April showers bring more flowers!

Thanks to Mother Nature we won't have to do much watering this week. The rain will give those new plantings a good soaking. It was great to see everyone pitching in and working in the garden this weekend. We almost have that stone border finished on the west side. According to Carlos Aguilar, the state may be planting a few small shrubs and trees right outside the back gate of our garden. My discussion on trying to get a water hook up has gone full circle and now I'm talking to Carlos of Caltrans to get permission to lay the pipe for the water hookup in The Benches Garden. Caltrans may aid us in cutting the trench for the pipe line through the concrete in front of the bridge. Carlos needs to get this plan approved by Raul Herrera, the regional manager of Caltrans in this area. In the meantime, keep gardening! The garden is really starting to come together. Thanks everybody for all your hard work.
Joe Treinen
Garden coordinator- The Benches Garden

Spring is almost here!

It was a terrific day, Saturday, Feb. 27th, working in the garden with our members. The garden is looking good and I really enjoyed conversing and working with all of you. Be creative and keep on planting. Now is the time to weed (get that Algerian Ivy) and also a good time to plant. Get those new plants firmly established before the heat and currently free irrigation supplied by mother nature. Remember, that donated plants, up for grabs by all, are under the pine tree.

A good carefree groundcover "Sunset" magazine recommends is Anemone coronaria or the poppy flowered anemone. This is a tuberous plant with many flowers of red, blue or white. One of the outstanding perenial plants at Anne Shaw's Pennsylvania Garden, is a variegated Echium which she received from Flora Grubb nursery. This drought tolerant native plant (Echium variegata) is a stand out with or without it's beautiful blooms.

A big welcome to The Benches Garden's newest members- Fumiko and David Didomizio. They will tend to plot #3.

Our next meeting will be March 27th at 1 pm. Items to discuss include water installation progress, bench/tool storage construction and replacing gates in the front of the garden.

Thanks to all!
Joe Treinen
Garden Coordinator