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Denver Post Garden Calendar, 4/5/2013

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EVENTS

Colorado Dahlia Society

Saturday:Offering a second sale due to the inclement weather on March 23. Annual spring tuber sale offers hundreds of varieties, 9 a.m. until sold out. Society members will be on hand to answer to questions. $3 each or two for $5. Paulino Gardens, 6300 Broadway, 303-429-8062, dahlias.net

The Center for ReSource Conservation

Visit the website and click on the “2013 Gardens on Sale Now” link for various Garden-in-a-Box options. Kits include plants along with planting and care instructions. Water-efficient gardening and landscaping products and services are also included. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit founded in 1976 to conserve natural resources. ConservationCenter.org

Denver Botanic Gardens Library

Tuesday and Saturday: Colorado Master Gardeners are available to answer gardening questions noon -4 p.m. every Tuesday and Saturday in April. 1007 York St., 720-865-3575, e-mail gardeninghelp@ botanicgardens.org; botanicgardens.org

Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield

Friday:Free day, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road, Littleton, 720-865-4338, botanicgardens.org

Denver Rose Society

Thursday:Dave Ingram presents “Bugs and Fungi — The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” 7 p.m. Free. Plant Society Building at the Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St., 303-880-7415, denverrosesociety.org

Jared’s Nursery, Gift and Garden

Saturday and Sunday: Spring Open House includes short seminars on gardening-related topics including starting seeds, vegetables, soil amendments, organic gardening and more, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 10500 W. Bowles Ave., Littleton, 303-979-6022, jaredsgarden.com

FREE STREET TREES

City Forestry, Colorado Springs

Deadline Thursday:Annual program with approximately 80 trees on a first-come, first-served basis. The trees were purchased through Trees Across Colorado with the Tree City USA Fund. Residents must pick up and plant their own trees, instructions included. Call for more information and to apply for a tree. Pickup dates and times on the website. 719-385-5942, SpringsGov.com/forestry

CLASSES WORKSHOPS

Colorado Agriculture Leadership Foundation

Saturday:CALF has partnered with CSU Extension/Douglas County Master Gardeners for a series of gardening classes including “Take the Mystery Out of Gardening — Class #1 – Seeds or Transplants?” 9 a.m. $5; April 13: “Choosing Soil Amendments,” 8-10 a.m. $5. CALF’s Ag Barn, 2330 S. I-25, Castle Rock, 720-733-6935, thecalf.org/gardening-classes.html, extension.colostate.edu/douglas

Denver Botanic Gardens

Saturday:“Keys to Home Vegetable Gardening,” 10 a.m.-noon. $31, $26 members; Sunday: “Getting the Most Out of Your Home Garden,” 9 a.m.-noon. $35; April 13: “Hardy Bulbs for Colorado,” 1-6 p.m. $60, $54 members. Reservations required. 1007 York St., 720-865-3585, botanicgardens.org

Echter’s Garden Center

Saturday: “Get Gardening Now!” with Betty Cahill, 10-11:30 a.m. $5, reservations not required; April 13: “Vegetable Gardening Know How,” 9:30-11 a.m.; “Selecting the Best Trees and Shrubs for Colorado Gardens,” 1-2:30 p.m.; “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme … and many more,” 3-4:30 p.m.; April 14: “Gardens That Inspire and Transform,” 1-2:30 p.m.; “Pond 101 — Get Your Feet Wet,” 3-4:30 p.m. 5150 Garrison St., Arvada, 303-424-7979, echters.com

The Gardens on Spring Creek

Saturday: “The Care and Pruning of Roses,” 10 a.m.-noon. $18, $15 members; “Water Saving Succulent Planters,” 1-3 p.m. $35, $30 members; April 13: “Succession Planting,” 1-2 p.m. $12, $10 members. Reservations required. 2145 Centre Ave., Fort Collins, 970-416-2486, fcgov.com/gardens

Growing Gardens’ Greenhouse

Saturday: “Introduction to Gardening II,” 9-11:30 a.m. $35. Growing Gardens is also offering Top Bar bee hives for sale in early spring for $225 each. The hives are handmade by a local craftsman. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Growing Gardens and its support of community urban agriculture. 1630 Hawthorne Ave., Boulder, 303-443-9952 ext. 2, e-mail annie@growinggardens.com, growinggardens.org

