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March 2017
Established in 1980
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In this issue you will find:
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Cassia shrubs in bloom indicate that Spring is just around the corner!
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- Message from the President
- Upcoming Events
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Member tours & events
- Seminars
- Feature Articles
- Planning for 2018 Spring Garden Tour
- "In Your Plot"
- Make a donation to GVG via AmazonSmile
- Project Updates
- Arid Garden
- Allen J. Ogden Community Garden
- Desert Meadows Park
- GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch
- Committee Updates
- Membership Activities
- Spring Plant Sale
- Art-in-the-Park/Spring Fair
- Annual Spring Garden Tour
- Membership ~ New members
Want to submit an article or a photo for the April newsletter? Please submit it by March 29.
Click to submit.
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Beautifully landscaped medians add to our community's ambiance.
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Message from the President
by Bill Berdine
Additional Opportunities for Community Gardening and Sonoran Horticulture
The Green Valley Council's (GVC) Median Green committee is seeking new volunteers to take responsibility over a two-year span of new roadside median renovations in Green Valley. The work will entail a two-year commitment for maintaining a section of median that the committee will plant and equip for watering. Both winter and full-time residents are encouraged to be involved. This is not a labor-intensive commitment but one that has tremendous impact on the ambience of our community. If you are interested in the median green effort, contact me and I will put you in contact with the appropriate GVC people. Of immediate interest is the median to the west side of the Camino Del Sol Green Valley Fire Station. If you have a roadside median that you believe is in need of renovation, let me know where it is and I will present that to the Council.
Santa Rita Experimental Range
has a series of free-to-the-public seminars on Saturday mornings at their Florida Station site adjacent to Madera Canyon. I encourage members to take advantage of the longest-operating experimental range in the world (established in 1903) regarding Sonoran range land research and outreach offerings. If you live in Green Valley, the SRER has had an impact on your environment and will continue to do so on into the future. The on-site manager of the SRER is Mark Heitlinger, who presented at our September 22, 2016 seminar. Mark can be contacted for specific presentation/seminar information at
(
MarkH@cals.arizona.edu
).
The SRER is (
https://cals.arizona.edu/SRER/).
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Upcoming Events
- March 2 ~ Desert Hills Seminar
- "The True Life of Busy Bees" ~ Emily Rockey, Tanks Green Stuff, Tucson
- March 9 ~ Desert Hills Seminar
- "Overview of Plants Offered at the GVG Spring Plant Sale" ~ Alex Shipley, Civano Wholesale
The plant sale opens at the Continental Plaza after the seminar and operates March 9, 10 & 11
- March 16 ~ Members' Activity
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Our feathered friends, like this Say's Phoebe, rely on us to provide habitate and water
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- March 23 ~ Desert Hills Seminar
- "Birds - Protecting our Habitat" ~ Jennie McFarland, Tucson Audubon Society
- March 30 ~ Desert Hills Seminar
- "Habitat At Home: Using Rainwater in Native Plant Gardens" ~ Kendall Kroesen, Tucson Audubon Society
- April 6 ~ Desert Hills Seminar
- "Snakebite Precautions & Prevention" ~ Laura Morehouse, University of Arizona School of Pharmacy
- April 13 (hold the date, registration required by March 30) ~ Members' Activity
- Agua Caliente Park, Northeast Tucson
Visit our
website for a complete calendar of events
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Do you know of any gardens in the Madera Reserve area that might be possibilities for the 2018 Spring Garden Tour? |
Planning for 2018 Spring Garden Tour
by Stacie Meyer and Cynthia Surprise
It's difficult to believe that it's time to begin planning for the 2018 Spring Garden Tour. The selection committee is looking for potential gardens for next year's tour. We have not included gardens in the Madera Reserve area for several years and we're considering that area for next year. If you know of any gardens in that general area that might be possibilities please contact either:
Stacie Meyer
859 691-1121
or
Cynthia Surprise
857 209-1978
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Prepare now for a bounty of juicy tomatoes! |
"In Your Plot"
by Lorna Mitchell
Spring has sprung in the desert around us and it will soon do so in the garden. As the sun moves gradually north our soil will warm enough to grow those delicious tomatoes we crave! Let's prepare our soil early in the month by digging in composted steer manure and balanced granulated fertilizer - one with nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus and perhaps micronutrients, too, then water it in well.
This is a good time to examine irrigation systems and plan for water delivery to new plantings. Plan for the type of plant and how many and where; it's a lot easier to set up the irrigation before the plants are in the ground. Consider a splitter coming off the faucet so you can work two clocks with different settings; perhaps one to onions and mature Brussels sprouts and another to rows of carrot, zucchini, cantaloupe seeds, etc. that go in soon. Check clocks and batteries for accuracy. Also, check fittings for leaks and drip emitters for volume as they easily plug up with our hard water. Keep coverings on faucets and clocks as freezing nights can still come upon us in March.
