supplement to the park rapids enterprise
Mark your
JOIN US JULY 27, 2019 FOR A
Garden Stroll
OF THE HEARTLAND LAKES
calendar! THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD RAIN OR SHINE.
When summer is at its zenith, head out across prairie and forest for a tour of some of the area’s finest gardens. CHI St. Joseph’s Health Auxiliary, in partnership with the Hubbard County Master Gardeners, is hosting a Garden Stroll of the Heartland Lakes. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 27. Ticket holders are invited to visit several residential gardens, with owners and Master Gardeners on hand to answer questions. A “passport” and site map will be issued to Strollers prior to the event. Pre-sale ticket holders will be served a gourmet box lunch mid-day, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Heartland Park – then head out for more festive foraging. The event will be held rain or shine. Ticket price is $25. To reserve tickets, contact St. Joseph’s Volunteer Services at 616-3197, credit cards accepted. The seasoned horticulturalists who
will be introducing their gardens include: Sharon Dobson describes her landscape as a park, “the most relaxing place in the world.” Come summer, indoors is merely a place to sleep. Daylight hours are spent in the gardens. The Master Gardener’s parents provided inspiration for the gardens that have been under development for 17 years. She continually moves her wide variety of plants from space to space “until they are happy.” Husband Jim joined in the endeavor, building split rail fences, a screened porch and a dining deck mid-gardens, with a full view of summer’s splendor. “We call this our paradise.” Bob and Jimmie Ginn’s garden surrounds a hand-built authentic log cabin. The winding driveway is lined with boulders and lush greenery, including pampas grass, spirea, hosta and amur maples.
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Bob built many features in the landscape, including a pizza oven, two firepits, a barbecue shed, a bridge, a water feature and a pergola. A fenced and terraced hillside contains raised vegetable beds. Jimmie plants numerous railing boxes, planters and pots with colorful annuals for the summer. A grassy lawn leading to 8th Crow Wing Lake is surrounded with more greenery and annual flowers. Mike Greene considers his vegetable and flower gardens a “perpetual beginner’s template.” He describes the country setting nestled in pine trees as “nature’s eye candy.” Garden Strollers will view the Master Gardener’s annual and perennial flower beds and raised vegetable beds, as well as the compost area. He enjoys sharing gardening stories with others. “Without spirit there is no humanity,
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patient experience
The event is presented in partnership by the Auxiliary and the Hubbard County Master Gardeners. Patients entering CHI St. Joseph’s Health directly experience benefits from these Auxiliary initiatives. Previous funds have been used for orthopedic clinic equipment, obstetric bathroom remodeling, an ultrasound machine, low beds and stretchers, a cardiac rehab telemetry monitoring system, surgical lights, mammography robes and warmers and a colonoscopy scope. Founded in 1947, the Auxiliary has now raised over $1 million in support of the pro-
PATIENT: Page 5
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CALENDAR: Page 2
Plant physiologist
Auxiliary initiatives directly enhance
CHI St. Joseph’s Health Auxiliary is a program of Volunteer Services with a rich tradition of successful projects/fundraisers that support CHI St. Joseph’s Health. Volunteers with diverse backgrounds share energy and talents to raise funds to be used to enhance patient support. Throughout the year, Auxiliary volunteers host themed luncheons, dinners, coordinate a quilt raffle, put on their oven mitts for bake sales and pull out the craft supplies for hand-crafted gift items. This summer’s first-ever Garden Stroll will engage gardening enthusiasts on a jaunt around the area to view botanical wonderworks, produced by local horticulturalists.
without humanity, there is no gardening and without gardening, there is no life,” he states. Mary Jane Keller became an ardent gardener after retiring. Summers were spent hosting guests at the family’s resort; now she’s creating flora wonderworks. “I love to dig in the dirt and plant new varieties of annuals and perennials to see how they perform,” Mary Jane said. “I have both vegetable and flower gardens scattered around. My gardens are randomly placed around our yard to either hide an eyesore or brighten up a dull spot.” The Keller yard is predominately full-sun exposure “and can be a challenge,” she said. Two dozen pots bursting with colorful annuals are positioned about the
concerned with winter’s mercury dip By Jean Ruzicka
Bert Swanson stands with his Swiss stone pine and Colorado blue spruce.