Jared’s Nursery, Gift and Garden

April 13: “Attracting Hummingbirds” with Tom Bush of Front Range Birding Company, 10 a.m.; April 14: “Ponds,” with Andy Humphrey, 1 p.m.; “Lily Ponds vs. Koi Ponds” with the Rocky Mountain Koi Club, 2 p.m. 10500 W. Bowles Ave., Littleton, 303-979-6022, jaredsgarden.com

Nick’s Garden Center Farm Market

April 13: “Getting Started with Indoor Gardening and Hydroponics,” 10:30 a.m.-noon. Free; April 20: “Nick’s Build a Pond Day,” 9 a.m.-3 p.m. $15, lunch and snack provided; April 21: “Nick’s Build a Pond-less Waterfall,” 9 a.m.-3 p.m. $15, lunch and snacks provided. Reservations required. 2001 S. Chambers Road, Aurora, 303-696-6657, nicksgardencenter.com

Ross Cherry Creek Library

Wednesday: “12 Gorgeous Groundcovers for Preventing Weeds,” 6 p.m.; April 13: “Add Whimsy to Your Garden for Next to Nothing,” 1 p.m. 305 Milwaukee St., 720-865-0120

Tagawa Gardens

Saturday: Fantasy Orchids Show and Sale, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; author Jane Shellenberger will discuss and sign her recent book, “Cool Warm Season Vegetable Growing in Colorado,” 11 a.m.-noon; “Orchids 101,” 1-2 p.m.; Sunday:“Best Plants for Colorado Ponds,” 11 a.m.-noon; “Sustainability, Organics, GMO’s and The Kitchen Garden Pharmacy,” 1-2 p.m.; April 13-14: Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists Show and Sale; April 13: “Getting Your Pond Ready for Spring,” 9:30-11:30 a.m.; “Save Money Create a Healthier Landscape,” noon-1 p.m.; April 14: “All-Natural Skin Care,” 1-3 p.m. $25, reservations required. 7711 S. Parker Road, Centennial, 303-690-4722, tagawagardens.com

Timberline Gardens

Saturday: “Basic Pruning: Principles of Pruning,” 9-11 a.m. $10; “Urban Farming 101,” noon-2 p.m. $10; Sunday: “Composting 101,” 10 a.m.-noon. $10; “Walls and Walkways,” 1-3 p.m. $10; April 13: “What To Do, When,” 9-11 a.m. $10; “Permaculture,” noon-2 p.m. $10; April 14: “Aromatherapy,” noon-3 p.m. $12, includes materials for one herbal remedy, $7 for each additional remedy. Reservations required. 11700 W. 58th Ave., Arvada, 303-420-4060, timberlinegardens.com

GARDENING GRANTS

The Littleton Garden Club

Deadline April 26: The Littleton Garden Club, serving Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson Counties, is offering $50-$500 grants to service organizations in the Littleton area that promote gardening and the beautification of public gardens by a service group or educational horticulture program. All types and ages of groups are invited to apply. The grants are not for homeowners associations. Grants will be awarded at the Littleton Garden Club meeting at 6 p.m. May 1. Call or visit the website for details and reservations. Call Jan at 303-978-9000 or e-mail janr40@msn.com

EXHIBITS

Denver Botanic Gardens

Through Friday:“Botany Inside Out: Early Printed European Books” in the El Pomar Room; through May 12: “Coleoptera Friends: Paintings by Robert Spellman” in the Gates Garden Court Gallery. 1007 York St.,720-865-3580, botanicgardens.org

SAVE THE DATE

EarthLinks

April 13: Continues its Community Links Series with a “Natural Beekeeping Workshop,” 10 a.m. learn the basics of a natural, holistic approach to beekeeping with bee biology basics, hive maintenance, tips on a successful swarm season and a local honey taste test. $5-$20 suggested donation. Lunch and an open house follows. 2828 Larimer St., EarthLinks-Colorado.org/Events

 

Mail info 10-14 days in advance to Garden Calendar, The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO 80202; fax 303-954-1679; e-mail living@denverpost.com.

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Garden Notes / News of area clubs and events

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Master Gardeners of Erie County Cooperative Extension and Buffalo in Bloom will present a free basic gardening class from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the community room at the Broadway Market. For information, call 877-8989.

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East Park Garden Club will hold its installation dinner at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Holiday Inn, 100 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island.

