to grow your own veggie transplants, now is when you ought to be ordering seeds and getting ready to plant. Tomato seeds should be planted about six weeks before the anticipated date of planting outdoors.

When perusing seed catalogs, notice modern hybrid varieties, such as Burpee’s Better Boy or Big Boy, are not as popular as they once were. Today’s gardeners are clamoring for heirloom varieties because of their full flavor and attractive fruit of various colors and shapes. Specialty mail-order seed companies and even mainstream companies are offering an expanding list of heirloom tomatoes.

Modern hybrid tomato varieties were bred primarily for commercial field production. Breeders sought firm, uniform, deep red fruit and resistance to soil pathogens. They did not focus on flavor. As a result, some of the flavor we desire in a fresh tomato was lost during their development.

Heirloom tomatoes are older varieties that have been passed from one generation to another. Unlike modern hybrid tomatoes, heirlooms are open pollinated. The prime reason for the “growing” interest in heirlooms is their flavor. Many folks feel that heirlooms have more of the robust tomato taste.

Specialty mail-order seed companies that specialize in tomatoes are a good place to look for tomato varieties to grow. Totally Tomatoes (totallytomato.com) is offering a new series of tomatoes called the “Wild Boar Series” that are new introductions from a small organic farmer and breeder. The series is the result of crosses the farmer made from his favorites among hundreds of heirlooms and hybrids, and selecting the resulting crosses for their extreme flavor, interesting appearance and coloring.

Tomato Growers Supply (tomatogrowers.com) offers more than 500 varieties of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Tomato Fest (tomatofest.com) only offers organically grown heirloom tomatoes with a list of a 600 varieties including paste, dwarf, determinant, heart-shaped and, of course red, orange, yellow, green, striped, brown, purple and even blue varieties.

Many seed companies, even the big-name seed catalogs (like Burpee), are offering grafted tomatoes. A grafted tomato is one that has been fused together via the propagation method of grafting. This involves placing a desirable variety (scion) on top the roots of a different variety (rootstock). The scion grows into the upper part of the plant and produces fruit of the desirable variety. The rootstock grows into the root system and imparts that variety’s characteristics to the roots.

While heirlooms may have better tasting fruit, the plants lack resistance to certain soil pathogens bred into most modern hybrids. Grafted tomatoes allow tomato growers to grow tasty heirloom tomatoes on rootstock that is resistant to certain soil diseases. Many of these rootstocks also improve plant vigor and productivity.

So do not procrastinate, decide what to you want to grow and order your seed or grafted plants now.

— Marianne C. Ophardt is a horjticulturist for Washington State University Benton County Extension.

New construction in West Clay Park includes classical design, terraced garden

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In densely populated San Francisco, newly built single-family homes are an uncommon commodity. Much of the city’s booming construction centers around high-rise luxury condominiums and restoring older homes. But at 107 24th Ave. in West Clay Park, a tri-level contemporary home with classical design has sprouted from a previously vacant lot next to Lobos Creek.

Teak and stone floors grace the residence, which features a variety of ceiling types, intricate millwork and peekaboo views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Located near Sea Cliff, West Clay Park is a compact community of mostly level streets where moms jog with strollers and dog walkers line the sidewalks. Set in a gently sloping lot is a four-bedroom tri-level home replete with classical designs and custom finishes. The various ceiling types play off the teak floors and large windows to create a lavish space that’s both elaborate and practical. The chef’s kitchen includes marble counters and a hot water tap above the cooktop, while the master bathroom includes a jetted tub looking out at Marin and a walk-in shower with a Rain Head showerhead and multiple body sprayers.

The newly built luxury residence is set between the childhood home of famed photographer Ansel Adams and a public right-of-way to Lobos Creek. The Presidio is essentially steps away, as are the upscale and picturesque homes of Sea Cliff. Jogging and bike trails winding alongside the Pacific Ocean are nearby, and the Golden Gate Bridge is but a few streets away.

The exterior of the home is highlighted by expansive banks of windows, copper gutters and a windowed garage door crafted from carved wood. The covered entryway leads to double entry doors adorned with intricate carvings of scallop shells and geometric shapes. Stone floors with radiant heating line the entry level, which includes a family room and the fourth bedroom. The family room includes a wet bar, as well as access to the lowest level of the terraced patio. Though staged as a home office, the room opposite the family room includes a closet and could be used as a bedroom.

Up the staircase with teak steps and a detailed banister is the second floor, which hosts the public rooms and a spacious library that could easily serve as a fifth bedroom. The 18-foot by 20-foot dining room includes a coffered ceiling, and the moldings along the entryway to the room resemble details found on simplified Corinthian columns. Sliding doors off the kitchen open to the highest point of the tri-level terraced yard and provides a place for al fresco dining.

Outside, the backyard includes a small reflecting pool with waterfall feature, and the lot beside the home is currently open land.

On the opposite side of the main level is the living room, which overlooks Lobos Creek and includes both bay and transom windows, teak floors and a gas fireplace with hardwood mantel.

Three bedrooms, including a master suite with sitting room and fireplace, complete the top level. All three bedrooms on the top floor offer en suite bathrooms and the two smaller bedrooms are separated by the laundry room. A spacious dressing room in the master suite is set against one of the bedrooms, ensuring none of the top-floor bedrooms share a wall.

Crowning the home is a finished attic that spans the length of the house. Partially illuminated by skylights, the space could act as a storage area or child’s play place.

Designing community gardens

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The Society of Garden Designers awards are the industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, bestowing accolades upon the very best of UK garden design. This year the proceedings featured a stream of images of domestic dream gardens, revealing the wealth of creativity that designers apply in sculpting private plots, to realise owners’ aspirations through finely honed hardscape and inspirational planting.

But a more social sensibility was also in evidence, in the newly-introduced designing for community space award, which acknowledges the importance of design in creating places to accommodate diverse communal needs. The award is a timely recognition of the pressures put on public space by the inexorable rise of urban density, and the benefits that sensitive placemaking can offer, in bringing people together with nature, and with each other. As SGD chair Juliet Sargeant commented, “Regular access to nature increases health and wellbeing, reduces crime and fosters community cohesion. It is essential to protect and develop the green spaces in our towns and cities in order provide a sustainable future and make places where people want to live”.

The award went jointly to Gibbon’s Rent, a neglected alleyway in London Bridge transformed into a colourful and much loved urban oasis by landscape designer Sarah Eberle and Australian architect Andrew Burns, and the Montpelier Community Nursery garden in Camden, a playspace by garden designer Jackie Herald, which embraces and compliments a small wooden nursery designed by AY Architects.