In late April, Bert Swanson was eyeing his dormant garden with a measure of trepidation. January’s torturous cold snap may have sounded the death knell for some of his perennials. “It’s been a rough winter,” said the plant physiologist, who battles both deer and weather at his expansive yard overlooking Boot Lake. He points to his forsythia, which following a good winter would be solid gold, the blooms emerging before the leaves. After a bad winter - early cold before the ground hardens and there’s no snow cover - the roots freeze and the tops are in jeopardy, he explained. Last year, he saw no blooms. “Now I’m waiting to see…” Bert’s Northern Lights azaelas are also on his watch list. “Even after the bad winter of 2017 and ’18 they bloomed. The buds are hearty to -40 degrees. “This winter we had -48 degrees,” he said of late January. “The buds don’t look good,” he said of the crimson bloomers. Bert, who holds a PhD in plant physiology, was in the Navy for 31 years before returning to civilian life. He taught nursery management at Colorado State University for seven years before returning the University of Minnesota to share expertise for 18 years. He then headed to Park Rapids, where he managed a nursery and now has a consulting business, as well as serving as a USDA technical advisor for federal crop insurance.
SWENSON: Page 6
garden stroll | May 22, 2019
2
supplement to the park rapids enterprise
Spangler ‘always By Jean Ruzicka
which head to a cool dark place after maturity, he Having grown up on a assumed this cousin farm in Nebraska, bat- would follow suit. Research said othtling “sticky clay” and a hot, humid clime after a erwise. “You can’t cure rainfall, Maurice Span- sweet potatoes (in Minin Septemgler now embraces Zone nesota) 3 gardening in Minneso- ber. They need hot and humid,” he learned. ta’s north woods. He sent them to the “I hated gardening,” he sauna, with disappointadmits of his childhood. Now the retired physi- ing results. This year, he’s plantcian is ever on the lookout for an experimen- ing russet potatoes in the tal bit of horticulture. “I hügelkutur, although he always like to try some- has found the site to be a “rodent motel.” thing new.” Since moving to the Who else in the neighborhood could boast of a property on Fish Hook hügelkutur in the back- Lake in 1973, the grass has diminished, the garyard? This mound of decay- dens expanding. “But I think I may ing popple logs - which retain moisture - sup- be at my limit,” Mauplemented with manure rice admits. “Lawns are and compost, had ini- not found in nature. You tially been a birthplace need a variety of ground for sweet potatoes. Adept cover,” pointing out at the production of white clover is a favorite of bees. “And it puts potatoes, nitrogen in the soil. “I like the sandy soil,” he said Russet of the area’s potatoes predominant will call Maurice
soil type, “amended with humus” – manure and compost. “He would come home from working all day and head into the gardens,” wife Carolyn recalls. “Unlike people, if a plant doesn’t do what you want it to do, you can throw it in the compost,” Maurice joked of recalcitrant patients. “Gardening is not work,” he said of his penchant for producing both flowers and vegetables. “But you can never get ahead of the quack grass. Any garden worth anything has quack grass.” A recent addition: fencing. “The dogs kept the deer away but rabbits decimated the gardens,” Maurice said. “But the best thing about a fence is that it’s a great place for pole beans, cucumbers, morning glories and now hablitzia. This year, at daughter-in-law Amy Thielen’s suggestion, he is introducing hablitzia, perennial spinach from
Spangler’s hügelkutur home this summer. The ever-experimenting horticulturalist found sweet potatoes incompatible with northern Minnesota’s climate.
