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Winter garden prep: Follow these tips in winter for a successful garden come …

Even though gardening season is over for the year, there are plenty of things that you can do in the cold winter months to prepare your garden for spring planting.

“If it’s still nice outside in November, you can go ahead and prune shrubs and clean out your garden, getting rid of any old vines and plants,” says Beth Preston, co-owner of The Plant Lady in Cape Girardeau. “You can also put organic compost, manure, or leave mulch in the garden area now, as that will give it time to break down into the soil during winter.”

If you are finished harvesting crops from your garden, a cover crop is a good choice to plant in November.

“Plant a cover crop like annual rye now, and then next spring, till it into the soil,” says Paul Schnare, owner of Sunny Hill Gardens and Florist in Cape Girardeau. “This will increase the amount of organic matter in the soil.”

“My advice during the cold winter months is to read some inspirational gardening magazines or books and dream of spring!” says Preston.

This is also a good time to make new paths or walls in your garden and to purchase some hardscaping at a bargain price.

“Rocks, statues and other objects of interest as well as many other gardening supplies are always marked down when the season is over,” says Preston.

December is also a good time to apply gypsum to your garden space.

“Applying gypsum will break down the clay and make the soil more tillable,” says Schnare. “That should be done in the wintertime.”

Both Preston and Schnare agree that January (or anytime during the cold winter months) is a good time to get a soil analysis done on your garden spot.

“If you are using the same garden spot year after year, or if you have moved to a new location, you should get a soil analysis,” says Preston.

The Missouri Extension will provide the analysis, and details are available online.

“By sending in the soil sample, you can see if the soil needs lime or other nutrients applied,” says Schnare.

By February, green thumb enthusiasts can begin gardening again!

“If the weather is warm enough, many people are starting their gardens around February,” says Schnare. “You can usually plant thing like lettuces and leafy vegetables then. Cole [cold season] crops like broccoli, cauliflower and kale can be started in your basement in February, and then planted in the ground in late February or early March.”

In February, Preston encourages gardeners to start looking at catalogs for seeds and plants that they wish to plant in their spring gardens.

“The catalogs will start coming out after the first of the year,” says Preston. “Just follow the instructions [regarding planting] on whatever your order.”

Gardeners need to remember that this area is zone six when they are ordering seeds and plants.

“The United States is divided into [planting] zones based on things like when it frosts, when spring comes and how low the temperatures get in winter,” says Preston.

Preston also advises keeping a gardening journal each year.

“Whether you do it online or in a spiral notebook, keep a record of what’s been successful and unsuccessful for you,” says Preston.

A Modern-Day Hanging Gardens Of Babylon

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Singapore prides itself on its green-minded policies. With a well-connected public transportation network, robust water collection and treatment infrastructure, and a promise to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% in the next two decades, the island city-state is pioneering sustainable development in Southeast Asia and beyond. There’s more than just tourism sloganeering, it seems, to Singapore’s claim to being a “city in the garden.”

These green ambitions find stunning architectural expression in the solar-powered Parkroyal Hotel on Pickering, a tower complex cut through by a wild patch of tropical forest.

Designed by WOHA, the block-long “hotel and office in a garden” sits on a narrow plot that opens onto Singapore’s central business core and is situated across from a verdant parkland and near the riverbank. Slab-like towers, which echo those rising in downtown just in the distance, are suspended above a green zone of tangled flora and palm trees that thrive in the tropical climate. The vegetation is rooted to curved terraces that are themselves fixed to the towers’ glass facades. “The project is a study of how we can not only conserve our greenery in a built-up high-rise city centre but multiply it in a manner that is architecturally striking, integrated and sustainable,” the architects say.

The entire complex is raised on a wide concrete podium shielded from the street by a row of columns. Sculpted in precast concrete layers resembling chiseled bedrock, it is the geological substratum supporting the gardens and buildings above. The columns shoot up through the base of the podium and resurface at its top. They hoist up the tower blocks, creating a large gap of space that separates the 367 hotel residences from the ground structure.

