Carefree Truth
Issue #543, January 9, 2017
Vice Mayor John Crane reported that for many years a committee has organized seminars related to the Carefree Desert Gardens. The Town invited members of this committee to make a presentation because a lot of people don't know they exist. It's a great program that leverages the Gardens, Carefree's most unique asset, and brings tremendous value to the community.
Committee representative Joanne Rebollo thanked the Council for allowing her the opportunity to present at the meeting. This is one of the best programs Carefree has to offer, and she wished to enlighten the Council about what they have been doing for well over a decade. 2017 is their 15th year of educating Valley residents about environmentally responsible horticulture and desert landscaping in a series of 4 monthly seminars conducted annually. The committee plans the calendar of events, researches and invites the speakers, sets up the venue for the Saturday morning lectures, procures plants to be raffled off, and produces the publicity to be advertised in various publications.
The seminars were established in 2002 by Mayor Ed Morgan, with Carefree residents donating nearly $19,000 to fund this and other projects related to the new Gardens. The program is run by volunteer Master Gardeners and "one very interested area resident". Mrs. Rebollo emphasized that no one is paid to do this. "It is really a labor of love for all of us and has been for many, many years." To date, 75 seminars have been conducted January through April, with an average attendance of 72 per seminar. There have been as many as 85 as word travels throughout the garden community Valley-wide. Attendees have come from all parts of the Valley; it's not just local residents. It is a well known program in the gardening community, and it continues to gather steam.
The Town has been supportive, providing the venue and making up for the rare cost shortfalls, but attendee donations at the door have made the program self sustaining, including the $300 honorarium given to the speakers. These speakers bring excellent Power Point visuals. Because the previous Council chambers which were used for the seminars are no longer available, the Speakeasy will donate the venue space. Tech4Life has donated the projection equipment and laptops, Kiwanis has donated the screen, and Mountain States Wholesale Nursery has donated the plants for the raffles. The committee wished to thanks these generous donors and the Town of Carefree for their continued support.
The seminars engender valuable publicity for the Town via press releases and photos in the CITYSunTimes, AZ Images magazine, the Foothills Focus, the Sonoran News, and Phoenix Home & Garden magazine, which is a national publication. These reach over 550,000 readers. They also appear in the Master Gardener calendar of events, the Terravita and Dove Valley Ranch HOA websites, the Arizona Herb Association website, the Town of Carefree website and social media, and are sent out in COINS, and Carefree Truth. Readership for these online contacts exceeds 3,500 per seminar. All of this free publicity would cost about $12,000 per year. The word is continuing to spread about the seminars' contributions to desert horticulture.
Benefits to Carefree include educating the public about responsible water-wise landscaping. Speakers are credentialed experts in their fields. Attendees Valley-wide and beyond patronize local businesses after seminars. The seminars run from 9:30 AM to noon, and when they are over, the attendees are ready for lunch. Donated plants encourage the use of drought tolerant landscaping. The Carefree Desert Gardens seminars have long been recognized in botanical communities as a top educational program. Diverse topics including living with urban wildlife, the importance of bees, best tree and shrub pruning, etc., attract a broad base of new and existing residents. The seminars promote the Town of Carefree and the Gardens and provides the Gardens' educational arm, which is important to make it a legitimate botanical garden. These public education service seminars are unique among local programs. No other municipality sponsors a program like this.
Carefree resident Joe DeVito, the "very interested area resident", and his wife moved into their house in 2001 and he started attending all the Gardens seminars when they began, finding them unique and interesting. Over the years, around 4,500 people have seen, learned and enjoyed these seminars. The free press releases add up to a lot of money over the years, had the Town paid for the publicity.
One of Mr. DeVito's favorite seminars was on Monarch butterflies. He bought two milkweed plants that they feed on to attract the butterflies to his home. Another favorite was on cotton, a crop grown by the Pimas. He ordered cotton seeds from the Tucson Seed Bank. These seeds are a "time capsule", descended from the seeds used by the Hohokem people. He grew them easily and they produce beautiful flowers. He presented the Council members and staff with small bags of the seeds as a gift.
Mrs. Rebollo pointed out that when the Council meetings were moved from the Post Office building to the Holland Center, the Gardens seminars also lost their venue. When the committee heard talk of discontinuing the seminars altogether, they were very upset. Mrs. Rebollo immediately contacted Vice Mayor Crane, who instantly came to their rescue, becoming their ally and advocate. He greatly assisted in procuring their new venue. "John, we can't thank you enough." The Vice Mayor responded, "The Gardens Committee is very dedicated and passionate, so it's difficult to tell them no". He credited the Speakeasy and Tech4Life for their contributions.
Mrs. Rebollo said she has been a resident of Carefree, the most beautiful town she has ever lived in, for many years. The Gardens are lovely. "We are blessed to live where we live, in an area surrounded by some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, the Foothills of the Sonoran Desert." With that blessing comes the responsibility to protect and preserve it for not only ourselves but for generations to come. Carefree citizens are to be commended for the care and pride they take in their personal landscapes by using desert adapted plants and adopting sustainable watering practices. She knows that the Gardens seminars have had a lot to do with that.