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Eden Garden Club will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Eden Junior-Senior High School, 3150 Schoolview Road, Eden. Joe Manuel will present “Organic Gardening.”

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Evans Garden Club will install officers Tuesday in O’Brien’s Pub, 8557 N. Main St., Eden. Cocktails at 6 p.m.; dinner at 7 p.m. For information, call 947-4571 or 549-6385.

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Amana Garden Club will hold a coffee social at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Burchfield Nature Art Center, 2001 Union Road, West Seneca. Each member will present a flowering spring bulb. During the afternoon workshop, members will create items for the spring festival May 5 at the nature center. All welcome. For information, call 875-5563.

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Hamburg Garden Club will meet at noon Wednesday in Brierwood Country Club, 5324 Rogers Road, Hamburg, for its 89th birthday and installation party. The themed event, “April Showers Bring May Flowers,” will focus on planting perennials for a cutting garden.

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Lancaster Garden Club will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in St. John’s Lutheran Hall, 55 Pleasant Ave., Lancaster. Carol Ann Harlos, master gardener, will present “Powdery and Downy Mildew” and how it affects impatiens and other flowers.

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Garden Friends of Clarence will install officers at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Brookfield Country Club, 5120 Shimerville Road, Clarence. For information, email gardenfriendsofclarence@hotmail.com.

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Alden Garden Club will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Alden Community Center, 13116 Main St. Peter Diachun, master gardener, will present “Roses: Pruning, Pest Control and Soil.” Guests and new members welcome. For information, call 937-7055.

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The Black Rock Riverside Tour of Gardens committee will host Lyn Chimera, author and master gardener, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Northwest Buffalo Community Center, 155 Lawn Ave., off Military Road. She will discuss soil, choosing appropriate plants and basic planting techniques. All welcome. For information, call 877-2740.

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Western New York Herb Study Group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Buffalo Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave. Kathy Lourence Spider will speak on herbal remedies and beauty products.

South Town Garden Club will meet at 9:30 a.m. next Friday in the Burchfield Nature Art Center, 2001 Union Road, West Seneca. New members welcome; no gardening experience necessary. For information, call 668-0209.

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Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses will present a free garden series from 6 to 7 p.m. on the following dates at the Eggertsville-Snyder Branch Library, 4622 Main St., Snyder: Fairy Gardens (Wednesday), Perennials (April 17) and Frost Tolerant Plants (April 24). Call 839-0700 or stop by the library to register.

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Arbordale Nurseries and Landscaping will present a free garden series from 7 to 8 p.m. on the following dates at the Amherst Main Library at Audubon, 350 John James Audubon Parkway, Amherst: Landscape Designing and Renovations (Tuesday), Spring Pond Care (April 23), Living with Deer in the Landscape (May 14) and Grow Your Own Vegetables and Herbs Anywhere! (May 21). Call 689-4922 or stop by the library to register.

If you have a submission for Garden Notes, please send it to Susan Martin, Garden Notes, Features Department, The Buffalo News, P.O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14240. Fax: 849-3445. email: smartin@buffnews.com. All items must be received in writing two weeks prior to publication.

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Green Thumb Alerts

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Crimes Against Horticulture

Billy Goodnick

Billy Goodnick

Landscape architect, writer and speaker Billy Goodnick will speak at the upcoming meeting of the Laguna Beach Garden Club, 9:30 a.m., Friday, April 12, at Laguna Presbyterian Church.

As an award-winning designer who worked his way up from swinging a pick to landscape architect, his presentations are enriched by years of professional design practice and animated by his earlier life as an entertainer.

Goodnick, Santa Barbara’s 22-year landscape architect, will treat members to tales and images of pruning gone wrong and provide guidance for garden design and maintenance. His book, “Yards: Turn Any Outdoor Space into the Garden of Your Dreams,” will be available.

 

What’s Coming Up in the Garden?

Corky Peterson’s culinary presentation last month.

Corky Peterson’s culinary presentation last month.

Carly Day Andrews and Ruben Flores will present their popular workshop on growing tomatoes, Saturday, April 20, 10 a.m., in the South Laguna Garden, at Eagle Rock Way and Coast Highway.

Thanks to their tips and warmer weather, last year’s crops were the best yet. Flores will bring some promising tomato varieties, along with grafted tomatoes that combine disease and nematode resistant root stock with tasty heirloom types.

Potluck, music, and lots more should sprout for Spring Fling on Sunday, April 28, at 2-5 p.m.

