garden - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T09:06:01Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/gardenSecret Garden: New community garden in Boca attracts birds, bees, butterflies — and iguanas?https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-garden-new-community-garden-in-boca-attracts-birds-bees-bu2021-11-01T20:11:37.000Z2021-11-01T20:11:37.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9757397082,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9757397082,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="9757397082?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a><em>The relocated Boca Raton Community Garden, now at Meadows Park, includes raised garden beds and a covered shelter.</em><br /><em><strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>Just last month, the Boca Raton Community Garden celebrated a grand opening in its new location. </p>
<p>For the past 10 years, the popular garden thrived between the Downtown Library and where the railroad tracks are today. But when Brightline expressed interest in the location for a new station, the city was amenable. </p>
<p>And that’s when it offered the Junior League of Boca Raton, which sponsors the garden, an alternate 1.4-acre site in Meadows Park. </p>
<p>“In the heart of Boca Raton, it’s a great location for our new garden,” says league President Jamie Sauer. </p>
<p>On May 10, league members broke ground and by September, they had the wood-lined and soil-filled garden boxes ready for renting.</p>
<p>Neighbor to the Boca Raton Middle School, the garden has plenty of parking and is easily accessible to the students with whom the league women hope to team up for nature classes. A white walking bridge conveniently leads to homes in the nearby community. And a park pool attracts people to the area. </p>
<p>And, of course, the new location near a canal is in a prettier spot than the old one. But that comes with a caveat: Although the water attracts birds and other desirable wildlife, it also draws iguanas. </p>
<p>This is a concern for garden co-chairwomen Melanie Kamburian and Bridget Landford, who wonder whether the herbivorous lizards will chow down on the squash, eggplants, lettuces, herbs and other crops beginning to take root in the garden beds.</p>
<p>But a chain link fence with its lower portion covered in sheet metal extending 2 feet into the ground surrounds the garden in the hope it will keep the iguanas at bay. </p>
<p>“We urge people to keep the gates closed. And so far, we haven’t seen any in here,” says Landford, pointing to a sizable iguana on the canal bank outside the fence. </p>
<p>Since groundbreaking, workers have built 97 garden beds sized from 4-by-4 feet to 4-by-12 feet. Three of the boxes located by the garden gate along a brick path are raised a few feet off the ground to make them ADA accessible.</p>
<p>To make the garden feel more settled and honor its past, a number of items have been relocated from downtown. These include memorial benches and engraved bricks used in both locations for pathways. </p>
<p>Brightline also facilitated the move of mature fruit trees including two carambolas, a mango and a sugar apple to a spot just inside the fence. And the company arranged to relocate palm trees including towering coconut palms that shade a new mulch path along the canal.</p>
<p>It leads from the fenced garden to an area that will become a pollinator garden in phase two of the garden’s development, says Kamburian. Live oaks and a gumbo limbo also were relocated to provide shade to those who will want to watch the butterflies and bees at work.</p>
<p>On this sunny Sunday morning, Kamburian and Landford welcome gardeners to their plots. There’s the young boy with his parents who sticks a blue and silver pinwheel among the seeds he helped sow to deter birds from eating them. </p>
<p>A woman who just signed up for her plot is watering the soil to prepare it for planting. She hopes to grow vegetables and flowers. And as someone who eats healthy food, she’s glad the garden is organic.</p>
<p>Elsewhere an ambitious couple comes to see whether their watermelon, parsley, roselle, cucumbers, carrots, rainbow chard, leeks or cherry tomatoes have sent up shoots. One of them discovers her lemon balm is doing well and takes a few leaves to flavor her drinking water.</p>
<p>And then we meet Kristina Bergman with her partner, Mitzy Sosa, both of Delray Beach. Joined by Sosa’s sister Kimberley, they are busy planting their small plot for the first time. </p>
<p>“My work involves food but I don’t know much about growing it,” says Bergman, who is a registered dietitian. </p>
<p>Sosa, also a novice, has good advice for all the beginners: “I think to really learn, you have to get your hands dirty.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net when it’s too hot to be in the garden.</em></p>
<p><br /><strong>If You Go</strong><br />What: Junior League of Boca Raton Community Garden<br />Where: Recently relocated to Meadows Park, 1300 NW Eighth St.<br />Garden features:<br /> • The garden is organic and growers are asked to donate 10% of their crops to Boca Helping Hands; <a href="http://www.bocahelpinghands.org">www.bocahelpinghands.org</a>.<br /> • Garden plots come in 4-by-4 foot, 4-by-8 and 4-by-12 sizes, ranging in price from $45 to $110 for use during the 2021-22 growing season. They are available to residents and nonresidents; the city provides water for irrigation. <br /> • You also can donate an engraved brick ($100 to $250). <br />Information: To ask a specific question, email<br />Garden@jlbr.org. To sign up for a garden plot or brick, visit <a href="http://www.jlbr.org/public-store">www.jlbr.org/public-store</a>. </p></div>Meet the Nativeshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/meet-the-natives2020-12-29T20:30:52.000Z2020-12-29T20:30:52.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8362031452,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8362032269,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8362032269?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>The backlight frond of a green thatch palm glows in the late-day sun. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related story: </strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-garden-subtropical-paradise-a-delightful-part-of-norton-mu"><strong>Subtropical paradise a delightful part of Norton Museum’s revamp</strong></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>Although many people think of the coconut palm as the quintessential South Florida palm tree, it’s not a native. In fact, the state has 11 native palm trees but not a coconut among them. To explore these indigenous palms, visit the newly reopened and socially distanced Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach.</p>
<p>Here, the permanent installation of the Florida 11 is on display throughout the museum’s Sculpture Garden. The planting was funded by a $20,000 grant awarded in 2019. <br /> It came from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, which supports “organizations working to advance research and/or education in ornamental horticulture.”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8362038852,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8362038852,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8362038852?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>The trunks of (l-r) cabbage, buccaneer, silver and royal palms show the wide variety of color and textures of Florida’s native palms.</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Florida’s landscape is flush with palms, but only 11 are indigenous</strong></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong> to the state. You can view them all at the Norton’s Sculpture Garden</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361878475,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361878475,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361878475?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="219" height="424" /></a>Everglades palm, paurotis palm (Acoelorrhaphe wrightii — threatened)<br /> Description: A clustering palm that can reach 30 feet tall. Slow growing, this palm is cold tolerant. Big thorns on leaf stems curve in both directions, so whether you move your hand in or out of the plant, you will get stabbed.<br /> Growing conditions: Can be grown from extreme South Florida north to Orlando. These much-used palms are a wetland species requiring full sun and more moisture than irrigation systems can deliver. <br /> Available: At native nurseries.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361880096,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361880096,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361880096?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="204" height="403" /></a>Key thatch palm, brittle thatch palm (Leucothrinax morrisii — threatened)<br /> Description: Resembles the Thrinax radiata (green thatch palm), but this palm has silver underleaves and stiffer foliage. Small and slow growing with a thick trunk and open crown that reaches 5 to 7 feet wide. Older specimens reach 15 to 20 feet tall, well proportioned to backyards.<br /> Growing conditions: Found in dry, deciduous forests and coastal areas. Requires sun to partial shade with little water once established in the landscape. Likes alkaline soil; in nature it grows on lime rock. Drought tolerant. Well adapted to heat, drought, storms and salt spray.<br /> Available: At native nurseries where they tend to be pricey.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361880691,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361880691,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361880691?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="254" height="381" /></a>Florida royal palm (Roystonea elata — endangered)<br /> Note: Often confused with the Cuban royal palm (Roystonea regia), and it is difficult to tell them apart. But the Florida palms have been distinct for 1,000 years so that they are a slightly different adaptation found only in Florida. The only natural stands of these palms existing today are in the Fakahatchee swamp and in the royal palm hammock of Everglades National Park.<br /> Description: With a concrete-like trunk, this fast-growing palm often reaches 20 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall. Hurricane tolerant. Drops its large fronds. That’s fine in the wild but in the home landscape, the fronds can damage nearby trees and buildings, so they are often removed before they drop.<br /> Growing conditions: Does well in swamps but, once it’s established, can resist drought. Although you often see them growing along streets or as singular trees, in nature they grow in dense hardwood or cypress forests where they push their crowns above the other trees to get light. Available: If it is available from native growers, the true native variety will have been grown from legally collected seeds.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361882086,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361882086,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361882086?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="279" height="435" /></a>Cabbage palm, also called palmetto, Carolina palmetto, swamp cabbage (Sabal palmetto)<br /> Description: Our state tree comes booted (leaf bases remain on tree after leaves fall) or slick (leaf bases fall off with leaves or are trimmed for a smoother trunk). No need to trim these trees, as they provide habitat for animals, nectar for pollinators, and berries for birds and other animals. Bats that roost in the hanging brown leaves eat mosquitoes. Requires about 15 years’ growth before developing a trunk and then grows 6 inches in a good year.<br /> Growing conditions: Grows in just about any soil as well as in swamps and beach areas. Hurricane resistant and salt tolerant. <br /> Available: A common species grown from seeds in native nurseries. Or they are harvested fully grown from cattle grazing land. These full-size specimens are expensive to purchase in small quantities, cheaper by the trailer truckload.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361884698,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361884698,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361884698?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="281" height="422" /></a>Needle palm, porcupine palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)<br /> Description: This clumping fan palm has dark green foliage with a small trunk that slowly grows to only about 3 feet tall. Has needlelike spines between the leaves. <br /> Growing conditions: The needle is a north Florida species, with Palm Beach County just outside the historic growing range. <br /> Likes shady, moist areas and average-to-rich organic soil, but will tolerate drought. Best planted in the understory of trees such as live oaks, cypress trees and slash pines. <br /> Available: A commercially exploited palm that has been over-harvested in its native locations because it is one of the few palms that can grow in temperate climates. Grows very slowly from seed in native nurseries. <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361887461,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361887461,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361887461?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="305" height="458" /></a>Silver palm, silver thatch palm (Coccothrinax argentata — threatened)<br /> Description: Seeds have been spread by birds using the East Coast flyway for more than 1,000 years, so this palm grows in the Florida Keys up through Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. In Palm Beach it was first reported in the 1920s.<br /> It is a single-stemmed or non-clustering palm with small, fan-shaped dark green leaves attached to a thin stem. The leaves twist in the wind, exposing their silvery undersides. <br /> It grows about ½ to 1 inch a year, reaching 8 to 10 feet at maturity with some living over 100 years. Good for backyard planting as the trees remain in scale to one- and two-story homes.<br /> Growing conditions: Requires full sun and alkaline soil that can be created by amending with lime rock pea gravel. Hurricane resistant. Very low maintenance. <br /> Available: At native nurseries.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361888095,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361888095,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361888095?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="293" height="604" /></a>Buccaneer palm, hog palm, cherry palm (Pseudophoenix sargentii — endangered)<br /> Description: Leaves resemble feathers; the slow-growing silver-blue trunk is smooth. Large clusters of yellowish-white flowers become big red seeds and then fruits that in the past were fed to hogs. This stopped reproduction of these palms, resulting in a dying out of the species.<br /> Growing conditions: Thrives in the home garden in full sun; very drought tolerant. <br /> Available: Often at high prices from native nurseries that cultivate these palms.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361888893,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361888893,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361888893?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="329" height="602" /></a>Green thatch palm, buffalo-top palm (Thrinax radiata — endangered) <br /> Description: Fast growing with a delicate trunk and green leaves that have a pleasant “plastic” feel. Best planted in groupings, not as a hedge. Perfect for a dooryard or by a backyard pool. <br /> Growing conditions: Shade or sun, wet or dry.<br /> Available: Endangered due to habitat loss but grown commercially.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361890264,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361890264,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361890264?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="331" height="546" /></a>Dwarf palmetto, little blue-stem (Sabal minor)<br /> Description: Its usual southern growing limit is around Lake Placid, northwest of Lake Okeechobee. Resembles a Sabal palm without a trunk. A small bushy palm with a bluish green cast; good filler among native plantings. <br /> In the landscape, it resembles a bunch of leaves that grow 5 feet high and 5 feet wide. Has absolutely flat fan leaves with slits halfway up the middle. Very cold tolerant.<br /> Growing conditions: Shady, moist habitat (needs more water than can be achieved with irrigation). Prefers the shady understory of a wet forest or cypress swamp. <br /> Available: At native nurseries.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361890860,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361890860,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361890860?