CALENDAR: From page 1 home’s exterior. Garden enthusiasts will be “seeing red” when they embark on a tour of Dick and Jackie Lundstrom’s yard. Terraced landscapes surround the house, with abundant Russian cypress shrubs - a low growing, cascading evergreen - and hosta accenting the property on Lake Belle Taine. A small perennial garden attracts birds and Monarch butterflies – 21 of the winged beauties taking up residence last year. Master Gardener Maurice Spangler’s gardens are ever-evolving. Paths wind through vegetable and herb gardens, where a hügelkultur mound will be home to potatoes this summer. The orchard holds a variety of fruit trees and bushes – apples, pears, plums, black and red currants,
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likes to try something new’
the Caucasus region. (An dragon family, growarea in Eurasia bordered ing 5 feet in height on the south by Iran, on and a bee favorite), the southwest by Turkey, coneflowers, bee balm on the west by the Black (monarda), coreopsis, Sea, on the east by the wild roses and black- ter each year,” said the ever-optimistic horticulCaspian Sea and on the eyed Susans. north by Russia.) Garden Strollers will be turalist. This spinach will introduced to vines and Maurice chuckles when reside in politically neu- plants producing juices recalling his novice expetral territory. for the Spangler gang, rience with Brussel’s “I always like to try including chokeberry, sprouts. “They were the something new,” said the chokecherry, elderberry oddest-looking things. I gardener, who’s undaunt- and wild grapes. Black thought they were dised by less-than-cooper- currants are soaked for eased, so I pulled them.” ative plants and trees. three months in vodka FatherHis garden i n - l a w is a 50-50 percent mix Don’t worry too much about weeding. IA nn gn ve xa sl -d of flowers You’ll never defeat the weeds anyway. tad “got the and vegetables, with When you’re dead and gone, the weeds biggest kick one small out of that.” spot for will still be there and will win the battle Maurice brightly coleventually. It’s kind of comforting uses no pesored annuals. ticides. “It to know that you don’t have to be Carolyn is kills the bad the family the perfect weeder. bugs, but “cooker and Maurice Spangler, Master Gardener also kills the the prungood bugs er,” having that eat the watched her mother garbad bugs. for a splendid liqueur. den until she was phys“It’s best to grow a Eggplants, requirically unable. And then variety of plants,” he ing abundant sun, reside - in her nineties -she did advises of pest control. on the south side of the the canning!” a practice His advice to the novgarage. her daughter continues. His pears didn’t cross ice gardener: Plant a few Maurice is a fan of pollinate. And the apri- seeds in the ground add native plants. “As they get cots “haven’t done any- some water and you’ve older, they are less and thing. The grapes and got a garden. less fuss. And they can tart cherries are not “It’s trial and error. handle drought and cold.” doing well… Nothing ventured. NothHis natives include “But the apples do bet- ing gained.” Culver’s root (in the snap
elderberries, apricots, tart cherries, honeyberries, raspberries, rhubarb and some grapes. The perennial beds are home to native plants – day lilies, iris, hosta and hydrangea. A memorial pond behind an arbor is surrounded by hops, kiwi and woodbine, a captivating feature of the lakeside yard. “Welcome to the Swanson landscape,” Bert Swanson said of his gardens overlooking Boot Lake. Plants to be observed this summer on the spacious grounds are ligularia, azaleas, lilacs, single-sex bittersweet, kiwi, hydrangeas, hosta, wisteria, Swiss stone pine, sweet birch, stephanandra, spirea varieties and a few other plants. A raised garden with a special growing medium can also be observed. “In the Swanson landscape, you will not see elaborate landscape design. The location of the plants is in their present location by virtue of what I had in my hand and where I was standing at the time,” the plant physiologist said.
