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UW Botanic Gardens Newsletter, Vol 7 Issue 12, December 2012What the Cluck?If you've considered keeping chickens or have questions about raising them in an urban setting, you'll want to sign up for What the Cluck? Making Sense of Keeping Chickens in the Home Garden. Jessica Bloom is an award-winning garden designer who will teach you how to integrate chickens into your life and backyard. Copies of her book Free Range Chicken Gardens will also be available. The lecture happens at NHS Hall at the Center For Urban Horticulture on January 30, 2013, from 7pm to 9pm. Early registration cost is $35, $40 after January 23. The 2012 Volunteer Appreciation Dinner Was a Blast(by UWBG Education Volunteer Cassie Benz) On October 18, 2012, UW Botanic Gardens and the Arboretum Foundation celebrated their volunteers with an annual Volunteer Appreciation event. We enjoyed fabulous food, from delectable appetizers to yummy barbecue to delicious desserts. UWBG and Foundation Directors Sarah Reichard and Paige Miller graciously honored our volunteers, speaking of their dedication and importance to UWBG and the Foundation. This past year UWBG volunteers contributed 6,258 hours and Foundation volunteers contributed 13,931 hours. Sharlene Walsh was the Arboretum Foundation Volunteer-of-the-Year. Molly Cleland received the annual Brian O. Mulligan UWBG Volunteer Award. Many thanks go to Sharlene, Molly and all our volunteers. Become a volunteer with UWBG or the Arboretum Foundation and join the fun! Scot Eckley Inc. Fashions Their Own Personal Day of CaringOn November 15th, Scot Eckley crafted a personal "Day of Caring". He sent his maintenance crew, at his expense, to work 4 hours in the Pacific Connections Garden. Spearheaded by crew lead Kathleen DeMaria, the crew included Brandon Neuhaus, Daniel Looman, Sarah Wallace and Joanna Long. Kathleen is a Pacific Connections Garden Steward and has worked in this garden several times. The expertise of her trained staff made the planting of seed grown stock on the Siskiyou Slope efficient. In addition to time spent working in the garden, the crew received an in-depth tour of the Pacific Connections Garden and the construction site for the New Zealand Focal Forest. Scot Eckley Inc. is a landscape design and construction firm. Scot's personal garden was featured in Marty Wingate’s book Landscaping for Privacy. We wish to express our immense gratitude to his crew for their help on a gorgeous sunny day. A Glimpse Into the Past(A monthly column by Dr. John A. Wott, Director Emeritus) This photo from March 11, 1951, is entitled the “New Parking Lot." It shows the newly asphalted parking lot in front of the original Works Progress Administration building which housed the UW Curation and Visitor Offices as well as the Arboretum Foundation Office. The rear of the building contained offices and work areas for the Arboretum Gardeners. This building was demolished when the Graham Visitors Center was built in 1985-86. The current north edge of the parking lot is located in this spot. Note how much the grade has been lowered toward the Broadmoor fence and golf course buildings beyond. The cars in the parking lot must have been on the muddy drives in the Arboretum! (Photo from UWBG Photo Archives.) December 2012 Plant Profile: Abutilon 'Tiger Eye'This holiday season, we’re taking you indoors to our Douglas Conservatory and showcasing a plant to warm up your botanical curiosity. This unique and elegant flowering maple (though not technically a maple, that’s the genus Acer) is best known as an annual shrub for containers and summer bedding, but I haven’t the heart to just chuck it into the compost. So we brought it in for the winter and, given a little care, it has decided to flower for us. Flowering maples come in an assortment of colors and have the distinct maple-like foliage that gives them their common name. They benefit from full sun/part shade and regular watering and fertilizing during the growing season. They seem to bloom on and off and gentle pruning keeps plants bushy and loaded with flowers. ‘Tiger Eyes’ isn’t a prolific bloomer and stands taller and lankier than most other flowering maples, but its exquisite flowers make up for it. Common Name: Flowering Maple twigsBring the young 'uns out for the Evergreen Story Program at the Miller Library. In the Pacific Northwest, we treasure our evergreen forests, and these stories celebrate them. They include Grandpa Green by Lane Smith, The Tree by Dana Lyons and Douglas Fir by Wendy Davis. After the stories, you'll have time to color a tree picture or use homemade salt dough to sculpt your own evergreen tree. The fun starts at 10:30am on Saturday, December 15. |
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