YogaWorks is partnering with the garden, which will offer 9 a.m. yoga classes on Saturdays April 13, May 11, and Sunday, June 2. Refreshments by 118 Degrees will be provided afterwards.  All proceeds will be donated to the fund to buy the garden. Sign up at Yogaworks Laguna Studio 949-415-0955.

 

 

LBCF and Massen Greene Plant Grant

Laguna Beach Community Foundation provided a $5,000 grant in partnership with Massen Greene Foundation to Glennwood Housing Foundation for developing landscaping and organic and occupational gardens on site.

Glennwood House is working with Transition Laguna and Bluebird Farms to create organic gardens on site and job opportunities at the farm.

The grant will help purchase plants for both the garden project and general landscaping, to be installed in April and May.

Glennwood still hopes to open by June.

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Off the couch: Active options, April 5 and beyond

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RACHEFF PLANT SALE

Ivan Racheff House and Gardens Spring Plant Sale will be 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 6. Dozens of varieties of plants will be available for sale, including herbs, succulents, native plants, annuals, perennials and wild flowers. Azaleas, camellias, shrubs and trees will be offered. Birdhouses and feeders by Troy Lawson, handmade hypertufa containers and gardening tools will be on sale. Growers will be on hand to assist with selection and care of your plants.

A light lunch will be available from 11 to 1:30.

Proceeds from the plant sale will be used to develop and maintain the Racheff Gardens, which will be open all day for viewing new spring blooming plants and landscaping.

KBGA PLANT SALE

Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum’s Spring Plant Sale is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 6, 2743 Wimpole Ave. Choose from many unusual varieties of dogwoods, all of which are represented on KBGA’s Dogwood Nature Trail. Hydrangeas also will be a featured plant, as well as hardy perennials and spring vegetables.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Knoxville Garden Club and the Garden Study Club will hold its 49th annual Talahi Plant Sale 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at Lakeshore Park. Heirloom and award-winning varieties of native and non-native plants and vegetables will be for sale.

The perennial and wildflower areas will feature more than 1000 plants which have been dug from the members’ gardens. Besides a selection of Lenten roses, astilbe, bleeding heart, ferns, trillium and poppies, there will be some unusual hostas and heuchera to choose from. A hardy Hibiscus and two varieties of Dianthus from garden designer Ryan Gainey and Lavatera ‘Barnsley” from Barnsley Gardens will be offered. More than 35 varieties of flowering, culinary and medicinal herbs will also be for sale. And area vendors will sell garden accessories and gifts.

Proceeds from last year’s sale benefitted more than 15 community and education projects.

BACKPACKING PROGRAM

Rob Davis and Ron Shrieves will give a presentation at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, at the Harvey Broome Group of the Sierra Club program about backpacking on the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. It will be at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike. This program is free and the public is invited.

The John Muir Trail runs for 216 miles through the high Sierra Nevada Mountains from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney.

Last summer, a group of five hikers, including Davis and Shrieves, did a 9-day backpack over a portion of the trail. They will share photos and their experiences from the adventure. Info: Mac Post, mpost3116@aol.com, 865-806-0980.

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Neil Sperry: Playing with texture in the garden

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By Neil Sperry


It’s almost like eating pizza without toppings — landscaping without tapping into textures, that is. Every gardener thinks about flowers. Many think about growth forms. Some even remember to ask how tall and how wide a plant will grow. But very few give even passing thought to the textures that plants and hardscaping elements bring to their surroundings. We’re going to do that right now.

Texture might be described as the “visual weight” of a plant or an object. That’s where we pick up terms such as “heavy-” or “light-textured.” Plants with large leaves are labeled “heavy-” or “bold-textured.” That list is lengthy, but just as a few examples, bur oaks, elephant ears, fatsias, oakleaf hydrangeas and southern magnolias all are visually heavy in a landscape. Ferns, dwarf yaupon hollies, nandinas, junipers, liriope and ornamental grasses bring light, or fine, textures. Some might describe them as “airy.”

Every last thing that you add to your landscape has its own inherent texture. Boulders, concrete pedestals and flagstone walks all are obviously heavy-textured, while wrought iron and fine gravel bring a much lighter feel.