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="303" height="404" /></a>Scrub palmetto (Sabal etonia) <br /> Description: Resembles a Sabal palm without a trunk because the trunk spirals underground for 10 to 20 feet and then grows skyward so that leaves reach 6 feet above ground. When they appear, the fans have curling mid-rib leaves. <br /> The underground trunk was a survival mechanism for this plant, which originally grew in scrubland prone to wildfires. And it was probably sought after by ancient animals such as grazing mastodons and ground sloths.<br /> Growing conditions: Found naturally nowhere else in the world but Florida, where it thrives from Broward County to Ocala. Full sun and well-drained soil; withstands fire. <br /> Available: At native nurseries where they are raised from seeds in small quantities.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8361892271,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8361892271,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8361892271?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="330" height="496" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Saw palmetto, silver saw palm (Serenoa repens)<br /> Note: The seeds are used as a holistic treatment for prostate problems. Cattle ranchers have been known to sell the berries from these palms growing on their property. The berries can earn them more than do the cattle they raise.<br /> Jonathan Dickinson, a shipwrecked merchant from the late 1600s, was fed saw palmetto berries by the native population and described the fruit as tasting like “rotten cheese steeped in tobacco juice.”<br /> Description: Leaf stems have sharp spines that give the species its common name. It is a slow-growing fan palm with trunk that usually hugs the ground to protect it from fire. Branches radiate from central spot. Many have dark green leaves but coastal varieties often are silvery white. <br /> Clusters of small flowers smell like coconut and attract bees, producing what some consider to be the best honey available. Provides food and habitat to more than 10 bird species, 27 mammals, 25 amphibians, 61 reptiles and countless insects and butterflies. <br /> Growing conditions: Grows in clumps or dense thickets in sandy coastal areas, and as undergrowth in elevated areas with acidic yet organic-rich soil. Adapts well to salt spray. Use to fill a corner or create a screen.<br /> Available: At native nurseries where they are grown from seeds legally collected from the wild (seeds are not grown commercially for harvest).</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br /> <em>Information sources: Amber Mathis, former director of horticulture at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, and Richard Moyroud, Lake Worth native nursery owner and conservationist.</em><br /> <em>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star and provided by the Institute for Regional Conservation, Wikipedia and the Florida Native Plant Society</em></p>
<p> </p></div>Hallowed groundhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/hallowed-ground2020-05-20T14:43:26.000Z2020-05-20T14:43:26.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947491,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947491,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960947491?profile=original" /></a><em>The 335-acre South Florida National Cemetery has impeccably maintained burial grounds nestled within pine flatwoods and surrounded by cypress domes that enable it to exude a sense of calm.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Our garden columnist unearths the evolution of the National Cemetery from an overgrown wetland to a worthy shrine for the military — including her husband</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>On Memorial Day, we honor our fallen military members with parades, speeches and plenty of pomp and circumstance. But this year, the onslaught of the novel coronavirus has changed just about everything.<br />That’s why we are lucky that we have a shrine to honor our veterans year-round, day or night, rain or shine and, yes, even during a pandemic.<br /> It’s the 335-acre South Florida National Cemetery, one of the busiest, and, I think, loveliest in the state. <br /> “This cemetery is designed to be a lasting tribute to our veterans so that not only current family members but generations to come can visit and reflect on their loved ones and the services they provided to their country,” says Kevin Ridgeway, who was the assistant director of the cemetery until recently, when he became director of the Hampton National Cemetery in Virginia.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948082,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948082,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960948082?profile=original" /></a><em>Stands of native plants, including these cabbage palms, separate the burial fields at South Florida National Cemetery.</em> <br /><strong><em>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</em></strong></p>
<p><br /> With mitigated wetlands and carefully maintained cypress domes buffering manicured burial fields set within pine flatwoods, the cemetery exudes a sense of calm and respect for not only our country’s warriors but also nature.<br /> I know that’s true because on June 10, 2019, I buried my husband, a Korean War veteran, in this hallowed ground. And since then, I’ve visited it often to find peace and comfort in this very South Florida setting. <br /> But it wasn’t always this way. <br /> The cemetery was inspired by need when early in the century, the Department of Veterans Affairs identified more than 420,000 veterans living within a 75-mile radius of the Palm Beach County area. <br /> “It is critical for our veterans to have a cemetery in close proximity to where they live,” says Michael Kroll, CEO and president of Miller Legg, the civil engineering and landscape architecture firm that was charged with designing the cemetery. <br /> Up until then, the closest facility was in Bushnell, about a 3½-hour drive north.<br /> In 2002, the VA purchased a 300-acre parcel along U.S. 441 in Lake Worth (the cemetery later grew to 335 acres with the purchase of an adjacent nursery). <br /> Then the search was on for the people who could bring to it “the level of design required of a cemetery of shrine status,” explains Kroll.<br /> He believes his firm was selected because it had created many other Florida cemeteries and had expertise in working with Florida’s ecosystems. “We prefer leaving the land in its more natural state rather than doing a very formal planting that you see in many national cemeteries,” he says.<br /> On his first visit to the location, Kroll found established Florida habitats, but he also remembers fighting his way through a bramble of blackberries on his way to wetlands. <br /> The natural areas also had been covered by large swaths of invasives, including melaleuca, Old World climbing fern and Brazilian pepper that shaded out and strangled native species, says Katharine Murray, president of Environment Quality Inc., the Tequesta company hired to oversee and preserve the wetlands. <br /> Nathan Williams, southeastern district agronomist for the VA National Cemetery Administration, recalls an early visit by saying, “There were a lot of wetland areas and a lot of trees including some cabbage palms, some scrub oaks and quite a few pine trees. But then there was sand and a whole lot of underbrush.” <br /> This being South Florida, one of the first orders of business was to start the permitting process to protect the wetlands, a process that involved multiple agencies and could take up to three years.<br /> Next, Kroll and his team went to work on a master plan.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947887,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960947887,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960947887?profile=original" /></a><em>Amy Pena, grounds forewoman at the cemetery, checks that the headstones are properly maintained and aligned.</em> <br /><strong><em>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p>This was not an easy project as there was pressure from local veterans and state politicians to “get the place open.” <br /> The first veteran was interred on April 7, 2007, in what was considered to be the cemetery’s “fast track” element. It was set on 8 acres buffered from traffic by naturally occurring pine trees and dense understory, according to Ridgeway.<br /> Just after it opened, my husband and I visited. What I remember from that first visit was sweating uncomfortably as the sun beat down on unshaded white marble headstones lined up starkly in white sand, making the place glaring and hot.<br /> A parking lot, fashioned from construction rock, housed a trailer that served as the administrative headquarters where we picked up a pamphlet explaining the veteran’s right to be buried here, as well as a spouse or dependent child. <br /> By the time we left, I told my husband there was no way that, when the time came, I was leaving either him or myself at this cemetery. But my husband had different ideas.<br /> From that day, he had faith that the VA would create a fitting memorial for military members who chose to make this their final resting place.<br /> And unbeknownst to me, who didn’t return to the cemetery for another 11 years, that’s exactly what happened. <br /> During the first phase of development, which covered 185 acres and was completed in 2010, Kroll and his team continued to remove invasives, adding wax myrtles, sabal palms, slash pines and other native foliage to the natural areas that were left as buffers between the burial fields. <br /> And they continued to excavate what is today a central lake that’s also used for irrigation. Here too they used the fill to raise the existing pine flatlands, making them suitable for additional grave sites.<br /> “In our designs, we appreciate the contrast between natural landscapes and manmade landscapes,” says Kroll. “Here you see a very dynamic contrast between areas of highly maintained marble headstones and, behind them, lush forests of pine trees or oak trees with understory plants. The contrast between these two habitats’ textures are fantastic.” <br /> Kroll also added unobtrusive administrative and maintenance buildings; loop roads; columbariums and burial plots to hold cremated remains; and a memorial walk as well as committal shelters. It is in the shade of these shelters that, just before a burial, taps is played and an American flag officially folded and presented to family members as they honor their deceased loved one.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948275,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960948275,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960948275?profile=original" /></a><em>A killdeer stands in front of a grave at South Florida National Cemetery. The birds build nests among the gravestones.</em></p>
<p><br /> Through all this, Kroll and his staff preserved and created habitat that welcomed nature’s other inhabitants, including largemouth bass, butterflies, snakes, alligators, woodpeckers and even a pair of bald eagles spotted in the back of the property.<br /> With all this completed, it was time for my husband and me to return to the South Florida National Cemetery to take another look. We did so in early 2019, when we knew his health was retreating and finding a burial place was heavy on our minds. <br /> Here, instead of blazing sun and blinding marble, we discovered birds singing in the lush tree-filled buffer areas, sabal palms clearly outlined against blue sky, a cool breeze wafting across the manmade lake ringed with purple blooms of pickerel weed, and tiny lizards playing hide-and-seek among the gravestones.<br /> People regularly were coming and going as they quietly and reverently visited their loved ones’ graves, giving what could be a very deserted and regimented place a pleasant sense of activity. There was plenty of thriving habitat for everyone and everything. <br /> It took only that one visit to convince me that the South Florida National Cemetery is a unique place. And I agreed to commit my husband and myself to its perpetual care.<br /> With time marching on, the cemetery is readying itself for a $31 million Phase Two that is slated to begin this summer and include the northwest quadrant of the property.<br /> It will add a new entry gate and sign, as well as a public assembly area with garrison-size flag on an 80-foot pole, memorial walkway, memorial wall and committal shelter as well as columbariums and burial fields for about 20,000 interments.<br /> With Memorial Day approaching, I am grateful for the care and respect this cemetery and its staff show our veterans and their loved ones, even when the world is turned upside down.</p></div>Celebrations: Tropical Nights Gala Ocean Ridge Town Hall — Feb. 29https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/celebrations-tropical-nights-gala-ocean-ridge-town-hall-feb-292020-04-01T17:44:22.000Z2020-04-01T17:44:22.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960951053,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960951053,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960951053?profile=original" /></a><em>Gala volunteers Carol Besler, Lisa Ritota, Val Coz, Polly Joa, Mickey Austin Farley, Janet Schijns and Stella Kolb. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
<p>The Ocean Ridge Garden Club sponsored its annual event with 100 guests who were greeted by professional James Bond impersonator John Allen, of Ocean Ridge. Hors d'oeuvres were passed, gift baskets were raffled off, a deejay provided music, and an estimated $8,000 was raised. ‘The gala is the one and only fundraising event we count on to provide the revenues we need for the philanthropic and community-service activities in which we engage as a club,’ recording secretary Jackie Reed said. ‘This year’s gala raised the most money ever and set a new bar for future fundraising events.’</p></div>Secret Garden: Discover beauty of rare maritime hammock at Gumbo Limbohttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-garden-discover-beauty-of-rare-maritime-hammock-at-gumbo-l2020-03-03T20:36:32.000Z2020-03-03T20:36:32.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960932866,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960932866,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960932866?profile=original" /></a><em>The boardwalk at Gumbo Limbo winds through one of the few remaining maritime coastal hammocks in the county. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>Wandering along the newly rebuilt boardwalk at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, you can discover the beauty of the maritime coastal hammock preserved at this site.</p>
<p><br /> Set atop the highest elevation on the barrier island, with beach and dunes to the east and wetlands to the west, this ancient hardwood forest used to run the length of Florida’s southeastern coast.</p>
<p><br /> That’s until invasive plants and development destroyed much of it, says Gumbo Limbo Manager Leanne Welch.</p>
<p><br /> Today, there are only three pieces of hammock preserved in Palm Beach County: this parcel (which measures about 15 acres), an 8.5-acre piece in Ocean Ridge and a segment in John D. MacArthur Beach State Park in North Palm Beach.</p>
<p><br /> Ancient man, like modern man, found these tree-covered and elevated areas to be particularly habitable. To prove it, our ancestors left shells, bones and broken pottery in refuse piles or middens. From the walkway, you can see their remains, which date back about 2,000 years.</p>
<p><br /> The original Gumbo Limbo boardwalk, built in 1986, was a loop that included a 40-foot observation tower.</p>
<p><br /> Bill Aseere was one of about 40 volunteers who spent about eight months building those original structures. He’d just moved here from California with a truck full of power tools, including an electric saw that ran on a generator. His job was to cut boards, handrail supports and railings that lined the pathway. </p>
<p><br /> “It was hot with lots of mosquitoes and then it rained. That walkway was a buzzard to build,” says Aseere, 86, of Boca Raton. <br /> In 2002, an extension was added to connect the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center to Red Reef Park West. But over the years, flooding from storms and high tides caused the boards to decay, making the path dangerous to navigate. It finally was closed in February 2015.</p>
<p><br /> It took four years to remove and replace the original walkway in two phases before it finally reopened to the public in July. <br />“It’s lush and cool back here, even on the hottest day,” says Welch. </p>
<p><br /> A stroll along the boardwalk becomes a nature lesson as signage provides Quick Response codes that can be read by cell phones to provide more information on what you see.</p>
