BAY CITY, MI — Four years after planning began, a Bay City Garden Club project to expand the Kantzler Arboretum wraps up this week in Veterans Memorial Park.

The project includes the planting of new trees, installation of pathways and a new kiosk with a future hanging garden. The arboretum is located along John F. Kennedy Drive on the city’s West Side.

“I’m incredibly excited to have the whole new structure complete,” said Deb Holbein, project chairwoman and garden club member.

The arboretum expansion began last summer when new drainage was added, cement for pathways was poured and grass was seeded.

“The project has taken a little longer (than planned), but all good things come in time,” said Jerry Somalski, owner of Bay Landscaping, 1630 SE Boutell in Essexville.

Bay Landscaping is one of the contractors and organizers that have contributed time to the project, which Somalski said is a great addition to the Bay City parks system.

The total costs for the arboretum-improvement project was $170,500, which was funded through grants, donations and contributions from the garden club. The club secured $100,000 last year, with the remaining costs coming this year through the Kantzler Foundation, the Russell and Maxine Smith Foundation and additional contributions from the club.

The most notable addition to the arboretum is the Kantzler Interpretive Center, a kiosk with an extending pergola. The tall, tin-sided kiosk features a copper roof and has wooden beams extending from the roof, which will feature a hanging garden. Nine plaques that tell the history of the arboretum are expected to be placed on the kiosk in September. The entire structure has a diameter of 30 feet.

Employees of Cherry Builders, 7187 N. Portsmouth, were working on the wooden beams on the interpretive center on Monday, July 29.

“Today should be our last day if everything goes good,” said Dave Wisniewski, co-owner of Cherry Builders.

All that’s left to do to is some work on the interpretive center, a little bit of landscaping around the kiosk and some lawn work, Somalski said.

“It’s incredible when you just stand out on John F. Kennedy Drive. Before you couldn’t tell an arboretum was there. Now, the new structure is big and it draws more attention to it,” Holbein said.

The project included the addition of new sidewalks, drainage, grating, seeding, tree planting, the interpretive center, benches and lights.

“The garden club itself worked hard for a lot of years to make this project happen and we want to thank the community for supporting us,” Holbein said.

The club has met its financial goal for the project, but is still accepting donations for the arboretum in the form of trees, pocket gardens or memorials. Those interested in donating or installing a memorial can call Holbein at 989-245-5508.

The Chicago Housing Authority will unveil to the public Tuesday night a new vision for redeveloping the Lathrop Homes public housing complex, officials said.

Though the plan focuses on preserving some of the existing historic buildings and landscaping, it also calls for overhauling the sprawling development.

The agency will keep at least 17 of the original low-rise structures but completely gut those buildings and revamp their interiors, the plans show. Then it will construct dozens of buildings and retail spaces that reflect the site’s original design.

“It’s a plan we thoroughly believe can happen,” said Michael Jasso, the CHA’s chief development officer.

“It’s been a long process. … We feel this is a doable plan,” said Jacques Sandberg, vice president of Related Midwest, a firm partnering with the CHA to develop the proposal. “We’re off to the races and can’t wait to put shovels into the ground.”

The proposal unveiling and the latest public hearing is another step in a process of determining just how Lathrop Homes will finally look. There is no set date for construction, but officials hope to finish the planning process this year and break ground in 2015, Jasso said.

Situated on the borders of Bucktown and Roscoe Village, Lathrop is a sprawling, handsome, historic brick complex along the Chicago River. One of the last public housing developments on the North Side, it is surrounded by expensive homes and upscale shopping outlets.

For more than a decade, the CHA has been working to redevelop Lathrop Homes into a mixed-income community as part of its overall Plan for Transformation. While the idea of demolishing worn, decaying structures that crowded thousands of poor residents in one location has been praised in other areas of Chicago, the plans for Lathrop have been highly criticized.

Community activists, some housing agencies and current Lathrop residents oppose the CHA’s plan because it will offer market-rate housing in a neighborhood flooded with higher-income households. Many fear that revamping Lathrop will eventually push out lower-income residents from a neighborhood struggling with economic and racial diversity.

It would also bring more traffic and congestion and possibly destroy buildings that have been praised for their architectural significance.

“The plans that we’ve seen are a step forward from what we saw in the past, but it doesn’t save enough of the complex,” said Ward Miller, president of Preservation Chicago, which advocates saving historic architecture. Because Lathrop was built in the 1930s by architects such as Robert DeGolyer and Hugh Garden, Miller thinks more of the complex should be preserved.

“Lathrop should be saved almost in its entirety,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of great things that could happen with the right type of sensitive development.”

The way Lathrop is now designed, with ample green space, walking paths and gardens, is what the CHA is trying to emulate at its newer mixed-income sites, Miller said. That’s reason to renovate the buildings but keep the housing stock the same, he said.

There are 925 apartments at the Lathrop site, but the bulk of the complex is vacant.

Under the new plan, only 400 units at Lathrop would be held for public housing residents. Another 504 apartments would be sold at market rate. The remaining 212 units would be leased to low-income tenants.

For the current Lathrop residents, the process of determining how the complex will be transformed has been an emotional and frustrating ride. For years they have endured long meetings with complicated jargon and sudden changes on where they’re allowed to live.