A plant’s growth form also plays a part in determining its textural value to your garden. Unless leaf size or bark character trump the growth form, rounded and oval plants have neutral textures. Weeping and arching plants have a lighter texture (except for weeping mulberries, where leaf size predominates). Decidedly upright plants such as columnar Italian cypress, Skyrocket junipers and Will Fleming yaupon hollies are far more dominant in their gardens. Even though the leaves of all three are tiny, the plants’ textural value is bold, giving them a heavy feel visually.

As with any kind of decorating, you want to use a nice blend of a variety of textures. Use bold-textured plants and products to draw attention to an otherwise uninteresting area. Large fountains and urns become the focal points of their surroundings. Stone walls draw a definitive boundary. They stop your eye’s flow across the landscape.

Use fine-textured elements to make a small garden appear larger. Cover a bank with a trailing groundcover such as Asian jasmine or Tam junipers. Use arching Italian jasmine or Sea Green juniper as a soft backdrop to other plantings. Japanese maples add color to a shaded garden without shrinking its apparent size.

Trunk and bark play a part in determining a plant’s textural contribution to a landscape. Slick-trunked crape myrtles, yaupon hollies and Texas persimmon give a lighter feel. Heavily fissured barks of eastern persimmons, bur oaks and cottonwoods pour in more drama. Bark may not be something you’ve spent much time considering, but it’s deciduous plants’ main visual contribution for several months every winter.

One of the really effective ways to show that you fully understand this entire topic is to use contrasting textures side-by-side. Mondograss is handsome next to Carissa hollies, English ivy or rounded river rock. Or, if you’re using mondograss as a replacement for turf due to excessive shading, contrast its texture by planting oakleaf hydrangeas or Mary Nell hollies within the bed.

People often ask for the best flowering and variegated plants for shady parts of their gardens, and I do list some of the best types in reply. That list would include annuals such as wax and Dragon Wing begonias, caladiums and coleus, and perennials such as ajuga, oxalis, Texas Gold columbines, summer phlox and hellebores.

I don’t go much further in my reply, however, without describing a landscape I visited 25 years ago. It was the home of one of Texas’ finest landscape architects, the late Richard Myrick of Dallas. As I walked toward his door, I realized that his entire landscape was done featuring green plants and their endless variety of textures. I told Dick what a lesson he had taught me, and hopefully I’ve now passed on the works from that master.

Have fun this spring, as you “texturize” your gardens. You’ll be amazed at what a difference you can make.

Neil Sperry publishes “Gardens” magazine and hosts “Texas Gardening” from 8 to 11 a.m. Sundays on WBAP AM/FM. Reach him during those hours at 800-288-9227 or 214-787-1820.


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Jada Winery’s owner finds joy in landscaping

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Jack Messina’s first encounter with wine was when he walked into his grandfather “Nonno’s” little 4-by-6-foot winemaking room at the back of their home in Staten Island, N.Y.

A child then, Jack remembers the smell to this day, “a beautiful smell,” he says with a smile. His grandfather and his young family had emigrated in the early 1930s from a little town in Sicily.

Jack grew up as a city boy in Brooklyn, but he never forgot that fragrant smell of wine. Years later, after becoming a successful heart surgeon in Tampa, Fla., Jack followed that scent and began looking for olive oil and vineyard properties in California.

He had never heard of the Paso Robles wine region, but when his real estate agent introduced him to a 100-acre farm planted in barley in the Templeton Gap, he “fell in love.” That was 1999, and Jada Vineyard and Winery began. The name Jada goes back to that little fishing village in Italy, where the fishing boat “Jada” was one of grandfather Nonno’s favorites.

The winery operates as a family partnership, with Messina’s son, Josh, and daughter, Ryan, now living onsite and managing the wine and olive oil business. With their award-winning estate wines, tasting room and view patio, shipping, and 2,000 wine club members, they keep busy. Jack is able to spend about six weeks throughout the year at the vineyard property, especially during planting and production times. Also, according to Josh, “My dad is the landscape guy — he loves trees and has planted lots of them wherever he has lived.”

“If I hadn’t become a surgeon, I would have been a landscape architect,” Messina says. It was in 2006 that Messina began fulfilling his dream of adding landscaping to create a setting where the wine would reflect the vineyard’s beauty. He envisioned a flowing combination of vines, grapes and trees that would create an artistic portrait reminiscent of wine regions he visited in Italy and France. He hired landscape architect Steve Caminiti to create a welcoming and artistic entrance with a “statement” on Vineyard Drive. Steve started by planting more than 75 flowering plum trees the entire length of the property, adding rosemary, lavender and trimmed boxwoods underneath. As the trees with their pink blooms, then red foliage, follow the undulations of the road, they create a flowing design that is quite eye-catching.