<p><br /> Technology aside, we turned off our phones and turned to Welch to help us understand what makes this mature hardwood forest special.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960933071,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960933071,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960933071?profile=original" /></a> <em>The peeling bark of a gumbo limbo glows in late-afternoon sun. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br /> As we walk, she points out the tropical plants that are typical of this habitat — including gumbo limbos, cabbage palms, poisonwoods, pigeon plums, wild coffees, sea grapes, strangler figs, lancewoods and a mastic tree that was hit by lightning.<br /> Now a snag, it is left for nesting birds, insects and other wildlife to use as habitat. Spotted skunks have been seen in the area, Welch says.</p>
<p><br /> Paradise trees with their “beautiful red flowers” are just starting to reappear. “We had them everywhere but unfortunately they were taken out in the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005,” says Welch. Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma impacted Palm Beach County in those years.</p>
<p><br />“Tons of birds,” such as three varieties of woodpeckers, have also returned since the construction finished, Welch says. <br />The area also has cardinals, warblers, thrashers, gnat-catchers, kingfishers and an occasional owl.</p>
<p><br />The woods are home to squirrels, raccoons, a family of foxes, mangrove crabs climbing the trees, box turtles with domed shells that can be closed for protection, orb weavers obstructing the path with their intricate webs, and some not-very-welcome iguanas.</p>
<p><br />On our visit we even saw tree snails. They had been collected almost to extinction for their colorfully striped shells. But today, they are back again.</p>
<p><br />“This is the perfect place to discover the beauty of Florida’s disappearing maritime hammock as well as the plants and animals it nurtures,” says Welch.</p>
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<p><strong> Maintenance tip</strong><br /> “Although we do remove plastics and other manmade debris brought into Gumbo Limbo on the tide, we practice hands-off maintenance — so we don’t pick up fallen palm fronds or broken branches. Our goal is to maintain the area as a habitat, not a park. We know everything in nature has value.” <br />— Leanne Welch, manager of Gumbo Limbo Nature Center</p>
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<p><br /><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>If You Go</strong></span><br />What: The reconstructed Gumbo Limbo Nature Center boardwalk<br />Where: 1801 N. Ocean Blvd., Boca Raton<br />Hours: Open daily 7 a.m. to dusk<br />Parking: The 59 carefully patrolled free parking spaces at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center quickly fill up. Additional, metered parking is available at Red Reef Park West to the south along A1A. Residents with beach parking stickers can also park at Red Reef Park East.<br />Info: <a href="http://www.gumbolimbo.org">www.gumbolimbo.org</a> or 561-544-8605<br />Admission: $5 donation requested per person<br />Tours: “A Walk in the Hammock” tours are offered on most Saturdays starting at 10 a.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m. “Early Birding With Al” is offered the third Thursday of each month starting at 8 a.m. <br />Schedules can change, so be sure to consult Gumbo Limbo’s program calendar (<a href="http://www.gumbolimbo.org/Programs-and-Events">www.gumbolimbo.org/Programs-and-Events</a>) or call the center to confirm the tour you wish to attend. These tours begin on the front porch of the Nature Center. No registration is required.</p>
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<p><br /><em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.</em></p></div>Beautification project A1A entrance sign, Ocean Ridge — Feb. 22https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/beautification-project-a1a-entrance-sign-ocean-ridge-feb-222020-03-03T20:31:16.000Z2020-03-03T20:31:16.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960929297,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960929297,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960929297?profile=original" /></a><em>Ocean Ridge Garden Club member Allison Adams helps install new plants near the town’s entrance sign on A1A near Ocean Inlet Park. Club members replaced and added plantings at the town’s main entrances. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p></div>Along the Coast: Garden club plans day of education on ocean debrishttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-garden-club-plans-day-of-education-on-ocean-debri2020-03-03T20:30:00.000Z2020-03-03T20:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Update: Plastic awareness event <a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-plastic-awareness-event-postponed" target="_blank">postponed</a><br /></strong></span></p>
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<p><strong>By Margie Plunkett</strong><br /> <br /> The Ocean Ridge Garden Club is hosting a Plastics-Free Awareness Day in an effort to help rid the sea of debris.</p>
<p><br /> The daylong event, “Save the Seas — Plastics-Free Awareness Day: Engage, Inform, Inspire,” is presented by the Garden Club and the town of Ocean Ridge. It starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, March 21, with a beach cleanup.</p>
<p><br /> Each year, the Ocean Ridge Garden Club has a community engagement event — and this year, it decided to focus on the environment with the Save the Seas day. </p>
<p><br /> “Our mission is ‘the ocean is our garden’ and we realized that plastics pollution is a huge issue. We decided to create an awareness day to educate, inform and inspire as many people as we could,” said Mickey Farley, chairperson for the event.</p>
<p><br /> The Garden Club hopes to provide a forum for groups with a “right to a point of view” on the issue to share their knowledge, Farley said, adding that the club has 12 partners who will be exhibiting their organizations’ efforts and purpose through the day.</p>
<p><br /> The cleanup, sponsored by the Surfrider Foundation, is followed by an agenda of events held at Ocean Ridge Town Hall. From 10 to 11 a.m., family art activities and awards will be held.</p>
<p><br /> Exhibitor booths are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with music by Indigo Dreamers and a Nomad Surf Shop food truck.</p>
<p><br /> Environmental presentations include “The Story” at 11 a.m., by Bryan Galvin of PasTrek 2019; “Rise Above Plastics” at noon, by Tom Warnke of the Surfrider Foundation; and “Native Plants and Wildlife for Coastal Gardens” at 1 p.m., by George Gann of the Institute for Regional Conservation.</p></div>Philanthrophy Notes: $10,000 donation behind dazzling display at Mountshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/philanthrophy-10-000-donation-behind-dazzling-display-at-mounts2020-01-28T21:00:00.000Z2020-01-28T21:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p>The Garden of Lights at Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County was a success thanks to a $10,000 donation from The Gentlemen of the Garden.<br /> The colorful Christmastime show that extended into January turned the treasured grounds all atwinkle on select evenings. Visitors marveled at jewel-toned illuminations of the lush tropical foliage, majestic trees and signature structures.<br /> “Bob Eigelberger and The Gentlemen of the Garden have a long history with Mounts,” Curator-Director Rochelle Wolberg said. “Now, thanks to their generous support, this year’s Garden of Lights was a magical way to light up the holiday season for couples, families and groups of all sizes.”<br /> <em>Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net.</em></p></div>Soul Soothing: Experiencing Morikami's Zen Gardenhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/soul-soothing-experiencing-morikami-s-zen-garden2020-01-28T20:30:00.000Z2020-01-28T20:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920070,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920070,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960920070?profile=original" /></a><strong><em>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</em></strong></p>
<p><br /> <strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>To get the most out of your visit to the Karesansui or Zen garden at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, put away your cellphone and pay attention to what’s around you.</p>
<p><br /> Then, as you experience the peace that seems to envelop and emanate from this garden, let it guide you toward mindfulness just as the Zen Buddhist monks used viewing these gardens to aid their meditation.</p>
<p><br /> “Visiting the garden is like a mini-therapy session,” says garden curator Heather Grzybek, who explains that the Karesansui Late Rock Garden, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, is one of six historic Japanese gardens represented at Morikami.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920269,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920269,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960920269?profile=original" /></a><em>Heather Grzybek, garden curator at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, rakes the Karesansui Late Rock Garden into a wave pattern that mimics the water. The shrubs to the left represent mountains and the rocks in the background are islands. </em></p>
<p><br /> Here, carefully chosen rocks and granite gravel, instead of plants, represent the essence of nature. Boulders, with their best faces forward, are set in a grouping of three to represent islands; the precisely raked gravel suggests water rippling around the stones.</p>
<p><br /> Although this garden is reminiscent of a traditional Zen garden in Japan, it has unique touches. For example, a traditional rock garden has walls on all four sides to create an intimate space that helps you focus on the here and now instead of what is around the corner.</p>
<p><br /> But this one has tile-topped stucco walls on only three sides with a hedge filling the void. That’s because the garden’s designer Hoichi Kurisu, who was born and educated in Japan, believed that when the garden was created in 1999, Japan had been a closed society. He wanted his country to be more open for the new millennium. “So, he broke the wall,” says Grzybek.</p>
<p><br /> When it comes to maintaining the beauty of this garden, Grzybek or a volunteer spends about 90 minutes sculpting the gravel.</p>
<p><br /> The process — done at least weekly — begins with a leaf rake used in one direction to remove any debris covering the stones. Then a heavy homemade wooden rake with large wedge-shaped teeth and a bamboo handle fashions the gravel to look like current and waves.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920665,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920665,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960920665?profile=original" /></a><em>Grzybek uses a wooden rake with a bamboo handle to pull the gravel into patterns.</em></p>
<p><br /> “It’s a very methodical way of raking,” Grzybek says. “You don’t just rake here and there. It’s almost like a dance. Each step leads to the next.”</p>
<p><br /> When she’s done, no footprints remain. If a visitor bypasses the subtle bamboo barricades and leaves footprints in the gravel or rain ruins the current and wave pattern, the job has to be done more often.</p>
<p><br /> The work is hard.</p>
<p><br /> “Often it’s 85 to 90 degrees with 100% humidity and the sun is reflecting off the gravel right into your face. Your brain is already telling you that you don’t want to do this,” she says. But Grzybek has learned that these forces of nature help her focus.</p>
<p><br /> “It’s almost like what you experience in a yoga session,” she says.</p>
<p><br /> As you approach the garden, notice backless wooden benches overlooking the meticulously combed gravel and carefully placed boulders.</p>
<p><br /> The garden is designed to be viewed from one vantage point so that no single element draws your attention. You see the landscape as a whole, as if it is a museum exhibit.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920859,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960920859,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960920859?profile=original" /></a><em>A lantern stands sentry in the garden.</em></p>
<p><br /> Of course, it’s up to you how you experience this garden. You can hurry in, grab a selfie and move on to another historic garden. Or you can take a seat, turn off your phone, quiet your mind so you don’t think about that game on television tonight or what to make for dinner. Then, just let yourself be.</p>
<p><br /> That’s how Buddhist monks have experienced these types of gardens for centuries and that’s how this Karesansui garden can remain relevant as a spiritual resting place for visitors today. <br /> <br /> To see a Karesansui raking demonstration at Morikami, go there at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 22. It’s free with admission to the museum and gardens. For details, call 561-495-0233.</p>
<p><br /> <strong>If You Go</strong><br /> What: Karesansui Late Rock Garden at Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens<br /> Where: 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach<br /> More info: 561-495-0233; <a href="http://www.morikami.org">www.morikami.org</a> <br /> Public programs: The garden holds periodic raking demonstrations and soon will add “raking as therapy” sessions to its calendar. Raking demos are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 22 and 10:30 a.m. March 27. The demos are free with paid admission; check the website for more information.<br /> Admission: Adults, $15: seniors 65 and up, $13; youngsters (ages 6-17), $9; children (5 and under), free; no discounts on festival days <br /> Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; closed Mondays and major holidays</p>
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<p><em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.</em></p></div>Pet Pictures with Santa — Town Hall, Ocean Ridge — Dec. 9https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/pet-pictures-with-santa-town-hall-ocean-ridge-dec-92019-12-31T16:31:06.000Z2019-12-31T16:31:06.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960922477,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960922477,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960922477?profile=original" /></a><em>The Ocean Ridge Garden Club, starting what it plans to make an annual event, arranged pet pictures with Santa. Dozens of Ocean Ridge residents took advantage of the event, including Sallie Howell with her pooch, Fishbone.</em></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960922877,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960922877,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960922877?profile=original" /></a><em>Between sitting for photos, Roger Latham, from Lake Worth, waved to passing motorists and promoted the sale of holiday</em> <br /><em>poinsettias. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p></div>Secret Garden: In tiny Por La Mar Park, historic buttonwood looms largehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-garden-in-tiny-por-la-mar-park-historic-buttonwood-looms-l2019-12-31T16:09:38.000Z2019-12-31T16:09:38.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960926271,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960926271,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960926271?profile=original" /></a><em>The twisted trunks of the buttonwood make a scenic surrounding for a pair of benches. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>Por La Mar Park in Boca Raton is known for its large gnarly and sprawling southern buttonwood tree. In 1992, the tree received the city’s historic designation for its “landmark significance as well as its historic association and specimen quality.”</p>
<p><br /> The park also recently received an award from the Boca Raton Beautification Committee. “We felt the tree had character and had lived so long that it and the park around it deserved recognition,” says Jo-Ann Landon, past president and longtime committee member.</p>
<p><br /> Today, with its horizontally growing trunk and gnarly bark, that buttonwood remains a testament to the artistry of Mother Nature. <br /> It’s so picturesque that it is often used as a backdrop for graduation and wedding photos, says Samantha Griffin, a records and customer service specialist for the city who lives nearby.</p>
<p><br /> The sprawling tree is set in a traffic circle defined by three neighborhood streets. “When I drive by and see that park, I take a deep breath and think, I’m home,” says Griffin.</p>
<p><br /> A historical photo from the 1920s shows three women lounging under trees in this area that would later become the park.<br /> “It shows us that Boca Raton’s pioneers knew about this spot. It was probably a nice place to get some shade away from the beach,” says Susan Gillis, curator of the Boca Raton Historical Society and Museum.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960925883,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960925883,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960925883?profile=original" /></a><em>Women lounge among the trees in 1928 when the park area had a small pond. <strong>Photo provided by the Boca Raton Historical Society</strong></em></p>