On behalf of the committee, she thanked the Council for its continued support of this extremely worthy program and said they look forward to continuing the seminars for many years. The first seminar for 2017, all about agaves, will be held on January 14th, from 9:30 AM to noon, with a short break about half way through. She hoped to see some Council members there. Councilman Jim Van Allen said he attended 2 seminars years ago, and was able to plant the right kind of cactus at his house. Mayor Les Peterson thanked Mrs. Rebollo for her presentation and for bringing the Council up to speed.
https://vimeo.com/198494100
Lyn Hitchon
The Gardens seminar schedule for 2017 is as follows:
January 14, 2017 Agaves as Living Sculptures in the Desert Foothills Landscape
Agaves as Living Sculptures in the Desert Foothills Landscape by Greg Starr, Owner and Operator of Starr Nursery; 2006 Master of the Southwest, Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine and Author of Cool Plants for Hot Gardens and Agaves: Living Sculptures for Landscapes and Containers.
AGAVES AS LIVING SCULPTURES
IN
DESERT FOOTHILLS LANDSCAPES
Carefree Desert Gardens is delighted to welcome back author, speaker, and agave fanatic Greg Starr, owner and operator of Starr Nursery in Tucson which specializes in agaves, cacti and xeric shrubs. Greg is a leading proponent of xeriscaping in the Southwest. He has traveled extensively in Mexico and the U.S. to study and photograph plants in their habitats. His books include Cool Plants for Hot Gardens and Agaves: Living Sculptures for Landscapes and Containers.
On Saturday, January 14, 2017, Greg will speak on agaves, large and small, that are hardy for our elevation, how to plant and care for them to ensure success in our landscapes or containers and companion plantings. He will bring plants to sell.
The program, usually including a plant raffle, will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run approximately until noon at our NEW LOCATION in the SAME building. The SPEAKEASY On Easy Street, Jazz Supper Club, is located on the northwest corner of the U.S. Post Office building, 100 Easy Street, Carefree. A $5.00 (or more) donation is suggested to support these programs. For information call 480-488-3686. Come early. Seating is limited.
This is the first of four programs of the Winter 2017 season.
Issue #543, January 9, 2017
Vice Mayor John Crane reported that for many years a committee has organized seminars related to the Carefree Desert Gardens. The Town invited members of this committee to make a presentation because a lot of people don't know they exist. It's a great program that leverages the Gardens, Carefree's most unique asset, and brings tremendous value to the community.
Committee representative Joanne Rebollo thanked the Council for allowing her the opportunity to present at the meeting. This is one of the best programs Carefree has to offer, and she wished to enlighten the Council about what they have been doing for well over a decade. 2017 is their 15th year of educating Valley residents about environmentally responsible horticulture and desert landscaping in a series of 4 monthly seminars conducted annually. The committee plans the calendar of events, researches and invites the speakers, sets up the venue for the Saturday morning lectures, procures plants to be raffled off, and produces the publicity to be advertised in various publications.
The seminars were established in 2002 by Mayor Ed Morgan, with Carefree residents donating nearly $19,000 to fund this and other projects related to the new Gardens. The program is run by volunteer Master Gardeners and "one very interested area resident". Mrs. Rebollo emphasized that no one is paid to do this. "It is really a labor of love for all of us and has been for many, many years." To date, 75 seminars have been conducted January through April, with an average attendance of 72 per seminar. There have been as many as 85 as word travels throughout the garden community Valley-wide. Attendees have come from all parts of the Valley; it's not just local residents. It is a well known program in the gardening community, and it continues to gather steam.
The Town has been supportive, providing the venue and making up for the rare cost shortfalls, but attendee donations at the door have made the program self sustaining, including the $300 honorarium given to the speakers. These speakers bring excellent Power Point visuals. Because the previous Council chambers which were used for the seminars are no longer available, the Speakeasy will donate the venue space. Tech4Life has donated the projection equipment and laptops, Kiwanis has donated the screen, and Mountain States Wholesale Nursery has donated the plants for the raffles. The committee wished to thanks these generous donors and the Town of Carefree for their continued support.
The seminars engender valuable publicity for the Town via press releases and photos in the CITYSunTimes, AZ Images magazine, the Foothills Focus, the Sonoran News, and Phoenix Home & Garden magazine, which is a national publication. These reach over 550,000 readers. They also appear in the Master Gardener calendar of events, the Terravita and Dove Valley Ranch HOA websites, the Arizona Herb Association website, the Town of Carefree website and social media, and are sent out in COINS, and Carefree Truth. Readership for these online contacts exceeds 3,500 per seminar. All of this free publicity would cost about $12,000 per year. The word is continuing to spread about the seminars' contributions to desert horticulture.
