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Treasuring the dead through their resting places

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They are places for remembering, for tears, for quiet conversations.

They can be beautifully manicured parks and the location of Memorial Day ceremonies.

They can also be crumbling concrete jungles and the subject of spooky stories or the location of midnight dares.

These are Louisiana’s cemeteries and there are 31 in Lafayette Parish.

We look at some today, Memorial Day, a day of remembrance, through the eyes of people with special insight.

Death and burial aren’t regularly at the forethought of most people’s minds.

Some will regularly visit and tend to the grave of a loved one, but what happens to a person’s resting place after the family has moved or died?

“Years back, people used to come with paint and tools and cut the grass and have picnics for All Souls’ Day,” said Deacon Wade Broussard, who serves on The Diocese of Lafayette Cemetery Board. “The whole family would come together. The younger generations say, ‘It ain’t my problem.’ That’s why you’re seeing the older cemeteries with tombs falling apart.”

Broussard manages two Catholic church cemeteries in the area and has done so for decades.

In some parts of the state, the presiding diocese manages all area Catholic cemeteries. In the Diocese of Lafayette, however, each of the cemeteries is managed by an individual church parish.

“I try to work with some of these other church parishes to give them advice and help them along,” Broussard said. “The theme we use is ‘Leave it better than you took it.’ And a lot of priests are coming along and are taking an interest, and once people see the church is taking an interest, then they come forward.”

With the exception of family burial grounds, state law requires that all cemeteries be incorporated.

The Louisiana Cemetery Board governs cemeteries, but it is up to each individual cemetery to care for the grounds and burial sites, whether the cemetery is affiliated with a church or not.

“The cemetery is responsible if they are selling cemetery spaces to the public with a representation of perpetual or endowed care,” said Lucy McCann, director of the Louisiana Cemetery Board.

State law requires that all modern cemeteries are perpetual care or endowed care, meaning that a percentage of the money received from every burial goes into a trust fund to ensure that grounds maintenance can continue after a cemetery has reached capacity.

Ideally, every person’s resting place will be kept presentable, even when there are no longer family members around to care for the grave site.

“The family’s responsibilities are largely nonexistent in most cases,” McCann said. “However, in non-perpetual care cemeteries and abandoned cemeteries, the responsibilities of maintaining a family grave space may fall to the families in the absence of others.”

Those who manage and maintain cemetery grounds know that perpetual funds do not always cover the long-term cost of upkeep, however.

“The scenario is that when there’s nobody left hundreds of years after everything is sold, there’s still going to be money to pay for the upkeep,” said Cecile Walters Hebert, office manager for Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.

What the perpetual care fund means for Greenlawn is the full-time employment of three people who handle the mowing, grave digging, general landscaping and grounds upkeep.

“The families are responsible for taking care of specific graves,” Hebert said. “They might want to have their marker cleaned up and looking like new again because bronze markers will start to oxidize, things like that.”

About 3,700 people have been buried in that cemetery. There is more space for development.

Lafayette Memorial Park owner and president Danny Delhomme employs four people on his maintenance staff.

About 5,000 people are buried in his cemetery, which has space for the development of about 10,000 more grave sites.

“It’s just very expensive to develop a cemetery and abide by the laws,” Delhomme said. “To get one started, a person has to have a lot of money to start that perpetual-care fund.”

Delhomme says he is working constantly to increase the amount of money in the perpetual-care fund.

Because many cemeteries are land-locked and cannot further develop land for burials, that perpetual fund is critical.

But it wasn’t always critical or even necessary, Broussard said.

“Years back, you didn’t have to ask for volunteers,” Broussard said. “It was just something that people did — take care of the dead. Times change.”

Established in 1821, Lafayette Parish’s oldest permanent burial site is the historic St. John Cemetery.

Cemetery manager Brady LeBlanc is unsure of how many people are buried there or of how much space is left for development.

“Honestly, we’re almost 200 years old, so we really don’t have any idea,” LeBlanc said. “Prior to 1970 when computers became efficient, everything was written by hand, and some of the documentation has been lost through the years.”

LeBlanc says he is responsible for just about everything in the cemetery.

A recent responsibility for LeBlanc and the cemetery is the annual burial of the unclaimed human remains that are housed at the Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office.

The burial happens on All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2 and began two years ago with the burial of 93 unclaimed remains collected at the coroner’s office over a 20-year period.

“Last year, we buried 35,” LeBlanc said. “This year, I already have 15 to bury, and it’s only May. By November, we should have 30 or 40 again.”

Today, many people will visit the graves of loved ones for Memorial Day.

Some cemeteries, such as Greenlawn and Lafayette Memorial Park, also offer special Memorial Day services for the community as a way to honor fallen veterans.

“After 50 years of doing the Memorial Day tribute,” Hebert said, “keeping the program fresh poses a different kind of challenge.”