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Virgin’s bower is among the unique plants bearing witness to Maurice Spangler’s green (and red and purple and blue…) thumb.
garden stroll | May 22, 2019
supplement to the park rapids enterprise
Welcome to the cabin Flowers adorn the driveway leading to Bob and Jimmie Ginn’s log cabin, which they built themselves, on 8th Crow Wing Lake. The landscaping and rock walls are an ongoing summertime project. The Ginns credit Christine and Kevin Jessen of Forest and Floral for their gardening successes.
A cook shed with an outdoor pizza oven affords outdoor culinary endeavors.
Pollinators 101:
Planting diverse flowering plants for bees Bees rely on flowers to supply them with the food they need to survive. Some flowers (tomatoes, for example) provide only pollen, the main source of protein for bees. Other flowers (e.g. clovers) provide both nectar and pollen, thus providing both protein and carbohydrates. There are hundreds of bee species in Minnesota. Different types of bees prefer different flowers. Some of these preferences are due to the physical size or shape of the bees and the flowers. Some flowers have long tubes with nectar at the bottom. Long-tongued bees are the only bees able to reach the nectar. Other preferences are based on nutritional needs. Some flowers have long tubes with nectar at the bottom. Long-tongued bees are the only bees able to reach the nectar. Other preferences are based on nutritional needs. There are also seasonal differences in the activity of different bee species. Many bee species forage as
adults for only a few weeks out of the year, with different species emerging throughout the spring and summer, into early fall. The rest of the year, the young are developing in nests that are underground or in cavities. Each bee was provided with a pollen ball, a mixture of pollen and nectar, left there by their mother. They will emerge the following season. Many other bee species, including honey bees and bumble bees, are present through the entire spring, summer and early fall. Providing a diverse array of plants will help ensure that you support a diverse array of bee species. Do your best to provide blooming flowers from April to September.
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garden stroll | May 22, 2019
supplement to the park rapids enterprise
Minnesota gardening
‘a challenge and a joy’ Mary Jane Keller’s septic tank area underwent a metamorphosis, the view from her dining room window now a splendid blend of perennials and annuals. Before By Jean Ruzicka
challenging. “Bale gardening didn’t work for “Eight years ago, this was an open me.” field,” Mary Jane Keller said of propAnd plenty of sunshine precludes erty affording a grand view of Two Hosta. Inlets Lake. “There had never been a “And this is a daisy-free zone,” she structure.” said of the prolific invaders. Or gardens. Just outside her dining room winUpon retiring, Brookside Resort dow, with a panoramic view of the owners Mary Jane and husband David expansive front yard, sits her “sewer Keller constructed a new home and garden.” moved just down the shoreline to “The septic tanks were put in the property that had been their grand- wrong place. I was livid!” she recalls. children’s playground, initially spark- So in 2014, she “created a garden to ing some dismay. hide an eyesore.” Mary Jane assured her progeny that “Now it’s a focal point,” Mary Jane new adventures would soon sprout on said of the perennials and annuals the north side of Two Inlets. dwarfing the caps. Her role as a resort owner had preShe follows the “thriller, filler and cluded serious spiller” adage for gardening. But the potted plants having grown up that adorn front I don’t give myself a budget. in Pipestone with and back porchgrandparents es, frequenting If this is my addiction, so be it. who were avid nurseries within Mary Jane Keller gardeners - and a 60-mile radius. who shared their “Fond memwisdom - she was ories” trigready to embark ger purchases, on a previously embargoed voyage. buoyed by inspiration. “I love to put “Vegetables, and lots of flowers,” stuff together that’s never been done she recalled of her grandparents’ gar- before. dens. “Gladiolas. They took armloads “I don’t give myself a budget. If this to church. And peonies… is my addiction, so be it,” she said. “The farm was their grocery store,” Her gardening aspirations have she recalls of preservation of the harvest. spread to the roadsides, “anywhere I Pipestone is home to rich, black soil. can make a flower.” Wild phlox and “When I came up here I learned I could coneflower now add beauty, township pull a weed with one hand,” she said mowers respecting her initiative. of the sandy soil. “It was startling.” “Being a resort owner, I didn’t have (Mary Jane’s brother, who lives in the time,” Mary Jane said of gardenSioux Falls, SD, jokes he would trade ing. Now it’s such a joy. I have all the a dump truck of his dirt for her