Benefits to Carefree include educating the public about responsible water-wise landscaping. Speakers are credentialed experts in their fields. Attendees Valley-wide and beyond patronize local businesses after seminars. The seminars run from 9:30 AM to noon, and when they are over, the attendees are ready for lunch. Donated plants encourage the use of drought tolerant landscaping. The Carefree Desert Gardens seminars have long been recognized in botanical communities as a top educational program. Diverse topics including living with urban wildlife, the importance of bees, best tree and shrub pruning, etc., attract a broad base of new and existing residents. The seminars promote the Town of Carefree and the Gardens and provides the Gardens' educational arm, which is important to make it a legitimate botanical garden. These public education service seminars are unique among local programs. No other municipality sponsors a program like this.
Carefree resident Joe DeVito, the "very interested area resident", and his wife moved into their house in 2001 and he started attending all the Gardens seminars when they began, finding them unique and interesting. Over the years, around 4,500 people have seen, learned and enjoyed these seminars. The free press releases add up to a lot of money over the years, had the Town paid for the publicity.
One of Mr. DeVito's favorite seminars was on Monarch butterflies. He bought two milkweed plants that they feed on to attract the butterflies to his home. Another favorite was on cotton, a crop grown by the Pimas. He ordered cotton seeds from the Tucson Seed Bank. These seeds are a "time capsule", descended from the seeds used by the Hohokem people. He grew them easily and they produce beautiful flowers. He presented the Council members and staff with small bags of the seeds as a gift.
Mrs. Rebollo pointed out that when the Council meetings were moved from the Post Office building to the Holland Center, the Gardens seminars also lost their venue. When the committee heard talk of discontinuing the seminars altogether, they were very upset. Mrs. Rebollo immediately contacted Vice Mayor Crane, who instantly came to their rescue, becoming their ally and advocate. He greatly assisted in procuring their new venue. "John, we can't thank you enough." The Vice Mayor responded, "The Gardens Committee is very dedicated and passionate, so it's difficult to tell them no". He credited the Speakeasy and Tech4Life for their contributions.
Mrs. Rebollo said she has been a resident of Carefree, the most beautiful town she has ever lived in, for many years. The Gardens are lovely. "We are blessed to live where we live, in an area surrounded by some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, the Foothills of the Sonoran Desert." With that blessing comes the responsibility to protect and preserve it for not only ourselves but for generations to come. Carefree citizens are to be commended for the care and pride they take in their personal landscapes by using desert adapted plants and adopting sustainable watering practices. She knows that the Gardens seminars have had a lot to do with that.
On behalf of the committee, she thanked the Council for its continued support of this extremely worthy program and said they look forward to continuing the seminars for many years. The first seminar for 2017, all about agaves, will be held on January 14th, from 9:30 AM to noon, with a short break about half way through. She hoped to see some Council members there. Councilman Jim Van Allen said he attended 2 seminars years ago, and was able to plant the right kind of cactus at his house. Mayor Les Peterson thanked Mrs. Rebollo for her presentation and for bringing the Council up to speed.
https://vimeo.com/198494100
Lyn Hitchon
The Gardens seminar schedule for 2017 is as follows:
January 14, 2017 Agaves as Living Sculptures in the Desert Foothills Landscape
Agaves as Living Sculptures in the Desert Foothills Landscape by Greg Starr, Owner and Operator of Starr Nursery; 2006 Master of the Southwest, Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine and Author of Cool Plants for Hot Gardens and Agaves: Living Sculptures for Landscapes and Containers.
AGAVES AS LIVING SCULPTURES
IN
DESERT FOOTHILLS LANDSCAPES
Carefree Desert Gardens is delighted to welcome back author, speaker, and agave fanatic Greg Starr, owner and operator of Starr Nursery in Tucson which specializes in agaves, cacti and xeric shrubs. Greg is a leading proponent of xeriscaping in the Southwest. He has traveled extensively in Mexico and the U.S. to study and photograph plants in their habitats. His books include Cool Plants for Hot Gardens and Agaves: Living Sculptures for Landscapes and Containers.
On Saturday, January 14, 2017, Greg will speak on agaves, large and small, that are hardy for our elevation, how to plant and care for them to ensure success in our landscapes or containers and companion plantings. He will bring plants to sell.
The program, usually including a plant raffle, will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run approximately until noon at our NEW LOCATION in the SAME building. The SPEAKEASY On Easy Street, Jazz Supper Club, is located on the northwest corner of the U.S. Post Office building, 100 Easy Street, Carefree. A $5.00 (or more) donation is suggested to support these programs. For information call 480-488-3686. Come early. Seating is limited.
This is the first of four programs of the Winter 2017 season.
February 18, 2017 Landscaping Tips for the Do-It-Yourself Gardener
March 25, 2017 The Buzz on Bees And Honey Tasting
April 8, 2017 Cacti for the Desert Foothills
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list. Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.
March 25, 2017 The Buzz on Bees And Honey Tasting
April 8, 2017 Cacti for the Desert Foothills
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list. Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.