The podium’s expansive roof garden offers spectacular views onto Singapore’s biologically diverse landscape. Here, swimming pools are fitted into concrete grooves and bird cabanas are cantilevered past the ledge. Dangling overhead are hanging gardens that hug the faces of the hotel towers. The plantings help filter light entering the rooms while also cooling them.

The Parkroyal is a beacon of sustainability in one of the world’s most sustainable cities. It’s also a great example of how green design doesn’t have to sacrifice form to achieve its goals.

Turning Point unveils therapy garden design

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Plans for Turning Point Behavioral Care Center’s therapeutic garden grew from a seed that was never supposed to yield results quite this large.

What began as an idea for a 1,200 square foot garden became 10 times that size. The design, unveiled Friday morning in the rear of the Skokie building, reflects a garden that will measure 12,000 square feet.

“It creates the kind of experience that we want the whole community to have with Turning Point, which is that this is a welcoming place, a place where the goal is for everyone to feel better,” said Turning Point Outpatient Therapist Adam Levin.

Established in 1969, Turning Point is an outpatient mental health care center providing comprehensive mental health services to all regardless of financial resources or intensity of need.

Levin oversees Turning Point’s Garden Club, which ranges from eight to 15 clients. For the last several years, they have tended to a garden of more than 1,000 square feet in the corner of the lot. The original idea was to expand that garden before plans for a separate and much larger multi-purpose garden along the base of the building took hold.

Turning Point’s recent purchase of the southern half of its building allowed for the larger garden option, said Turning Point Financial Officer Marsha Hahn. “It will include space for groups, quiet space for individuals, for walking around, for planting and for picking edibles.”

What also ignited the project was a $51,700 grant from the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation. The project is a collaboration between Turning Point and the Chicago Botanic Garden Horticultural Therapy Program.

Chicago Botanic Garden Horticulture Therapy Department Design Consultant Clare Johnson had already begun working on designing a smaller garden when she had to start from scratch.

She didn’t mind.

“What was kind of fun about designing the natural layout of this large new space was working with a spectrum from public space with a lot of activity happening to private space on the southern end,” she said.

In other words, some of the garden includes space where clients can be alone or have one-on-one sessions with therapists. Other space allows for more community-minded activities.

The garden will be spacious and comfortable and include plants and edibles. It also will feature a fire-pit and community plots where clients can have their own small spaces for plants and food.

Johnson said the project is unique — especially with a garden this large — but green space for health facilities is making a comeback.

A thousand or so years ago, she said, monasteries and other facilities used to include garden space for therapeutic and anti-stress reasons. In the 1990s, such spaces were wiped out in the name of efficiency and sterilization, she said, but she’s seeing a return.

Levin said he witnesses first-hand the therapeutic value for clients who become impassioned gardeners.

“The therapy garden is a place where the clients can feel empowered to nurture something while watching it grow,” he said. “When a client plants a sunflower seed and sees a 10-foot sunflower grow, he or she feels excited.”

Levin said the entire Turning Point community will benefit from the garden because its creation will make the back of the building a new front entrance. Work will begin next spring and will continue on for two seasons — as funding becomes available.

Garden Club clients who thought they were getting an expanded garden were amazed when they learned news of the larger garden.

Or as Larry Rotheiser of Park Ridge said, “the news just blew me away.”

Scott Burns of Skokie said he has grown close to the group and has learned to be a better gardener and how to cook at home in more healthful ways.

That all happened because of a small garden in the corner lot, which will look even smaller once the new one is planted. But the clients have no plans to abandon it.

“We’ll still use this one,” Rotheiser said. “This was our first. It’s where everything started.”

Phoenix city rises from the rubble

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In its Cardboard Cathedral, Pallet Pavilion and the Re:START shipping container shopping mall, irrepressible human creativity and ingenuity is showing itself in Christchurch.