For the gate, Caminiti used rich earthy hues of natural horizontal sandstone slabs to create curving entrance walls, locating a wide planting space between layers. In this space he placed the low-water California native “Howard McMinn” manzanita, bringing color in its red bark and small white bells. He added yellow yarrow with gray foliage and daylilies to provide strong summer color. Two varieties of rosemary, groundcover and bush, bring purple-blues the palette.

In order to create an established look to the entrance, Caminiti imported six mature Italian olive trees from the Central Valley. Inside the gate, 24 more producing olive trees were planted to line the sloping drive up to the tasting room.

Messina has researched the importance of the olive tree in different countries throughout history. As a heart surgeon, he is interested in the new findings that unrefined olive oil is a major ingredient for good health. “The unrefined phenol-rich virgin olive oil helps blood vessel function.” Messina and son Josh have now added 200 more Italian olive trees and are currently preparing for the next pressing.

After driving up the incline through the olive trees and vineyard, the guest enters a forest of oaks, conifers and coast redwoods surrounding the tasting room and patio, which, by the way, offers a spectacular view across the hills. Because of the property’s higher and cooler location that catches the ocean breezes, Messina can grow coastloving selections such as Grevillea under the shaded canopy. His next proj ect is to add the low-water Grevillea “Noelli,” with its curling red bloom, between the olives.

In gardens near the tasting room, bright pink redbud trees and yellow forsythia, rosemary and yellow-orange Euphorbia all bloom in the early spring, while the iris and then roses and daylilies will provide color as the days grow longer.

As Messina says, “This is a work in progress, and we are learning more each year. Our focus is on excellence and attention to detail.” As the visitor enjoys the landscaping and blooms among the vines, that attention to detail is on display.

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Novi Home & Garden Show runs April 5-7

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Published: Wednesday, April 03, 2013







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Garden party: 7 creative landscapes will be showcased during tour Saturday

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Denny and Sam Johnson’s garden is a comfortable arrangement of cactus and planters. But not every garden is just about the flora.


Tour their garden, and you’ll see a collection of outdoor art and artifacts that ties it all together.

And all these things have their story.

Take the brick wall that encloses a front patio. It curves around large planters, some fan palms and a shade tree — blocking out the street and creating a quiet place to relax.

The wall is made of Mexican brick, Denny said.

The secret ingredients are horse manure, cow manure and, he added: “A little bit of clay.”

The result is an unpretentious wall accented in muted earth tones. It blends in with the comfortable Santa Fe-style home the Johnson have lived in for nearly nine years. They have spent those years building a garden that extends that comfort to the outdoors, with many talking-point touches — like the wall.

They will share their stories from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, as their garden is one of seven featured stops on the third annual Casa Grande Garden and Landscape Tour. Six homeowners and Seeds of Hope will open their gardens to the public.

It’s free, but you have to provide your own wheels.

The Pinal County Cooperative Extension Office and Casa Grande master gardeners sponsor the tour.

The Johnsons’ home backs up to the second hole of Dave White Municipal Golf Course. Denny is a retired Minnesota game warden. Until recently, Sam — that’s her nickname — ran a business designing and creating faux walls.

When they moved in, they started with something of a blank slate. They didn’t call in landscapers for an instant makeover. They built up their garden almost piece-by-piece during the years. Some of the projects, in fact, were a little more hands-on than they anticipated.

The wall, for instance.

“We hired a couple of guys, but they didn’t show up,” Sam said. “And we ended up doing it ourselves.”

Denny suggested they had to do something with the bricks.

“We had pallets of them in the front yard,” he said.

The wall, it happens, fit in with their plans to create a patio with a southern exposure.

“The main focus in having this in the front like this was in the winter, you get the sun,” Denny said.

Sam added they’re from Minnesota, so they often receive guests from their home state. All could appreciate the winter warmth of an Arizona southern exposure.

And while their guests soaked up the sun, they probably asked about the bell. It’s mounted on a wooden frame and looks about half the size of a Mini Cooper.

“It came from Cactus Dan,” Denny said.