<p><br /> Even today visitors are discovering this tiny park’s attractions.</p>
<p><br /> James Rosenberg, 27, of Delray Beach and Karen Restrepo, 26, of Fort Lauderdale have ridden their bikes through the Por La Mar area for over a year.</p>
<p><br /> But only recently did they discover the spreading buttonwood in a ring of strangler figs, sabal palms and some smaller buttonwoods just starting on their growth journey.</p>
<p><br /> The first thing this duo did, after getting off their bikes in the park, was to gently climb the historic buttonwood that creates a natural jungle gym.</p>
<p><br /> Although this tree looks unique, Dawn Sinka, horticulturist/arborist for the city of Boca Raton, explains that this is a natural growth pattern for this species.</p>
<p><br /> She adds that the buttonwood naturally has a vase shape with drooping foliage. But when the foliage touches the ground, as it does repeatedly in this park, the tree begins to grow upward again.</p>
<p><br /> And of course, the force of wind and storms have influenced how this tree has grown.</p>
<p><br /> “Certainly, anyone who stumbles across this tree can’t help but be impressed,” Sinka says.</p>
<p><br /> This .3-acre park and its character tree have been a meeting place for generations of Por La Mar residents, including William Wear, 72.</p>
<p><br /> He lives in the Por La Mar house his grandparents built and where he visited them as a youngster. He remembers the nearby park as a “magnet” for him and his friends, who would climb in the tree.</p>
<p><br /> “Even today, the park is a hidden gem,” he says.</p>
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<p><strong>Tree tip</strong></p>
<p>In order to have a buttonwood tree that grows straight to the sky on a single trunk, it requires pruning and multiple staking periods, especially during storms. But even when trained to grow straight, the tree has a tendency to lean and droop. </p>
<p>You can see some of these straighter buttonwoods growing along Via Cabana and on Northeast Sixth Drive in Boca Raton between Northeast 32nd Street and Spanish River Boulevard.</p>
<p>Isn’t nature amazing? <br /></p>
<p><em>— Dawn Sinka, horticulturist/arborist for the city of Boca Raton</em></p>
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<p><strong>If You Go</strong></p>
<p>Where: Por La Mar Park is set in a quiet traffic circle created by the coming together of Palm Avenue, Park Drive West and Southeast Olive Way in Boca Raton. It’s just west of A1A and south of East Palmetto Park Road. There is no designated parking.</p>
<p>When: Open 8 a.m. to sunset<em><br /></em></p>
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<p><em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.</em></p></div>Dining: Prime Catch sporting rebuilt dock and brighter, bigger spacehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/dining-prime-catch-sporting-rebuilt-dock-and-brighter-bigger-spac2019-12-03T21:30:00.000Z2019-12-03T21:30:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960911090,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960911090,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960911090?profile=original" /></a><em>Prime Catch’s renovations include whimsical marine touches and brighter colors. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Jan Norris</strong></p>
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<p>Phase 1 of the redo at Boynton Beach’s <strong>Prime Catch</strong> is complete, with a new dock, new decor, a new sign and some new menu items.</p>
<p><br /> The doors opened Nov. 1 to the brighter and bigger space.</p>
<p><br /> The owners, Luke, Pierre and Giles Therien, sons of the deceased founder John Therien, took advantage of the summertime slowdown and the ongoing plaza construction to jazz up the restaurant, which opened in 2004.</p>
<p><br /> They rebuilt the dock, cutting its size slightly to accommodate what will be the 30-seat Prime Island Bar. The outdoor bar will have its own docks on the east side.</p>
<p><br /> Manager Kim Edema said big boats are welcome. “We can accommodate three or four yachts at once at high tide.”</p>
<p><br /> There’s a 6-foot draw, and most boaters are aware that things get iffy at low tide, she said.</p>
<p><br /> “But we’re now ADA accessible on the docks. We used to have two steps up to the ramp but we eliminated those.”</p>
<p><br /> The dining room is now a lighter and brighter white, with windows opened up onto the Intracoastal, and aqua and silver accents throughout.</p>
<p><br /> “We’re calling it Florida chic,” Edema said, laughing.</p>
<p><br /> There’s a sea theme with a touch of whimsy: In the upstairs bar and dining area, reconfigured for more seating and better views of the Intracoastal, giant blue octopuses crawl on the wall murals. Down below, tendrils that reflect the light hang from the jellyfish-shaped chandelier.</p>
<p><br /> New menu items include appetizers such as a bianca flatbread, fried calamari and artichoke hearts served with a marinara and house-made white bean hummus.</p>
<p><br /> The most popular so far is the new chilled raw bar platter, Edema said, with chilled Maine lobster, clams, oysters, shrimp cocktail and tuna poke.</p>
<p><br /> The poke is a lunch favorite, she said, and is available separately.</p>
<p><br /> Old favorites are still on the menu. Prime rib Wednesdays are from 4 p.m. till close; Mondays are Maine lobster nights.</p>
<p><br /> Construction continues in the plaza, but owners are expecting the Prime Island Bar to be open by New Year’s Eve.</p>
<p><br /> Prime Catch is at 700 E. Woolbright Road. Phone 561-737-8822; <a href="http://www.primecatchboynton.com">www.primecatchboynton.com</a>. Open daily for lunch and dinner; on Sundays brunch is served.</p>
<p><br /> <br /> <strong>Dada</strong> in Delray Beach is going strong as it approaches its 20th year in 2020. Co-owner Scott Frielich said much has changed since it opened in the historic Tarrimore house.</p>
<p><br /> “Delray was a sleepy little beach town, and we were kind of off the beaten path. Odds were that we weren’t going to make it,” he said.</p>
<p><br /> “Then Delray started really booming and everything kind of grew around us.”</p>
<p><br /> He’s wary of so much development, however. “I feel there’s a little too much. It’s taken away from what we came here for. There were a lot of art galleries and mom and pop stores. Development kind of chased that away.”</p>
<p><br /> Frielich has been approached to do more restaurants downtown: “I’m hesitant to open more locations. I think it’s reached a saturation.”</p>
<p><br /> Instead, he’s focused on keeping Dada, the second-oldest restaurant downtown (City Oyster has it beat by a year or so), fresh and appealing for the diners.</p>
<p><br /> A chef change is helping the menu move forward.</p>
<p><br /> Chef Jessie Steele, a Delray Beach native, replaced Bruce Feingold at the helm in January and has brought some new items to the menu, while refreshing old favorites.</p>
<p><br /> “I didn’t want to change the soul of the restaurant,” he said. “It’s an icon. But I kind of wanted to make my own stamp on it,” Steele said.</p>
<p><br /> He has updated the popular mezze plate, adding muhammara, a Middle Eastern walnut dip, and restoring tabbouli to make it more Mediterranean.</p>
<p><br /> “I changed up the tuna tartare. It’s now a seared tuna, but still served cold. Added a ponzu sauce, changed up the plating — we got rid of those ring molds. They’re so ’90s,” he said, laughing.</p>
<p><br /> Roast duck breast replaces a half-duck, and diners can order it to any temperature.</p>
<p><br /> One of the most popular appetizers stayed, too, with a nod to Spain. “I kept the Dada dates — I couldn’t take those off. They’re still wrapped in bacon and stuffed with chorizo. But I added a manchego cheese with marcona almond crema on top. They sit on a sherry vinegar gastrique.”</p>
<p><br /> He didn’t touch the crabcake’s flavor profile, but took out the lavosh cracker filling and made it with more crab.</p>
<p><br /> Another change is to the main dishes on the menu, where it followed the popular formula of a protein, starch and vegetable of the day.</p>
<p><br /> “Now, each dish is composed with its own sides,” Steele said. “It’s a lot more work, but I think the customers appreciate it.”</p>
<p><br /> He credits time cooking with chef Nick Morfogen at the former 32 East for his mentorship, but says Dada’s owners, Rodney Mayo and Frielich, want a Dada twist to everything, so he must unlearn some of the classics he was taught.</p>
<p><br /> “With everything I change I have to do a full tasting with Scott and Rodney,” Steele said. “Rodney will say, ‘It’s good … but is it Dada?’ ” The chef laughed. “It forces you to be more creative.”</p>
<p><br /> Steele added a smoker where he’s cooking smoked pork belly burnt ends. “The process is, we get whole bellies in and cure them, then smoke the whole belly. We take it out, cube it, and smoke it again to give it a heavy smoke. When it’s ordered, it’s fried, then tossed in a honey barbecue sauce. It’s been really popular.”</p>
<p><br /> Steele also bought two deep fryers — for a variety of foods, but mainly house-made fries with his burgers, and the new fried chicken sandwich that debuted on the new Sunday brunch menu.</p>
<p><br /> Dec. 1, brunch became permanent every Sunday instead of sporadically. The fried chicken sandwich, using the Freebird brand that Steele calls the best he’s ever eaten, also is served Sunday night — “since Chick-fil-A doesn’t serve on Sundays. We do. Till it’s sold out.”</p>
<p><br /> The chicken is brined in buttermilk, pickle juice and Frank’s Hot Sauce. It’s served on Old School Square Bakery’s challah bun with shredded lettuce, tart pickles and an herb aioli.</p>
<p><br /> To do it all, Steele helped build the new kitchen with all new appliances and tools. Not much could be done in the postage-stamp kitchen in the historic house. “I took out the wall between the hot line and the pantry. It opens up a little more room. We can move a little more.”</p>
<p><br /> Dada is at 52 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Phone 561-330-3232; <a href="http://www.sub-culture.org">www.sub-culture.org</a>. It’s open for dinner daily, and at 11 a.m. Sunday for brunch and dinner.</p>
<p><br /> <br /> If your dream has been to open a small food business, the free entrepreneurship classes at the <strong>Secret Garden Culinary Business</strong> and Job Training Center can put you on the right path.</p>
<p><br /> Eligible students can move from catering for friends to going pro, opening a restaurant or operating a food truck. Makers of homemade food can take the students’ juices, salsas, hot sauces, baked goods, jams, oils or even dog food products to the shelves to compete with big brands.</p>
<p><br /> There are classes for wedding planners, musicians, food truck hopefuls, wholesale buyers and others in the hospitality business.<br /> Graduate from the class, and the center will pay money toward your business license, and give you $150 toward a food manager’s license.</p>
<p><br /> Classes meet at the center, 410 E. Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach, at 6 p.m. Monday and Thursday each week.<br /> For information about the classes and to determine eligibility, call 561-386-4261.</p>
<p><br /> <br /> <strong>In brief:</strong> Mizner Park is getting some new restaurants and spots for food. <strong>Lost Weekend</strong>, from the same owners as Kapow!, is coming next door to iPic Theater. Its original, a game room-lounge that serves handmade tacos, is in Miami Beach, and there’s another on Clematis Street in downtown West Palm.</p>
<p><br /> <strong>Calaveras Cantina</strong> moves in, too; its other one is in Jupiter’s Harbourside Plaza.</p>
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<p><em>Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com</em></p></div>Secret Garden: Delray florist tells how to look beyond poinsettias for holidayhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-garden-delray-florist-tells-how-to-look-beyond-poinsettias2019-12-03T21:12:04.000Z2019-12-03T21:12:04.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960914489,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960914489,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="7960914489?profile=original" /></a><em>This abstract holiday centerpiece uses dried mushrooms, nuts, moss, wire, stones and wheat. <strong>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
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<p>With the holidays fast approaching, the race to find perfect gifts has started. And for many, the winning selections will be floral arrangements and potted plants.</p>
<p><br /> As a result, 70 million to 80 million poinsettias will be sold in the U.S. during this Christmas holiday season, according to Sundale Research’s “State of the Industry: Florists in the U.S.”</p>
<p><br /> But you don’t have to limit yourself to those seasonal stalwarts including the traditional red, white and green floral arrangements you so often see, says Michael Mayer, owner of Tamara’s Flower Garden in Delray Beach for 15 years.</p>
<p><br /> His boutique shop specializes in individually created floral designs that are predominantly made with high-end or “Dutch” flowers, including peonies, roses and tulips.</p>
<p><br /> “These are things you can get from Holland that are better than what’s grown in other places,” he explains, adding that he works with many suppliers offering an international assortment of blooms.</p>
<p><br /> Having grown up as a self-described jock living in New Jersey, he discovered his artistic side when he took an art class in college. <br /> “When I started, my work looked like what my son hangs on the refrigerator from first grade,” he says. But it wasn’t long before Mayer’s work was shown in a campus gallery.</p>
<p><br /> During his time enrolled at the New York School of Interior Design, he learned he wasn’t interested in the history and provenance of furniture, so he left. And that’s when he considered flower design to sate his artistic appetite.</p>
<p><br /> After applying in person to over 65 flower shops on the upper East Side of New York, he heard from one. That was the well-respected Anthony Garden Boutique, and it taught Mayer the Victorian and French floral design in which the store specialized. <br /> “This is where I got intrigued with the artistry of flowers,” he says.</p>
<p><br /> From there he moved to shops that helped him discover other styles, including dish gardens, classical, tropical, Old World, whimsical garden and, his favorite, the clean lines of modern floral design.</p>
<p><br /> On a recent visit to his shop, we were welcomed into his studio to watch as he worked his magic with blue and white peonies, bells of Ireland and even kale and thistle to create a floral piece for a client.</p>
<p><br /> As he selected flowers and greenery out of the cooler and arranged them, he explained why he finds his work fulfilling: “I believe that flowers bring an energy with them and, if designed correctly, that energy becomes stronger and brings smiles to people’s faces.”</p>
<p><br /> To help you design floral arrangements that create smiles this season, try these tips for purchasing an arrangement or creating your own:</p>
<p><br /> Money matters: Mayer believes that if you are on a budget, it’s often better to create a smaller arrangement made with artistry and craftsmanship from higher-end flowers than to pack a large vase with the commonplace such as daisies, baby’s breath and carnations.</p>
<p><br /> Creating a three-sided grouping can fill your gift-giving needs while helping to save money on flowers. But don’t forget about the appearance of the back of the arrangement, says Mayer, who is a stickler for detail. Hide the exposed stems by tucking leaves into the top of the vase to provide a more finished look.</p>
<p><br /> Find the flow: When artistically placing the flowers, consider harmony of color, shape, including how each flower looks or “flows,” and texture. One way to gain texture is to use a flower with velvety petals alongside blooms with smoother ones.</p>
<p><br /> Don’t waste space: Use the “real estate” inside the vase to add to the presentation. This is particularly true when using the glass vases that Mayer prefers for his modern designs. Try adding colored acrylic “gems,” shells, pebbles and/or loops of colored aluminum wire or curly willow to the empty vase before filling it with water and starting to create your arrangement. You’ll find some of these and other options at craft stores.</p>
<p><br /> Men allowed: Mayer sees that more and more men are being sent potted plants and flower arrangements. For the man in your life, you might choose a darker container or a glass one, which Mayer often wraps with a bit of twine for a masculine accent. Then he suggests using darker, richer colored flowers such as those in shades of red and orange.</p>
