By Staff
NILES – Beautify your block: Enter the Fernwood window box challenge.
Residents and businesses of cities such as Brooklyn, New York, and Salem, Massachusetts, have taken the challenge to beautify their homes and their blocks through window box competitions. Now Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve is offering residents and businesses of Niles and Buchanan to do the same. Registration is free – just give them a call or come out to Fernwood to be assigned an entry number and get in on the challenge.
Resources will be available to help you in purchasing or making your window box, as well as information on plant design and maintenance.
There are three categories: Business, Residential, and Youth. Criteria include Most Creative Window Box, Best Use of Color, Most Original Container, Best Theme (culinary, butterfly garden, etc.), and Best Overall Design. Judging will be Aug. 1 and awards will be given in each category.
Winners will be featured on Fernwood's web site and in its newsletter. But the big reward is the challenge itself – beautifying your home or business and neighborhood and being the envy of your neighbors.
Registration deadline is June 15, so get in on the challenge today. Call Fernwood at (269) 695-6491, or email them to register: www.fernwoodbotanical.org.
Upcoming classes at Fernwood
Photographing the Flowers of Fernwood
Saturday, May 17 (rain date Sunday, May 18); 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Nationally known photographer Danny Burk presents an informative workshop on flower photography. Learn how to choose good subjects, create attractive compositions, use a light meter properly, and much more. Please bring a tripod and camera (either digital or film) with interchangeable lenses or close-up settings and user-adjustable settings. Instruction is tailored to your individual level, whether beginner or advanced. Lunch is available in the Fernwood Cafe or bring your own for a picnic in the gardens. Class size is limited; please call ahead.
Members $85, Public $100. Advance registration is required by noon on Wednesday, May 14.
Hypertufa Trough Class
Saturday, May 17 from 10 a.m. until noon
Once treasured and hard to find carved stone containers or 'alpine troughs' were a gardening sensation in the 1920s. The limited supplies of these containers were soon exhausted. English alpine enthusiasts, not to be without their beloved containers, developed a concrete-like mixture called Hypertufa. Hypertufa could easily be formed into durable stone-like planting containers. Hypertufa containers are well-suited to the climate of the Midwest because the container can withstand the freeze and thaw of Midwestern winters. Nancy Clifton, Horticulture Program Specialist at Chicago Botanic Garden, teaches this workshop on making hypertufa troughs. She also gives us ideas on how to plant them and shows some of her creations. There is a 24 to 36 hour delay from molding the trough to unmolding and weathering it, and Nancy shows us how to finish it at home. The price is $60 for members and $75 for non-members and includes all materials.
Niles Train Depot: History of the Gardens
Saturday, May 17; 1 p.m.
Do you know why Niles is called "The Garden City?" Beginning in 1891, the massive gardens at the historic Niles Train Depot, managed by skilled Master Gardener John Gipner, grew and supplied all of the flowers for lady passengers, the dining cars, and train station restaurants on the Michigan Central Railroad line between Detroit and Chicago. Elaine Metzger from the Four Flags Garden Club digs into the history of the gardens at the train station and explains the garden club's involvement in maintaining the gardens today. Members free, public free with admission.
Call Fernwood at 695-6491.