Montpelier Community Garden Nursery in Camden, London
Montpelier Community Garden Nursery in Camden, London. Photograph: Daniel Stier

The significance of the prize was apparent in the winning designers’ responses to it. Eberle, a multi-RHS medal and best in show winner at the Chelsea flower show, was especially thrilled “to get recognition for a ‘gritty’ and relatively low cost urban project, particularly such a small space that directly improves the lives of the immediate community”. Herald found it “extremely rewarding to receive accolades from professional peers for a garden that has community cohesion, enjoyment, and a green agenda at its heart”.

Obviously community gardens are nothing new, but considered design has all too often been conspicuous by its absence. While many community gardens have undoubtedly proved successful employing a pragmatic hands-on approach, a more strategic design can take things a step further, providing an opportunity to create maximum user flexibility, reduce maintenance, ensure sustainability and future proof places against unforeseen, potentially resource-draining circumstances.

It’s something that I am acutely aware of, and actively engaged with, as a director of Cityscapes, a garden festival dedicated to transforming public spaces through temporary and permanent urban garden design interventions. It is pleasing to see the SGD’s new award puts design firmly to the fore, especially as we were one of the delivery partners of Gibbon’s Rent, along with The Architecture Foundation Team London Bridge and Southwark Council.

The flexibility of Gibbon’s Rent shows just how design can be employed to create an engaging environment. The design features a series of large concrete drainage pipes, which Eberle has utilised as planters filled with an exotic array of plants, providing a year-round sensory experience. Surrounding these are various sized plant pots, placed and moved around by local residents, continually modifying the site according to their horticultural needs and seasonal interests.

Since opening in June 2012, the garden has become fitfully inhabited by local residents and businesses for a wide variety of uses, including food growing, sunflower competitions and carol singing. St Mungo’s Putting Down Roots gardening project for the homeless, provides further community interaction by ensuring quality year round maintenance.

The project took a fresh approach to creating public spaces, cultivating not only a garden in a previously barren urban space, but also a community of gardeners, with funding from both public and private sectors, and collaboration between cultural organisations, international designers and local residents.

Such new models of multi-stakeholder engagement offer opportunities for both designers and communities to work together, responding to specific sites and local needs, to create places that are both aesthetically appealing and functionally flexible. The very kind of well designed spaces that the SGD will certainly be looking forward to celebrating with their award in the future.

• Darryl Moore is a landscape designer, garden writer and director of Cityscapes.

Great Big Home + Garden Show offering displays, demonstrations

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1/30/2014 – West Side Leader
     

By Maria Lindsay

CLEVELAND — The 2014 Great Big Home + Garden Show will return to the Cleveland I-X Center Feb. 8-16 with more than 1,000 home industry experts and 650 exhibits to explore, according to organizers.

Presented by Carrier®, the event will feature home improvement ideas and appearances by home and garden celebrities.

“The Great Big Home + Garden Show is a must-see for homeowners wanting to check out the latest trends, be inspired or get advice from the area’s leading home improvement experts,” said Show Manager Rosanna Hrabnicky. “With more than 1,000 experts under one roof, attendees will find what they need to turn their home and garden dreams into a reality.”

Produced by Solon-based Marketplace Events, the event will offer visitors the opportunity to shop for home improvement contractors, lawn and garden services and equipment, home décor and other products and services to transform homes or gardens, according to organizers.

Among the new features and attractions this year are:

  • Perrino Builders Interiors will return for a second year to build the Idea Home that will inspire visitors with ideas for building, remodeling and decorating their own homes. [See related story below.] A Vacation Home built by Weaver Barns also will be on hand. Landscaping surrounding the homes will be provided by Morton’s Landscaping.
  • Belgard Hardscapes Inc. will feature outdoor living spaces.
  • There will be several Networking Nights throughout the show.
  • A Home Depot Kid’s Workshop will offer children an opportunity to build something and take home an orange workshop apron.

According to event officials, returning favorites to the show will include:

√ The Garden Showcase will feature international-themed gardens created by Northeast Ohio landscapers. These gardens will represent exotic locations from around the world and will be partnered with local restaurants that will offer samples during special tasting events Feb. 10 and 11 from 4 to 8 p.m.

√ The fully constructed Dream Basement will showcase a large audio visual theater designed by Xtend Technologies and will be surrounded by low-maintenance landscaping created by Morton’s Landscaping.

√ The combined Main Stage and Loretta Paganini Cooking Stage will offer attendees home improvement celebrity appearances with the opportunity to taste and enjoy food.

√ The show also will feature Celebrity Designer Rooms, the Petitti Gardening Stage with gardening seminars and outdoor furniture and plants for purchase, and the Playground Worlds’ KidsZone, which will feature a variety of safe, high-quality playground equipment and giveaways for parents.

Celebrity appearances, which will appear on the show’s Main Stage, will include: DIY Network and HGTV’s “Yard Crashers and Turf War” host Ahmed Hassan, Feb. 8-9; History Channel’s “American Pickers” co-star Frank Fritz, Feb. 15; Food Network’s “Next Food Network Star” and “Cupcake Wars” cooking personality Emily Ellyn, Feb. 8-9; and HGTV’s “Room by Room” creator and co-host Matt Fox, who also produced and cohosts the “Around the House with Matt and Shari” series.

Also during the event, the Cambria Bistro will offer full-service dining, located around the Garden Showcase.

More details about the show are available at www.greatbighomeandgarden.com.

Great Big Home + Garden Show hours are Feb. 8 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Feb. 9 and 16 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Feb. 10-14 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Tickets for adult admission cost $14 at the Box Office; $11 through the website or at Discount Drug Mart and AAA locations; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older with identification; and $9 each for groups of 20 or more. Tickets are $5 for children ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and younger.

The I-X Center is located at One I-X Center Drive.

     

What’s Happening for FEBRUARY (Updated JAN. 31)

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Send events of community interest in South Mississippi to mynews@sunherald.com or fax to 896-2104. Please label “What’s Happening.”

FRIDAY

Guide to Growing Your Business Expo: 8 a.m., Knight Nonprofit Center, 11975 Seaway Road, Biloxi. Hosted by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce. Attendees will have access to various business resource partners who offer services to help start and expand businesses. Details: 604-0014.

Hancock Chamber annual membership meeting: 8 a.m., Diamondhead Country Club.