<p><br /> A final flourish: Clean the vase, especially if it is glass. You don’t want to leave a thumbprint or smudge that makes a bad first impression.</p>
<p><br /> “It’s all these little extras that make a difference,” Mayer says, knowing that his — and your — attention to detail this holiday season will be appreciated.</p>
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<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>Tips for longevity</strong></span><br /> “Before putting flowers into an arrangement, make a long diagonal cut at the bottom of each stem. The longer the cut the better, because it provides more drinking area for the flowers.</p>
<p><br />“Another way to increase the life of your arrangement is to change the water in the vase after arranging the flowers and before presenting them. This clear water not only looks better but helps keep the flowers fresh.</p>
<p><br /> “And, if you receive a gift of flowers, be sure to keep the vase filled with water and change the water when it becomes murky. Use cool water to refill the vase, as warm water can accelerate the maturation of the flowers.” <br /></p>
<p><em>— Michael Mayer, owner of Tamara’s Flower Garden in Delray Beach</em></p>
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<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>If you go</strong></span><br />Where: Tamara’s Flower Garden, 851 SE Sixth Ave., Suite 107, Delray Beach<br />Information: 561-243-0224; lmmfloralarts.com<br />Hours: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to noon Saturday; closed Sunday.</p>
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<p><em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.</em></p></div>Secret Garden: Native plants, fresh look on display for Pan’s Garden anniversaryhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-garden-native-plants-fresh-look-on-display-for-pan-s-garde2019-10-29T21:42:03.000Z2019-10-29T21:42:03.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960903264,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960903264,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960903264?profile=original" /></a><em>Native plants and beautiful gazebos make for a perfect garden space at Pan’s Garden. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>On Nov. 23, Pan’s Garden in Palm Beach is celebrating its 25th anniversary amid a change in its director of horticulture, a cleaner and fresher look and a greater use of native plantings than ever before.</p>
<p><br /> “The garden is 100 percent native,” says Susan Lerner, the director of horticulture appointed about a year ago by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, which owns the half-acre garden.</p>
<p><br /> It is set on land that, once having held a derelict house and parking lot, was originally designed to be “a quiet oasis showcasing native Florida plants,” according to an early brochure.</p>
<p><br /> But it’s that and more, says Lerner. “It’s also a botanical garden that is meant to be a learning garden so people can come to see what the native plants look like and determine which they want to put in their own gardens.”</p>
<p><br /> In preparation for the anniversary, the statue of Pan, the mythical half-boy, half-goat for whom the garden is named, has had its original patina lovingly restored. Pan once again stands invitingly in a semi-circular pool at the garden’s entryway, charming water-spouting fish at his feet with his pipes.</p>
<p><br /> Desiring to honor the garden’s original vision, Lerner is working to rejuvenate what she inherited. Over the years, non-natives had crept into the mix, some areas had become overgrown and the few really sunny parts of the garden had often been used for plants that survive equally well in partial shade.</p>
<p><br /> Her sweat and labor are already evident as you wander through the marsh and upland habitats that make this garden special. With Lerner leading the way, we follow the brick path to the man-made pond that fills the northern section of the garden.</p>
<p><br /> We enter an area that Lerner explains was partially covered with invasive ferns. After checking with the fern expert at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables to identify which were invasives, she removed them.</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960902699,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960902699,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960902699?profile=original" /></a><em>Buds are ready to bloom on a marlberry plant.</em></p>
<p><br /> But she left the natives such as the lattice vein ferns with their rolling leaf edges and the giant leather ferns with under-leaves that get so covered in spores that they feel and look like they are lined with rust-colored suede.</p>
<p><br />Elsewhere the native Walter’s viburnum had been pruned into a perfect sphere. That type of pruning has been abandoned because it’s Lerner’s belief that trees and shrubs should be pruned only for size and to keep them looking trim. She often goes out with clippers to do the work herself.</p>
<p><br /> Otherwise, “a tree should be allowed to grow as it would in nature,” she says.</p>
<p><br /> As she details her efforts to refresh this charming yet educational garden, Lerner tells us that when she arrived for her job interview there was nothing flying — no birds, no bees, no butterflies, no dragonflies.</p>
<p><br /> “We can fix that,” she thought to herself.</p>
<p><br /> Today she points to a large area of coontie, a native cycad with a fossil history that dates back 3 million years. It is the sole host plant for the black-and-orange atala butterfly.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960903071,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960903071,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960903071?profile=original" /></a><em>A soldier butterfly feeds on the blue blooms of a Keys ageratum.</em></p>
<p><br /> She learned that the garden was being sprayed with pesticide that would prevent the atala and other butterflies from successfully using its plants to host their eggs and support their life cycles.</p>
<p><br />Lerner immediately canceled the spraying contract, and today the garden is filled with these butterflies and other beneficial insects.<br /> As you stroll the paths, you can’t help but notice how just about every area of the garden has benefited from her touch. Consider the sunny southern border that, even at only a few inches of elevation, is considered part of the uplands habitat.</p>
<p><br /> “This was a bramble filled with many non-natives. It wasn’t possible to walk through here,” she says.</p>
<p><br /> Today it is an open and airy walkway that you enter between a pair of handsome Simpson stoppers. The path is lined with beautiful but lesser-known native wildflowers such as Havana skullcap, tea bush and coral bean. And this once uninviting area, like many places in this garden, is filled with butterflies and other flying attractions.</p>
<p><br /> “I want this to be the go-to native garden in Florida so people learn that planting Florida natives is not only the right thing to do to support native wildlife but also to provide a beautiful experience,” Lerner says.</p>
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<p><br /><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>If You Go</strong></span><br />Where: Pan’s Garden, 386 Hibiscus Ave., Palm Beach<br />Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; closed during maintenance and private events.<br />Admission: Free<br />Anniversary celebration: From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 23, Pan’s Garden will host activities and educational programs for children and adults, including origami making, a scavenger hunt, butterfly plant tours and birding with binoculars. <br />The celebration will include, at 10 a.m., the garden’s rededication; 10:15 a.m., yoga; 11 a.m., a presentation on the garden’s participation in the Pine Jog Native Orchid Program; and at 4 p.m., a talk about the creation and impact of Pan’s Garden.<br />More info: Call 832-0731 ext. 113 or visit <a href="https://palmbeachpreservation.org/visit/pans-garden">https://palmbeachpreservation.org/visit/pans-garden</a><br />Volunteer: Volunteers are always welcome. For information, call the garden.</p>
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<p><br /><em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.</em></p></div>Secret Garden: Varied fauna inhabits park oasis, from butterflies to bobcathttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-garden-varied-fauna-inhabits-park-oasis-from-butterflies-t2019-10-01T20:00:00.000Z2019-10-01T20:00:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960895477,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960895477,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960895477?profile=original" /></a><em>A yellow sulphur butterfly takes flight after laying eggs on the leaves of a candle bush plant near the Okeeheelee Nature Center’s main building. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>Okeeheelee Nature Center, situated within the 1,700-acre Okeeheelee Park not far from I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike, is beloved by birders as well as those who want to enjoy a quiet walk through unspoiled nature.</p>
<p><br /> “I think of us as a little oasis in the city,” says Heather Moody, manager of the center in West Palm Beach.</p>
<p><br /> Most of the original 1,000-acre parcel, acquired in 1973 for the park, was a shell-rock mine studded with mine pits and gouged earth. But as the park took shape, a 90-acre area along its northern border was discovered to have never been mined or developed.</p>
<p><br /> The county decided to turn that bit of pristine habitat into a nature center, which opened in 1992, says Moody.</p>
<p><br /> The pine flatwood forest filled with slash pines, cabbage palms and saw palmettos is interspersed with ponds. The area is home to lots of wildlife, including native white-tailed deer that are kept in a six-acre compound for their own safety. After all, a native bobcat has been spotted on the property.</p>
<p><br /> Begin your exploration of the area by visiting the butterfly garden that winds around the exhibit building. Here, the candle bush is covered with yellow sulphurs that use it as a host plant.</p>
<p><br /> Coontie is the sole host plant for the caterpillars of atala butterflies, which, once near extinction, are now in abundance. And the multiflora passion flowers attract the bright orange Gulf fritillaries.</p>
<p><br /> From here you are welcome to wander the two-and-a-half miles of interconnected trails that are either paved or covered with sand and pine needles. A map, available at the Nature Center, makes them easy to navigate.</p>
<p><br /> “I always say you might get lost, but you won’t get lost for long if you just keep walking,” says Moody.</p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960896067,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960896067,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960896067?profile=original" /></a><em>Yaupon holly berries provide some fall color to the wetland at the West Pond of the Nature Center. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><br /> Throughout the park, the feeders, ponds and native flora attract small birds, water birds, owls, hawks and raptors. “This is a big birder spot. And I’ve been told that this is the place to see painted buntings,” says Moody.</p>
<p><br /> These colorful birds usually start arriving when the weather begins turning cool. “By November and December, they are rocking and rolling,” she says. “They stay into March or April when they start tapering off, but they always come back.”</p>
<p><br /> Other species you might see are warblers, ovenbirds and a brown thrasher that has been spotted near feeders at the Nature Center. <br /> But perhaps the center’s biggest claim to fame is its gopher tortoise population. The tortoises historically would have been in this habitat but, because of the mining operation, they abandoned it.</p>
<p><br /> In the 1980s, more than 80 of them were relocated to the property from a construction site near The Gardens mall.</p>
<p><br /> Since then, the tortoises have settled into their burrows and grown to a population of about 100.</p>
<p><br /> “It’s pretty much a guarantee that you are going to see one when you come here,” says Moody.</p>
<p><br /> And when forest fires flare up, these same burrows have protected tortoises and other animals that call them home.</p>
<p><br /> As you walk the trails, you’ll notice many of the palm trees have charred trunks. Wildfires are nature’s method of eliminating debris from the forest so the sun can reach the wild coffee, coco plums, muscadine grapes, shiny blueberries, beauty berries, ferns and other plants that grow beneath the canopy.</p>
<p><br /> But in this populated area, natural fires are too dangerous to let burn. So, in order to help prevent wildfires yet maintain the forest, the area is subject to controlled burns. The last one was about four years ago, says Layna Moehl, the center’s full-time naturalist and volunteer coordinator. The next one is slated for 2020.</p>
<p><br /> As you wander through these woods or stand on the edge of the marsh, you can’t help but understand the importance of these native habitats that deserve to be protected and maintained.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>If You Go...</strong></p>
<p>Okeeheelee Nature Center is at Okeeheelee Park, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach. Follow the signs from the entrance to the Nature Center.</p>
<p>Information: <a href="http://www.pbcparks.com">www.pbcparks.com</a> or 233-1400.</p>
<p>Hours: The Nature Center exhibit building is open 1 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The trails are open daily, dawn to dusk.</p>
<p>Admission: Okeeheelee Park, Nature Center and trails are free.</p>
<p>Programs: For information about programs presented at the Nature Center including nature walks, raptor and deer walks as well as yoga classes, visit the center on Facebook or at <a href="http://discover.pbcgov.org/parks/OkeeheeleeCenter/UpcomingPrograms.aspx">http://discover.pbcgov.org/parks/OkeeheeleeCenter/UpcomingPrograms.aspx</a></p>
<p>Volunteers: Are always needed. Volunteers do everything from clearing underbrush to planting bushes to feeding the eight white-tailed deer on the property. Contact Nature Center manager Heather Moody, 233-1407 or HMoody@pbcgov.org.</p>