Several tenant leaders have complained that community and residential input is not valued. Residents don’t want market-rate units or retail development, but the CHA continues to include both as part of the plan, saying they are committed to integrating the housing complex.

On Tuesday, when the master plan is revealed, the entire community will be given an opportunity to speak about the designs. But only refinements to the current mark-ups will be considered, Jasso said.

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the New Life Community Church, 2958 N. Damen Ave.

lbowean@tribune.com

The Chicago Housing Authority will unveil to the public Tuesday night a new vision for redeveloping the Lathrop Homes public housing complex, officials said.

Though the plan focuses on preserving some of the existing historic buildings and landscaping, it also calls for overhauling the sprawling development.

The agency will keep at least 17 of the original low-rise structures but completely gut those buildings and revamp their interiors, the plans show. Then it will construct dozens of buildings and retail spaces that reflect the site’s original design.

“It’s a plan we thoroughly believe can happen,” said Michael Jasso, the CHA’s chief development officer.

“It’s been a long process. … We feel this is a doable plan,” said Jacques Sandberg, vice president of Related Midwest, a firm partnering with the CHA to develop the proposal. “We’re off to the races and can’t wait to put shovels into the ground.”

The proposal unveiling and the latest public hearing is another step in a process of determining just how Lathrop Homes will finally look. There is no set date for construction, but officials hope to finish the planning process this year and break ground in 2015, Jasso said.

Situated on the borders of Bucktown and Roscoe Village, Lathrop is a sprawling, handsome, historic brick complex along the Chicago River. One of the last public housing developments on the North Side, it is surrounded by expensive homes and upscale shopping outlets.

For more than a decade, the CHA has been working to redevelop Lathrop Homes into a mixed-income community as part of its overall Plan for Transformation. While the idea of demolishing worn, decaying structures that crowded thousands of poor residents in one location has been praised in other areas of Chicago, the plans for Lathrop have been highly criticized.

Community activists, some housing agencies and current Lathrop residents oppose the CHA’s plan because it will offer market-rate housing in a neighborhood flooded with higher-income households. Many fear that revamping Lathrop will eventually push out lower-income residents from a neighborhood struggling with economic and racial diversity.

It would also bring more traffic and congestion and possibly destroy buildings that have been praised for their architectural significance.

“The plans that we’ve seen are a step forward from what we saw in the past, but it doesn’t save enough of the complex,” said Ward Miller, president of Preservation Chicago, which advocates saving historic architecture. Because Lathrop was built in the 1930s by architects such as Robert DeGolyer and Hugh Garden, Miller thinks more of the complex should be preserved.

“Lathrop should be saved almost in its entirety,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of great things that could happen with the right type of sensitive development.”

The way Lathrop is now designed, with ample green space, walking paths and gardens, is what the CHA is trying to emulate at its newer mixed-income sites, Miller said. That’s reason to renovate the buildings but keep the housing stock the same, he said.

There are 925 apartments at the Lathrop site, but the bulk of the complex is vacant.

Under the new plan, only 400 units at Lathrop would be held for public housing residents. Another 504 apartments would be sold at market rate. The remaining 212 units would be leased to low-income tenants.

For the current Lathrop residents, the process of determining how the complex will be transformed has been an emotional and frustrating ride. For years they have endured long meetings with complicated jargon and sudden changes on where they’re allowed to live.

Several tenant leaders have complained that community and residential input is not valued. Residents don’t want market-rate units or retail development, but the CHA continues to include both as part of the plan, saying they are committed to integrating the housing complex.

On Tuesday, when the master plan is revealed, the entire community will be given an opportunity to speak about the designs. But only refinements to the current mark-ups will be considered, Jasso said.

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the New Life Community Church, 2958 N. Damen Ave.

lbowean@tribune.com

BUFFALO — I’m always getting new ideas from the gardeners I talk to. Here are just a few of the more interesting tips I’ve picked up, recently.

Try Malabar spinach
I had never even heard of Malabar spinach, before I visited the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk, which takes place in the neighborhood around the University at Buffalo South Campus. Shawn King grows this cool plant, in her garden.

Malabar spinach is a vining plant that has a magenta stem with green leaves. King gave me a taste, and it’s delicious. It tastes like ordinary spinach, but the leaves are thicker, which I think adds to its appeal. Since it’s a vine, you can let Malabar spinach grow up a trellis, to save space in your garden.

Be daring: paint dried plants
Karen Deutschlander of Lancaster has purple alliums in her garden. Those are the flowers that look like a round ball on a stick. When I say the alliums in her garden are purple, I mean that, right now, they’re purple.

That’s unusual, because alliums are spring flowers. By summer, the flower has faded to brown. Many people leave them in their garden anyway, because they’re such an interesting shape. Others cut them, dry them and paint them, to use in arrangements.

Deutschlander does something different. She spray paints them, while they’re still in the garden! I didn’t notice that she had painted flowers in her garden, until she pointed it out to me.

That’s not the only plant she has spray painted. One time, she had a dead arborvitae, and the Lancaster Garden Walk was coming up, fast. She said she spray painted the entire bush and no one who visited her garden noticed.

Mow over mint
Mint can really spread, if you don’t keep it contained, and you may find yourself pulling out all those extra plants. Don’t just throw them on the compost pile. Instead, use them to add a little aromatherapy to your day, with this simple tip from King of Buffalo.