This was a city on the South Island of New Zealand whose buildings were largely damaged beyond repair by the earthquakes of two and three years ago but whose essence and inhabitants were not. And certainly their spirit, hope and belief in the future is intact.

The people of Christchurch like to think of this city of cranes and containers as “in transition”.

“This is our chance to get it right,” says Kelly Stock, a Christchurch woman and the media and communications manager for Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism. Not many cities get the chance to rethink and rebuild.

And, indeed, when the Christchurch Council launched a six-week “Share an Idea” campaign, giving locals the chance to share their thoughts on how the city should be redeveloped, more than 106,000 ideas were put forward. They helped to shape the Draft Central City Plan.

In partnership with Gehl Architects, the project has won high-profile international acclaim, selected from 225 entries for one of four awards in the 2013 Triennale for an Architecture of Necessity – prestigious Swedish awards recognising building, social and city planning projects that promote responsible, diligent, sustainable, just and open planning. The judging panel said the plan would be used to rebuild both the urban fabric and the community.

The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes shook Christchurch with such force that nearly 80 per cent of the central city’s buildings were damaged beyond repair. Some are still being taken down, some have been repaired and reopened, most will be replaced. The biggest earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale – the equivalent to 671,000 tonnes of TNT explosive.

The story is told with a $10 entry ticket to Quake City, an exhibition about the earthquakes and their events. And it is told through the “gaps” in the city, where buildings once were, yet to be recreated.

In the plane, arriving in Christchurch, the local chap next to me pointed out that anyone who hadn’t been here before probably wouldn’t see the difference.

And to some extent he’s right – some of Christchurch just looks rather like a city under construction, and we are familiar with that.

But it seems cities and people abhor a vacuum as much as nature and the “gaps” have proved fertile ground for human creativity and community spirit.

Indeed, Gap Filler is an urban regeneration initiative backing creative projects for community benefit. It sees vacant sites awaiting redevelopment used for “temporary, creative, people-centred purposes”. Gap Filler will work with anyone with ideas and initiative.

One such initiative is the Pallet Pavilion on the corner of Durham Street and Kilmore Street, where once the Crowne Plaza Hotel stood.

The 3000 blue loading pallets are fixed together, forming a pavilion to host live music, outdoor cinema and other events. There’s a cafe, tables and umbrellas – as a Gap Filler spokesperson says, “an intriguing and welcoming space for people to visit, spend time and use”.

Kelly Stock was one of 250 volunteers who put in 2600 hours of work, backed by more than 50 business partners, and local father and daughter Amy and Glen Jansen look after the programming and running of the venue. Hope and creativity blossom in the gaps.

At Re:START, it has bloomed in a big area based around Christchurch’s thankfully untouched Ballantynes department store (“our Harrods,” explains Kelly Stock) for which shipping containers were chosen for a temporary shopping precinct because they were strong and could be used for something else when permanent buildings were erected. Although, such is the favourable response, that there seems no rush to replace them. This quirky area has won a place in local hearts.

Brightly coloured and inhabited now by outdoor clothing stores, fashion, gift and coffee shops, they have also taught locals that they rather like this laneways style of living, rather than big commercial concrete canyons.

The cafe C1 Espresso has become another hub. The original C1 was just across the road, on the opposite corner, in a building damaged by the quakes. But it has moved into the tallest undamaged heritage building in Christchurch and owner Sam Crofskey is simply aiming to make it the best coffee shop in the world.

The coffee, sourced from family growers in Samoa, is first class. The clientele is mixed. It has a happening feel.

New Regent Street – a pretty pedestrian shopping area, with facades of Spanish Mission style dating from the 1930s and listed with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust -has been restored and reopened.

In all of this, of course, one retains the respectful thought that 186 people died in the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

And perhaps a place to remember them is in two of Christchurch’s cathedrals, for around them both is hope, too.