Lafayette Parish cemeteries

■ Bethel Methodist Church Cemetery, Duson

■ Calvary Cemetery – Mausoleum of Resurrection, Lafayette

■ Christ Sanctified and Holy Church Cemetery, Duson

■ Congregation of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Broussard

■ De La Salle Christian Brothers Cemetery, Lafayette

■ Evangeline Memorial Gardens, Carencro

■ Fountain Memorial Garden and Mausoleum, Lafayette

■ Gethsemane Gardens Cemetery, Lafayette

■ Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, Lafayette

■ Holy Mary Mother of God Cemetery and Mausoleum, Lafayette

■ Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Cemetery, Lafayette

■ Kimble Chapel Episcopal Methodist Cemetery, Ridge

■Lafayette Memorial Park, Lafayette

■ Mallalieu United Methodist Church Cemetery, Lafayette

■ Our Lady of the Assumption Church Cemetery, Carencro

■ Progressive Baptist Church Cemetery, Lafayette

■ Silverado Cemetery, Lafayette

■ St. Anne Cemetery, Youngsville

■ St. Basil Church Cemetery, Duson

■ St. Benedict Cemetery, Duson

■ St. James C. M. E. Cemetery, Youngsville

■ St. John Cemetery, Lafayette

■ St. Joseph Cemetery, Broussard

■ St. Joseph Cemetery, Lafayette

■ St. Martin de Porres Cemetery, Scott

■ St. Peter Cemetery, Carencro

■ St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Cemetery, Duson

■ Sts. Peter and Paul Cemeter, Scott

■ The Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Lafayette

■ Trinity C. M. E. Church Cemetery, Lafayette

■ Whittington Cemetery, Lafayette

Source: Louisiana Cemetery Board

Celebrate Memorial Day

• Annual Memorial Day Program

9 a.m. Monday at Fountain Memorial Funeral Home Cemetery, 1010 Pandora Street, Lafayette. 337-981-7098.

Outdoor Memorial Day Service in the Veteran’s Section of Fountain Memorial Cemetery, featuring Knights of Columbus color guard assemblies in full regalia, gun salute and TAPS performance by VFW Post 9822 as well as patriotic musical selections.

• 50th annual Memorial Day Celebration

Noon, Monday, at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, 2300 N. University Ave., Lafayette. 337-706-8941.

The ceremony will honor John “Jack” Henton, Jr. (d.) as the 2014 Distinguished Veteran of the Year. Entertainment will be provided by members of the renowned Destination Choir of Destiny of Faith Church who will sing their renditions of military selections. The public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

• Memorial Day Service

3 p.m. Monday at Lafayette Memorial Park Cemetery, 2111 W. Pinhook Road, Lafayette. 337-235-3065.

Congressman Charles Boustany will serve as guest speaker.

Get gardening tips from the expert

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Get gardening tips from the expert

10:31am Monday 26th May 2014 in Evesham Vale

PEOPLE can get an insight into the dos and don’ts of seasonal gardening from an expert in a talk in the Vale.

Bishampton District Gardening Club is hosting a talk by Ken Whittaker, a horticulturalist and florist experienced in the field of Social and Therapeutic Horticulture, on Wednesday, June 4 in the village hall.

Mr Whittaker is a show judge and speaker and has been involved with many gold award winning exhibits at Chelsea, Tatton and Harrogate.

The talk is at 7.30pm and is free for club members and £2 for visitors.

For details, email info@bishamptongardeningclub.org or call 07854 362318.

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Bee-friendly tips for home gardeners

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After our seemingly endless winter, most of us are itching to load up on plants and get our hands dirty. Whether you grow on a grand scale or tend a couple of pots, chances are you’ll be buying plants at a garden center or plant sale. When you do, a growing chorus of voices is urging you to keep bees in mind.

Bee die-offs, colony collapse disorder and possible causes have made headlines. In fact, bee-friendly gardening was named a top national trend for 2014 by the Garden Media Group.

In smart communities across the country, people have been packing auditoriums for bee seminars, pushing for new legislation to protect bees and beekeepers and urging retailers to stop selling and using neonicotinoids, a widely used class of insecticides that some suspect is playing a role in recent bee die-offs.

Research on neonicotinoids’ impact on bees is underway. But in the meantime, several large players, including wholesale grower Bailey Nurseries, have decided to err on the side of caution and eliminate or sharply reduce their use of neonicotinoids.

Trying not to kill bees is only one piece of the pollinator-protection puzzle, however.

With more and more habitat lost to development and agriculture (corn and soybeans, the nation’s top crops, don’t provide nectar), bees need food, too. And that’s where home gardeners can really help, according to experts.

“The main thing is to plant more flowering plants,” says Heather Holm, of Minnetonka, Minn., a landscape designer and author of the new book “Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects With Native Plants” (www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com ).

Native bees, in particular, have a short flight distance — about 500 yards, she says. “If you and your neighbors aren’t providing forage, they will have a hard time finding food.”

From the pollinators’ perspective, it’s important to have a continuous succession of plants flowering throughout the growing season, Holm says. “In most gardens there is a gap,” especially in early spring and late fall. Holm advises gardeners to evaluate their landscape, identify the flower gaps and fill them. Good early-spring bloomers are woodland plants, such as bloodroot, Dutchman’s breeches and wild geranium. Good fall bloomers include asters and goldenrod.

And all flowering plants aren’t equal, from the bee’s perspective. “Stick with straight species” rather than cultivars, Holm advises. “If breeding has changed the flower color, it can also change the fragrance or nectar. It may look better to us, but it may not be attractive to bees.”