Throw those extra plants on your lawn, then run over them with the lawn mower. It smells so good!

Use a window box to contain herbs
Mint isn’t the only herb that can get out of control. Chives, oregano and other herbs can establish themselves so well that you have enough seasoning to open a restaurant.

Debbie Acquisto of Grand Island grows her herbs in window boxes on her shed. It not only keeps the herbs contained, but adds interest to what might otherwise be a boring shed.

Sally Cunningham honored by state nursery group
Sally Cunningham, an East Aurora resident who grew up in Hamburg and Eden, has received the New York State Certified National Landscape Professional of the Year award for 2013, from the New York State Nursery Landscape Association, for achievements that benefit the professional nursery and landscape industry.

She has educated the public about science-based gardening and landscaping practices for more than 20 years. She is a lecturer, columnist for the Buffalo News, featured writer for Buffalo Spree magazine and gardening expert for WIVB-TV Channel 4. She said that she tries to use her influence in the media to raise the bar, for higher landscape standards and greater understanding and respect for landscapers, growers, arborists and nursery professionals.

Cunningham is also co-founder and director of the four-year-old National Garden Festival, here in Western New York, which boosts tourism, with six weeks of garden-themed events that include garden walks, bus tours, bike tours, educational events and open gardens. The National Garden Festival has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to Buffalo area gardens, offering nearly 1,000 private gardens to view.

As part of the National Garden Festival, the Western New York Nurserymen’s Association Foundation produced three, block-long front yard makeovers, and, in 2013, are collaborating to renovate an important public garden, in a program called Leaf a Legacy.

Cunningham also offers garden consultation and education programs at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, located at 4484 Clark St. in Hamburg.

“Support your own garden centers, growers and nursery professionals,” Cunningham said. “We’re there for you!”

Connie Oswald Stofko is the publisher of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, the online gardening magazine for Western New York. Email Connie@BuffaloNiagaraGardening.com.

BUFFALO — I’m always getting new ideas from the gardeners I talk to. Here are just a few of the more interesting tips I’ve picked up, recently.

Try Malabar spinach
I had never even heard of Malabar spinach, before I visited the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk, which takes place in the neighborhood around the University at Buffalo South Campus. Shawn King grows this cool plant, in her garden.

Malabar spinach is a vining plant that has a magenta stem with green leaves. King gave me a taste, and it’s delicious. It tastes like ordinary spinach, but the leaves are thicker, which I think adds to its appeal. Since it’s a vine, you can let Malabar spinach grow up a trellis, to save space in your garden.

Be daring: paint dried plants
Karen Deutschlander of Lancaster has purple alliums in her garden. Those are the flowers that look like a round ball on a stick. When I say the alliums in her garden are purple, I mean that, right now, they’re purple.

That’s unusual, because alliums are spring flowers. By summer, the flower has faded to brown. Many people leave them in their garden anyway, because they’re such an interesting shape. Others cut them, dry them and paint them, to use in arrangements.

Deutschlander does something different. She spray paints them, while they’re still in the garden! I didn’t notice that she had painted flowers in her garden, until she pointed it out to me.

That’s not the only plant she has spray painted. One time, she had a dead arborvitae, and the Lancaster Garden Walk was coming up, fast. She said she spray painted the entire bush and no one who visited her garden noticed.

Mow over mint
Mint can really spread, if you don’t keep it contained, and you may find yourself pulling out all those extra plants. Don’t just throw them on the compost pile. Instead, use them to add a little aromatherapy to your day, with this simple tip from King of Buffalo.

Throw those extra plants on your lawn, then run over them with the lawn mower. It smells so good!

Use a window box to contain herbs
Mint isn’t the only herb that can get out of control. Chives, oregano and other herbs can establish themselves so well that you have enough seasoning to open a restaurant.

Debbie Acquisto of Grand Island grows her herbs in window boxes on her shed. It not only keeps the herbs contained, but adds interest to what might otherwise be a boring shed.

Sally Cunningham honored by state nursery group
Sally Cunningham, an East Aurora resident who grew up in Hamburg and Eden, has received the New York State Certified National Landscape Professional of the Year award for 2013, from the New York State Nursery Landscape Association, for achievements that benefit the professional nursery and landscape industry.

She has educated the public about science-based gardening and landscaping practices for more than 20 years. She is a lecturer, columnist for the Buffalo News, featured writer for Buffalo Spree magazine and gardening expert for WIVB-TV Channel 4. She said that she tries to use her influence in the media to raise the bar, for higher landscape standards and greater understanding and respect for landscapers, growers, arborists and nursery professionals.

Cunningham is also co-founder and director of the four-year-old National Garden Festival, here in Western New York, which boosts tourism, with six weeks of garden-themed events that include garden walks, bus tours, bike tours, educational events and open gardens. The National Garden Festival has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to Buffalo area gardens, offering nearly 1,000 private gardens to view.

As part of the National Garden Festival, the Western New York Nurserymen’s Association Foundation produced three, block-long front yard makeovers, and, in 2013, are collaborating to renovate an important public garden, in a program called Leaf a Legacy.

Cunningham also offers garden consultation and education programs at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, located at 4484 Clark St. in Hamburg.

“Support your own garden centers, growers and nursery professionals,” Cunningham said. “We’re there for you!”

Connie Oswald Stofko is the publisher of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, the online gardening magazine for Western New York. Email Connie@BuffaloNiagaraGardening.com.