Cathedral Square reopened in July and, despite the still-damaged Christ Church Cathedral at its heart, the Transitional Square Project is seeing it transformed into a welcoming public space. There’s new seating and landscaping, art installations and performance.

Even the temporary fences around damaged buildings have mosaics done with colourful plastic square inserts.

I am staying in the smart, contemporarily designed and newly opened The Novotel Christchurch hotel, which faces on to Cathedral Square, and all around, other hotels have been opening -more than 5000 rooms are now available in the city.

The nearby Cardboard Cathedral has proved not only a symbol of the city’s temporary but tempting emergency architecture, and a vibrant home for Anglican parishioners, but something that visitors want to see.

The Transitional Cathedral, to give it its proper name, uses 98 cardboard rolls as 20m long pillars for its high-peaking roof, which is of translucent polycarbonate, not only letting in soft light, but letting the building shine at night.

It was designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who has been building with cardboard since 1986 and designed emergency accommodation in Japan after the tsunami, and an art museum in Metz, in France.

He assures that the Cardboard Cathedral is safe against earthquakes and fires, and won’t get soggy in the rain.

It is also designed to last up to 50 years. Even in the temporary, one eye is on the future.

The people of Christchurch don’t want to dwell in the past.

FACT FILE

newzealand.com

christchurchnz.com

airnewzealand.co.nz

palletpavilion.com

gapfiller.org.nz

restart.org.nz

Bergen County NJ Landscape Designer Wins 2013 Best Gunite Pool

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Landscape Design and Custom Gunite Pool Ideas Bergen County NJ

‘We focus on each project as a whole.’ – Chris Cipriano, the President of Cipriano Landscape Design

Mahwah, NJ (PRWEB) November 12, 2013

On October 18th, 2013, the Northeast Spa and Pool Association (NESPA), held its annual “Outstanding Achievement Awards Dinner;” and nearly 200 entries from pool builders located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut were submitted. This year, Cipriano Landscape Design, a luxury gunite pool builder based in Bergen County, NJ, was awarded the “Best Gunite Swimming Pool Award,” for their design and completion of “The Violin Pool” in Westchester County, NY. This was the second time within the last six years that the firm was honored with this distinguished award.

The original design ideas for the violin pool were conceived when Cipriano Landscape Design was approached by a homeowner who is both an amateur violin player and collector, who wished to incorporate his love of violins with his desire for a swimming pool. It was then decided that the pool would be an exact replica of a 1700’s era Stradivarius violin, and that the pool would display all of the most crucial attributes of a violin, including strings, a chinrest, a tail piece, a purfling, f-holes, and a bridge.

The finish of the violin pool is one of its most dazzling features, and catches the eye almost immediately. The pool is completely finished with nearly half a million translucent glass tiles, which were assembled in a noteworthy 4-way gradient design. Customarily, the gradient color blend of glass tiles only transitions in one or two directions when starting from a centerline. The gradient tile blend in the violin pool however, transitions in every direction. To complete this endeavor, Cipriano’s Landscape Architecture Office had to correspond closely with the glass tile manufacturer, and assigned gradient values from 1-15 based on the tile’s specific gradient transition. Each tile sheet was then mapped out on the floor of the pool using an Auto CAD. During the installation, one of the Cipriano’s professional installers was on hand the entire time to adjust the tiles so that the tile’s colors transitioned smoothly from the middle of the pool to its various distant walls.

At night, the pool is beautifully illuminated by two custom light sources. Firstly, Cipriano’s Landscape Architecture office designed a 350-foot fiber optic rope lighting system, which surrounds the entire perimeter of the pool. The rope lighting was designed specifically so that the swimmers in the pool cannot see it during the daytime. Additionally, the “Strings” of the violin are composed of jet-black glass tiles that are interlaced with 5760 strands of fiber optics. During the day, the “strings” provide a beautiful color contrast to the rest of the pool’s glass tiles, as well as define the lap lanes. At night the fiber optics in the strings light up creating a luminary marvel and also continue to define the lap lanes.