When choosing plants, opt for older, simpler varieties, Holm says, even if it means passing up the plants that catch your eye with their showy form or unusual hue. “Rethink how a bee or pollinator would see your garden — not just what you think is prettiest, with double flowers or a brand-new introduction in a cool color.”

Good plants for bees include coneflowers, liatris, salvia, catmint, catnip, hyssop and black-eyed Susans.

Of course, buying plants that attract bees may not be beneficial if the plants themselves are laced with toxic chemicals. A study released last summer by Friends of the Earth-US and co-authored by the Pesticide Research Institute, found that seven of 13 samples of garden plants at some large national retailers in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay area contained neonicotinoids, including plants marketed as “bee-friendly.” That’s why bee advocates urge gardeners to make informed decisions when buying plants.

“Ask first, before you buy, confirm they’re not using systemic insecticides,” says Holm. “Look at smaller, local growers rather than those who buy from others. Do your homework.” The insecticides are so widely used that avoiding them can be a challenge, particularly when buying trees and shrubs, which have a longer growth cycle before they’re brought to market.

“These insecticides are everywhere; they’re so effective, and so safe for humans,” says Jean-Marc Versolato, production manager of plant health for Bailey Nurseries. Nonetheless, the wholesale grower recently discontinued spraying foliage with neonicotinoids, although it is still using small amounts of the systemic insecticides in granular form on some tree crops in the field. “Insects can really affect the growth of trees when they’re small,” he says.

Home gardeners who use insecticides are encouraged to avoid neonicotinoids, especially if they’re growing plants that are attractive to bees. “If people want to use perennial natives or heirlooms, they should not use systemic insecticides,” says Vera Krischik, associate professor of entomology at the University of Minnesota. “They’re completely legal, but they’re absorbed by the plant and can end up in the pollen or nectar.”

If the active ingredients include imidocloprid, clothandin, thamethoxan, acetamiprid or dinotefuran, the insecticide is considered a neonicotinoid and a potential threat to bees. While active ingredients must be labeled under law, inert ingredients are not always listed, but lumped under “other ingredients”; some of these are also believed to be detrimental to pollinators.

Consumers who are concerned about bees should be prepared to accept some imperfections, such as a few aphids on a plant they purchase, says Versolato. “Picture-perfect will be difficult without neonicotinoids.”

MORE GARDEN NEWS

Follow Bill Cary’s In the Garden blog at garden ing.lohudblogs.com.

Natural tips to keep gardeners healthy

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More than 41,200 people across the nation were injured in 2012 while working in their gardens, reports the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Conversely, many common flowers and plants have healing properties that can help gardeners treat their injuries.


Made from plants, as well as animals and minerals, homeopathic medicines offer some of the safest options for self-treatable conditions — and can be great for ailments and injuries that befall home gardeners. Because the risk of interaction with other drugs, supplements and herbs is minimal, experts say these natural medicines are a good first choice for early symptoms.  

Easily found in health food stores and pharmacies, these non-prescription medicines work naturally with the body instead of masking a problem, which is important if a more serious condition should arise.

With that in mind, here are some homeopathic treatments for common gardener ailments:

• Allergies: Relieving allergy symptoms provides a good example of the principle behind homeopathic medicines. Chopping a red onion has a “toxic” effect, causing eyes to water and burn until exposed to fresh air. When similar symptoms appear from allergies or a cold, a micro-dose of the red onion helps relieve those same symptoms. The red onion in this homeopathic form takes the Latin name of its source, Allium cepa.

Try Ambrosia (Ragweed) for watery nasal discharge with eyes that tear and itch and Sabadilla (Cevadilla) for hypersensitivity to the smell of flowers or itching in the back of the mouth. A good general allergy medicine is Histaminum, which is derived from histamine.

• Sore, Stiff Muscles: For gardeners suffering back and knee injuries, Arnica montana can be an essential gardening tool.

Commonly known as the Mountain daisy, Arnica’s healing properties were first recognized in the 16th century. Legend has it mountain climbers chewed the plant to relieve sore, aching muscles and bruises from falls. Today, this homeopathic medicine is used by professional athletes and surgeons for muscle pain and stiffness, swelling from injuries and bruising. For more information visit www.Arnicare.com.

• Sunburn, Blisters and Other Skin Conditions: In its homeopathic form, Calendula (Garden marigold) is one of the most versatile aids for skin irritations. Try a Calendula cream or ointment for blisters and calluses, cuts and scrapes, rashes, and chapped skin caused by wind, dry or cold air, or sun.

Used for centuries as a natural healing and soothing substance, Calendula’s wound-healing properties are due to essential oils, saponins, flavonoids and alkaloids. These compounds have skin healing properties.

• Bug Bites: To help relieve bee and wasp stings, as well as gnat, black fly or mosquito bites, take five pellets of Apis mellifica (Honey bee) every 30 minutes for up to six doses. And apply Calendula topically.

• Take Breaks and Relax: While many plants help us nurture our health, remember to practice common sense. Prepare properly by stretching and wearing sun block. Don’t overdo it. Take breaks. End your day with a soaking bath.

Relieve conditions at the first sign of symptoms before they grow out of control, so you can continue your gardening activities.

Photo Credit: (c) LittleStocker – Shutterstock.com

Tips for high yields in a small or thirsty garden

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How can you get the most yield from a garden where space is limited, and water is too?