When the new Sculpture Garden in front of the Art Connections wing of the Cummer Museum of Art Gardens opens on Saturday, Sept. 21, it will contain four sculptures that are part of the Cummer’s collection. Takashi Soga’s “Sea of the Ear Rings,” already located on the Cummer lawn, will be joined in the new Sculpture Garden by William Zorach’s “Spirit of the Dance,” Sir Jacob Epstein’s “Seventh Portrait of Kathleen” and Archie Held’s “Lovers.”

Joining them for the opening will be an exhibit of work by St. Augustine sculptor Enzo Torcoletti. Although the Cummer hopes to eventually fill the Sculpture Garden with work it owns, for the next few years it will probably bring in rotating exhibits, Cummer director Hope McMath said last week.

McMath said the opening of the Sculpture Garden will mark the completion of the Cummer’s $4.5 million Landscape Enhancement Project. Already completed are the restoration of the Olmsted Garden and the paving and landscaping of the parking lots. The hedge that divided the museum from the street is gone and the sidewalks have been widened to 10 feet. Construction is well underway on the sculpture garden and an outdoor deck that will permit customers at the TreeCup Cafe to dine under the shade of a huge live oak.

These enhancements send “the message that the Cummer is an open, friendly space,” McMath said.

 

Reception for new show at Florida Mining

A reception will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at the Florida Mining Gallery, 5300 Shad Road, for a juried exhibit of work by nine artists.

The work by Nathaniel Artkart Price, Ken Daga, Ashley C. Waldvogel, Brianna Angelakis, Christina Foard, Linda Olsen, Sara Pedigo, Zach Fitchner and Russell Maycumber will be on display at Florida Mining through Sept. 19.

Their work will also be featured on digital billboards for the next 12 months, part of the Highway Gallery, a cooperative venture between Florida Mining and Clear Channel Outdoors.

 

‘How to Succeed’

at Wilson Center

The Summer Musical Theatre Experience, which each summer puts on a musical featuring students in grades 7-12 at the Wilson Center for the Arts on the South Campus of Florida State College at Jacksonville, 11901 Beach Blvd., will present “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” next weekend.

Shows will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4. Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors, military and students, $15 for FSCJ students and employees. To purchase, go to www.artistseriesjax.org or call (904) 442-2929.

 

Reception for new exhibit at Gallery 725

There will be an opening reception from 6-9 p.m. Friday for “Artist Free for All,” an exhibit of work by six artists at Gallery 725, located at 725-5 Atlantic Blvd. in Atlantic Beach.

The six artists are Janice Eve Dale, Tonsenia Yonn, Matthew Winghart, Ken Daga, Kelly Meagher and Flew. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

 

‘Ignorance Is a Choice’ in St. Augustine

There will be an opening party from 5-11 p.m. Friday for “Ignorance Is a Choice,” an exhibit of work by Los Angeles artist Donny Miller at space;eight, 228 W. King St., St. Augustine.

The exhibit will continue through Sept. 27. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday or by appointment by calling (904) 829-2838.

 

Downtown murals

to be dedicated

There will be a dedication ceremony at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7, for the Yates Parking Garage Murals, an Art in Public Places project done by Gainesville Milagros Art Collective and by Neptune Beach artist Sean Mahan.

The event, which will include music by Alex Hayward Friends, will take place in the First Presbyterian Church parking lot at Adams and Newnan streets.

 

‘3 Divas and a Guy Named Darryl’

At 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, Angela Robinson, who currently appears in Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and Have Nots,” will host “3 Divas and a Guy Named Darryl,” an evening of music at the Stage Aurora Performance Hall, 5188 Norwood Ave. inside the Gateway Town Center.

Stage Aurora founder Darryl Reuben Hall will be joined by gospel singer Tarra Connor Jones, jazz singer Brenda Kelly and Brendy Merricks in an evening of music and dance.

Tickets are $20, $13 for students (5-17) and seniors (65 and over). They can be purchased at www.ticketleap.com or by calling (904) 765-7372.

 

Cuban pianist at Friday Musicale

Cuban pianist Dario Martin, son of the composer/guitarist Eduardo Martin, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 9, at Friday Musicale, 645 Oak St.

Martin’s program will include Claude Debussy’s “Bergamasque Suite,” Maurice Ravel’s “Water Games,” Robert Schumann’s “Marchenbilder” and his father’s “Acrylics in the Space.”

The program is free to the public.

 

Navy Band Southeast concert at Clay library

The Navy Band Southeast Sax Quarter will perform a concert at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 7, at the Clay County Headquarters Library, 1895 Town Center Blvd.

 

‘Spelling Bee’ at Amelia theater

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” will open Thursday, Aug. 15, at Amelia Community Theatre, 207 Cedar St. in Fernandina Beach.

Performances will be at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through Aug. 31 with a matinee at p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25.

Tickets are $20, $10 for students. They can be purchased at www.ameliacommunitytheatre.org or by calling (904) 261-6749.

 

Send submissions to Arts Notes to charlie.patton@jacksonville.com. The deadline for Sunday publication is 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Hot weather makes tending a garden hard in the summer. My poor flowers. The best I could do with the 90- to 100-degree weather we had recently was to set up a sprinkler and run back inside.