Two other complex features of the violin pool are the 12-person perimeter overflow spa, and the koi ponds. The perimeter overflow spa, represents the “chinrest” of the violin, and is also finished in jet-black glass tiles. The water within the spa seems to perpetually “overflow” into the surrounding pool and through the patio stone, but the water is actually re-circulated from the pool. The 2 koi ponds symbolize the “bow” of the violin, which crosses the pool at the violin’s “neck.” The fish filled ponds are visible from inside the pool through two acrylic panels. The view of the ponds from outside the pool are quite pleasing as well, due to levels built throughout the ponds which host water lilies, irises, and other various aquatic plants. At night, the pond further features its own lighting spectacle–250 fiber optic star-lights.

Cipriano’s team wasn’t finished once the pool was completed, “We focus on each project as a whole,” explained Chris Cipriano, the President of Cipriano Landscape Design. “We wanted to ensure that the entire landscape embodied the musical theme and that every feature complimented one another. We installed every component of this project, from the pool, outdoor kitchen, stone patios and walls, to the lush plantings and the surrounding lighting features.” Cipriano’s designers and architects enhanced the landscape surrounding the violin pool by creating complex floral patterns composed primarily of boxwood hedges, which seem to gently flow away from the pool towards the lush plantings layers. The property also features several mature specimen trees, most notably a 30’ by 30’ Japanese Bloodgood Maple tree which anchors the pool area and radiates with its reddish maroon color providing an gorgeous color contrast to the backdrop of native green trees.

Surrounding the violin pool, Cipriano’s professional masons installed an intricate patio, with custom inlays and borders, which delineated the different entertaining spaces. The patio also features a radiant heating system, which is a great feature that truly prolongs the use of the outdoor amenities well after the summer warmth dissipates. Another great entertaining space is the natural stone outdoor kitchen and bar. The steel and stone kitchen provide the homeowners with every amenity that an interior kitchen typically delivers, including a sink, trash compactor, refrigerator, 2 warming draws, and more. It also features a 60” built in television with a surround sound system. When it’s not in use, the outdoor television can be completely lowered into the structure maintaining the picturesque view of the landscape.

The outdoor lighting options are also very advanced on this project. Low voltage LED path lights, well lights, and spot light lights, were utilized throughout the property, which are 75% to 90% more energy efficient than the standard low voltage fixture. The inconspicuous under mounted wall cap fixtures on this project are one of our favorites, and are great for preserving a clean, minimalist look that allows the stonework to remain the focal point. This state of the art landscape lighting systems also includes iPhone controls for the on/off functions and to change the light colors in the fixtures.

Overall, the Bedford, NY, Violin Pool attained a host of other honors in addition to the “Best Gunite Pool Award,” including the “People’s Choice Award,” the “Gold Award for Glass Tiled Pools,” as well as the “Best in Competition Award.” The difficulties that Cipriano Landscape Design encountered throughout the design and building processes were numerous, as this was truly unchartered territory as far as building luxury pools is concerned. The completed landscape with the accompanying Violin Pool cannot merely be described using words, as the astounding finished product is one that truly speaks for itself.

Celebrating over 24 years in business, 15-time international award winner Cipriano Landscape Design distinguishes themselves from all other swimming pool landscaping companies with their extensive knowledge and experience. The Mahwah, NJ company provides more than just a pool installation. As a recognized national leader in gunite residential commercial landscaping, masonry, swimming pools and water features, the NJ firm has been offering complete transformations since 2001. With a design office headed by 15-year-veteran, Certified Landscape Architect William Moore, the Cipriano team has won over 80 awards of excellence and in 2013 was named By Pool And Spa News to the “Top 50 Pool Builders.” http://www.njcustomswimmingpools.com

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Statehouse renovation nears completion

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11/12/2013

TOPEKA (AP) — With a basement-to-dome renovation of the Kansas Statehouse nearing its end, a huge construction crane towering beside the building is supposed to come down next month, and the cost is likely to be a little less gargantuan than state officials had anticipated.