Gulfport Biloxi Regional Airport Authority meeting: 9 a.m., 14035 L Airport Road, Gulfport. Details: 863-5951.

Free Diabetes Management session: 1-3 p.m., Pascagoula Library, 3214 Pascagoula St.. Information from healthcare professionals and advice for better diabetes management. Instructor: Linda Gwaltney. Details: 769-3060.

Free Friday Night at Lynn Meadows Discovery Center: 5-8 p.m., 246 Dolan Ave., Gulfport.

Ocean Springs Elks Lodge #2501 fish dinner: 5-7:30 p.m., 2501 Beachview Drive. Cost: $10 adults, $5 ages 5-12. Details: 872-2501.

Bringing the Delta to the Gulf Coast: 6-7:30 p.m., Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center, 1600 Government St., Ocean Springs. Delta Blues Presentation by Robert Terrell with musical guest ‘Bud’ Welch. Open blues jam session. Presented by The University of Southern Mississippi.

American Legion Post 1992 Itlaian Cuisine night: 6-8 p.m., 3824 Old Spanish Trail, Gautier. Entertainment: Dave and Dee. Details: 497-6422.

“Period of Adjustment” auditions: 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 and noon Feb. 1, Bay St. Louis Little Theatre, 398 Blaize Ave. Roles available for four adult males ages 20s to 60s and four adult females ages 20s to 60s. Show opens March 21. Details: 216-4906.

“The Boys Next Door”: 8 p.m. Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2 p.m. Feb. 2, 8 p.m. Feb. 6-8, Biloxi Little Theatre, 200 Lee St., Biloxi. Cost: $15, $12 seniors, students, active duty military. Details: 432-8543.

Amour Danzar dance: 8-10 p.m., 9355 County Farm Road, Gulfport. Cost: $10. Casual dress. 324-3730.

Public ice skating: 10 p.m., Mississippi Coast Coliseum, 2350 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Details: 594-3700.

SATURDAY

TatoNut 17 mile family bicycle ride: 9:00a.m., Marshall Park, 1000 Washington Ave, Ocean Springs. Raffle and donuts. Details: 348-1635.

Long Beach Farmers Market: 9 a.m.-noon, Feb. 1, 8, 15 and 22, 125 Jeff Davis Ave., Long Beach. Sustainably grown, seasonal local produce, artisan breads, dairy, honey, eggs and more. Live acoustic music by the farmers market band.

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s preschool clay class: 10:30-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-1:30 p.m., Ceramic Studio. 386 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Ages 2-7, Cost: $10, Details: 374-5547.

Hope Haven second annual Oyster Throw-Down: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., 720 U.S. 90, Waveland. Teams will compete in cooking categories of grilled oysters, soups and stews. Live entertainment and silent auction. Cost: $12 adults, $6 ages 8-12 and free for ages 8 and under. Details: 466-6395.

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s Mardi Gras clay class: 2:30-4:30 p.m., Ceramics Studio, 386 Beach Blvd, Biloxi. Ages 12 and older, Cost: $20, Will design masks of clay with feathers, jewels, and ribbons, Details: 374-5547.

American Legion Post 33 grand opening: 6 p.m., 1126 Judge Sekul. Biloxi.

Arts Under the Dome: 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 15th Street and 24th Avenue, Gulfport. Mithril will perform traditional Celtic music, American folk and rock, classical, East European and Middle Eastern. Tickets: $15 adults, $10 students. Details: 229-6851.

Third annual Mardi Gras Gala: 7 p.m.-midnight, Bay St. Louis Community Hall, 301 Blaize St. Featuring music by Pat Murphy The Jumpin’ Jukes of Mississippi, and Dave Mayley on DJ. Art contest, cooking, auctions and more. Benefit for the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Hancock County. Cost: $40. Tickets and details: 344-0419.

Fleur De Lis Society Club dance: 8 p.m.,-midnight, The French Club, 182 Howard Ave., Biloxi. Entertainment: Nick Mattina and the Checkmates. Cost: $8 single, $15 couple. Details: 436-6472.

Belles and Buoys Square Dance: 8-10 p.m., Lyman Senior Citizen Center, 14592 County Farm Road, Gulfport. Callers: Tony DiGeorge and Oscar Sill. Details: 596-5362.

SUNDAY

Ocean Springs Elks Lodge 2501 breakfast: 9-11 a.m., 2501 Beachview Drive. Menu: Eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits and gravy. Cost: $6. Details: 872-2501.

Chinese New Year celebration: 11 a.m., Phu Hau Vietnamese Buddhist Temple, 8900 Daisy Vestry Road, Biloxi. Traditional dance and sing along with a dragon dance and fireworks. Details: 547-1049.

MONDAY

AARP Smart Driver Class: 9 a.m., Orange Grove Library. Upon completion of the for hour class, seniors may be eligible for a discount on their automobile insurance. Details: 432-7816.

Blood Drive: 1-6:30 p.m., Belk entrance, Edgewater Mall, 2600 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code EWMALL, Details: redcrossblood.org,

Fleur De Lis Society Club’s Women Auxiliary meeting: 6 p.m., 182 Howard Ave., Biloxi. Details: 436-6472.

TUESDAY

At Ease Gang meeting: 7 a.m., Infinity Buffet, Treasure Bay Casino, 1980 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Guest speaker: Sandra Andrade, senior counselor with Department of Mississippi Rehabilitation Services. Details: 214-6018.

Second annual Diamondhead Birthday celebration: 5:30-6 p.m., 5000 Diamondhead Circle. Mayor Thomas Schafer will present the 2014 State of the City at 6 p.m. city council meeting.

Science Cafe — The History and Science of Bagpipes: 6-7:30 p.m., dining hall, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, 703 E. Beach Drive, Ocean Springs. Presenter: William Muzzy. Details 872-4213.

Thai Cooking Class: 6-8:30 p.m., Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave, Gulfport. Menu: Thai silver noodle salad, green curry chicken and dumplings in coconut milk. Cost: $30 members, $35 nonmembers. Details: 897-6039.

AARP Smart Driver workshop: 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Ocean Spring library, 525 Dewey Ave. Completion of class may qualify each participant for discounted auto rates. 50 years and older, Cost: $20 nonmembers, $15 members. Details: 861-3199.

AARP Smart Driver workshop: 9:30 a.m- 1:30p.m., Pascagoula library, 3214 Pascagoula St. Completion of class may qualify each participant for discounted auto rates. 50 years and older. Cost: $20 nonmember, $15 members. Details: 861-3199.