Plant smart, and pay attention to the soil.

“Your garden is only as good as your soil,” says David Salman, chief horticulturist at High Country Gardens, a Santa Fe, N.M., catalog that specializes in native and low-water plants.

Find out what nutrients your soil has — and what it’s missing — with a soil test, available through local cooperative extension offices at a nominal fee (home soil-test kits are less reliable, according to the Colorado State University Extension).

Encourage plant health by fertilizing with natural, organic fertilizers, which include fish emulsion and liquid seaweed, says Salman. Limit the use of chemical fertilizers because they don’t help build the soil.

“You will have more nutritionally complete vegetables if you have healthy soil,” he promises.

One trick Salmon recommends, especially for gardeners living in new housing developments, is adding a soil inoculant called mycorrhiza, a beneficial fungi. It’s found naturally in healthy soil, but often needs to be added to a new garden.

“New gardens in new subdivisions, their soil is scraped off as part of construction,” says Salman. “You need to put beneficial fungi back in.”

Peas, beans and soybeans could benefit from legume inoculants, which are species-specific (a soybean inoculant cannot be used to improve peas’ growth). Read product labels carefully or ask your gardening center for assistance.

“Your beans will do OK (without it), but if you really want to crank out the beans, you can do that with the inoculant,” says Salman. “It’s kind of a ‘grandma’s secret’ to growing great beans.”

Plants that can offer high yields with low watering include leafy vegetables such as kale, lettuce and spinach; beans, snow peas and sugar snap peas; and some varieties of cucumbers and squash, he says. Plant vining beans and peas if you have space or can grow them up a fence or trellis; plant bush beans and peas in large pots if space is limited.

Sarah J. Browning, an extension educator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, suggests planting radishes, carrots, peppers, zucchini and summer squash for summertime bounty. Peppers grow well in dry conditions, says Browning, and root crops such don’t need frequent watering.

“If you watered them well and then mulched them, I think you could get a crop with fairly small amounts of water input,” she says.

Plant radishes early in the season or in part shade, and mulch them and other plants to retain moisture and combat weeds.

Browning recommends the cherry tomato cultivar Sun Gold and the slicers Big Beef and Celebrity as great-tasting high producers. Also look for disease-resistant tomato varieties, which are easier to grow. Browning refers tomato lovers to Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences Extension’s “Tomato Report 2011,” which lists the best varieties in its tomato trials.

Melissa Ozawa, a features editor for gardening at Martha Stewart Living magazine, recommends growing okra and Swiss chard; both are heat- and drought-tolerant. Melons also can handle less water once established because of their deep root systems, she says.

Not all vegetables grow well in all regions, so read seed packets, matching days to maturation to your region’s growing season, Salman advises.

“One of the big problems with horticulture in this country is everyone tries to be one-size-fits-all, and this is just too big of a continent to do that,” he says. “You don’t want to grow a 120-day watermelon in Denver. They can grow those in Texas, but the maturation period in Denver is much shorter.”

Prolific, water-wise herbs include basil, oregano, parsley, thyme and rosemary, says Browning.

Salman offers space-saving planting tips for herbs: Plant lavender and oregano along the dryer edges of your garden, since they’re the most heat-tolerant, and plant Greek oregano and dill, plus annual herbs such as basil and cilantro, among the root vegetables.

Try growing perennials such as rosemary, English thyme, tarragon and lavender in your ornamental beds. They don’t require your vegetable garden’s mineral-rich soil, says Salman.

Drought-tolerant flower varieties include coneflowers, hummingbird mint, salvia and blanket flowers, according to Ozawa. Other cutting-garden winners are cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers and larkspur, says Salman. His favorite late-season bloomer is the Mexican sunflower.

“If there’s a bee or butterfly in a 10-mile radius, they’ll find that Mexican sunflower,” he says.

Sounding Off: Richardson-Lake Highlands readers tell us how Richardson …

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RAISE YOUR VOICE: Share your own opinion online at dallasnews.com/sendletters. Sign up for Sounding Off or submit a guest column (and include your full name and contact information) by visiting dallasnews.com/voices.

What should be done to redevelop/revitalize the Main Street/Central Expressway Corridor? Are there other areas that should be updated?

Dormand Long, Lake Highlands: Almost every time we drive south on Central Expressway to LBJ Freeway, I comment to my wife about the extreme underutilization of the real estate on the west side of this prime area.

I am as consciously incompetent at real estate as I am at art, but I do know what I like and don’t like in both.

The highest and best use of the west side of the 75 Corridor is not in half-century-old, single-story-mom-and-pop stores.

I suggest that if some shuttles to extend mobility from the DART light rail stations to various sites, including Texas Instruments were implemented, this area would be a hotbed of favored living, dining, as well as office siting.

Jack Orr, Far North Dallas: Let’s face it. The “old” part of Richardson is indeed old [and] looks it and feels it. In fact, other than dining at one of the excellent Chinese restaurants nearby, there is zero reason to go there.

The best comparison I can think of is downtown Plano. It has been revitalized with purpose and is full of diverse dining and stores. So, the same could certainly be accomplished in Richardson.

But, I am not a friend to these complicated planning documents. They seem to be a product of current politics and liberal ideas more than actually coming up with workable ideas.