Statehouse Architect Barry Greis said Monday that almost all of the work will be done by the end of the year, with expenses likely to be several million dollars below the last projected total of $332 million. Even on Veterans Day, work continued on landscaping and a new basement visitors’ center.

The renovation began in 2001 and has updated water, electrical, heating, air-conditioning and fire-safety systems. Legislators have better, roomier offices and meeting rooms that are more accommodating to spectators. The state built an underground parking garage and expanded the basement, adding 128,000 square feet of space.

“I can’t imagine another major renovation-remodeling,” Greis said. “We’ve provided the private offices, the expanded committee rooms, visitor’s seating, things like that.”

The new visitors’ center will have displays, a gift shop, a classroom and an auditorium. The floor will contain a map of Kansas set in stone, with each of the 105 counties identified.

Greis said colder weather will prevent workers from finishing the last of the landscaping on the grounds until early spring and from completing a brick driveway around the building. The last bricks can’t go down now because they’ll go where the base of the crane is now.

The crane has been used for work on the dome. The scaffolding around the dome has come down, and Greis said large beams that supported the scaffolding will start to come down this week. Once they’re gone, the crane won’t be needed.

And the number of workers involved in the renovation has declined to between 60 and 70 from between 150 and 160 this summer, said Jim Rinner, project manager for JE Dunn Construction Co., the general contractor.

In the past, escalating costs have been a sore point for some state officials, though legislative leaders added the parking garage and basement expansion to the project. The state also discovered unexpected needs for repairing the exterior stone and replacing copper on the building’s roof and dome.

KKR in talks to acquire Brickman

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The rebranding plunge

When a competitor had the same name as Taylor Milliken’s growing company, he made the bold move to start fresh with a new identity.

John Deere Landscapes CEO expects expansion from sale

David Werning said the private-equity firm that bought the company’s majority interest intends to grow the business.

The show lowdown

Fuel education and new products were some of the highlights at the 2013 GIE+EXPO and HNA.

Scenes from the show

Get a look at all the happenings at the 2013 GIE+EXPO.

Top 100: Get the bosses’ perspective

LL spends a day inside landscaping’s biggest companies.

New flagpole, flag dedicated at 9/11 sculpture

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Boy Scout Quin Ciccolella from Troop 24 in Wilton salutes during Monday’s flag dedication at the 9/11 memorial site on High Rock in Saratoga Springs.
ERICA MILLER — THE SARATOGIAN

SARATOGA SPRINGS On a chilly, brisk Veterans Day, around 200 people gathered to dedicate the new flagpole and flag donated by the Saratoga Springs Elks Club at the Tempered By Memory 9/11 sculpture in High Rock Park.

Mayor-elect Joanne Yepsen called it a fitting day.

“It’s very appropriate to have this ceremony at the 9/11 site on this day,” Yepsen said. “I will work closely with several organizations to continue to hold ceremonies like these on 9/11.”

Yepsen also said she hopes to have blooming landscape at the site year-round.

“We’re looking for Sunnyside Gardens and Saratoga Associates to continue their landscaping,” Yepsen said.

The new flagpole and flag was spearheaded by former pro-golfer and local resident Dottie Pepper, who said she got the idea to initiate several projects after a recent visit to the sculpture and was dismayed by the deteriorating conditions.

“I came up on 9/11 and was appalled,” Pepper said. “It was weed-strewn and neglected.”

She was initially upset with the police and fire departments for not keeping up with the memorial, but added that they have since stepped up their efforts.

“They knew they had dropped the ball,” Pepper said. “The fire department donated trees and installed benches. The landscape was cleaned up. I’m especially grateful to Joe Dolan from the fire department for stepping in right away. He was really instrumental.”