If you have started your own tomato, eggplant, and peppers for transplanting give them as much full sun outside as temperatures above 60 F allow. Continue to move them inside at night and in cool weather. Transplant them into larger containers if they are in egg cartons.
If you don't have baby plants at home you'll be able to buy them at all the box stores and nurseries soon. Look for vigorously growing plants but not root bound; young plants transplant better. Read the fine print on the tag to know if the tomato is indeterminate (main stem continues to elongate bearing new fruit all season) or determinate (growth stops and all fruit ripens about the same time). Indeterminate tomatoes need support as they grow.
Tomato plants can go into the garden at the end of March if warm weather holds. Acclimate them by leaving them outside at night in a protected area for a week before planting into the garden. As you put them in the ground bury the stem up to the first true leaves and it will grow new roots. Consider providing a tent cover, which allows light transmission, for a couple of weeks to ease the transition. Black plastic laid on the soil around the plants can warm the soil making more root growth. Be sure water is getting under the plastic, and take up the plastic by the end of April. Eggplant and peppers like warmer temperatures so wait until the middle or end of April to transplant those.
Many summer crops can be direct seeded into the garden before the end of March. Seeds will germinate faster if soaked in water for several hours before planting. A covering of light weight cloth that light and water penetrates may protect seedlings from predators. Squash and beans of all varieties can be sowed at 2-3 week intervals as desired for successive harvests. Melons and cucumbers like warmer soil and will respond in a few weeks. Try growing those in pots at home to give them a head start.
Those are my plot thoughts for now, Happy Gardening!
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Shop AmazonSmile and benefit the Garden Club
Green Valley Gardeners is now listed on AmazonSmile. When you shop Amazon, log into AmazonSmile, use your existing personal account login information, select Green Valley Gardeners as your non-profit of choice. The club will receive a small donation for each qualifying purchase you make. Thank you!
To shop AmazonSmile go to
http://smile.amazon.com/.
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At the Arid Garden, warmer temperatures have brought out loads of bright coral chuparosa blooms and countless happy hummingbirds |
Arid Garden
by Mary Kidnocker
The garden has been overflowing with winter visitors and spring flowers. Currently adding
color are bright pink parryi penstemon, salmon aloes,
orange Mexican honeysuckle, lemon yellow Mexican bird-of-paradise,
deep purple Texas mountain laurel, both red and yellow chuparosa, plus
various shades of salvia. All both delight and feed our many hummingbirds.
Hans Hohle finished constructing the new bridge floor in record time. It
is far more substantial and safer than the one replaced. Appreciation to Hans.
Last week, adjacent neighbors invited us to a "Volunteer Appreciation" get-together. It is always a treat to visit with old acquaintances, meet new folks, and be thanked by all for the work done in the garden throughout the year... and they also feed us well!
Stop by your Arid Garden some sunny afternoon and enjoy the delightful springtime colors.
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Allen J. Ogen Community Garden b
y George Stone
We begin March with 43 adult plot holders and 12 children enjoying gardening at the Ogden. We also have plots available.
An overview of February shows we accomplished the following:
- Installed a message board allowing the posting of club and garden events (budget item)
- Began construction of concrete pad in front of storage sheds, using free 2x4's to construct forms. Completion date set for March
- Constructed new tool holder freeing space inside sheds using afree discarded food barrel
- Ann-Marie DeBoer and daughter Amara DeBoer painted and installed new art. What a talented family!
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| Thanks to Ann-Marie and Amara DeBoer for helping to spruce up Ogden Gardens |
- Constructed and installed a raised bed for Copper View Elementary school. Assisted by 2nd grade teachers Haydee Hernandez and Kelly Strayer, Special Education teachers Stacy De La Vega and Jan Bryson, along with Jan's husband Victor and their two children, and Rene Fargo's, Ms. De La Vega's fiancé. The $120 cost was donated.
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| Copper View Elementary school teachers and their families strike a pose after constructing and installing a new raised bed |
Onions ~ The onions at Ogden have developed 5-6 leaves and appear healthy. Rio Rico onions are 2 weeks behind Ogden and appear to be developing better than expected. We still expect a May 1st harvest.
Hummingbird Café
~ Feeders have been cleaned and are ready for the migrating Hummers. We should start seeing activity the first part of March. We will open the garden for bird watching March 12th (daylight savings in other states) to April 12th by appointment. Beginning April 13th, we will open the garden daily from 8 a.m. to noon. Want a close encounter with a Hummingbird then come join us on a nice day? Bring your camera.