NAACP Gulfport Branch meeting: 7 p.m., Isaiah Fredericks Community Center, 3312 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Details: 868-1268.

WEDNESDAY

Gulf Coast Symphony Guild’s meeting: 10 a.m., St. John Episcopal Church, 705 Rayburn Ave., Ocean Springs. Program of vocal, piano, and violin selections by Emily and Jayne Edwards. Details: 872-2936.

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s class for seniors: 10:30-11:30 a.m., 386 Beach Blvd, Biloxi. Cost: $3. Instructor: Marge Michoud. Craft of the creations of cards, origami, envelopes, and paper. Details: 374-5547.

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s glass mosaics: 1-3 p.m., Creel House Studio, 386 Beach Blvd, Biloxi. Ages 15 and older, Cost: $145, Four week class using the Smalti technique. Learn the basics of working with mosaics, tile, design, layout, application, Details: 374-5547.

Mississippi Federation of Council for Exceptional Children conference: 5 p.m. 3k sunset walk, conference Feb. 5-7, walk begins at IP Casino Resort, 850 Bayview Avenue and ends at Mardi Gras museum, 119 Rue Magnolia, Biloxi. Details: 332-0256.

THURSDAY

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s Valentine clay carving: 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Ceramics Studio, 386 Beach Blvd, Biloxi. Cost: $10. Details: 374-5547.

Business 101 series: 5:30-7:30 p.m., 1636 Popp’s Ferry Road, Biloxi. Topic: Think Like an Entrepreneur. Sponsored by the Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center. Details: 396-8661.

Third annual Words and Music Community Culture Series: 7 p.m. Pass Christian Public Library, 111 Hiern Ave. Storytelling presentation “Robert Johnson at the Crossroads”. Presenters: Wendy Garrison and Rebecca Jernigan. Details:452-4596.

“Fences”: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6-8, 2 p.m. Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12-15, 2 p.m. Feb. 16, 240 Eisenhower Drive, Biloxi. Cost: $16 adults, $13 students, seniors, and military. Details: 388-6258.

FEB. 7

AARP Smart Driver workshop: 12:30-5 p.m., Moss Point Library, 4119 Bellview Ave. Completion of class may qualify each participant for discounted auto rates. 50 years and older. Cost: $20 nonmember, $15 members. Details: 861-3199.

Finally First Friday: 5-7 p.m., Rue Magnolia and Howard Avenue, Biloxi.

First Friday: 6-9 p.m., 1804 Nicholson Ave., Waveland. Food, drink and artist. Details: treasuresofthebay.net.

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s acrylic painting: 6-8:30 p.m., Creel House Studio, 386 Beach Blvd, Biloxi. Ages: 18 and older, Cost: $35. Wear appropriate clothing. Instructor: Susan Vaughan. Details: 374-5547

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s date night: 6-8:30 p.m., Ceramic Studio, 386 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Ages: 18 and older. Cost: $25. Throw pots on the pottery wheel, keep two and instructors will glaze and fire them. Pots will be ready in two weeks for pick up. Details: 374-5547.

Ocean Springs Elks Lodge 2501 dinner: 6:30-8:00 p.m., 2501 Beachview Drive. Choice of steak or dinner. Details: 872-2501.

Belles and Buoys 36th annual Mardi Gras Festival: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7-8, Woolmarket Community Center, 16320 Old Woolmarket Road, Biloxi. Callers: John and Deborah Carroll-Jones. Cuer: Pauline Angress. Early Rounds. Details: 596-5362.

Amour Danzar Friday night dance: 8-10 p.m., 9355 County Farm Road, Gulfport. Casual dress. Cost: $10 per person. Details: 324-3730.

AARP Tax Services: 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Pass Christian Library, 111 Hiern Ave. Service is free to low-moderate income taxpayers 60 years and older. Details: 452-4596.

FEB. 8

Tops of the Hops Beer Festival: Mississippi Coast Convention Center, Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Unlimited sampling of the craft beers from around the world combined with food, music and games. Cost: $35 general admission.

Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church Fifth annual Heart Walk: 8:00 a.m. registration, 9 a.m. walk, 4007 Suzanne Drive, D’Iberville. Details 392-6899.

AARP Smart Driver workshop: 9:30 a.m- 1:30p.m., St. Martin Public Library, 15004 Lemoyne Blvd., Biloxi. Completion of class may qualify each participant for discounted auto rates. 50 years and older. Cost: $20 nonmember, $15 member. Details: 861-3199.

Keep Waveland Beautiful meeting: 10 a.m., Central Fire Station, third floor Training Center, U.S. 90, Waveland. Felder Rushing will share ideas about landscaping, gardening approaches and insight on the coast with knowledge of cultivation on locally-adapted plants. Donation: $10.

Engineering is Elementary: 10 a.m.-noon, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave, Gulfport. Hands on activities and home kit provided. Recommended for third through fifth grade. Cost: $10, Details: 897-6039.

Adventure Games Day: 10 a.m.- 9 p.m., Gautier Community Center. 2101 Library Lane, Gautier. Details: 249-6782.

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity annual blood drive: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., next to Belk, Edgewater Mall, 2600 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. In honor of Dr. Charles Drew. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code OMEGAS. Details: redcrossblood.org.

Introductory Creative and Experimental Drawing Workshop: 1-4 p.m., Pass Christian Public Library, 111 Hiern Ave. Local artist will be teaching young adults an introduction to drawing, no experience required. $5 per person for supply costs, Class size is limited. Details: 452-4596.

Jerry Jenkins concert: 2-3 p.m, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave., Gulfport. Drummer presents West African music. Made possible by a grant from MS Arts Commission and The MS Humanities Council. Details: 897-6039.

Second Saturday Artwalk: 4-8 p.m., Bay St. Louis. Sponsored by the Old Town Merchants Association. Art, music and food. Details: 463-2688.

Dickey’s Barbecue eating competition: 5:30 p.m., 3821 Promenade Parkway,, D’Iberville. Sign up prior to the event. Details: 831-224-5615.

Mary C. O’Keefe Winter Wine down: 7-10 p.m., Gulf Hills Hotel, 13701 Paso Road, Ocean Springs. This wine tasting competition will focus on Pinot Noir. Teams will bring their favorite Pinot Noir to be entered in the competition. Cost: $140 per team of 4.

Fleur De Lis Society ladies auxiliary Mardi Gras Ball: 7:30 p.m.-midnight, 182 Howard Ave., Biloxi. Entertainment: Undercover. Proper attire/ no jeans. Cost: $10. Details: 436-6472.