Dolan said he was happy to help.

“Dottie met with us,” Dolan said. ”Everyone came together and contributed.”

Past Exalted Ruler of the Elks Club Dave Waghorn gave the dedication speech.

“This is the perfect occasion to honor our first responders,” Waghorn said. “I lost someone as I’m sure many of our residents did, on 9/11. We felt it was important to make something permanent to memorialize the bravery of those first responders on Veterans Day.”

Boy Scout Troop 24 from Wilton attended the ceremony, and troop leader Dave Pelchar said he felt the sculpture and High Rock Park would be a good opportunity for Eagle Scout candidates to do some of their projects.

“We have two candidates right now who are in search of projects,” Pelchar said. “They can build benches, plant trees or even lay gravel. It’s the perfect project.”

Although pleased with the new flagpole, Pepper says she’s is not stopping there. She said she wants to launch the “Never Forget Brick Project” December in which people can lay memorial bricks for loved ones.

“That will help keep this area going,” Pepper said.

She said she is also grateful for the Boy Scouts’ offer to do Eagle Scout projects in the park.

“It will be good to get the Scouts involved,” Pepper said.

Pasco gardening: Plans, markets and seminars

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Plants and markets

• Tasty Tuesday, 10 a.m. to noon Tuesdays in the courtyard at New Port Richey Library, 5939 Main Street. Local organic growers sell seasonal produce and plant-based goods. The library also offers a seed exchange so gardeners can “check out” heirloom, genetically pure seeds from the library’s seed catalog to start an organic garden. (727) 853-1265.

• Fresh Friday Night Market, 5 to 9 p.m. the first Friday of the month at Railroad Square in downtown New Port Richey (on Nebraska Avenue between Grand Boulevard and Adams Street). The eclectic market features vendors selling produce, plants and specialty foods such as fish, meat, cheese, baked goods, jelly and jam, honey, nuts, coffee, ethnic food, light refreshments, and arts and crafts. (727) 842-8066; nprmainstreet.com.

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• Fresh Market at Wiregrass, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the first Saturday of each month at the Shops at Wiregrass, 28211 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel. Features produce, Florida-grown plants and locally made jams, salsas, seasonings and sauces, plus the works of local artists. (813) 994-2242; tampabaymarkets.com.

• Suncoast Co-op hosts a farmer’s market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 4131 Madison St., New Port Richey. Features local in-season produce, candles and locally made products. The co-op also accepts orders for fresh, locally grown, chemical-free produce. Register at suncoastco-op.com; orders may be picked up during the market, between noon and 2 p.m. (727) 271-2754.

• Hernando County Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays at 2450 U.S. Highway 19, Spring Hill. (352) 232-4241; hernandocountyfarmersmarket.webs.com.

• Spring Hill Garden Club’s Plant Nursery hosts plant sales from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Mondays at 1489 Parker Ave., off Spring Hill Drive (four-tenths of a mile from U.S. 19). Browse or buy local plants and visit the nearby Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, called the “best kept secret in Hernando County,” which is open daily from sunup to sundown. (352) 683-9933; naturecoastgardens.com.

Seminars

• 10 Important Landscape Design Rules, 10:30 a.m. Thursday at West Hernando Library, 6335 Blackbird Ave., Brooksville. Participants will be introduced to components of landscaping in a Florida-friendly way. It will cover soil type, topography, existing vegetation and more. For information, call Sylvia Durell at (352) 540-6230 or email sdurell@co.hernando.fl.us.

• Fertilizing to Protect Water Quality, 10:30 a.m. Dec. 3 at West Hernando Library, 6335 Blackbird Ave., Brooksville. Overfertilizing can adversely impact local springs, estuaries, the aquifer and rivers. Learn when, what kind and how much fertilizer to use to keep your landscape healthy and protect our water resources. For information, call Sylvia Durell at (352) 540-6230 or email sdurell@co.hernando.fl.us.