sandy time I want.” soil.) “Anytime you move to a different soil plot, it’s trial and error,” Mary Jane said, noting with envy the rich, Gardening black dirt “just 10 miles to the west.” was in dormancy She started with a vegetable garden atop the home’s geothermal bed, “as a while the Kellers were way to cover.” (Geothermal technology hosting clients at their harnesses near-constant temperatures resort on Two Inlets. in the soil, in contrast to the summer Now it’s in full and winter extremes of ambient air above ground.) bloom. At the resort, she initially tended a small vegetable garden, but “quickly learned” she had no time for the harvest. “So I went to flowers, all over the resort, that I cared for and loved.” But now her vegetable garden of broccoli, squash, pole beans, carrots and kohlrabi add vitamins to three generations of Kellers. “Soil has to be amended,” Mary Jane advises. “And it’s interesting to learn how. I had to learn what plants work,” she said of her resumption of flower gardening, and discovering she’s home to a microclimate. “It’s a challenge – and a joy – learning what will work here,” she said of ongoing variables. “Years without snow, no insulation,” have proven
After
Come spring, Mary Jane is motoring about the area to seek inspiration for her unique gardens and pots.
garden stroll | May 22, 2019
supplement to the park rapids enterprise
Seeing Red
5
A deviation from her scarlet theme is on the home’s back porch, where emerald succulents have taken up residence.
“My focus is on red,” Jackie Lundstrom said of petunias, impatiens and more that find their way into “repurposed objects” – the “pots” painted red.
PATIENT From page 1 grams and services at CHI St. Joseph’s Health. And the initiative continues, engaging the community in the goal of enhancing patient wellbeing experiences. Auxiliary involvement is open to anyone interested in making a difference in the lives of people residing in the communities served by CHI St. Joseph’s Health. The Auxiliary’s primary focus is fundraising. Anyone interested in raising funds to support quality healthcare in Park Rapids is encouraged to apply to become a St. Joseph’s volunteer. Volunteers work through Volunteer Services for
training and assignment to services. CHI St. Joseph’s Health has three active Auxiliary groups. Each group elects officers, meets monthly, plans fundraisers and provides support for CHI St. Joseph’s Health. Each Auxiliary meeting begins with a recitation to remind members of their objective: “The mission of CHI St. Joseph’s Health Auxiliary is to support CHI St. Joseph’s Health care ministry by providing volunteer services, financial contributions to enhance patient comfort and healing, and to communicate the hospital’s story as a bridge to the community.” To learn more, contact Betsy Meyer at Volunteer Services, call 218-616-3197 or visit www.CHISJH.org.
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garden stroll | May 22, 2019
supplement to the park rapids enterprise Cucumbers, beans, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and squash are among the fruits and vegetables emerging in the Swanson garden.
Hydrangea flourish on the Boot Lake grounds.
A fern leaf peony is among the unique flora to be viewed in the gardens.
SWENSON: From page 1 “I battled rocks,” he said of creating gardens after the move to their residence in 1996. “I got rid of most of the lawn,” reducing his mowing time from five hours to one-and-a-half. Garden Stroll participants will view a plethora of day lilies, Asiatic lilies and spirea in July. The hydrangea will “just be starting,” he said of his hardy vanilla strawberry, white diamond and limelight plants. “Strollers” will be introduced to some relatively unique flora, including wisteria, a climbing vine that grows on an oak. His Swiss stone pine is an evergreen with unique, fine needles. His sweet birch has stems that smell like an evergreen. The fern leaf peonies, sadly, will be done blooming. But stephanandra and viburnum will be observed. Hosta waned due to deer appetites, but a fence may now preclude their presence, and the hardy perennial will reappear. “There are very few plants a deer won’t eat,” he’s learned, with the exception of lupine. S i n g l e - s e x bittersweet will intrigue gardeners. Ordinarily, he explained, a male and female plant is required for them to bloom and fruit. This was a-sexually propagated. And kiwi vines – the fruit the size of a grape – reside on the premises. The dogwood, pottilla and spirea were injured last year, “but they are hardy.” Bert’s vegetables reside in raised beds, inside fences. He recently helped develop a soil-less blend for elevated beds and container gardening - Total Garden Blend for the Plaisted Companies. And now he waits in anticipation to see what has survived the winter, ready to showcase his unique, divergent vegetation, along with sharing insights into the trials and tribulations of gardening in the Minnesota climate.