The House Katz concert: 8 p.m., 100 Men Hall, 303 Union St., Bay St. Louis. Cost: $15. Details: 342-5770.

FEB. 9

“Three Generations of Paint” reception: 2-4 p.m., The Side Porch Gallery, 953-A Howard Ave., Biloxi. Featuring Abraham Frey, Herb Willey and George Rothering. The exhibit will be open for the public until March 29. Details: 374-9504.

Jazz Society Jam Session: 2-5 p.m., Gulfport Elks Lodge 978, 12010 Klein Road, Gulfport. Adults only, casual dress dance, Cost: $6 nonmembers. Details: 392-4177.

Champagne and Chocolate: 2-5 p.m., 1501 Beach Blvd., Pascagoula. Presented by the Anola Club. Silent auction, door prizes, chocolates and champagne. Money will allow the club to provide scholarships to graduating seniors from local high schools. Details: 769-6718.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Gulf Coast Alumnae Chapter 101st Founders Day Celebration: 3 p.m., Victory International Christian Center, 8401 Ocean Springs Road, Speaker: Maxine Conway. Theme: Uncompromising Commitment to Communities. Details: 596-4265.

feb. 11

Blood drive: 2-7 p.m., cafeteria, Pass Christian High School, 720 W. North Street. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code PASSHIGH, Details: redcrossblood.org.

Mississippi Business Women/ Gulf Coast’s annual state meeting: 6 p.m., Gulf Coast Myofascial, 2429 W. Commerce St, Suite C, Ocean Springs. Details: 238-1529.

Chase the Valentine’s Crush cooking class: 6-8:30 p.m., Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave., Gulfport. Menu: Tastings of various olive oils and vinegars, roasted fresh gulf Shrimp, and raspberry and dark chocolate Artisan marshmallows. Cost: $30 members, $35 nonmembers. Details: 228-897-6039.

feb. 12

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s creative storytime: 11 a.m.-noon., 386 Beach Blvd, Biloxi. Instructor: Julia Reyes. Students will create Valentine’s Day cards. Details: 374-5547

Blood drive: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., bloodmobile, 1303 S. Market St., Pascagoula. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code STATEFARMPASC Details: redcrossblood.org.

Fleur De Lis Society men’s meeting: 7 p.m., 182 Howard Ave., Biloxi. Welcoming new members to join French descent. Details: 436-6472.

feb. 13

Parents and Caregivers of Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities meeting: 4:30-6 p.m., Mississippi Center for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities, 4061 Suzanne Drive, D’Iberville. For parents, caregivers, interested family members and individuals. Details: 396-4434.

2014 Gulf Coast Orchid show: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Feb. 14, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Feb. 15, noon- 4 p.m. Feb. 16, Gautier Convention Center, 2012 Library Lane. Exhibits, art competition, children’s activities, orchid class and raffle. Details: 474-2500.

Business 101 series: 5:30-7:30 p.m., 1636 Popp’s Ferry Road, Biloxi. Sponsored by the Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center. Topic: Starting a Business- First Steps. Details: 396-8661

Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce annual banquet: 6 p.m., Gulf Hills Hotel and Conference Center Banquet Hall, 13701 Paso Road. Tickets: $35. The presentation will recognize outstanding Chamber members within the community. Awards, music and refreshments. RSVP required. Details: 875-4424.

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s oil painting class: 6:30- 9 p.m., Creel House Studio, 386 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Ages 16 and older. Instructor: Frank Janca. Six week class about the fundamentals and advanced techniques. Cost: $235, Details: 374-5547.

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s wheel throwing: 6-8:30 p.m., Ceramic Studio, 386 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Ages 15 and older. Six week class learn the basics of throwing on the pottery wheel. Instructor: Stacey Johnson. Cost: $175. Details: 374-5547.

Amour Danzar St. Valentines Day pot luck dinner and dance: 7 p.m,, 9355 County Farm Road, Gulfport. Dance will follow dinner. Bring a covered dish. Dress casual, Cost: $20 per person. Details: 324-3730.

Dinner with a Duo: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-15, Oak Crest Mansion Inn, 5267 Menge Ave., Pass Christian. Gulf Coast Symphony Guild’s fundraiser, featuring soprano Kate Sawyer and tenor Richard Sawyer. Spirits auction, raffle, dinner and concert. Tickets: $75. Details: 896-4276.

FEB. 14

AARP Tax Services: 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Pass Christian Library, 111 Hiern Ave. Service is free to low-moderate income taxpayers 60 years and older. Details: 452-4596.

84th annual Valentine Silver Tea: 3-5 p.m., E. Scenic Drive, Pass Christian. Hosted by St. Monica Guild of Trinity Episcopal Church. “Trinity’s Tried and True Cookbook for Body and Soul” will be sold while tea, wine, and coffee will be served with homemade dishes featured in cookbook, cocktail attire. Details: 452-4563 or 216-4714.

“Legally Blonde-The Musical”: 7 p.m. Feb. 14, 3 and 7 p.m Feb. 15, 3 p.m. Feb. 16, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center. 246 Dolan Ave. Gulfport. Cost: $13 general admission, $10 seniors and military, $7 students. Details: 897-6039.

A Valentine Evening to Remember: 7 p.m., Bay St. Louis Little Theatre, 398 Blaize Ave. Songs performed by Lex Mauffray, Jim Duggan and Larry Clark, accompanied by Cathy Henley and Soctt MacDonald. Music, poems, and readings, skits, including dinner. Gulf Coast Writers Association is conducting a love poem contest. To enter, email poem to writerpllevin@gmail.com Entries must be submitted by Feb. 10. Cost: $95 a couple. Details: 467-9024.

Dinner with a Duo: 6:30 p.m. social hour, 7:30 p.m. dinner and concert, Feb. 14-15, Oak Crest Mansion Inn, 5267 Menge Ave., Pass Christian. Featuring Kate Fleming Sawyer, soprano; and Richard Sawyer, tenor, accompanied by Michaelle Harrison, pianist. Cost: $75 per person. Details: 896-4276 or 832-4588.

feb. 15

Arbor Day disability run: 8 a.m.,-noon, Disability Connection, 700 Pass Road, Gulfport. Details: 870-7775 or 597-7000.

Blood drive: 9 a.m.-2 p.m., bloodmobile, Nutrition Solutions, 2198 Bienville Blvd., Ocean Springs. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code NUTRITIONSOLUTIONS. Details: redcrossblood.org,

Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s Adopt-a-Bowl fundraiser: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 386 Beach Blvd, Biloxi. Art, food, pets, music pet adoptions, doggie kissing booth and games. Half price admission to museum during event. Details: 374-5547.

