at the Duck Pond

 

Headed over to Kingwood today to see what was going on.  Looks like one of today's projects was to clean out the duck pond.  The duck pond was originally built as a water reserve for a fire to the house.  But as it is now a duck pond, it needs regular cleaning.  I had a high school friend who did this as a seasonal worker many years ago.  It was his least favorite project at Kingwood.  I imagine the task has not improved over the years.  They were in the draining phase during these pictures.

 

 

I always think it funny that originally it was used to prepare for fire and now it is used to make sure the fire hydrants are working properly.  As that is how they fill the pond back up.

 

 

Kingwood Bunny Party / Kingwood Spring Flower Festival

Well today was the Kingwood Spring Flower Festival.  The Kingwood Herb Society was in charge of the Kingwood Bunny Party.  David Wood wrote a book about the year in a life of a Kingwood Bunny and that is how it started.  For more info on his book see my March 4th blog.  His wife Pat L wrote a book on Lasagna Gardening.  She was giving a lecture on Lasagna Gardening and he did a bunny party with his book.  It was a long day with a lot of preparation.  Had to come up with buckeyes, acorns, milkweed pods that included the seed.  It was a tall order for this time of year and one weeks notice.  Bonnie H came up with a brilliant idea to give out peacock feathers.  Day before, we iced many cookies and I baked 48 cupcakes, which turns out to be four dozen.  It has been a long time since I did math!  Others baked some as well.  We also iced the cupcakes.   At the party I handed out goodies and wore a bunny mask.  I took some cute pictures on this project.  For more pictures go to the Kingwood Herb Society on Facebook..  So let's look at a few of them!



Welcome to the Bunny Party





Those Bunnies are Nancy P and Kay Hostetler



Cute kids getting their picture by Lucy.



David Wood handing out milkweed seeds.  Don't let too many get away!



And finally - the kids favorite part.  Everyone gets a peacock feather from Bonnie H!



Happy Arbor Day

Chuck Gleaves, Director at Kingwood Center, finished planting up a grove of birch trees, over by the duck pond, in time for Arbor Day.

Mr. Robin perches to survey just moments after planting and by his song, I can tell he approves of a job well done!

Lett-us Plant Pansies

My partner in all good Kathy M and I volunteered ourselves to help out the Kingwood Staff planting seasonal pansies and lettuces.  Shawn McClain made sure the beds were prepared and the soil was fluffy soft.

 




 
 
 

 Next Bill Collins, Glenna Schaeffer, Charles Applegate and Don Miller laid out the designs.

and now we plant....
Do you want to live here Mr. Pansy?      Grow and thrive!
  

..with a chill in the air and an excitement to be outside ... we planted the Gazebo area....

We didn't worry about watering.  As Charles Applegate puts it, we would let God water the next day.

What's that Charles? ..a little thing called photosynthesis, means that you cannot bury the plant, the leaves need to be uncovered?  Got it.  Oh the things we learn! 

We moved on to the Old Herb Garden, or Bay Tree Garden or whatever the name of the day is for it.

After a break for lunch, in which Kathy ate fried clams with rice pudding and I had too many hash browns, we continued onto circled fountain area.  We weren't hungry any longer, but with full bellies, we weren't bending over as easy after lunch either.

The day moved on.. so did we, (though we were moving a little slower) up to the formal garden to finish up the beds for a job we considered well done! 

Kingwood Demonstrations at the Home and Garden Show

Kingwood Center presented demonstrations at the Home and Garden Show this weekend.  Two demonstrations were offered.  Starting Seeds and Succulent Container Gardening.  Bill Collins presented on Saturday and John Makley on Sunday.  Fun and informative as I learned something new at each demo. 



Bill Collins



John Makley

Here they are demonstrating how to transplant seedlings..

.. and below they are creating their masterpieces.

John Makley encouraging the audience to pick out plants used in the arrangement. New term learned at this demonstration was Thriller - Filler - Spiller.  Audience could choose from an array of succulents shown on the table to represent these three descriptions.  

tall are thillers



the rest are fillers



hanging are spillers



Completed container garden





Could it be the last snow?

Today was a beautiful day to be at Kingwood.  Snow covered trees bring a special quiet magic. Also a busy day. Don Miller is back from a two month lay off.  Kathy M and I visited with him on the peony project that we had been working on over the winter.  After that we headed up to the house to work on the attic library project.  Had to stop many times along the way to take just a few pictures of snow covered Kingwood.  Kathy M took this picture of me taking pictures and now it is my favorite picture of me.  We saw Kay Hostetler on the way in to the house.  She was on her way out to take pictures.  Glenna Sheaffer is also back from lay off and we popped our heads in her office on the way up the stairs to the attic. She lent me a book on animal tracts.  I plan to use it in the snow!

Charles Applegate is also back from leave. He showed us the newly created dried flower arrangements.  Christmas removed, the rooms looked strangely barren so the arrangements gave the rooms a pick-me-up.  Charles recycled an  arrangement by removing peacock feathers, replacing with dried flowers.

Glenna Sheaffer created this beautiful arrangement.  I love the sweeping look.  Most of the other new arrangements were created to be place under a dome glass.  Which although beautiful, difficult to get a good picture.  Well, as I said it was a busy day.  So happy to see the staff back at work and to have been able to see just one more snow covered Kingwood before the busy spring begins. 

Kingwood Garden Club Meeting

Kingwood Center open one day and it was time for the first Garden Club Meeting of 2011.  Kingwood hosts a meeting, once a month, inviting area Garden Club representatives to keep them current on Kingwood activities and also provide an informative program.  I went today representing the Johnny Appleseed Garden Club.  John Makley gave a wonderful program on Mr. Charles Kelley King.  Today I will share with you how Mr. King made some of his fortune at Ohio Brass.  With a patent for developing a part in the trolley pole.  Trolley poles shown on the top of the trolley below.



Trackless Trolly from an Ohio Brass Advertisment

Link to more trolly images

Kingwood by the Numbers - Countdown - One Day



ONE ...



... Gala Apple Tree Espalier.

Espalier - plant trained to grow against a flat surface and pronounced es PAL yer.  There are three types, of which, Kingwood’s is the cordon. A central trunk with horizontal laterals spaced evenly along the trunk.  Created and nurtured by Don Miller.

Kingwood by the Numbers Countdown - Four Days

Tea Garden

FOUR areas in the herb garden (located near the workshop and beside the rose garden).  Tended lovingly by Glenna Sheaffer and the Kingwood Herb Society.



Vertical Gardening
jar designed by Pat H and Carol S

 

Culinary Garden

Thyme Clock Garden

Kingwood by the Numbers - Countdown - Seven Days

Charles Applegate is Kingwood's Sr. Gardener.  He was presented with the Gold Medal Award from the Gardener's of America in 1992.  It is an award given to provide recognition for an individual who has made outstanding achievement in the field of horticulture.  Well known for his daylilies, below are pictures, taken in the garden last year, showcasing SEVEN of his varieties.



Company of Angles

      

Heavenly Places

  

Give Thanks

 

Glorious Things

  

Holy Kiss





Milk and Honey

 


Reverence