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garden stroll | May 22, 2019
supplement to the park rapids enterprise
Gardens ‘perpetual Raised beds have better soil structure and drainage compared to ground-level gardens, according to the University of Minnesota Extension. Mike Greene was introduced to gardening at a young age, and he now encourages engaging children in the process. “It instills in them character, responsibility and the accomplishment of working with Mother Nature,” he said.
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template of nature’
Master Gardener and Garden Stroll participant Mike Greene says “there is more to gardening than meets the eye.” And he believes this eye-opening experience should begin at a young age. “Like the rhizomes of a healthy plant, I feel it is the early childhood roots
that help establish an interest in gardening whether it is vegetables, flowers or something more ‘high-tech,’” Mike relates of his experience with Mother Nature. “I grew up in southern Indiana, with one foot there and the other in Kentucky. With extended family on both sides of the Ohio River, I just called it ‘balanced roots.’ “One of my first encounters with gardening (and marketing) was when my Kentucky grandfather had given my sister and me the responsibility of selling just-harvested, ripe tomatoes to a dozen or so of the area neighbors. “Walking door-todoor, we did eventually sell all the tomatoes that Sunday afternoon,” he recalls. “It was indeed a new experience. We got to keep the money from the tomato sales. And we very much looked forward to buying that penny candy displayed so
enticingly in the enclosed candy case at the back of the neighborhood grocery in Evansville, Ind. “So much for ‘food exchange,’ right?! “In my pre-teen years, along with having a paper route and de-tasseling popcorn in the fields of southern Indiana, my great uncle had an open lot next to his home. “My step-father had planted nothing but potatoes in the lot; it was my responsibility to irrigate, weed and help harvest the potatoes that summer. It was a great learning experience. “I am Irish (and English), but I am not so sure I was that Green(e)!”
he quips. He considers his vegetable and flower gardens a “perpetual beginner’s template of nature,” and encourages establishing “gardening roots” in the minds of the younger population. “It instills in them character, responsibility and the accomplishment of working with Mother Nature - those flowers are beautiful and the vegetables are so tasty!” Mike looks forward to sharing gardening stories with others on the Garden Stroll. “Respect Mother Nature or pay Father Time later,” he advises.
A head start on
raised beds
Raised bed gardening is a simple technique that can improve the health and productivity of your garden, according to the University of Minnesota Extension. Raised beds have better soil structure and drainage, allowing the soil to warm up earlier in the season, and giving you a head start on spring. Stubborn perennial weeds can be less of a problem in raised beds than in other gardens. You may also want to construct a raised bed to bring the soil up to a more comfortable working level. Whether for aesthetics or accessibility, modern gardeners are rediscovering the centuries-old tech-
nique of raised bed gardening for their vegetables, flowers and shrubs. The University of Minnesota Extension website offers the how-to of constructing a raised bed garden. Raised beds have better soil structure and drainage compared to ground-level gardens. They give you a head start on gardening in the spring by warming up the soil earlier in the season. Types include raised ground beds, supported raised beds and containerized raised beds.