In the spring, I always have high hopes for all the things I’ll do in the garden, and then once it hits the upper 80s and above, I give up and start making plans for next year — or maybe the fall, once it cools down.

So invariably, this is the time when I check out all of the cool new gardening books at the library and look for new ideas.

I ran into a co-worker earlier this summer at a garden shop. She had made the neatest little “fairy garden” inside the water tray of a pot. Intrigued by the idea, I wanted to make my own and found a new book on the topic.

“Gardening In Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World” by Janit Calvo was perfect. The author presented several ideas for themes, including not only a fairy garden, but lots of other concepts like a lakeside hideout, a Zen retreat, a secret walled garden and a miniature version of your own house and yard.

The photography enhanced the instructions in this book and included information on plant selection, how to make little walkways and hardscapes and ideas for accompanying pieces to complete your vision. Soil and light requirements also were addressed, as well as suggestions for the new hobbyist.

I loved all of the plans and have already started pulling all of my ideas together. I’m going to start shopping at garage sales for tiny additions to my masterpiece.

In “Touch A Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening With Kids” by April Pulley Sayre, the reader learns about great ideas for bringing kids out of the house, away from their iPods and closer to nature.

When my kids were younger, they loved hunting for toads, lightning bugs and even those little roly-polys. This book takes that natural curiosity and wonder a bit further in providing plans for attracting desirable wildlife to your yard.

A discussion of the different animals to watch in your area is supplemented by great photos. A description of the animals’ or insects’ natural habitats, food sources and any predators is given.

I loved the descriptions of the wildlife, as well as the explanations of which plants can be grouped together to entice the specific birds or butterflies that the reader is looking to attract.

Additional information is given on building a community garden, creating a sensory garden and getting your wildlife space certified by the National Wildlife Federation.

This book was full of great ideas in easy to understand language and pictures.

I know fellow gardeners who have looked to the succulent family of plants to fill in areas of their yards. These low-water plants can thrive in areas where other varieties would simply melt away. I have some of the new sedums in my yard, but I didn’t realize that succulents come in so many different sizes, colors and textures.

I love the geometric look to many of their leaf formations, the mesmerizing overlapping spirals, the starfish-like patterns, even perfect little rosettes.

I’m not a great “waterer.” I’ve often said that the flowers in my garden need to have some sense of self-sufficiency. I don’t pamper the flowers. I have now found that these succulents will be perfect for me.

In this book, the author goes over some of the many varieties of this plant family, and the numerous photos display the variety of colorations, shapes and sizes to meet every space need.

How-to projects include a garden on a cake stand, vertical gardens, low-light options and varieties for children’s interests.

Looking at new gardening books in midsummer gets me remotivated to create beauty in my own yard. Hopefully, one of these or any of the others in our large gardening and landscaping sections will do the same for you.

Kelly Strom is the collection manager at the Champaign Public Library. She orders books, magazines, newspapers, audiobooks and CDs.

Published: Friday, July 26, 2013

By John Torsiello

View and purchase photos

Two New Milford residents continue to take their love of gardening and landscaping to new levels, fueled by a passion for that sweet earth art that has gripped them ever since they were young sprouts.

Elisabeth Goedewaagen, owner of Outdoor Environments in Gaylordsville, and Richard Rosiello, a landscape designer at New Milford’s Meadowbrook Gardens, both earned their certificates as Connecticut Accredited Nursery Professionals from the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association this year.

The 13-week course teaches the basics of botany, plant identification and professional technical information, among other aspects of the profession.

“I am always trying to learn,” said Ms. Goedewaagen of her decision to take the course, which about 30 percent of those enrolled complete. “The teachers that taught the courses are well respected and I wanted to learn as much as I could from them. I also wanted to become accredited because it shows that I have a certain amount of knowledge that may set me apart from many other landscapers. Botany was interesting and challenging because I knew very little about it. Insects fascinate me and learning more about plant diseases is always important.”

Said Mr. Rosiello, “I am constantly enhancing my knowledge of gardening and landscaping. There are always new things you can learn about, how to deal with pests and diseases, working with new plants and the dynamics of soil structure and plant needs. It was all very informative.”

Ms. Goedewaagan says she has been interested in gardening since she was a young girl, when she started “paying attention when I lived with my family in England for a couple of years at the age of about 10 and read the book, “A Secret Garden,”still one of my favorite books. English gardens are beautiful, and so are the ones in Holland, where we often went to visit family during those years. One of my fondest memories is going to see the bulb gardens at Keukenhof with my Oma.” She says she simply loves being outdoors, enjoying “the color and fragrance or flowers and shrubs, insects, soil, sun, and rain.”

Ms. Goedewaagen didn’t plunge into gardening as a profession until later in life. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1976 and spent the next 25 years working as a chef. When she got married in 1986, her husband and she moved to Sherman and opened Food for Thought, a catering and takeout food establishment on Railroad Street in New Milford.

“We ran Food For Thought for about 10 years and then sold the business. I stayed in the culinary field for a couple more years but by then was definitely ready for a change. I took the Master Gardener program and got a job working for a local landscaping firm. During those years I also completed a landscape design program at the Institute of Ecosystem studies in Millbrook N.Y. After that I decided I was ready to strike out on my own and open my own business.” 