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| A relaxing place to sit and watch hummers |
Vertical gardening ~ Richard McPherson, FFA teacher at Rio Rico, was the February 2 seminar guest speaker, and his topic was vertical gardening. We liked it so much we followed his advice and here is our rain gutter full of lettuce. Need help getting something started? See me at one of the seminars and maybe we can help. (The gutter was donated by a Quail Creek contractor who had left over from one of his jobs. Thanks Ernesto!)
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| The newly-installed vertical lettuce garden |
Do you know what the LAST frost date is for Green Valley? Well, I checked that out and found the Farmer's Almanac says that 85614 has a last frost date of March 16th - and we have 249 days to grow.
In ending this month's, article write this down - www.greenvalleygardeners.com. Check our web site out and see what you have been missing. Until next month, see you in the garden!
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Penstemon in bloom at Desert Meadows Park |
Desert Meadows Park
by Chuck Parsons
The wildflowers are popping at the park! In fact, there are quite a few things in bloom as you walk the park - penstemon, aloe, Carolina jessamine, Valentine emu, California poppy to name a few - and really spectacular this month is George Mathes' annual garden of African daisy and bluebell. Time for a visit if you haven't been by lately.
GVG received nice coverage in a recent GVNews about the Memory-lock Garden at the park. Mentioned earlier, Pam and Dick Duchaine and Marita and Hal Ramsey provided the funds to construct the steel structure and help fund landscaping. Henry Garcia donated his time to fabricate the structure. In February, Dr. Shelley Humphrey donated $250 and the Animal Care Center donated $500 to complete the landscaping at the garden. If your pet is a patient, please thank them personally.
With completion of the Memory-lock Garden, the volunteers took a break in their Wednesday morning work schedule on February 15th and had a celebratory brunch. We now begin Spring maintenance, installation of new raised-beds funded by the White Elephant grant, and preparation for the Art-in-the-park/Spring Fair event.
I will be sending invoices for seasonal fees to the community garden plot holders during March. These are due by the end of March. Plot holders are finding their cool-season crops are beginning to bolt with the warmer weather. Elissa Dearing has been making good use of the green house to get tomato and pepper plants started for our warm-season gardens.
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GVG Gardens at Historic Canoa Ranch (HCR) by Jack Davis and Raydine Taber
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One of several photographs in the "When Bronc Riders Wore Lipstick" exhibit is this group shot taken in Cheyenne, Wyoming around 1922.
FROM THE CHERI RAFTER COLLECTION.
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The biggest event on the horizon in March 2017 is the annual Heritage Fair on Saturday, March 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. An email blast describing this event, which is usually attended by some 350 people, was sent to all GVG members. Docents will be present to discuss the new exhibits, which include
"When Bronc Riders Wore Lipstick", the ANZA Trail history and Latin American families major contributions to the HCR success as well as everyday life depicted by the Grijalva House exhibit.
In preparation for this event and as the likelihood of freezing weather declines, spring clean-up and trimming has been undertaken as well as new plantings in the gardens.
We have requested that our GVG existing and potential volunteers sign-up for one or more of the three shifts: 8:45-11:00, 10:45-1:00, and 12:45-3:00. We will have a table in front of the Sr. House Kitchen garden, where there will be posters and hand-outs regarding our other GVG projects, emphasizing the forthcoming Plant Sale as well as the Garden Tour and Spring Fair. Representatives will be present to sell tickets. We will have both dried herbs to taste, as well as live herbs from the garden, if so desired.
The Pima County Native Nursery will have a table, adjacent to our GVG table, where Amy Belk will be present to provide free wild flower and other seeds. Amy is a certified arborist and will be tickled to answer the public's questions regarding trees in the Sonoran Desert environment; as well as the fruit trees planted just south of the Sr. House.
If you would like to volunteer to enjoy this event with us, and have not already done so, please contact Raydine Taber at 520-625-0961.
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Membership Activities by Marita Ramsey and Cathy Merritt
Visit to Tohono Chul Park
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Tohono Chul Sonoran Seasons Garden
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On Thursday, March 16th, we will tour Tohono Chul Park in Tucson. There will be a docent-led tour of the gardens, a visit to the Art Exhibit, and lunch at the Garden Bistro.
Tohono Chul is a 49-acre nature preserve, with gardens and a cultural museum, whose mission is to enrich people's lives by connecting them to the wonders of the Sonoran Desert region. Exhibits include an ethnobotanical garden, a riparian habitat, a geology wall and gardens showcasing Xeriscape
plantings.
The price of admission is $8. We will begin taking reservations at the Thursday, March 2 seminar or by emailing Marita Ramsay.
Reservations must be made by March 13.
We will carpool at 8:30 a.m. from the parking lot south of the El Rodeo restaurant in the Green Valley Village.
