Green thumbs up
Roger Heineken
Saturday, June 9, 2007
WHEN YOU stand on the porch of the William Allen White House State Historic Site and survey the vintage yard and garden researched and interpreted from a December 1927 Better Homes and Gardens magazine article, you can appreciate the work that goes into its maintenance. The growing season produces a parade of blooms and color throughout the summer, into the fall. However, this plot is not spared of aspiring weeds.
Enter the volunteers! The historic site is blessed with many dedicated volunteers who work to ensure the site is in tip-top appearance to welcome visitor from far or near. The mowing crew routinely grooms the grounds all season long. Phi Delta Theta bags the oak leaves each spring in a service day raking blitz. And then, there are the Master Gardeners.
Volunteers within the Lyon County Master Gardeners program have dedicated themselves to making the White site yard and gardens a spectacular learning place. Most of the perennials and many shrubs are identified with nameplates. The garden is a wonderful place to see established hostas, daylilies, iris and many other plants and imagine what these would look like in your property. Sharon Stephens chairs this project in coordination the volunteers and with Horticultural Extension Agent Amy Jordan.
This June visit the William Allen White House State Historic Site, take in the Readings on the Porch series beginning June 14 and, by all means, enjoy the grounds. The William Allen White Community Partnership and the Kansas State Historical Society gives all our garden volunteer friends two green thumbs-up — way up!