I would suggest that a master-planning firm be hired to come up with plans and drawings. Then, discuss, raise money and proceed.

One thing I would like to see is the uncovering of the old brick road which lies underneath Greenville Avenue. (It once went from Dallas to McKinney)

Downtown is not the only problem area in Richardson. Unfortunately, the whole city has gotten grey hair, but, it is the appropriate place to start revitalization.

Bill Mercer, Richardson: I was amused looking at the future image drawing of Main Street/Central Expressway corridor. That is a nice idea, but what a huge task. I hope the old motel on the west side of Central could be demolished (and may have been already?) The “famous” Como could be landscaped better. Unfortunately large trees probably won’t grow on either side of Central. A lot of landscaping on both sides of Central, up and beyond Main Street, north of there is simply a jumble of small businesses who deserve the right to be there.

The old downtown area really has little to encourage visits. Most people zoom in and out of the Central/Main Street area to their residences near their preferred shopping center. Would upscale restaurants, watering holes, much beautiful landscaping draw after 5 p.m. returning folks from their jobs? Richardson is so conservative even having beer/wine in the grocery stores seems a huge step forward. Maybe as the city becomes younger, “radical” ideas will work. Driving in from the north on Central is fairly attractive — from the south, not so much. Let’s give it a huge try [with] tax breaks to forward looking business folks [to] change the face of the area. Good luck.

Gay Sinz, Richardson: My husband and I attended the meeting and the things that concerned me was talk about tall buildings. Also Chinatown becoming a tourist destination. The city needs to think twice about growth. Issues such as traffic and water usage are very important to all of us.

Mike Lysell, Richardson: I read the consultants’ report on plans for Main Street/Central Expressway Corridor. The plan doesn’t have many details, but offers some broad goals for the area with supporting data. Since the city has done a good job with other development areas, I’m confident they’ll listen to the citizens in the area before they finalize any plans.

I do hope that future plans address the infrastructure needs for the city. Many of the city’s streets are in bad shape. The pot-holes on Custer between Campbell and Renner roads for example seem to out number the sections of the street that are in good repair. I know the city has funds from past bond issues set aside for street improvements, but the deterioration of the roads seem to be progressing faster than the city can keep up with.

Tom Naylor, Crowley Park in Richardson: Clearly, the city of Richardson should redevelop its Main Street/Central Expressway Corridor because today that area is fairly decrepit and unsightly. There is very little reason to visit the old Richardson downtown area because there isn’t much there and the traffic density is high.

One of the biggest improvements that could be made to the area is to provide a DART light rail station to serve the old downtown area and the Chinatown area just north of Main Street. The inclusion of DART light rail station in several of the surrounding cities, specifically in Plano, have encouraged them to improve their downtown areas to provide a more appealing area to visit with more modern shops and restaurants. Richardson should consider the same option. But, even if there is no DART light rail station in downtown, it still needs to be spruced up and modernized. This is a project that the city should encourage rather than developing some of the pristine prairie areas within the city boundaries.

LaRuth Morrow, The Reservation in Richardson: The Main Street/Central Expressway redevelopment has been on Richardson’s revitalization agenda for a long time. There is now personnel on staff to help with progress. For the city to continue to revisit this area and attempt to finalize a plan means that all the redevelopment components are not in place. One paramount partner is DART. Main Street would benefit from a DART station at Main Street for this area to be a destination spot. Presently, there is a long waiting time for the DART stations funding.

The second concern is the location of Richardson’s main police station and fire station at Main Street and Greenville Avenue. These public servants need access to feeding streets to protect us around the clock. If the current blue prints for Main Street between Central and Greenville remain and are implemented, our emergency vehicles main paths to rescue could be impacted.

sounding off

Real Estate news for May 25

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Sea Pines Real Estate welcomes new agents

Two agents recently joined Sea Pines Real Estate at The Cottage Group in Harbour Town. Paul Bombige joins the company as a sales executive. Bombige previously worked in real estate sales, lending and investing in New York City and in California. He can be reached at 843-295-7476. Jeff Morford has more than 20 years of real estate sales experience and previously worked in international investment banking as managing director with G.E. Capital and as owner/broker for Prudential Real Estate. He can be reached at 843-290-2305.

Weichert welcomes Sharon Bridges to team

Realtor Sharon Bridges recently joined the Weichert, Realtors-Coastal Properties sales team. Bridges is a member of the Hilton Head MLS and the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors. She will work in the agency’s Sun City Hilton Head office and can be reached at 843-304-7148. Weichert, Realtors-Coastal Properties has offices on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton, Beaufort and Sun City. Company headquarters located at 1038 William Hilton Parkway, Hilton Head. 843-341-3700.

• The Greenery Garden Center, located at 960 William Hilton Parkway, will offer free gardening seminars in June. Reservations are encouraged. To RSVP, contact Jamie Harrison at 843-785-3848 or amymetzger@thegreeneryinc.com. A special discount will be offered in The Greenery Garden Center to those in attendance who make a same-day purchase.

Landscape ideas for your yard: 10:30 a.m. June 4 and June 7. The Greenery staff will share creative ways to think about landscaping ideas for your yard.