<p><br /> <em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.</em></p></div>Enchanting sea sculptures, serious message: Mounts Botanical exhibit spotlights plastic pollutionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/enchanting-sea-sculptures-serious-message-mounts-botanical-exhibi2018-01-31T17:34:02.000Z2018-01-31T17:34:02.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960768897,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960768897,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960768897?profile=original" /></a><em><strong>ABOVE:</strong>Visitors to Mounts Botanical Garden gather around a sculpture of ‘Priscilla the Parrot Fish,’ composed of marine debris collected from Pacific beaches. <strong>BELOW RIGHT:</strong> Detail of ‘Sebastian James the Puffin,’ created from rubber pieces and other marine debris. <strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>By Lucy Lazarony</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Since “Washed Ashore” arrived at Mounts Botanical Garden in early December, the crowds have been rolling in, too.<br />“We’ve seen a 50 percent to 65 percent increase in daily attendance,” says Rochelle Wolberg, the garden curator. “Visitors love the exhibit; they’ve never seen anything like it before. They love the fact the sculptures can relate to all ages but that the message is thought-provoking and deep with regard to environmental stewardship and taking care of the earth.”<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960768691,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="300" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960768691,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-right" alt="7960768691?profile=original" /></a>The 10 sculptured sea creatures of “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea” are 12 to 16 feet in length and up to 15 feet in height. The shapes include a puffin, a marlin, a seal, humpback whale tails, a parrotfish, a jellyfish and a sea anemone with blades that rattle when you shake them.<br />Each one is made of pieces of plastic and other debris collected from the beach. <br />“We try to make them big because it’s a very big problem — plastic pollution in the ocean,” explains “Washed Ashore” artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi. “From a distance, they’re beautiful. Up close, they are horrifying. You realize this is all garbage, pollution, on the beach.”<br />Young viewers are quick to understand the message of “Washed Ashore.”<br /> “Kids get it right away how wrong it is,” Pozzi says. “It’s an education exhibit is really what it is.” <br />“Flash the Marlin” looks like a marlin; but when you look close, he is made of sunglasses, toothbrushes, water bottles, fishing lures, fishing poles and a toilet seat. <br />“Priscilla the Parrot Fish” is colorful and cheerful; but closer inspection shows she is made of bottle caps, buoys, lighters, beer cans and a bowling pin.<br />“Lidia the Seal” looks cheery, too; but she is made up of lots of plastic lids, flip-flops, beach toys, flashlights and a soccer ball. <br />“It does help to reach the children,” Pozzi says. “I really encourage people to take their families.”<br />The exhibit’s educational and environmental message is getting around. “Washed Ashore” exhibits have been held at the United Nations and the Smithsonian Institution.<br />“We’ve made about 70 works of art out of 21 tons of garbage in the last seven years,” says Pozzi, who designed all the sculptures and made the heads and tails and fins and feet in Bandon, Oregon.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960769081,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960769081,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960769081?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>The teeth of ‘Priscilla the Parrot Fish’ are floats from a drift net.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">The debris was collected from Pacific beaches and was washed and sorted by color, shape and type.<br />“It’s a very, very labor intensive process,” Pozzi says. Thousands of volunteers help through community workshops, building small parts of the project and, of course, collecting trash — much of it plastic. <br />Wolberg says “Washed Ashore” was a natural fit because “Mounts is really invested in the theme of water and environmental stewardship.”<br />She described the “Washed Ashore” sculptures as “whimsical, colorful” and “with a very strong message.”<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960769098,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960769098,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960769098?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><strong>ABOVE:</strong> Humpback whale tails appear to dive into the depths at Mounts Botanical Garden. The tails have tire pieces, flip-flop soles and other dark debris. <strong>BELOW:</strong> Children play tunes on the ‘Musical Seaweed’ at Mounts.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960768499,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960768499,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="600" alt="7960768499?profile=original" /></a></em></p>
<p>“Washed Ashore” opened Dec. 2 and will run through early June at Mounts Botanical Garden. <br />“It’s our longest exhibit,” Wolberg says. “It’s been fun for us. It’s made us think outside the garden.”<br />Wolberg heard about “Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea” from Sandy Smith, who lives on Singer Island and is board chair of Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden. Smith came across “Washed Ashore” when doing research and reached out to Wolberg. <br /> “I’m a sailor. I’m on the water a lot, so this really spoke to me — this exhibit,” Smith says. “If this exhibit can awaken people to the pollution problem we have, I’ll be extremely happy. I love the anemone reef; it is what I see when I dive.”<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960769475,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="300" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960769475,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960769475?profile=original" /></a>Pozzi hopes viewing the exhibit will prompt people to recycle more and use less plastic.<br />“Any action someone takes is a good thing,” Pozzi says. “It’s a wake-up call.”</p>
<p><br /><span style="font-size:14pt;">If You Go</span><br /><strong>Address:</strong> 531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach <br /><strong>Hours:</strong> 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; closed on holidays <br /><strong>Admission:</strong> free for members, $15 for non-members, $5 for children 5-12, and free for children 4 and younger Info: 233-1757 or <a href="http://www.mounts.org">www.mounts.org</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>LEFT: The ‘Water Bottle Jellyfish.’</em></p>
<p></p></div>Secret Gardens: Small space is big on butterflieshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-gardens-small-space-is-big-on-butterflies2017-03-01T14:50:31.000Z2017-03-01T14:50:31.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960704698,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960704698,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960704698?profile=original" /></a><em>Christine Johnson (left) shows a visiting family the Children’s Museum butterfly garden,</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>including a 2-foot-wide kinetic sculpture metal butterfly.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"> The next time you are near the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center in Boynton Beach, take a few minutes to explore its butterfly garden.<br /> Set on a pie-shaped piece of land at the southeast corner of the building, this garden is filled not only with color and fragrance, but also butterflies. Lots of butterflies. <br /> “When we took out pencil and paper to design this garden, we knew we wanted it to be both pretty and functional,” says Christine Johnson, a member of the Boynton Beach Garden Club who helped create the museum’s garden.<br /> Today she is working with five other club members to ready the garden for an art festival that should draw a good number of people to the area. “We want our butterfly garden to look its best,” she says.<br /> It was the city that got the garden club involved. When Johnson first came to the site in 2013, there were only a few round paving stones, an irrigation system and five small trees. “Otherwise it was just dirt,” she says.<br /> Today the garden is a perfect example of what you can grow and achieve in a small space. And like any well-designed butterfly garden, this plot includes the specific plant species necessary to support each variety of butterfly throughout its life cycle. <br /> These include plants that the butterflies need to lay their eggs as well as leaves for their caterpillars to eat. And then, after those caterpillars form pupae (chrysalises) and turn into graceful butterflies, the garden provides the appropriate nectar plants to nourish them.<br /> Today you can walk through the museum garden on a paver path past the sweet almond tree. Its fragrant white blooms attract dozens of Atala butterflies to sip their nectar. <br /> These black insects with metallic blue polka dots and a splash of orange on their wings are considered rare. But here you’ll find plenty of them.<br /> Nearby the milkweed plants silently signal to the orange and black monarch butterflies that they will find sustenance here. <br /> And a fennel plant sends up its feathery fronds in the hopes of attracting black swallowtail butterflies. The club members plan to plant parsley that, like fennel, will attract these black butterflies with blue, orange and yellow markings on their wings.<br /> “Isn’t nature marvelous?” asks Johnson.<br /> There’s plenty here for butterflies to snack on, including the yellow flowers that look like pats of butter on the popcorn cassia. Ask how this plant got its name and Johnson will tell you to rub your hands along its leaves. Take a whiff and you’ll smell the toasted aroma of, yes, popcorn.<br /> There’s always something new being planted. In fact, today Johnson was on her way to the garden when she found 10 red and pink pentas that a neighbor had set at the curb as refuse. She gathered them up, brought them along and the club members have planted them bordering the well-mulched path. <br /> “We don’t have a big budget for our garden, so this was a wonderful find,” says Johnson, who also regularly checks the nursery sale racks at big box stores.<br /> Other plants are donated by club members who raise them from seeds. The women enjoy working together to make this garden welcoming to children and nature.<br /> “When visitors come by, they often compliment us on the garden, and that makes the work so much more pleasurable,” says Johnson.<strong><br /> <br /></strong><em>Master Gardener Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley can be reached at debhartz@att.net.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960705456,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960705456,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960705456?profile=original" /></a>An adult Atala is about the size of your fingertip.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><br /><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;" class="font-size-4">Gardening Tip</span> <br /> If you want to attract Atala butterflies to your garden, plant native coontie, which is the host plant for their colorful caterpillars. But not just one coontie; you have to plant a bunch of them. That’s because the Atala won’t lay eggs if there’s not enough coontie around to feed their caterpillars as they develop into butterflies. <br /><br /><em>— Christine Johnson</em></p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;" class="font-size-4"><strong>If You Go</strong></span><br /><br /> The Butterfly Garden is at the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center, 129 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach; 742-6780; <a href="http://www.schoolhousemuseum.org">www.schoolhousemuseum.org</a><br /> The garden, brought to you by the Boynton Beach Garden Club, is on the southeast corner of the museum building to the right of the front stairs.<br /> For more information about the Boynton Beach Garden Club, call Second Vice President for Membership Christine Johnson at 736-2909. The club meets at 1 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Boynton Beach Women’s Club, 1010 S. Federal Highway. The public is welcome.<em><br /><br /></em></p></div>Tots and Teens: They’re not selfies — poses that are good for body and mindhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/tots-and-teens-they-re-not-selfies-poses-that-are-good-for-body-a2015-12-29T18:30:00.000Z2015-12-29T18:30:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960614664,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960614664,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960614664?profile=original" /></a><em>Teens do some floorwork on the mat at Buddha Lounge in Delray Beach.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960614080,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960614080,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960614080?profile=original" /></a></em><em>Students in Jo Boccassini’s class do a pose called rope sirsasana. For some kids, the stranger and more challenging the pose, the better.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photos provided</strong><br /></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Janis Fontaine<br /> <br /></strong> Today, yoga is so mainstream, you’ll find yoga classes in hospitals, schools and even rehab. It’s noninvasive, low-impact, and can be done (to some degree, at least) by everyone, regardless of fitness level. Experts prescribe yoga for ailments ranging from high blood pressure to carpal tunnel syndrome to headaches. There’s even yoga for flat feet.<br /> Now parents — kids, too — are turning their attention to yoga as a means of handling school stress, anxiety, depression, ADD and ADHD, issues with self-esteem, and the physical manifestations of those conditions, like insomnia and stomach problems.<br /> When kids start a class with Jo Boccassini, who teaches at Yoga Sol in Delray Beach, they think yoga’s focus is on the body and the ability to perfectly mimic the teacher’s body shapes. But as they learn the poses, their minds also become engaged and they like the way yoga feels, Boccassini said.<br /> “What they’re really starting to like is the quietness. Deliberate stillness. I’m teaching them larger concepts — how to live, really live.” <br /> Principles that make the world a better place, like nonviolence, not lying or stealing, and not being greedy or taking more than your fair share, come into play. “Then they talk about this stuff at home,” she said. <br /> Some of her students have parents who practice yoga, but “some parents just know their kid needs it,” Boccassini said. She tries to make her teachings “specific to the child.” <br /> She’s observant. If she sees one method or tactic isn’t working, she tries something else. And always, she remembers, it has to be about having fun (but with structure). <br /> “I want the kids to feel supported by the Earth and safe in my class,” Boccassini said. A few years ago, some people wanted to come in and observe the kids in class, so she spoke to the kids about it. <br /> “The next day the kids said they didn’t want anyone watching them,” she said. “They valued that time and felt really strongly that that was their time, so I don’t let people just come in the room.”<br /> Now parents wait in the outer vestibule and they can’t come in without an invitation. <br /> Boccassini, who moved to Boynton Beach from Hollywood a few years ago, teaches kids from ages 5 to 12, but she hopes to add a group for teens ages 13-16 soon. <br /> When a parent pulls her aside to tell her how amazing she is, she always says, “It’s not me. It’s your kid!”<br /> If you can’t wait for Boccassini to offer yoga for teens, don’t worry. Right down Federal Highway, you’ll find YogaFox’s Buddha Lounge and Ganesha Garden, owned and operated by husband and wife team Keith Fox and Kelly Brookbank. <br /> Their free Teen Yoga Program teaches kids yoga while also teaching loftier pursuits, such as being good citizens of the Earth and helping the less fortunate. <br /> The YogaFox Teen Program meets at 4:15 p.m. on Thursdays at the Buddha Lounge or in the garden in the back when the weather’s nice. It’s teens only. No adults except for the teacher are allowed. <br /> “We also make it open for them to come for free to any class, so they often come on weekends,” Kelly said. She says 10 or 15 kids show up every Saturday. <br /> YogaFox is also certifying kids to become yoga teachers, and Lexi Hidalgo is one of the first.<br /> Lexi, who graduated at the top of her certification class at age 13, loves teaching kids and says newcomers are sometimes nervous or afraid that she’s going to be mean or strict about doing the poses, but that contradicts the basic tenets of yoga, she says. <br /> “Yoga is about doing whatever is good and right for your body,” Lexi said in a video blog posted at <a href="http://www.yogafox.com">www.yogafox.com</a>. <br /> But offering free yoga costs money, so Fox and Brookbank had to find a way to finance it. The couple started YogaFest four years ago in Fort Lauderdale to raise money for their teen program.<br /> They were committed to offering more to these kids. They wanted to broaden their horizons, to show them the world outside South Florida, with a community service trip to Costa Rica. The kids planted trees, and picked up garbage, and they made friends with the local kids, teaching them yoga. <br /> When the kids left, they gave away most of their possessions to the friends they made. Headphones, clothing, jewelry all meant more to them in the hands of someone else. <br /> YogaFest 2016 will be held April 2 in Fort Lauderdale, and will fund the fourth teen trip to Costa Rica. <br /> Fox and Brookbank simply can’t turn away some people because they can’t pay for a class. “We offer a ‘by donation’ class at 10 a.m. one morning a week,” Brookbank said. Money raised from YogaFest, which she calls their “karma fund,” pays for those classes, too. <br /> “Every penny we raise goes to fund our work to bring yoga to others.”<br /> Anything less would not be acceptable to a yogi.</p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><br /> <span class="font-size-3" style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>If You Go</strong></span><br /> • Jo Boccassini teaches Yoga Kids at Yoga Sol, 215 NE 22nd St., Delray Beach. Classes focus on life concepts like creating balance and building strength and self-awareness. Info: 954-562-5645 or floatingyoga108@mac.com.<br /> • Kelly and Keith Fox host a Teen Yoga Program at 4:15 p.m. Thursday at The Buddha Lounge, 1405 N. Federal Highway in Delray Beach. No adults allowed. Info: 704-756-9245 or YogaFox.com <br /></p></div>Secret Gardens: Children’s Garden dream taking shape in Delrayhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-gardens-children-s-garden-dream-taking-shape-in-delray2015-09-30T15:07:48.000Z2015-09-30T15:07:48.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960591291,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="400" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960591291,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960591291?profile=original" /></a><em>Garden team leader Shelly Zacks hands a pruning saw to Arie Forma.