She has lived in Gaylordsville for 15 years and has operated Outdoor Environments for the past 12 years. Many of her clients live in Washington, New Preston, New Milford, and Sherman, although she works in all area towns.

“I like to do garden renovation and pruning. We also do a great deal of garden maintenance, taking care of perennial, annual and shrub gardens. We plant everything from a container garden right up to full scale landscaping projects, designed by myself or other designers or architects. Continued…

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However, my real love is growing vegetables, which I do in three large gardens, one at home, one at my shop and one nearby. What we don’t eat ourselves I sell at the vegetable stand at my shop.”

Lately, she has taken on several jobs making flower arrangements for parties.

“This is a lot of fun, creative, and something I’d like to learn more about and do more of. I work really long, hard days and my family puts up with a lot. My boyfriend, Brian, is right there for me whenever I need help. My son, Jake, works for me part time and so does my daughter, Melissa, when she’s not trying to grow veggies in New Mexico!”

She says she sets high standards for the quality of the work she and her assistants undertake and the materials they use.

“The compost we use is produced by a local facility. I seek out the people who grow the plants, not just resell them, and those are the plants we plant. The mulch we use is the best quality, also made locally. Most of the people who work with me have been with me for years, and all do an excellent job. This is why our gardens are successful.”

Mr. Rosiello recalled watching his grandfathers as a young boy as they cared for rose and tomato gardens while growing up in Brooklyn.

“They never really taught me how to garden but I watched how they cared for the plants and I found it interesting.”

Similar to Ms. Goedewaagan, Mr. Rosiello didn’t slide right into a career of working with his hands in the dirt as an adult. After attending high school, in New York City, he went to St. John’s University for a year and then acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He was working as an artist, at a restaurant and doing some picture framing after college. But he caught the gardening bug and earned a landscape design certificate from the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx in the 1990s and a new career unfolded like the petals on a rose.

“I believe my schooling in visual arts has helped me immensely as a landscape designer. I got some great advice along the way from a lot of people, including Jan Johnson, a noted landscape architect who I call a friend and mentor. She told me that what we do is to move people through space and that stuck with me. It’s using plants and trees and shrubs and water features and rocks and walls to crate shapes and textures and color. And sometimes it’s how you use open space that affects how the garden looks.”

After being on his own for a number of years, Mr. Rosiello joined Meadowbrook Gardens about a year and a half ago and has a skilled staff that helps him install gardens and landscapes. He’s also working with masons on the creation of stone walls and likes to gets his hands on his work despite being mainly concerned with designing and then overseeing work on the gardens he is hired to construct. Continued…

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“I could never be a pointer on a job,” he says with a smile. “I do spend a lot of time actually designing the gardens and landscaping and working with clients and I love that part of it. I try to find out what the person is after, what they like, so I ask them to show me photos of gardens they like. That gives me an idea of what to create. You have to make it for the clients because they are the ones who are going to enjoy it and live with it when it is done.”

Most of Mr. Rosiello’s clients are in Litchfield and Fairfield counties, although his work will take him into New York State on occasion and elsewhere in Connecticut.

“Being at Meadowbrook is wonderful because we design and build out of here. I have a place where I can have clients come and actually show them the plants, trees and shrubs we are talking about installing so they can get a real feel for what the garden will look like. It’s funny, I had a client who was insisting that she wanted an English formal garden but she kept saying, `No, that’s not it,’ when we were working through designs and plants. Turns out what she really wanted was a cottage garden and showing her what would be in that garden helped her understand what we were going to do for her.”

Mr. Rosiello moved to the area in 1986 and he and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children, James, Julia, and Theo. His wife is an artist and works for Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Both Ms. Goedewaaggan and Mr. Rosiello are members of the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association and the Mad Gardeners Association. Mr. Rosiello is a past president of the Connecticut Chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and is currently on the organization’s legislative committee. He is also a former member of the New Milford Inland Wetlands Commission. ■

To contact Ms. Goedewaagen, call 860-354-7008, or e-mail her at lgoed@aol.com. To contact Mr. Rosiello, call 860-350-4200. You may also visit www.meadowbrookgardens.com.

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Two New Milford residents continue to take their love of gardening and landscaping to new levels, fueled by a passion for that sweet earth art that has gripped them ever since they were young sprouts.

Elisabeth Goedewaagen, owner of Outdoor Environments in Gaylordsville, and Richard Rosiello, a landscape designer at New Milford’s Meadowbrook Gardens, both earned their certificates as Connecticut Accredited Nursery Professionals from the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association this year.

The 13-week course teaches the basics of botany, plant identification and professional technical information, among other aspects of the profession.

“I am always trying to learn,” said Ms. Goedewaagen of her decision to take the course, which about 30 percent of those enrolled complete. “The teachers that taught the courses are well respected and I wanted to learn as much as I could from them. I also wanted to become accredited because it shows that I have a certain amount of knowledge that may set me apart from many other landscapers. Botany was interesting and challenging because I knew very little about it. Insects fascinate me and learning more about plant diseases is always important.”

Said Mr. Rosiello, “I am constantly enhancing my knowledge of gardening and landscaping. There are always new things you can learn about, how to deal with pests and diseases, working with new plants and the dynamics of soil structure and plant needs. It was all very informative.”