Soiree on the Bay: 7 p.m., Longfellow Civic Center, 122 1/2 Court St., Bay St. Louis. A live silent and live auction hosted by Holy Trinity Catholic School. Food, drinks and dancing. Details: soireeonthebay2014.com.

Fleur De Lis Society’s Saturday night dance: 8 p.m.-midnight, 182 Howard Ave., Biloxi. Music: by Nick Mattina and the Checkmates, Cost: $15 couples, $8 singles. Details: 436-6472.

FEB. 16

Blood drive: 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Parish Hall, St. Clare Catholic Church. 2365 Beach Blvd., Waveland. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code STCLARE. Details: redcorssblood.org.

FEB. 17

Mississippi Business Women Connections’ meeting: 6 p.m., Ocean Springs Library.

FEB. 18

Blood drive: 8 a.m.- 12:30 p.m., bloodmobile, Chris’ Beauty College, 1265 Pass Road, Gulfport. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code BEAUTY. Presenting donors will receive a coupon for a free haircut. Details; redcrossblood.org.

Negrotto’s 10th annual African American Art and Heritage Celebration: 5:30-7:30 p.m., 2645 Executive Place, Biloxi. Fusion exhibit includes artists, musicians, dancers, writers, poets and others. Details: 388-8822.

Mississippi Business Women’s connections meeting: 6 p.m., Ocean Springs Library, 525 Dewey Ave. Details: 238-1529.

Seafood cooking class: 6-8:30 p.m., Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave, Gulfport. Instructor: Kenneth Jones. Menu: Barbecue shrimp, Trout saltgrass and bananas foster. Cost: $30 members, $35 nonmembers. Details: 897-6039.

FEB. 19

Blood Drive: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Medical Office Building Atrium, Memorial Hospital, 4500 13th Street, Gulfport. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code MEMORIALGPORT. Details: redcrossblood.org.

Third annual Cocktail Classic: 6 p.m., Carter Green Steakhouse, Island View Casino Resort. Presented by Gulfport Chamber of Commerce and Island View Casino Resort. Money raised support Gulfport Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business grant program and scholarships for graduating seniors. Details: 604-0014.

FEB. 20

Blood Drive: 9 a.m.- 2p.m., gym, St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School, 4321 Espy Ave., Long Beach. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code STVINCENT, Details: redcrossblood.org.

Blood Drive: 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., bloodmobile, Triton Systems, 21405 B Ave., Long Beach. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code TRITON, Details: redcrossblood.org.

Business 101 series: 5:30-7:30 p.m., 1636 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi. Topic: How to Develop a Business Plan. Sponsored by the Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center. Details: 396-8661.

Blossom Family YMCA’s Second annual father-daughter dinner: 6 p.m., Gulf Hills Hotel and Conference Center, 13701 Paso Road, Ocean Springs. Ages 5 and older. Reservations include buffet dinner for two, Photobooth pictures, corsage, limo ride and spa time. Cost: $55 a couple for members, $75 nonmembers, $25 additional child, Details: 875-5050.

FEB. 21

AARP Tax Services: 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Pass Christian Library, 111 Hiern Ave. Service is free to low-moderate income taxpayers 60 years and older. Details: 452-4596.

Private Applicator training: 1 p.m., Harrison County Office building, 2315 17th St., Gulfport. Training for private pesticide applicators who wish to obtain certification. Must be 18, Cost: $10. Details: 865-4227.

Blood Drive: 8 a.m.- 1:30 p.m., gym, D’Iberville High School, 15625 Lamey Bridge Road. To schedule appointment, use sponsor code DIBERVILLEHS. Details: redcrossblood.org.

Family cooking class; 6-8:30 p.m., Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave, Gulport. Pete the cat presents cooking with the letter ‘P’. Menu: Parmesan bread sticks, pepperoni pizza and pineapple upside down cake. Cost: $25 one parent and child, additional person $5. Details: 897-6039.

FEB. 22

Pete the cat visit: 11 a.m., Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave, Gulfport. Enjoy singing, dancing and photos with Pete the cat. Cost: $2 members and $11 nonmembers. Details: 897-6039.

Blood Drive: 2-6 p.m., bloodmobile, Papa John’s Pizza, 15258 Crossroads Parkway, Gulfport. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code PAPAJOHNS,

Mardi Gras Mayhem in the Park: 2:30 p.m. bicycle parade registration, 3:30 p.m. parade begins, 2250 Jones Park Drive, Gulfport., Family movie with refreshments and jambalaya cook-off competition. Details: 868-5881.

FEB. 24

Blood Drive: 1-6:30 p.m., Belk entrance, Edgewater Mall, 2600 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code EWMALL, Details: redcrossblood.org.

FEB. 25

Greek cooking class: 6-8:30 P.m., Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Ave. Gulfport. Menu: Greek fried cheese, cucumber dip, beef and potato moussaka and coconut delight. Cost: $30 members, $35 nonmembers. Details: 897-6039.

FEB. 26

Blood Drive: 8 a.m.,-2 p.m., gym, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, 2226 Switzer Road, Gulfport. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code MGCCCJD, Details: redcrossblood.org.

FEB. 27

Blood Drive: 8 a.m.- 2 p.m., library, St. Martin High School, 11300 Yellow Jacket Road. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code STMARTINHS. Details: redcrossblood.org.

Blood Drive: 9 a.m.- 2 p.m., bloodmobile, Virginia College, 920 Cedar Lake Road, Biloxi. To schedule an appointment, use sponsor code VCBILOXI, Details: redcrossblood.org.

Business 101 series: 5:30-7:30 p.m., 1636 Popp’s Ferry Road, Biloxi. Topic: Cash Flow Projections for your Business Plan. Sponsored by the Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center. Details: 396-8661.

Canvas and Mocktails; 6-8 p.m., Beau Rivage Casino and Resort, 875 Beach Blvd., Biloxi. Presented by K J Foundation and Linda Lang Ishee of Canvas and Cocktails. Money raised will go towards purchasing driving simulator to be used by Harrison County School to enhance driving education program. Tickets: $50. Details: 328-3833.

FEB. 28

AARP Tax Services: 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Pass Christian Library, 111 Hiern Ave. Service is free to low-moderate income taxpayers 60 years and older. Details: 452-4596.

Lynn Meadows Discovery Center free Friday night: 8 p.m., 246 Dolan Ave. Gulfport. Details: 897-6039.