• What to Do While Your Landscape Sleeps, 10:30 a.m. Dec. 4 at Spring Hill Branch Library, 9220 Spring Hill Drive. Winter is here and growth is slowing. Learn what to do and what to avoid doing in your landscape now to make the most of the spring landscape recovery. For information, call Sylvia Durell at (352) 540-6230 or email sdurell@co.hernando.fl.us.

• Growing Amaryllis, 9 a.m. Dec. 7 at Clayton Hall at the Pasco County Fairgrounds, 36702 State Road 52, Dade City. Learn to how to create landscape beds, extend bloom periods and renovate established beds. Advanced registration is appreciated. For information, call (727) 847-2411 and ask for Pasco County Extension.

Legacy projects planned for Kenya@50 honour

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President Uhuru Kenyatta urged Kenyans to unite in reflection and commemoration, celebration and festivity as the country marks its golden jubilee of independence/PSCU

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 10 – Corporate sponsors on Saturday pledged over Sh2.5 billion towards legacy projects in commemoration of Kenya’s 50 year independence celebrations.

The sponsors, who include Safaricom, Zuku, Equity Bank and the National Social Security Fund, made the pledge during the Kenya@50 Private Sector Partnership presidential dinner at the Nairobi National Park.

The Aga Khan Development Foundation committed Sh2.4 billion towards rehabilitation of the 90-year-old City Park in Parklands that has been run down over the years, with human and housing encroachment, pollution, poaching and illegal logging spoiling its appeal.

Once completed through a six-year plan involving environmental improvement, landscaping and creation of new facilities the 62-hectare park will have an amphitheatre, swimming pool, football pitch, food courts and jogging tracks among other social and income-generating facilities.

President Uhuru Kenyatta urged Kenyans to unite in reflection and commemoration, celebration and festivity as the country marks its golden jubilee of independence.

“We wish Kenyans to remember how love, unity, loyalty and selflessness overcame the sabotage, saved Kenya and brought her to the cusp of great promise,” he added.

The President said Kenya@50 would be accommodating the country’s diversity and the perspectives of expatriates in the country in order to bring on board a variety of ideas.

The President gave assurances that the government will be leading the commemoration of the golden jubilee of independence in the spirit of the current Constitution promulgated in August 2010 which returned the country to its only and true owners, Kenyans.

“There was a time when Kenya was, for all intents and purposes, the property of government, and government was distinct from the citizens. A regrettable civic schism occurred, which swallowed all efforts to build a united, prosperous nation,” he said.

“This is the reason why Kenya@50 must involve every Kenyan wherever they are. I request you to bring on board many ideas from as many Kenyans as possible. In fact, I expect you to also take in the perspectives of expatriates living with us, because our national family is diverse,” he added.

The President urged Kenya@50 organisers and partners to engage and enable county governments to come up with programmes and events that showcase the nation at their levels, adding that unity is meaningful only when the opportunity to contribute is fully respected.

President Kenyatta also said his government appreciates the enthusiasm of the corporate world.

Speaking during the occasion, Deputy President William Ruto said the Kenya@50 celebrations provided a moment for Kenyans to assess the present and plan for the future.

The Deputy President urged Kenyans to come together and participate in the Kenya@50 legacy projects rolled out in various parts of the county.

“I now want on behalf of the president and all those who serve in government to pledge to our motherland that we will do the best we can, we will go beyond our call of duty to take this country forward,” he said.

Ruto said the Jubilee Government will embark on rolling out of their flagship projects which include the one million acre irrigation project which will aid in addressing the issue of food insecurity.

He said the government will also launch the standard gauge railway next month as a way to ease congestion and bring efficiency in moving of goods from the Mombasa port into the country and even to the region.

He further said an additional 5,000 megawatts of power is expected to be generated by 2017 hence the need for an expanded grid.