Ms. Goedewaagan says she has been interested in gardening since she was a young girl, when she started “paying attention when I lived with my family in England for a couple of years at the age of about 10 and read the book, “A Secret Garden,”still one of my favorite books. English gardens are beautiful, and so are the ones in Holland, where we often went to visit family during those years. One of my fondest memories is going to see the bulb gardens at Keukenhof with my Oma.” She says she simply loves being outdoors, enjoying “the color and fragrance or flowers and shrubs, insects, soil, sun, and rain.”

Ms. Goedewaagen didn’t plunge into gardening as a profession until later in life. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1976 and spent the next 25 years working as a chef. When she got married in 1986, her husband and she moved to Sherman and opened Food for Thought, a catering and takeout food establishment on Railroad Street in New Milford.

“We ran Food For Thought for about 10 years and then sold the business. I stayed in the culinary field for a couple more years but by then was definitely ready for a change. I took the Master Gardener program and got a job working for a local landscaping firm. During those years I also completed a landscape design program at the Institute of Ecosystem studies in Millbrook N.Y. After that I decided I was ready to strike out on my own and open my own business.” 

She has lived in Gaylordsville for 15 years and has operated Outdoor Environments for the past 12 years. Many of her clients live in Washington, New Preston, New Milford, and Sherman, although she works in all area towns.

“I like to do garden renovation and pruning. We also do a great deal of garden maintenance, taking care of perennial, annual and shrub gardens. We plant everything from a container garden right up to full scale landscaping projects, designed by myself or other designers or architects.

However, my real love is growing vegetables, which I do in three large gardens, one at home, one at my shop and one nearby. What we don’t eat ourselves I sell at the vegetable stand at my shop.”

Lately, she has taken on several jobs making flower arrangements for parties.

“This is a lot of fun, creative, and something I’d like to learn more about and do more of. I work really long, hard days and my family puts up with a lot. My boyfriend, Brian, is right there for me whenever I need help. My son, Jake, works for me part time and so does my daughter, Melissa, when she’s not trying to grow veggies in New Mexico!”

She says she sets high standards for the quality of the work she and her assistants undertake and the materials they use.

“The compost we use is produced by a local facility. I seek out the people who grow the plants, not just resell them, and those are the plants we plant. The mulch we use is the best quality, also made locally. Most of the people who work with me have been with me for years, and all do an excellent job. This is why our gardens are successful.”

Mr. Rosiello recalled watching his grandfathers as a young boy as they cared for rose and tomato gardens while growing up in Brooklyn.

“They never really taught me how to garden but I watched how they cared for the plants and I found it interesting.”

Similar to Ms. Goedewaagan, Mr. Rosiello didn’t slide right into a career of working with his hands in the dirt as an adult. After attending high school, in New York City, he went to St. John’s University for a year and then acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He was working as an artist, at a restaurant and doing some picture framing after college. But he caught the gardening bug and earned a landscape design certificate from the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx in the 1990s and a new career unfolded like the petals on a rose.

“I believe my schooling in visual arts has helped me immensely as a landscape designer. I got some great advice along the way from a lot of people, including Jan Johnson, a noted landscape architect who I call a friend and mentor. She told me that what we do is to move people through space and that stuck with me. It’s using plants and trees and shrubs and water features and rocks and walls to crate shapes and textures and color. And sometimes it’s how you use open space that affects how the garden looks.”

After being on his own for a number of years, Mr. Rosiello joined Meadowbrook Gardens about a year and a half ago and has a skilled staff that helps him install gardens and landscapes. He’s also working with masons on the creation of stone walls and likes to gets his hands on his work despite being mainly concerned with designing and then overseeing work on the gardens he is hired to construct.

“I could never be a pointer on a job,” he says with a smile. “I do spend a lot of time actually designing the gardens and landscaping and working with clients and I love that part of it. I try to find out what the person is after, what they like, so I ask them to show me photos of gardens they like. That gives me an idea of what to create. You have to make it for the clients because they are the ones who are going to enjoy it and live with it when it is done.”

Most of Mr. Rosiello’s clients are in Litchfield and Fairfield counties, although his work will take him into New York State on occasion and elsewhere in Connecticut.

“Being at Meadowbrook is wonderful because we design and build out of here. I have a place where I can have clients come and actually show them the plants, trees and shrubs we are talking about installing so they can get a real feel for what the garden will look like. It’s funny, I had a client who was insisting that she wanted an English formal garden but she kept saying, `No, that’s not it,’ when we were working through designs and plants. Turns out what she really wanted was a cottage garden and showing her what would be in that garden helped her understand what we were going to do for her.”

Mr. Rosiello moved to the area in 1986 and he and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children, James, Julia, and Theo. His wife is an artist and works for Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Both Ms. Goedewaaggan and Mr. Rosiello are members of the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association and the Mad Gardeners Association. Mr. Rosiello is a past president of the Connecticut Chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and is currently on the organization’s legislative committee. He is also a former member of the New Milford Inland Wetlands Commission. ■

To contact Ms. Goedewaagen, call 860-354-7008, or e-mail her at lgoed@aol.com. To contact Mr. Rosiello, call 860-350-4200. You may also visit www.meadowbrookgardens.com.

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Harvest Day started simple. Volunteer master gardeners got together to share their home-grown bounty and talk crops. They went over what worked (and didn’t) at their community garden and started planning for more seasons to come.