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960591890,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960591890,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="239" alt="7960591890?profile=original" /></a><em>A bolting basil plant.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592253,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592253,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="239" alt="7960592253?profile=original" /></a></em><em>Salo Bowen carries some wood for stakes.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592266,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592266,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="239" alt="7960592266?profile=original" /></a></em><em>A vining sweet potato already is in bloom.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592473,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="400" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592473,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960592473?profile=original" /></a><em>Jeanne Fernsworth lays cardboard to be covered with mulch.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p> Where today you see a pile of mulch, Shelly Zacks envisions Mulch Mountain covered with climbing kids. That nearby hole in the ground will one day be an enclosed habitat for water plants and fish. And the raised beds overflowing with sweet potato vines will be tamed and planted with a variety of vegetables including collards, kale and peppers.<br /> Welcome to the Delray Beach Children’s Garden that, as you can see, is a work in progress.<br /> Zacks, the garden team leader and a preschool teacher herself, always dreamed of creating a “place where children are immersed in nature, love it, not want to leave it and tell their parents they want to come back.” <br /> Her dream began to take shape in early 2014 when St. Paul’s Episcopal Church offered a half-acre of land for $10 a year. The same day she signed the lease for the use of the land, the project was awarded a $5,000 county grant.<br /> “Everyone involved agreed that this children’s garden should be designed and created by the children themselves,” says Zacks, who believes many young people suffer what’s been called “nature deficit disorder.” <br /> To do this, the steering committee hosted a design brainstorming session to which they invited local parents, landscape designers, city officials and educators who were tasked with building model gardens from pipe cleaners, clay and other craft materials. Then a “surprise panel of judges” comprised of a dozen youngsters ages 7 to 17 critiqued their work.<br /> “They were so verbal and so critical. They had wonderful ideas,” says Zacks.<br /> A landscape designer took the winning ideas and put together a plan that’s being brought to fruition by volunteers who have been working at the garden on Saturday mornings since February. <br /> “None of the work is being contracted,” says Zacks, who praises the community for its generous donations of time, money and materials.<br /> Using a permaculture technique, the grass has been covered with cardboard and mulch that will help create a first layer of soil as it decomposes. <br /> The plot has been cleared of invasive Brazilian pepper trees so now you can see there are four towering turpentine mangos destined to shade a triangular sandbox.<br /> They’ve planted a chocolate tree, lemon bay and cinnamon tree. And they can’t wait until the loquat, jaboticaba and longan bear fruit and the stemmadenia tree blossoms with its fragrant white flowers. <br /> There’s even a peanut butter plant whose red fruit tastes something like, well, peanut butter. Nearby blackberries grow and muscadine grapes will be planted so the children can enjoy a very natural PB&J.<br /> Cotton and henna plants are just the beginning of a craft garden. Echinacea, aloe, ginger and chamomile form the backbone of a medicinal plot.<br /> A small square of sunflowers is destined to grow into “walls” and be topped with morning glory vines that will form a “roof” for the garden’s Sunflower House.<br /> A stand of thriving banana trees forms a banana forest where children can hide and seek. And an Eagle Scout troop has built above-ground planters arranged as a labyrinth. It’s these that currently are overgrown with sweet potato vines. The garden is slated to open to the public Nov. 9 when there will be a Harvest Festival. By then these raised beds will be neatly planted, weeded and ready for harvest.<br /> “It will be so much fun for the kids to pluck food from the ground like buried treasure,” says Zacks, who, of course, will be there celebrating, too.</p>
<p><br /> <em>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a certified master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net when she’s not in her garden.</em></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">IF YOU GO</span></strong></span><em><br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592058,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960592058,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="262" alt="7960592058?profile=original" /></a>Delray Beach Children’s Garden, 137 S.W. Second Ave., Delray Beach; 716-8342;</em></p>
<p><em><span style="color:#000000;"><a href="http://www.delraybeach"><span style="color:#000000;">www.delraybeach</span></a></span>childrensgarden.org <br /> <br /> The west side of the garden has a pedestrian entrance with street parking. There is a parking lot on the east side of the garden off First Avenue. Volunteers are needed 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Just show up with your water, hat, gloves and sunscreen.<br /> A Harvest Festival, the official garden opening, will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 9. Enjoy vegetable harvesting, pumpkin decorating, scarecrow building, storytelling, music, food and more. The first annual fundraising Delray Beach Children’s Garden Golf Tournament will be held at Delray Municipal Golf Course in December.</em></p></div>Fundraiser for The American Association of University Women: Home of Stan and Barbara Cook, Ocean Ridge – Jan. 19https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/fundraiser-for-the-american-association-of-university-women-home-2014-01-29T15:48:12.000Z2014-01-29T15:48:12.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960483460,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960483460,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960483460?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960483672,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960483672,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960483672?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960483700,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960483700,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960483700?profile=original" /></a><em>Barbara and Stan Cook opened their home and garden for an event for The American Association of University Women to raise funds and promote STEM programs for middle-school girls. TOP: Chris Wurster and Abby Smith pose for a photo in the ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ area of the Cooks’ garden. MIDDLE: Barbara Cook, (right) gives a tour of the garden to Pamela Crawford, vice president of landscape architecture at Botanical Visions in West Palm Beach. BOTTOM: Renny Reynolds laughs with Ocean Ridge Town Commissioner Ed Brookes in the Cooks’ garden. <strong>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</strong></em></p></div>Mounts wants your vintage toolshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/mounts-wants-your-vintage-tools2013-10-02T20:46:53.000Z2013-10-02T20:46:53.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p>Mounts Botanical Garden, West Palm Beach, wants your used and vintage garden tools and landscape items to sell at its Vintage Garden Thrift Shop opening this fall.<br />Think rakes, shovels, gardening books, statues and more.<br />To schedule a donation pickup, call (561) 233-1763. Every donation receives a 501 (c3) tax deductible receipt.<br /><em>— Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</em></p></div>Celebrations: Inaugural re-planting Urban Farm, Boynton Beach – Sept. 7https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/celebrations-inaugural-re-planting-urban-farm-boynton-beach-sept-2013-10-01T23:10:29.000Z2013-10-01T23:10:29.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960466489,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960466489,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="480" alt="7960466489?profile=original" /></a><em>As part of a new community-service project, Taste History, a nonprofit that gives food tours of South County, adopted Urban Farm and organized its first harvest. The seeds were sown by student volunteers from American Heritage School Boca Delray, as well as Atlantic Community and Palm Beach Lakes high schools. ‘The students tilled the soil and helped to usher in the re-harvesting season,’ said Lori Durante, executive director of Taste History. Photo: Students Kelli McCourt (left) and Allegra Nolan (right) with Durante. <strong>Photo provided</strong></em></p></div>Along the Coast: Simple tips to create better backyard photographshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-simple-tips-to-create-better-backyard-photographs2013-01-30T17:00:00.000Z2013-01-30T17:00:00.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421264,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421264,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="509" alt="7960421264?profile=original" /></a><em><b>Patsy Randolph</b> used the pillars of a gazebo to frame her subject to create a</em> <br /> <em>photo that provides nice sense of the gardens.</em></p>
<p><span><b>By Jerry Lower</b></span></p>
<p></p>
<p>I have been a photographer and picture editor for most of my career and a teacher for a small part of it. I had the chance recently to bring these skills together in a photography workshop for about 40 members and guests of The Grass River Garden Club. We wanted a location with great photo potential for this class, so we choose the Taru Gardens of the Sundy House in Delray Beach. </p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421281,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421281,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="480" alt="7960421281?profile=original" /></a><em><b>Cody Jones</b> took full advantage of the scene-setting ability of<br /> a wide-angle lens to show the scale of the pools, <br /> while the shaded foreground leads the eye to the seating in the backgr</em><em>ound.</em></p>
<p>The class’s photographic skills ranged from beginner to advanced amateur. The equipment ranged from smartphones, simple point-and-shoot cameras, to advanced digital SLRs with interchangeable lenses.</p>
<p>After 35 minutes of viewing some quality photo examples and listening to a few helpful hints on how to create “better backyard photos,” members of the group took the next 30 minutes to shoot their assignment.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421094,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421094,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="509" alt="7960421094?profile=original" /></a>Tina Smith,</b> looked for an interesting angle and let the diffused backlight</em><br /> <em>illuminate the bloom of this angel’s trumpet. </em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p>On this page you’ll find the photos the Grass River Garden Club students created in January — published here with only limited image processing to make sure they reproduced well on newsprint. </p>
<p>Most of the basic instruction during the class dealt with camera angle, lens choice and quality of light. You will find these related tips in each photo caption on this page.</p>
<p>When asked, “What’s the best camera?” I always respond, “the one you have with you.” You can have thousands of dollars of camera equipment, but if you don’t take it with you because of weight or bulk, it’s no better than that smartphone in your pocket. <span><br /></span></p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421461,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421461,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="334" alt="7960421461?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421661,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960421661,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" width="334" alt="7960421661?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Two photos, both from less than six inches away: <b>Christina Benisch</b> used a macro lens <br /> to isolate the lip of the blooms above from the green background, while<br /> <b>Laura Evans</b> used a wide-angle lens held very close to the bloom of this red ginger plant <br /> to show both the bloom and the character of the leaves of the plant and its surroundings.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>Jerry Lower is the publisher of The Coastal Star and an award-winning photographer and designer. </em></p>
<p><i> </i></p></div>Secret Gardens: ‘Vertical garden’ stands out — and uphttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-gardens-vertical-garden-stands-out-and-up2012-11-28T17:00:00.000Z2012-11-28T17:00:00.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p></p>
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<p><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960408277,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960408277,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="179" class="align-center" alt="7960408277?profile=original" /></a></b></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>The vertical garden on the wall of Saks Fifth Avenue on Worth Avenue<br /> in Palm Beach is a green form of public art. The garden is illuminated <br /> by spotlights after dark. <b>Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</b> </em></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b> By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</b></p>
<p>On a busy corner of Worth Avenue and South County Road in Palm Beach, there’s a triangular patch of nicely manicured grass. A bench made of curving limestone blocks defines the edge of it.</p>
<p>This is a popular spot, particularly at this time of year when you need to take a break from holiday shopping. In fact, just about everyone who passes stops to have their picture taken here.</p>
<p>“Why?” you ask. After all, it’s just a bit of grass and hard rock seating.</p>
<p>But look up.</p>
<p>At the end of the building that is Saks Fifth Avenue, there’s a vertical garden. It is made up of plants growing perpendicularly out of a 24- by 35-foot frame to create a living piece of abstract art.</p>
<p>It’s done with “brush strokes” created by using nine different plant varieties. They differ in color and texture as well as the size and shape of their leaves to give life and lift to the “painting.”</p>
<p>The garden actually is made up of 1-foot-square panels secured onto the steel frame. The panels are fibrous envelopes filled with a coco fiber growing medium.</p>
<p>Plants grow out of the 13 holes punched into each of the 840 panels. That adds up to more than 10,000 plants used to create this wall garden.</p>
<p>The idea of placing a living wall here at 150 Worth Ave. was the brainchild of the Garden Club of Palm Beach.</p>
<p>They wanted a wall that would have an abstract design done with all green — not flowering — plants. And they had some recommendations, including wanting to use natives. So in 2010 they contracted with GSky Plant Systems Inc., to make their wishes come true.</p>
<p>GSky’s plant design manager, Debbie Kotalic, worked closely with a committee of club members to develop the design.</p>
<p>Funny thing, she had just been to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. As a result, she decided to add a subtle hint of a picture to her abstract creation. “Guessing what I had in mind kind of makes the wall interactive,” she says.</p>
<p>Go ahead and search for her concept. Look hard and use your imagination. Some people divine a boat, others a bird, even a slingshot.</p>
<p>“It’s like clouds in the sky — everyone sees something different,” says Kotalic, who works at her company’s newly opened Delray Beach offices on George Bush Boulevard.</p>
<p>Besides adding a touch of whimsy to the wall, she had to take the environment into consideration.</p>
<p>On this noisy corner, she had to contend with wind, salt air and western sun. She also needed a large number of plants that would grow perpendicularly instead of toward the light as many do, and ones that would do well considering the frame’s irrigation system.</p>
<p>Originally, the wall included mondo grass that never thrived and silver sawtooth palm that became dinner for critters. Those had to be replaced, but today she’s perfected the plant mix.You can enjoy this natural piece of free public art at any time. It’s partly shaded from the sun by two trees during the day. And at night, spotlights accent its vibrant but natural colors. </p>