Improvements on horizon for El Monte’s Lambert Park

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EL MONTE The city is making lemonade out of lemons, or, perhaps more accurately, lemon trees out of air pollution.

Lambert Park is getting a much-needed facelift thanks in part to a $1.1 million fine paid by the now-defunct iron foundry Gregg Industries to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

New landscaping, picnic shelters, restrooms and a splash pad are potentially on the horizon for the aging park. A small woodland garden and watershed garden are already being built on the park’s corners.

The project is being funded by the Gregg Industries fine as well as $972,000 in state funds obtained by the San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps for watershed rehabilitation projects.

Gregg Industries was cited by the AQMD more than a dozen times last decade for alleged air pollution violations. The foundry closed in 2009, officially because of the recession, though some blamed the AQMD fines. In the end, as part of its settlement with AQMD, the company paid the agency $1.1 million. Because the alleged pollution emitted by the foundry was in El Monte, city officials told AQMD those funds belong in the city.

“We lost 450 jobs, but we got $1 million,” Mayor Andre Quintero said Tuesday as the city council voted to officially receive the funds.

Resident Cosme Jimenez encouraged the council to get community input on the park’s design.

“We haven’t put an improvement in there in 50 years. If you are going to do it, do it right,” he said.

The first phase of the project is already underway — the construction of woodland and watershed gardens, as well as landscaping improvements on the perimeter of the park by the conservation corps. El Monte is using some of the Gregg funds to make urgent repairs to the park, including removing a dead tree, repairing sidewalks and building a picnic shelter.

The city will then actually design the park’s larger renovations, explained parks and recreation director Alexandra Lopez.

Those renovations could include new restrooms, a splash pad, new regulation-size soccer fields, a small office and other amenities depending on funding, Lopez said.

All of the projects could cost an estimated $7 million and will be built in additional phases, Lopez said. The city must decide which to prioritize first to be funded with the remaining Gregg funds.

Officials will then look for grants for the other improvements.

Woodland retreat

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Karin Leonard describes herself as a “guerrilla gardener,” a plant plopper whose goal in her personal outdoor space has always been simple and straightforward: To create something beautiful.

And she has succeeded, even if it has meant taking a few risks, like the Japanese maple she planted. “I knew it was a little iffy, but in a protected place, when the sunlight shines on it, it’s a peak experience,” enthuses the long-time gardener.

“I’ve always loved nature and found solace in nature. I feel so at home in nature,” says Leonard, who is self-employed. She was born in Austria, which she believes gives her a natural affinity for woodland plants. She also advocates organic gardening, and the use of native plants, which she describes as an outgrowth of being a single parent of a special-needs child. “I wanted organic everything, and it was a conscious choice not to use chemicals.”

Over the years, the landscape surrounding her home has provided an opportunity to design beds and borders that are both pretty and practical.

“Little by little over the last 10 to 15 years I’ve planted and added areas and the garden has evolved.

Leonard deliberately set out to make her garden a soothing place. “I feel so at home in the garden, and it’s such a peaceful retreat.”

Several years ago, Matthias Landscaping installed new hardscape that “looks like it has always been here.”

There are no real straight lines in the garden, which creates a better sense of flow, and there are both physical and visual transitions to keep the garden interesting. Tabletop gardens and garden art are finishing touches.

The front porch boasts a pleasant seating area that seems to invite lingering and offers a sense of seclusion.

Plants provide texture and repetition of favorite plants provide continuity. Bloodroot, with its yellow-centered white flowers, is among the first plants to bloom in spring, along with bluebells and maidenhair ferns.

Leonard is also a fan of celandine, a plant in the poppy family, and other favorites include hostas, Asiatic lilies, clematis, Chinese lanterns, cleome, ornamental grasses, Queen Anne’s lace, coleus and succulents. Some plants, such as bloodroot and Chinese lanterns, can be invasive but she keeps them in check. “If they pop up where I don’t want them, I rip them out.”

She especially enjoys the “Intensia” phlox series, and all of her plant choices are easy to care for and look attractive for weeks on end.

“That’s important because I don’t have the time or energy to always be tending it,” she confesses, smiling. “I’m an early riser, and I love being able to walk in my garden and snip flowers to bring in or to pull a few weeds. I walk around with a cup of coffee and see what needs attention.”

Recycling nature: Rustic furniture from garden ‘debris’

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Landscape architect David Hughes is also a skilled woodworker who salvages garden “debris” to make rustic furniture.

Bradley C. Bower/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT

Landscape architect David Hughes is also a skilled woodworker who salvages garden “debris” to make rustic furniture.


Flagstone terrace is featured that David Hughes, of Doylestown, Pa., carved out of the face of a cliff for clients in Upper Black Eddy. (Courtesy David Hughes via Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)

Flagstone terrace is featured that David Hughes, of Doylestown, Pa., carved out of the face of a cliff for clients in Upper Black Eddy. (Courtesy David Hughes via Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)


David Hughes created this 4-foot-tall garden gate using native Eastern red cedar and Moravian tiles. (Courtesy David Hughes via Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)

David Hughes created this 4-foot-tall garden gate using native Eastern red cedar and Moravian tiles. (Courtesy David Hughes via Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT)


PHILADELPHIA — David Hughes, a Doylestown, Pa., landscape architect with an affinity for native flora and natural landscapes, often finds himself ripping out dead, overgrown or otherwise-undesirable plants to make way for new.

But he doesn’t haul that nasty Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese white mulberry, or Norway maple to the dump, curb or chipper. Hughes is that rare soul who prizes what other designers and gardeners despise, more so if it’s scarred by deer browsing, insect damage, or disease.

That’s because, in addition to designing ecologically responsible landscapes in the Philadelphia region, Hughes, 46, is a skilled woodworker who makes rustic furniture from garden “debris,” a kind of plant-world Dumpster diver.

“To me, it’s a nice marriage, landscaping and woodworking,” says Hughes, whose five-year-old business, his second, is called Weatherwood Design. It comprises about 70 percent landscaping and 30 percent woodworking.

Storm-felled trees and gnarly vines make good raw materials. So do pruned branches, old barn boards, and stuff plucked, with permission, from the side of the road.

An arborist friend scouts out intriguing branches and discarded trunks. Hughes helps the Natural Lands Trust and local preserves thin out invasives or dead trees. And every July 4, again with permission, he rescues unwanted driftwood from death by bonfire at a public beach on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The wood might sit for years on the 1-acre property Hughes shares with his widowed dad, Merritt Hughes, a retired English teacher. Logs, planks, oddball sticks and scraps are stacked along the driveway, in the yard, and in and around Hughes’ densely packed, unheated 8-by-12-foot workshop.