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garden stroll | May 22, 2019
supplement to the park rapids enterprise Twenty types of Hosta under the pines will engage gardening aficionados. Hydrangeas, delphiniums, goat’s beard and summer sunshine flowers lend “a sense of comfort” to the gardens. “We call this our paradise,” Sharon said of her charismatic, ever-evolving canvas. “I put my soul into this.”
I ‘ paint with flowers’
One garden at a time
“People think you can plant and then walk away. It’s the love and tender care that you give them that makes them beautiful,” she said of the right amount of amenities/fertilizer, water and sun. “You have to split flowers,” she advises of perennials, which she does on a three-year basis. “That’s why I have so many gardens.” She advises turning the dirt in gardens every year. “Tree roots will choke out flowers. Plants can’t fight for room and nutrients.” Saturating the soil two days beforehand, she digs up her gardens and sets the plants out on the grass while snipping invading tree roots. She re-tills, replants and adds mulch the following day. “My husband thinks I’m crazy,” when he arrives home to find the human gopher at work. “Gardening can be overwhelming. Take on one garden at a time,” she advises. Come summer, Sharon will resume her role as gardener for seasonal Potato Lake residents. “That’s a job; this is pleasure. At home I play; there it’s business. I’m held accountable. “Here, I’m letting my soul free in my own space, I’m inspired… Gardening is so much a part of who I am.”
Gardening was instilled as a child, Sharon watching her father tend the garden. Now she plants a continuously blooming garden. “It’s all by chance. If something doesn’t work, I move it.”
By Jean Ruzicka A classic Hubbard County “settler” has pioneered captivating gardens in the woods, beckoning botanical enthusiasts to view what has emerged since homesteading nearly a quarter century ago. Sharon Dobson and husband Jim arrived with kids at the cabin just south of the Paul Bunyan Forest in 1996. “No yard. No power. No running water,” she recalls. “We lived in the back of the garage in a studio apartment. We showered at the Akeley campground.” A half-mile driveway winds through the woods to their dwelling. On weekends, “major construction” was underway, she said of dismantling the cabin, Jim returning from his work in the Twin Cities to assist. “I loved it here,” Sharon said of the wildlife that welcomed them to the neighborhood. Their original plan to move to the metro was quashed as Sharon began to envision possibilities for their yet untamed wilderness. “It’s so quiet. I felt grounded, safe. “But I lived here five years before planting the first flower,” she recalled. Her father, a farmer, and mother, a gardener, served as her inspiration as she began her horticultural honing. She would “talk” to her dad, now deceased, as she worked. Growing up in Texas, “I didn’t realize what my parents were instilling as they worked in the gardens,” she said. “I watched my dad work out problems... But he had
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no choice. It was a practical way to feed a family. To this day I wish I had more pictures,” she said of the “amazing” tomato plants, and the corn and okra that that required a ladder to harvest. “I went from two seasons to one short one,” Sharon said of migrating from the Lone Star State to the Star of the North.
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An artistic medium
“You have to figure out what flowers work for you,” the Master Gardener said, “the ones that bring the most joy.” Her favorites: peonies and zinnia. “They are the most giving flowers I’ve planted.” Her gardens now radiate splendiferous, continual blooming from spring to summer. “It’s all by chance,” she said of her gardens that began to emerge 17 years ago. “I figured it out. If something didn’t work where I planted it, I moved it.” Her gardens are a mix of perennials and annuals. “Annuals are the fillers, where there is nothing blooming.” Normally, Sharon starts seeds in mid-March in her potting shed and moves them to her greenhouse. But Mother Nature’s snow and cold precluded it this year, her trail to the greenhouse impassable. Sharon is fond of alyssum, attracting bees and butterflies, as a border. And “petunias are awesome filler plants,” she said of the cascading beauties. “I paint with flowers,” she said of her artistic odyssey, with soil and seeds her medium. “And every year I can make it different.”
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16925 170th St., Park Rapids East of Park Rapids on Hwy. 34 to #169 South on #169 to 170th Street
218-732-8033
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