“That was back in the 1980s,” said Judy McClure, Sacramento County’s master gardener coordinator. “Sometime in the late 1990s, we decided to open the event to the public … and it’s just grown amazingly.”

Harvest Day today ranks as the largest free garden event in the greater Sacramento area. More than 2,000 people are expected next Saturday at the master gardeners’ Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in Fair Oaks Park.

“Harvest Day brings together the best horticultural minds in the area,” said Sacramento radio host “Farmer Fred” Hoffman, who will be among the event’s featured speakers. “No matter the discipline – fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, pests, diseases, trees, shrubs, landscaping, water efficiency – there will be an expert at Harvest Day.

“And that’s why I like it so much,” he added with a smile. “When someone approaches me with a tough garden question, I can just point them in the direction of someone who will know the answer!”

Representatives from dozens of garden groups will be on hand to offer advice. Tended by master gardeners, the 1-acre facility is itself a working, growing demonstration of what works for Sacramento gardens.

“We try to give back to the community what they ask for – how to get the maximum benefits from gardening,” McClure said. “This is a feel-good, happy, productive event. It’s incredibly positive. There’s something for everybody, regardless of their level of gardening expertise.”

Harvest Day has grown along with its host garden.

“We have some very interesting new things,” said Tracy Lesperance, who is co-chairing the event with Julie Oliver. “We have an espalier project with peach and cherry trees. We did a straw-bale garden trial with pumpkins and sunflowers. Our composting group continues to grow and will offer worm bins (for sale) with filler and starter worms.”

Massive oak trees will provide patrons a shady canopy while listening to presentations. Refreshments will be available from Drew-ski’s Hot Rod Kitchen and Wicked ‘Wich food trucks, a first for this event.

Harvest Day culminates the local programs of the University of California’s Cooperative Extension. In total, Sacramento County’s master gardeners average more than 12,000 hours a year in volunteer time, McClure said. The group has 200 certified master gardeners – its most ever – including 42 who just graduated after intensive training.

The most-asked question at Harvest Day?

“It’s usually about watering,” Lesperance said. “How should I water my tomatoes or fruit trees? After that, it’s pruning. We’ll have plenty of experts available.”

The center’s large vegetable garden and demonstration orchard will attract loads of visitors. But the facility also offers an impressive WEL (water-efficient landscape) demonstration garden.

“The community has been asking about how they can attract more native pollinators to their gardens while still saving water,” McClure said. “During Harvest Day, we’ll be emphasizing the flowers in the WEL garden to show that it can be beautiful, attract pollinators and save water.”

One of the most popular features every year: Fruit tasting.

That’s always been a big hit, said Hoffman. “One constant over all those years (since the event began) is the Dave Wilson Nursery fruit-tasting, where people can try fresh-picked pluots, apriums, peaches, cherries, nectarines and even some unnamed varieties that have yet to be introduced to the general public.”

Some of the demonstrations are very specific. For example, Sacramento County agricultural adviser Chuck Ingels tested methods of controlling powdery mildew on grapes. During this trial, he discovered the very popular Diamond Muscat variety had a great deal of natural resistance to mildew without spraying.

“There’s an indication that probably the most sought-after, best-tasting grape may also be resistant to the most serious grape disease,” said Ingels, who will be available to discuss his findings. “We’ll have samples for tasting at Harvest Day.”

Sharing these discoveries with other gardeners helps the master gardeners reap benefits far beyond Harvest Day. That’s part of the attraction.

“I am always impressed with what I learn from the backyard gardeners who just want to chat about their yard,” Hoffman said. “Harvest Day is a learning experience for everyone who attends.”

HARVEST DAY

Where: Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, Fair Oaks Park, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks

When: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. next Saturday

Admission: Free

Details: http://ucanr.edu/sites/sacmg/Harvest_Day, (916) 875-6913

Highlights: Hosted by Sacramento County’s UC Cooperative Extension master gardeners, this information-packed day ranks as Sacramento’s largest free garden event. Lots of speakers and demonstrations. Tours of community vegetable garden and trial orchards. Fruit tastings, free seeds and many vendors.

SPEAKER SCHEDULE

• 8:30-9:15 a.m.: “Terrific Tomato Tips and Gardening for the Health of It” with Fred Hoffman, lifetime master gardener and radio host for “KFBK Garden Show” and KSTE’s “Get Growing With Farmer Fred.”

• 9:45-10:30 a.m.: “Farm to Fork – From the Garden to the Kitchen” with Adam Pechal, owner and chef, Tuli Bistro and Restaurant Thir13en.

• 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: “River-Friendly Landscaping ” with Cheryl Buckwalter, executive director of EcoLandscape California, RFL Green Gardener instructor and program manager.

• 12:45-1:30 p.m.: “Compost Confidential – Making Garden Chocolate!” with Louise Lelevich and Roberta Hopkins, Sacramento County master gardeners.

MINI-PRESENTATIONS

• 9:15 a.m.: Tour native plants

• 9:30 a.m.: Composting – Hot pile? Cold pile?

• 10:30 a.m.: Tour native plants

• 10:30 a.m.: Tour ornamental grasses

• 10:40 a.m.: Worm composting

• 11 a.m.: Basic composting

• 12:15 p.m.: Tour ornamental grasses

• 12:30 p.m.: Worm composting

Call The Bee’s Debbie Arrington, (916) 321-1075. On Twitter: @debarrington.

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