“It’s hard to throw anything out,” he says a bit sheepishly of the jars of nails, screws and bolts, the bits of this or that, and the saws, planes and other tools of his trade.

Drying wood outside is challenging. But if rain and snow are his nemeses, water is also a friend. “My best ideas come in the shower,” he says.

Those ideas — for chairs, tables and benches, garden gates and screens, trellises, arbors, railings and birdhouses — are time-consuming. A simple-looking chair can take 35 hours to make, at $45 an hour, not counting time to find and dry the wood and do research.

“It’s like putting together a big jigsaw puzzle. There are no square edges to anything,” says Hughes, who is itching for some land of his own so he can grow hedgerows of the native trees he likes to work with — alder, sassafras, Eastern red cedar, black locust, Osage orange.

He also wants to live off the grid and build native plant, meadow and woodland demonstration gardens. Four acres, at a minimum, would do it, though so much real estate would involve a lot of deer-fencing.

But fenced it must be; deer are plentiful, and Hughes has had Lyme disease 14 times since the early 1990s.

That he has worked through such a scourge reflects a lifetime of loving plants.

Growing up in Glenside, Pa., Hughes was “always out playing and getting muddy and dirty,” often in Baederwood Park. Foreshadowing the landscape architect he would become, he spent hours in the attic constructing vehicles and buildings with Legos and Lincoln Logs.

As an 8-year-old, guided by his handy grandfather, Sylvester “Cookie” Cook, Hughes built metal cladding to reinforce a toy castle, and carved sticks to support a leather-covered tepee.

Hughes is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where he knew almost instantly “I was doing the right thing” in studying landscape architecture. He also did graduate work at the University of Massachusetts.

His résumé includes jobs at plant nurseries, landscape architectural and planning firms, and the U.S. Forest Service. He has restored wetlands and woodlands and worked on suburban subdivision landscapes, meadows and residential projects, including a highly idiosyncratic Bucks County, Pa., second home belonging to New Yorkers Todd Ruback and Suzanne Schecter.

The couple’s 2½-acre property, overlooking the Delaware Canal in Upper Black Eddy, Pa., features a converted century-old barn that backs up to a gravelly 200-foot red shale cliff that was choked with exotic vines. Hughes cleared the cliff and literally carved a landscape into it, choosing wildlife-friendly plants such as Eastern prickly pear cactus, the region’s only native cactus, which grows almost exclusively along the high cliffs of the Delaware River.

“He’s not bringing in eucalyptus trees,” Ruback says. “He’s making use of what local Bucks County nature is giving us.”

And much of what Hughes takes away from Bucks County nature goes toward his rustic furniture. The results, says a mentor, Daniel Mack of Warwick, N.Y., are both sturdy and playful, and demonstrate “a poetic sensibility.”

“Nobody actually needs any of these chairs. There are plenty of chairs in the world already, thank you,” says Mack, a teacher and author. “You’ve gone beyond need, and you’re into another realm.”

It’s a realm, Mack says, that “engages us with the landscape in a way you don’t see with more anonymous furniture.”

Books offer ideas for gardening veggies

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Planning for spring’s vegetable garden usually includes looking at a few books or online references to refresh and increase our knowledge.

There are two new ones to consider adding to your bookshelf. Both authors are women who not only garden but also invest time in observing the natural rhythms of plants and animals.

Colorado organic gardener and medical herbalist Tammi Hartung wrote, “The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Food in Harmony with Nature.” Published by Storey Publishing, the 144 page softcover book helps gardeners deal with the challenges of bugs and animals that seem determined to eat more of the garden than the gardener gest to enjoy.

Rabbits, snails, deer, moles, birds and beetles all want their share of our produce and Hartung’s point of view includes all these creatures in her wildlife-friendly plan. She observes them from various locations in the garden as well as from motion activated cameras.

Her idea is to get to know wildlife in our gardens and enlist their help rather than killing them or even engaging in battles with them.

Habitat for birds and beneficial insects are the backbone of the natural garden. Hartung’s suggestions and reminders include:

• Build the soil rather than feeding plants.

• Convert grass into growing space without digging (add a thick layer of cardboard or newspaper and plant on top of it).

• Welcome wildlife.

The recipe she provides for compost activator tea contains nettles, comfrey leaves, kelp or seaweed and alfalfa rabbit pellets. Add water, steep and pour onto the compost pile.

Her observations about companion planting include: catnip attracts ladybugs that eat aphids and whiteflies.

Chamomile, dill and fennel attract parasitic wasps that control caterpillars. Horseradish repels potato bugs.

Garlic repels aphids, tree borers, snails, flea beetles and squash bugs. Mint attracts lacewings and lady bugs as well as repels flea beetles, cabbage flies and mosquitoes.

Beautifully illustrated, easy to read and loaded with useful tips, “The Wildlife Friendly Vegetable Gardener” is a helpful resource for anyone getting started with sustainable practices.

Ira Wallace, author of “Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast,” is on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance and is the owner of the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (www.southern exposure.com).

The focus of the book includes Delaware to Oklahoma and all the states south.

All the familiar practices are covered: Feed the soil with organic fertilizers, conserve water, monitor soil pH, start plants from seed, and grow your own transplants.

One point Wallace makes is that healthy soil has plenty of organisms and grows plants that can withstand some insect damage. Chemical fertilizers kill beneficial microbes on contact, making plants weaker.

Phenology, the study of recurring patterns in plants, predicts the ideal planting time based on observation.

Wallace provided a useful chart of natural gardening signals. Her tips: when dandelions bloom plant beets and carrots; when daffodils bloom plant potatoes; when forsythia blooms plant peas; when redbuds bloom the flea beetles arrive, etc. The book’s focus is zones 6 to 9; we are zone 7.

In the Garden Planning section, Wallace outlines easy to grow, slightly more challenging and just plain challenging crops for home gardens. The midsection of the book, “Get Planting”, is a month-by-month to-do list. You will learn about starting plants from seed under lights as well as how to start the same plants early outside by using protective covered tunnels.

The last section is a directory of edibles and a chart of what to plant when. There is a list of resources from seed catalogs to tools and soil tests at the back.

It was published by Timber Press (www.timberpress.com) and the list price is $20. To learn more about phenology visit The National Phenology Network at www.usanpn.org.