Home And Garden

Desert Gardner: Accessorizing your landscaping

BY BEVERLY PETERSON - DESERT GARDENER

There are many ways to liven up your landscaping. These will depend both on the type of landscaping and personal preferences. A typical front lawn can be successfully dressed up with a fountain or statue. It can be informally accessorized with a hug... Full story

Good old-fashioned fun at the fair

BY KAREN BOWEN, DESERT GARDENER

Being a member of the Parker 4-H club from grade school through high school, fairs have been an important part of my life.Before the Parker Fair was started by Don Cox and my father, Art Bolton, Parker 4-H’ers would haul their clothing, flowers... Full story

Hot springs soak proves it's a small world

BY ELLEN GARDNER, DESERT GARDENER

Once more I discovered, it is a small world!Our youngest daughter who has been living in Tucson for two years recently moved to New Mexico. I said, “Wrong way, daughter, Yuma is this way.” Love was calling her in the other direction.Her d... Full story

You could win at the Yuma County Fair

BY VAL COLVIN, DESERT GARDENER

You might win a blue ribbon for a beautiful rose you have grown, or a floral design you create may be judged finest in its class.The Yuma County Fair will be held March 30 through April 4 and is a great opportunity for all garden enthusiasts to enter... Full story

Garden go-round: See what green thumbs can do

BY BARBARA BENSEL, SPECIAL TO YUMA SUN

Welcome to my garden. Yes, please come in. Four Yuma area gardeners will be extending just that invitation on Sunday, March 14. That's the day for the 17th Annual Garden Tour sponsored by Pecan Grove Garden Club. Yumans can usher in the spring sea... Full story

Take a tour of the Moody Garden

BY ELLEN GARDNER, DESERT GARDENER

Hi! I'm back to celebrate my birthday week with you. Actually I told my family it will be celebrated the entire month of March.I think I'm entitled as I will be 70 years old. I think of it as a milestone to celebrate, as many people I've known (inclu... Full story

Historical American gardens

BY BEVERLY PETERSON, DESERT GARDENER

When our country was being colonized, the emphasis was on food and survival. The first gardens were for growing vegetables. The garden at Plymouth Rock area was only for food.This was the norm for many years to come in this and other colonies. Eventu... Full story

An Asian jewel for a Yuma garden

BY KAREN BOWEN, DESERT GARDENER

Are you interested in an exotic, flowering shrub that is a member of the coffee family, is an evergreen shrub and has creamy-white blooms that smell intoxicating?Before you say such a plant is too good to be true, let me introduce the Gardenia jasmin... Full story

Garden club news includes sweetheart event

BY KAREN BOWEN, DESERT GARDENER

An open house presented by the MGM Garden Club will be from 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 13. “Bring Your Sweetheart to the Garden” will be held at the Moody Demonstration Garden on 28th Street, across from the University of Arizona Cooperative Ex... Full story

Basic electricity workshop

The basics of electricity will be taught during a workshop offered by Arizona Western College from 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 19 at the AWC Entrepreneurial Center, 1351 S. Redondo Center Drive.Learn how electricity is generated, electrical safety around the... Full story

Desert Gardner: Unusual and familiar plants

BY BEVERLY PETERSON, DESERT GARDENER

Recently I came across an article stating that scientists of the Royal Botanic Gardens, United Kingdom, feel that carnivorous behavior in plants is more widespread than previously thought. They mentioned, of all things, petunias as candidates for tha... Full story

A 'sweet' tree for fall color

BY GEORGIA BOLTON, DESERT GARDENER

For those who have lived up north and long for beautiful fall colors, there is a wonderful tree that will grow in Yuma and give you vibrant yellow, orange, red and deep purple leaves each fall.The tree is the American sweet gum. Growing up in Missis... Full story

Amaryllis, the 'night star'

BY KAREN BOWEN, DESERT GARDENER

The Amaryllis hippeastrum belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family and originated in the tropical areas of South America. Its beautiful, trumpet-shaped blooms and ease of growing make it a favorite with gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Sunlight, low-ni... Full story

Garden club calendars filling up

BY KAREN BOWEN, DESERT GARDENER

January events — January will be a very busy month for all the Yuma garden clubs.The Home and Garden Show at the Yuma Civic Center is Jan. 15-17. This is a special opportunity for local businesses, organizations and out-of-town guests to show o... Full story

Let your trees be trees; don’t shape them into drums or lollipops

BY BARBARA BENSEL, DESERT GARDENER COLUMNIST

When visitors come to Yuma they are likely to think, "What did they do to that tree?" I heard a group of winter visitors discussing this one day and, apparently, they have nothing like Yuma pruning where they live. Instead of letting trees be trees, ... Full story

A 'pass along' plant to share with friends

BY GEORGIA BOLTON, DESERT GARDENER

If you can't travel to Africa to enjoy its exotic plants and animals, why not grow a plant from Africa instead?The African violet, known as Saintpaulia, was collected in the 1700s by a German, Baron Adalbert Emil Walter Redcliffe Le Tanneaux von Sain... Full story

Club gives old athletic shoes a new life

BY KAREN BOWEN, DESERT GARDENER

Yuma Garden Club has started a new community service project. They have become a member of the "Reuse-a-Shoe” program sponsored by Nike Shoes.Your scruffiest, ugliest, stinkiest athletic shoes can be donated to their collection efforts. Shoes c... Full story

Come take your child to the garden

BY ELLEN GARDNER, DESERT GARDENER

By the time you read this, I hope new posters will be in the kiosks at the Moody Garden. Dalene Kelly, Master Gardener and president of the Yuma Orchid Society, and I have been working diligently in the Extension Office a couple days a week preparing... Full story

Palms take 5 years to produce a date

BY BARBARA BENSEL, DESERT GARDENER

Delicious, mellowly sweet, soft and succulent - all are descriptions of the Medjool dates grown in Yuma and the Bard area. And expensive, you may add.On the surface, true. But, do you know how much hands-on time goes into growing, harvesting, and mar... Full story

New style of gardening: Container gardening

BY GEORGIA BOLTON, DESERT GARDENER

When Yuma’s wonderful fall weather arrives, I am tempted to head to the nearest nursery and buy every vegetable, herb, fruit tree and flowering plant they sell. Sadly, however, few of us have the room or energy to handle such an array of veget... Full story

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