Cactus Dan, it happens, is Dan Sudnick. His garden is part of Saturday’s tour. Denny got a lot of cactus from him, too. He’s not called Cactus Dan for nothing. His own garden is like the cactus wing of the natural history museum. He labels his cactus.

But the Johnsons’ cactus garden is a delight as well. It’s in the back. To get there, you walk along a narrow path between the house and the wall on the property line. This in itself is part of the tour. The passageway leads under a grapevine clinging to an overhead trellis.

Then it opens up to the backyard. And here is where nature meets creativity.

And the cactus is a big part of that. In what might be called the backyard’s northeast quadrant are cacti from Arizona to Argentina. The Arizona portion includes a large two-armed saguaro. The Argentine example is the Argentine giant. It’s all arms, spreading out and reaching up.

“The flowers are the size of dinner plates,” Sam said.

Right now, the plant is just sporting small fuzzy buds. But maybe just one of them will open up to full dinner-plate mode by Saturday. The Johnsons enjoy the cactus garden, in part, because arranging cactus is something of an art form in itself.

“When you put them all together, it’s a very creative process,” Sam said.

Both Johnsons can appreciate art and the creative process. Sam paints landscapes and Denny paints portraits.

Even the cactus garden, though, is not without its artifacts. Somewhere back by the prickly pear rise steel shoe forms, the kind once used by cobblers. They’re embedded in the ground. The Johnsons picked them up at antique sales.

West of the cactus garden is a fountain. Nearby seating brings weary souls within the soothing sounds of a babbling spring.

The fountain itself looks like it was carved out of a granite cliff. And, in a way, it was. Water spills from the top of two large pillars of granite.

When the Johnsons saw a fountain just like it at the home and garden show in Phoenix, they made up their minds. That’s the kind of fountain they wanted. They contacted the fountain maker and arranged for the boulders to be installed.

They had a crane lift them over a wall from the golf course.

The rest of the back patio is green with planters and flowers and ground cover. Flagstone connects the fountain area and cactus garden to a covered patio. And, here and there, metal sculptures add art to nature.

Many were made by Jerry Parra, a sculptor who runs a trading post in Oracle.

“He does it all out of mining equipment,” Denny said.

Another sculpture worth noting stands by the front door. It’s a full-size bronze of a warrior in full headdress, poised with a shield in one hand and a lance in the other. Denny and Sam spotted it on the way to art class, near the Holiday Inn.

“The whole street was filled with life-size bronzes,” Denny said. He told his wife: “I’m skipping art class.”

They pulled over. He came home with the bronze warrior that now guards the front patio. And the story behind it.

Just ask. He’ll fill you in during the tour.

Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

Keep Flower Mound Beautiful events coming up

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Flower Mound’s Spring Trash-Off event will take place Saturday in the parking lot of Home Depot, located on FM 2499.

The event starts with registration at 8:30 a.m. Supplies will be handed out to volunteers, who will be sent to various areas in Flower Mound (parks, trails, creeks, roadways) to clean up trash/recycles. Volunteers then bring back their findings and will be provided lunch and door prizes. T-shirts are available to the first 300 to register. Prizes for the most bags of trash collect, most bags of recycles, and most unusual item collected.

The Environmental/Health Fair begins at 10 a.m. and is a free event open to everyone. There will be many booths providing education and activities regarding positive environmental practices and healthy living choices.

The North Texas Native plant society will have 1,000/60 species of native plants available for sale. Christian Community Action will have a truck present to collect items for their resale store and pantry. Cintas Document Management will be providing document shredding to residents of Flower Mound. The Mound Foundation will collecting old cell phones and used ink cartridges. Home Depot will be offering their popular kids workshop.

There will also be a composting class from 8:30 a.m. to noon April 27. This class is free and will provide residents with enough information to go out and start their own backyard compost with confidence, including Vermiculture (worm composting). Everyone will receive a Rodale book on composting that is full of a wealth of information and will continue to guide them through the process. Register at www.kfmb.org.

Also, environmental educational classes are taught throughout the year on subjects such as composting, sustainable landscaping, using native plants in your landscaping, and rain gardens. KFMB also conducts small scale clean ups every month, focusing attention on one location every third Saturday of the month from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

For information, visit www.kfmb.org.

Filed Under: gardens and landscaping

04-03-13 Water Features, Garden Displays To Inspire Guests At Annual Pond …

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Filed Under: gardens and landscaping
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