Disease and pest control: 10:30 a.m. June 11 and June 14. Horticulture Professor Bill Leonard will discuss disease and pest control including prevention to maintain your healthy plants and treatments to use when needed.

Ask the expert: 10:30 a.m. June 18 and June 21. Gary Moews, The Greenery’s small garden design consultant, will take questions and share ideas for a successful yard. 

Heat-tolerant summer containers: 10:30 a.m. June 25, June 28. Wendy Porterfield, The Greenery’s landscape and floral designer, will share secrets to creating summer gardening containers for your entrance way or yard that are both visually fabulous and heat tolerant.

• According to a RE/MAX National Housing Report, April home sales rose higher than sales in the previous month for the second month in a row. While April sales were 10.9 percent higher than March, they remained below the same period last year by 7.8 percent. Only two of the 52 metro areas included in the April report experienced lower sales than the previous month. Year-over-year home prices continued to push higher in April, with a 5.8 increase, which is lower than the 10.7 percent increase seen in April 2013. April became the 13th consecutive month with fewer inventory losses than the previous month. At the rate of home sales in April, the Months Supply of inventory fell to 3.9, where a supply of 6.0 indicates a market balanced equally between buyers and sellers.

 

Mountain BizWorks gets a fresh start – Asheville Citizen

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ASHEVILLE – Randy Siegel isn’t exactly a fan of wake-up calls — the call part, anyway.

But he does champion the wake-up.

“You hate wake-up calls, especially as you are going through them,” said Siegel, a professional development specialist. “But when you wake up, it sure does make a difference.”

Mountain BizWorks, a nonprofit that helps local small businesses start, grow and create jobs through loans, classes and coaching, had a big wake-up call in November, said Siegel, who is on the agency’s board of directors.

The 25-year-old nonprofit suffered a severe liquidity crunch after a drop-off in revenues. Around that time, CEO Shaw Canale resigned, and the nonprofit had to restructure and refocus, which included laying off eight staff members.

“We got to the point where we were never in crisis mode, but we were not sure that we had enough cash in hand to sustain” all the programming and other offerings in the immediate future, he said.

But in the six months since, the once cash-strapped organization has had the “best six months,” Siegel said.

The organization provided 36 loans to the tune of more than $714,000. It provided more than 650 training hours benefiting more than 185 entrepreneurs and produced more than 150 jobs in the region, not including the number of jobs that have been maintained by resources and programming.

And it’s about to create one more job in the region: The group recently announced it is seeking a new executive director.

“I think it’s a good situation to put a new executive director in,” said Eileen McMinn, board chair. “We are not looking for an executive director to pull us out of a crisis; we want someone who will marshal the assets that we have and will move us forward in a positive way.”

So how did the nonprofit benefiting startups restart itself? With the help of an outside consultant.

With consulting from Marc Hunt, the organization learned how to be more streamlined, strategic and sustainable, Siegel said.

“We really drilled down,” he said. “We needed to do what we did best, and avoid duplications of services (with other organizations).

“We needed to realize that resources are limited,” Siegel said. “We needed to focus on what was the greatest need.”

That great need for entrepreneurs? Funding, he said.

In a way, it’s a return to the nonprofit’s roots. It started in 1989 as the Mountain Microenterprise Fund, which initially focused on small loans for startups and providing basics for would-be entrepreneurs.

This spring, the loaning refocus received a big boost: The federal Small Business Administration recently approved $1 million in loan capital, which in turn will be used for microloans for small businesses.

Asheville’s Jonathan Scales has received two loans from Mountain BizWorks in the last year.

He considers his jazz band, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, to be a small business, he says, noting that the employees are the band members.

He attempted to go to a bank for a loan, but was denied.

“It’s like a human relationship, you get to sit face-to-face (and explain your situation),” Scales said of his experience of Mountain BizWorks. “It’s not just a computer algorithm.”

Scales’ loan also benefited people outside the band, he noted.

In the creation of the album and supporting concert tour, he hired visual artists, photographers, other musicians, T-shirt makers and mixing engineers.

“While we were recording the album, I was meeting with Mountain BizWorks,” he said. “If they had said no, I don’t know where we would be today.”

The latest album, “Mixtape Symphony,” was released last week, and it reached No. 6 on the iTunes jazz charts.

“There are a lot of people with great ideas with hopes and dreams that need funding,” Scales said. “And you won’t be able to get it from a normal bank for one reason or another.”

Mountain BizWorks staff and board hasn’t just added money to the nonprofit’s loan reserves in the past six months; the group also had to cut expenses. Some expenses were easier to eliminate, such as subletting half of the office space and cutting back on equipment use.

The Mountain BizWorks restructuring did come with some tough choices, Siegel noted.

“Trimming the staff was very painful,” he said. “ … We streamlined programs; this was difficult.”

That streamlining included cutting the popular Foundations courses, which taught entrepreneurs basic business skills. These cuts totaled savings of around $50,000 a month.

“Every nonprofit, and certainly when you feel like you have a mission-driven organization, you want to do everything for everybody,” said McMinn. “You want to do everything for everybody. It’s hard to admit you can’t do everything for everybody.”

Ajani Eagledove, who owns and operates Eagledove Greenhouse and Garden Center with his wife, Mayo, was one of the last graduates of Mountain BizWorks’ Foundations courses.