Visit to Agua Caliente Park
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Agua Caliente Park
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On Thursday, April 13th, we are planning a trip to Agua Caliente Park in northeast Tucson. The lands on the park site have a long history (with human habitation over 5000 years!), and the remains of an 1873 ranch and health resort. Having water present in the desert with lakes filled by hot and cold springs has been an attraction for people, a wonderful site for birding, and contains many older plants in their gardens. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
We will be picnicking on the park grounds (bring your own lunch) after having a tour and doing some bird watching or individual walks around the grounds. Restrooms are available on the grounds, and there are picnic tables along grassy landscape overlooking the lake (due to drought conditions the past several years, only one lake is filled, mostly by groundwater pumped from the aquifer).
While this activity is free of charge, reservations are required.
We will begin taking reservations at the Thursday, March 2 seminar or by emailing Marita Ramsay.
Reservations must be made by March 30.
We will carpool at 8:30 a.m. from the parking lot south of the El Rodeo restaurant in the Green Valley Village.
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Spring Plant Sale by Kathy Stone
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Art-in-the-Park/Spring Fair by Gene Van Dyken
The new 'Art-in-the-Park/Spring Fair' will run concurrent with the Spring Garden Tour - Saturday, April 8th. It will be held at the Desert Meadows Park. We intend to include the following activities:
- Art booths featuring handmade pots, garden art, landscape painting and photography, etc.
- Plant booths featuring local growers and suppliers, as well as sales by GVGardeners (plants propagated by members or propagated by DMPark volunteers, and leftover plants from the Spring Plant Sale) and rescue cactus sales by Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society.
- A silent auction with proceeds going to GVGardeners. Bidding stops at 3:30 after the garden tour concludes. We are asking vendors and artists to donate items for this event. We will also accept donations from members and local merchants.
- 'A Members' 'Recycled Treasures' sale - we'll solicit donations of unique, unwanted items from members to sell with proceeds going to the club.
- We'll have three food trucks - hopefully garden tour visitors will make a day of it, stop by for a lunch in one of our picnic areas, shop the booths, participate in the auction and enjoy the park!
- We have music planned for both the Barrio Garden and for the Hummingbird/Butterfly Garden during the lunch period to add to the fun.
Are you an artist/potter, or member of an art/pottery club? Would you like to participate - have a booth and/or donate to the silent auction? If so, please contact Gene Van Dyken (enter Gene's email link) for more information.
Look for volunteer signup sheets during March. We will need volunteers to help set up on Friday afternoon, April 7th, during the event on April 8th and to strike and clean-up on Sunday, April 9th.
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Annual Spring Garden Tour
by Stacie Meyer and Cynthia Surprise
The Spring Garden Tour on April 8 is just a few weeks away!
Tickets will go on sale
March 6
, $10 for members and $12 for nonmembers. They will be available both online and at the following locations:
- Thursday GVG seminars
- March 9-11 GVG plant sale
- Desert Meadows Park on the day of the tour
- Wednesday farmer's markets
- Chamber of Commerce
- Retail locations - Happy Quail, Native Gardens, Desert loom and The Turquoise Cowgirl
Note: $10 member tickets are only available at seminars and at the plant sale. Member tickets purchased elsewhere, including online, will be $12.
Many members have already volunteered to help with the tour. However, we still need a few more volunteers to make it a success.
We need volunteers to sell tickets for the tour at one of one of the locations listed above (except for seminars, we've got that covered).
We also need people to
distribute posters around the area.
We would like to display them in public places to get the word out about the upcoming event. If you would like to take a few posters to hang on your church bulletin board, in your HOA, at a favorite nursery or retail store or anyplace else you think would be noticed.
Volunteering for this major fundraiser is the perfect way to show your support for the Green Valley Gardeners and their projects, including the Arid Garden, Canoa Ranch, Desert Meadows Park, Ogden Garden and the GVG weekly seminars.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact co-chairs Stacie Meyer (859-691-1121) or Cynthia Surprise (875-209-1978) by phone or by sending an email to gvgtour@gmail.com.
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Membership - New Members
During the month of February, we welcomed the following new members into the group:
Ann Skantz
John Hurst
Roberta Ott
Kathy and Todd Arnold
Roberta Hawkins
Fred Jackson
Georgia Stark
Elizabeth and Ramon Demartini
Henry and Maria Robinson
Diane Longo
When you see these folks sporting their new name tags, please make them feel welcomed.
If you have not already renewed your membership for 2017, please go to our website,
greenvalleygardeners.com, and click on "Membership". From there, you can either pay by credit card or download an application form and mail in your dues. Or, visit me at the next seminar. Remember that both your membership and donation to Green Valley Gardeners are tax deductible. Please think of us, as well, for memorial donations or in your estate planning.
Thanks for your support!
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