“Every day we come down and we are amazed that we got this much done so fast,” he said. “Every day, we are blessed. … At first, we were really overwhelmed and nervous about doing it … I don’t think I would have tried this without taking this course.”

The Eagledoves have run an organic farm feed business on Swannanoa River Road for three years, but wanted to expand and make their business a larger part of their life. Mainly, they say, because the couple wanted to be able to spend more time with each other.

After clearing the bamboo forest on the property about a year ago, the duo have been steadily adding new services and products.

They offer landscaping services and sell farm feed. They have chickens and ducks, and sell eggs in the barn, along with lawn art. They offer you-pick flowers, and will soon offer hydroponic pond-raised tilapia.

Building a business on diverse products and services is one of the lessons from Mountain BizWorks, the Eagledoves said.

“There is no one big money maker with farming, there just isn’t,” Mayo Eagledove said. “We had to learn the business part of making it work. It’s not one thing.”

Mountain BizWorks experts continue to be a resource for the duo. Ajani Eagledove says he continues to ask for help with issues, and the nonprofit staff helps connect him with experts and solutions.

Another important resource: Encouragement.

“They have encouraged us; they say you can do this,” he added. “With a game plan, they say you can do this.”

Mountain BizWorks preliminary financial figures for 2013

• $5.3 million in total assets.

• $4.2 million in total liabilities.

• $1.2 million in revenues and contributed support.

This information is preliminary, said Jamie Beasley, who handles development, marketing and operations for the nonprofit. “Our 2013 audited financial statements will be ready in a couple of weeks and available on our website,” he said.

In November, the nonprofit laid off eight employees. In March, the group hired one back. The nonprofit is also seeking a new executive director. Eight staff are now listed on the website.

Since 1989, Mountain BizWorks has provided $9 million in loans to 715 small business owners who otherwise would not be able to get the financing to start or expand, creating 3,500 jobs in Western North Carolina.

Mountain BizWorks raises both loan (investments) and operating capital from a variety of sources including banks, foundations, businesses, religious institutions, government entities and individuals.

Investors can invest as little as $1,000 and choose terms as short as one year or as long as 10 years. Investors receive a fixed-rate annual simple interest return of 0 percent to 3 percent. More than 40 individuals have provided more than $400,000 in investment in the loan fund, Siegel said.

Mission and more

“Mountain BizWorks’ mission is to generate jobs and stimulate economic opportunity in Western North Carolina by helping small businesses start, thrive, and grow. We do this by providing loans and peer-to-peer business coaching to those businesses that are unable to secure funding from banks and other traditional sources,” according to the website.

Mountain BizWorks is a U.S. Treasury-certified nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI). For 25 years, Mountain BizWorks has been making business loans ranging from $1,000 to $150,000 to small businesses in WNC who are unable to secure funding from banks and other traditional sources.

All loan decisions and relationships are managed locally, and the nonprofit offers highly customized, peer-to-peer business coaching.

Mountain BizWorks provides business loans and coaching to emerging and established small businesses in WNC.

“We have a particular focus on working with businesses unable to access financing from banks and other traditional sources, as well as low-income, minority, women, and immigrant entrepreneurs, and businesses that operate within the local food system,” according to the website.

For more, visit www.mountainbizworks.org.

Chelsea Flower Show 2014: the blooms that stole the show

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They were equally at home nestled in Hooksgreen Herbs’ Peter Rabbit’s veg plot
(‘Sutton’s Apricot’); reaching tall in the Renaissance Gardens (wild
digitalis); and pinpointing an unusual lime hedge (Tilia cordata from deepdale-trees.co.uk)
in the Time to Reflect Alzheimer’s Society garden.

A cube of foxgloves greeted us at the Botanic Nursery’s stand in the Marquee.

Headlined as “The Great Survivor”, it was described as one of the few native
plants to be well received in gardens, with a knack of springing up
unnoticed until its towering stems dominate the garden. From then on it will
self-seed.

Wild foxgloves are biennial, and purple forms predominate. Perennial
forms (many available from thebotanicnursery.co.uk)
should be cut down after flowering, allowed to regrow from their bases, then
divided.

In Marylyn Abbott’s tiny Topiarist’s Garden, a miniature of her courtyard at
West Green House, near Hook in Hampshire, creamy albiflora foxgloves and
camassias took a co-starring role to potted lupin ‘Noble Maiden’ that
nestled in a framework of clipped box, to be replaced with other plants in
pots, once spent. A charming spot, where the designer imagined the head
gardener indulging in his own flights of fancy, away from the demands of the
estate.

The tall yellow lupin ‘Chandelier’ took pride of place in the Best in Show
garden for Laurent Perrier, cushioned with frothy Deschampsia cespitosa and
Orlaya grandiflora, a combination inspired by Fergus Garrett at Great
Dixter. All the plants from this garden can be bought from crocus.co.uk,
which supplied the award-winning array, including the pale-yellow Digitalis
lutea.

Crocus also stocks my favourite planting of all, in the Telegraph Garden,
where the skyscraper Stipa gigantea joined shocking pink wild Gladiolus
communis subsp. byzantinus (it grows wild in my garden), with sparkles of
tiny wild pink, Dianthus carthusianorum, that designer Tommaso del Buono
told me grew wild in the countryside near his native Florence. Tall
camassias, lime-green euphorbias, fennel and a stunning royal-blue Anchusa
azurea ‘Loddon Royalist’ completed the picture.


The Telegraph Garden (HEATHCLIFF O’MALLEY)

Because of its connection in all our hearts with the centenary of the First
World War, I’d imagined the poppy, in all its forms, would reign supreme
this year. A few wild ones (Papaver rhoeas) dotted the inspirational series
of grass mounds that made up Charlotte Rowe’s No Man’s Land for the
Soldiers’ Charity (producing the most sumptuous catalogue of the show). The
Gardeners Have All Gone plot from Pennard Plants and Roots and Shoots
celebrated the black troops who fought in the First World War with black
opium poppies in their poignant gone-to-seed vegetable garden. But the most
vibrant poppy came from the Midlothian nursery Kevock Garden Plants.

Its electric-blue Meconopsis ‘Lingholm’ lit up the Marquee. It often tempts
me, but is difficult to grow down south. They need cool, wet summers and dry
winters.

In the language of flowers, rosemary, salvia, zinnia and forget-me-not all
signify remembrance. Peonies mean compassion, but they bring out the
green-eyed monster in me: covetable varieties were shown by Binny’s (binny
plants.com), and by one of the country’s oldest nurseries, Kelways, that
specialises in peonies, iris and hardy ferns, all favourites of mine. It
sells tree, herbaceous and their crosses – intersectional peonies. I loved
its ‘Claire de Lune’, ‘Krinkled White’ and ‘Late Windflower’, all delicate
with bright golden centres, from its tempting website, kelways.co.uk.

In celebration of Alan Titchmarsh’s half century in gardening, of all things
floral and the biggest community campaign, Britain in Bloom’s garden
demonstrated the wide range of flowers that can be grown in this country,
and highlighted the tallest plant skyscraper of them all, the echium. Echium
pininana (available from thompson-morgan.com)
has a stunning flower spike in bright blue, pink or white that can grow to
four metres (13ft) in sheltered spots, dying after flowering, but scattering
its seeds to bloom again.

Get Outdoors PA events planned at Larnard-Hornbrook Park

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Endless Mountains Heritage Region (EMHR) is the local sponsor of a state-wide initiative geared to getting people outdoors to enjoy all that nature has to offer. GO Day PA activities planned at Larnard-Hornbrook Park in Bradford County on Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14; encompass environmental stewardship, stargazing, bird watching, kayaking, and a historical perspective on survival in the region prior to the arrival of European settlers.

Numerous experts will offer presentations and conduct hands-on activities, including archery, fishing, and a black powder shoot. Families and friends can enjoy live jazz music at nightfall, participate in a midmorning outdoor workout with dancing, and get a lesson on the best native plant species for gardens and landscaping.

Several state agencies, including the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Recreation and Park Society, Land Trust Association, Fish and Boat Commission, Game Commission, and Department of Health have partnered to promote outdoor recreation and bring outdoor experiences closer to where people live.

On the local level, EMHR has collaborated with the Bradford County Conservation District (BCCD) and Bradford County Parks to sponsor the family-friendly event. Get Outdoors PA is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, having started in Pennsylvania’s state parks. This is the first year that event has been staged locally, and EMHR’s Lydia Whipple is excited about the variety of activities and the broad appeal of the scheduled presentations. She hopes that participants will be further motivated to explore the area’s natural surroundings and that youths will learn to embrace outdoor recreation.

Admission to Larnard-Hornbrook Park is free, though some activities require preregistration or nominal fees.

GO Day PA will kick off with a tree planting ceremony at 4 p.m. on June 13, followed by a “stream stomp” conducted by naturalist and educator Nicole Carman. A five mile kayak trip on the Susquehanna River from Ulster to the Park in Sheshequin Township will begin at 4:30 p.m. at a cost of $20 per paddler.

Marty Borko of the Carantouan Greenway will conduct a nature walk at 5 p.m., and Bradford County Conservation District Educator, Dan Rhodes, will speak about camping and wilderness techniques employed by Native Americans and early explorers at 6 p.m.

At 7 p.m., guests are invited to enjoy classic American picnic fare at $7 per plate, after which T2 Jazz Affair will offer an interactive program of live music and storytelling. Joan Cashin will point out constellations and other celestial features, starting at 10 p.m.

Several activities will occur simultaneously on Saturday morning. Borko will take early risers on a bird walk at 9 a.m., while runners and walkers begin to register for a 5K Run that starts at 9:30 a.m. Those who preregister at www.bradfordcountypa.org will receive a free tee shirt. A one-mile fun walk for kids will step off at 9:45 a.m.

From 9 a.m. to noon, representatives from the Fish and Boat Commissioner will share their fishing tips with families who have preregistered at the news page at www.endlessmountainsheritage.org.

The black powder shoot will take place at 10 a.m., as will a presentation by Master Gardner Tina Kellogg about invasive species and native plants. Sarah Adams and Shari Williams will get guests moving with an outdoor workout at 10:30 a.m.

Local 4-H representatives will conduct an archery demonstration from 11 a.m. to noon, when GO Day PA culminates with a chicken barbecue lunch prepared and sold by members of Boy Scout Troop 19.