<p></p>
<p><b>If You Go</b></p>
<p>The Living Wall is at 150 Worth Ave., Palm Beach. Free and open to the public daily.</p>
<p>For information on GSky Plant Systems, visit <a href="http://www.GSky.com">www.GSky.com</a>.</p>
<p><i>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a certified master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net when she’s not digging in her garden.</i></p></div>Secret Gardens: Natives make room for butterflies at Sandoway Househttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/secret-gardens-natives-make-room-for-butterflies-at-sandoway-hous2012-10-31T18:30:00.000Z2012-10-31T18:30:00.000ZDeborah Hartz-Seeleyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/DeborahHartzSeeley<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960411079,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960411079,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" class="align-center" alt="7960411079?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><strong> </strong><span style="text-align:center;">A pair of Monarch butterfly caterpillars denude the stems of a milkweed. </span></em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><b>Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star</b></em></p>
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<p><strong>By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley</strong></p>
<p>Whether you are riding your bike, taking a stroll or driving your car along A1A in Delray Beach, keep an eye out. Tucked between the sea grapes growing on the west side of the busy street, you may notice a low gray concrete wall with a white picket gate.</p>
<p>This is the entrance to the Sandoway Nature Center. Even if you think you are in a hurry, you may want stop and take a look.</p>
<p>“On any sunny day the butterflies are always here,” says executive director Danica Sanborn.</p>
<p>She’s speaking of the spotted gulf fritillary, striped zebra longwing and polydamus swallowtail butterflies that visit when they are hungry or looking for a place to deposit their young. </p>
<p>The center with its museum and garden opened in 1998. And according to a newspaper account from the time, the members of the Junior League of Boca Raton selected 300 native plants representing 100 species to put in the ground. </p>
<p> Today you just have to step through the gate to enjoy what they created. Follow the brick path to enter a sunny native dune landscape with its salt- and wind-tolerant plants. </p>
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<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960410877,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960410877,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" class="align-center" alt="7960410877?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>A dune sunflower is one of many blooming native</em><br /> <em>plants in the gardens at the Sandoway House. </em></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">The yellow flowers of the beach sunflower, the miniature daisy-like flowers of the Spanish needle and the purple trumpets on the railroad vine cover the ground. There are no neat rows or carefully tended beds. All is intertwined and overgrown.</p>
<p>That’s how nature wants it. After all, it’s up to these plants to hold the sand in place when the winds blow and waters rise.</p>
<p>“Things really grow wild here,” says Sanborn. </p>
<p>But that’s the beauty of the Sandoway’s butterfly and native plant gardens. They don’t need to be manicured to be pleasing. After all, weeds can be as pretty as natives. And wildlife doesn’t know the difference. </p>
<p>If you’ve come to see some of those native species, don’t miss the rare and endangered lignum vitae that is coveted for its hard and durable wood. If in bloom, it will have blue star-shaped flowers.</p>
<p>Children will enjoy the necklace pod plant. It has yellow pea-like flowers and fuzzy brown pods that grow narrow between the seeds to resemble a necklace. </p>
<p>As you walk through the garden, you’ll enter an area devoted to attracting butterflies. “The kids who visit love them,” Sanborn says.</p>
<p>They may also learn a lesson. Butterflies go through four phases in their life cycle: egg, larva or caterpillar, pupa/chrysalis and, finally, adult butterfly. And if you want them to inhabit your garden, you need to cater to each.</p>
<p>Here at Sandoway House, the golden orange blooms of the fire bush, the tiny pink- and raspberry-bursts of the penta, the curling white flowers of the scorpion’s tail and the bright blue drips on the stems of the porterweed are just some of the blooms that provide nectar or nourishment for the adults. </p>
<p>Now look at the milkweed that attracts the monarch, the plumbago that is home to the cassius blue and the wild lime that hosts the giant swallowtail.</p>
<p>If their leaves have gaping holes in them, you can bet a butterfly has laid her eggs on the plants. The eggs have hatched into a caterpillar and now that creepy crawly is eating the leaves on its way to becoming a butterfly. </p>
<p>But don’t worry. The caterpillars’ eating binges don’t hurt these host plants because they quickly regrow foliage.</p>
<p>It’s only natural. </p>
<p>As if the butterflies aren’t colorful enough, don’t miss the garden’s orange, red and yellow hibiscus blossoms. Not only do they add splashes of color to the landscape but also make a tasty meal for Speedy the gopher tortoise. He’s another popular attraction at the Sandoway House Nature Center. </p>
<p></p>
<p><b>If You Go</b></p>
<p>Sandoway House Nature Center, 142 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach; 561-274-7263</p>
<p>Admission to the garden is free; nature museum is $4 for everyone over 2 years of age. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; noon to 4 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday.</p>
<p>The nature center is looking for volunteers to work in the garden. For information, call Executive Director Danica Sanborn.</p>
<p></p>
<p><i>Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a certified master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net when she’s not digging in her yard.</i></p></div>Homeowners find alternatives as fungus wipes out impatienshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/homeowners-find-alternatives-as-fungus-wipes-out-impatiens2012-02-29T21:30:00.000Z2012-02-29T21:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960378278,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960378278,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="238" alt="7960378278?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong>Coastal towns take varying approaches to deal with <a href="http://thecoastalstar.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gulf-stream-coastal-towns-take-varying-approaches-to-deal-with-wh">whitefly</a><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p><strong>By Antigone Barton</strong><br /> Every October, for each of the last 20 years, Gail Brown has surrounded her white-pillared, white-trimmed gray house with 2,000 white impatiens, creating a vista that stops passing drivers, sparks countless conversations, and earned her the informal title of “the White Impatiens Lady.”<br /> Then in early February this year, her plants began to droop one day. A few leaves turned yellow, a few green stalks lost their flowers. Within three days, they had all collapsed. Brown’s garden was indistinguishable from any other hit by a plague exclusive to impatiens that has swept the state this season, taking out hundreds of thousands of the popular plants countywide. <br /> The flowers were felled by downy mildew, a fungus that had recently appeared in Europe and then in other states in this country, but has not been seen in Florida since the mid-1960s. Its path has been swift and devastating here, leaving gardens and community entrances barren, nurseries bereft and landscapers scrambling for replacements.<br /> Bob Glynn of Delray Garden Center replenished Brown’s garden with 1,400 New Guinea impatiens, which are not affected by downy mildew. The substitute, with darker, richer, waxy green leaves and slightly larger flowers, won’t get as voluminous as her former garden, and the sight of them is “not as dramatic,” she says. “But I will say, they are lovely and gracious bedding.”<br /> She and the many others who rely on impatiens to infuse the Florida winter months with color will have time to grow accustomed to the new look; landscapers say it will be about five years before impatiens can thrive again here.<br /> In the meantime, however, Glynn has seen about 50,000 plants felled by the disease.<br /> “And I’m just a little guy,” he added. There is no stopping the disease, which he first saw in the beginning of this year, and which is airborne.<br /> “People need to be educated on this,” Glynn said. He has continued to see the plants sold, he said. “It’s a shame. The plants are all going to be diseased and die in a few weeks.”<br /> As impatiens vanish from landscapes, some homeowners are planning a head start on summer, with pentas and vincas, which some growers have started supplying earlier than usual, said Joe Mignano of the Boynton Beach-based Mignano Tree Care. <br /> “We’re putting color back,” he said.<br /> Mignano, whose clients include homeowner associations and estates running the length of State Road A1A, has pulled more than 100,000 impatiens since first spotting diseased impatiens in a west Boca Raton community in early January.<br /> Mignano is advising clients to get rid of their impatiens quickly. <br /> “People are telling us they look fine,” he said. “They’re not fine.”<br /> Vincas, which usually aren’t available until early May, should be ready for planting in the next few weeks, Mignano said. </p></div>A fairy garden: Cultivating a tiny land of enchantmenthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/a-fairy-garden-cultivating-a2011-05-04T20:26:22.000Z2011-05-04T20:26:22.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960335098,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960335098,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960335098?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960335098,original{{/staticFileLink}}"></a><em>Nancy Cudahy Touhey sits with her granddaughters Helen (left) and Mia and her dog, Niña, in her fairy garden.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em><br /></em></p>
<p>By Mary Jane Fine</p>
<p><br /> <em> “When the first baby laughed for the first time, his laugh broke into a million pieces, and they all went skipping about. That was the beginning of fairies.”</em> <br /><em>— J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan</em></p>
<p>That laughing baby must have lived somewhere near Gulf Stream or, maybe, Albany, N.Y., somewhere, anyway, near Nancy Cudahy Touhey. How else to explain Fairy Garden South and Fairy Garden North, one in each of her backyards and populated with all those little winged creatures and their houses and fences and bridges and tea tables and birdbaths and, oh, all the rest of their Lilliputian lives.<br />“I’m awaiting a FedEx delivery of three fairies right now, including a baby,” Touhey says, leading the way past two towering ficus trees and a sun-spangled swimming pool. “The baby will probably sit in the playground area, and the other two wherever I feel like putting them. It’s all done by whim.”<br />Her whims have created this, this 10-by-30-foot patch of fairy-garden-within-a-garden behind Lemon Hill, the Touheys’ 1930s Colonial estate, just off A1A. This is an Irish fairy garden, the houses — none taller than a toddler’s knee — complete with bark-thatch roofs and pebble pathways. The fairy castle sits at the center, back against a veritable forest of palm trees, overseen by the Fairy Queen. That’s she, up on the turret, gazing down at the Fairy Princess who is, herself, fondly watching over an inch-long fairy baby.<br />Touhey created her Irish fairy garden four years ago, “because of all our Irish relatives, and Michael’s birthday was St. Patrick’s Day.” That would be former husband, Michael Cudahy, son of former ambassador to Ireland John Cudahy. Her original fairy garden came into being two years earlier, on the 160-acre Albany estate she owns with her philanthropist husband, Carl Touhey. The gardens owe their inspiration to a visit she made to a shop on Lake Champlain whose every corner, she says, “was filled with something charming, tiny teacups and little gardens.”<br />Acquiring the mini-folk and foliage is an ongoing pursuit. <br />“There’s so much available if you just spend the time Googling,” she says. She found online suppliers of fairies and fairy houses, dollhouse-size tables and chairs and gates and trellises, a teensy dog, a gazing ball the size of a marble, a basket of apples that are each as big as the eraser on a No. 2 pencil. She has found suppliers of miniature junipers and boxwoods, schefflera and bromeliads, bonsai versions of their full-grown relatives. <br />Granddaughters Lane, 15, and Maggie, 16, wandered through the Delray Affair last month and scored a squirrel, two frogs, a grasshopper and a fish to add to the little world. <br />Word of the garden has spread through area schools, and Touhey welcomes the children who come to visit it. She serves lemonade and Meyer lemon cookies, all made from the lemon trees just beyond the pool. The little girls, she says, usually rush to the table; the little boys tend to linger at garden’s edge, marveling over the detail of the miniature world. <br />Nancy Touhey still marvels a lot, too. “I check on it every day and maybe work on it once a week. Once I’m there, I’m there until someone rescues me,” she says, and laughs.<br />Her delight in her Fairy Gardens is partially her delight in the imagination. She remembers when her son Peter was small and his elementary school teacher told her, “We have to do something about Peter. He tells all these lies, and the other children believe him.” The latest fabrication had been about a pony that Peter said had followed him and was waiting outside. <br />“I reprimanded the teacher,” Touhey recalls. “I said, ‘It’s not a lie, it’s a story. Why do you try to squelch a child’s imagination?’ ”<br />She loves to quote her young granddaughter who, after visiting the fairy garden one day, said, “Nanny, the fairies are singing so fast I can’t understand what they’re saying.” Her smile, then, is one of pure pleasure.<br />“I think you have to have that power of belief,” she says. “It might as well be <br />fairies.” </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960335495,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960335495,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960335495?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960336064,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960336064,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960336064?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960336094,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960336094,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960336094?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960335858,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960335858,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="7960335858?profile=original" /></a></p></div>Boca Raton: City and Junior League team on community garden projecthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-city-and-junior2010-12-30T22:46:40.000Z2010-12-30T22:46:40.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div>By Margie Plunkett<br /><br />Green-thumbed residents now have the chance to grow their own in Boca Raton.<br />The city OK’d a deal that would allow the Junior League of Boca Raton to operate a community garden on the Causeway Lumber site, next to the location of Boca Raton’s new library. The garden would be on 1.5 acres on the east side of the site.<br />Individuals and organizations can lease plots in the garden to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers, with the intent that 10 percent of what is grown will be donated back to Boca Raton Helping Hands, which provides food and assistance programs for families in need.<br />“It’s going to be a really beautiful, park-like space that we’re using for this garden,” said Kate Weissing, chair-elect of the Community Garden Committee. “The mission is to cultivate the spirit of community and enhance the quality of our lives by creating and sustaining an organic garden of vegetables, flowers, plants and trees.”<br />The mission also includes “to produce healthy supplemental food source for its gardeners and the hungry,” Weissing said.<br />The Junior League will be responsible for developing and administering the garden, including setting rules for participants, and is working with a master gardener. The resolution says operation and maintenance of the garden will be transitioned from the League to another organization formed for that purpose. <br />The city will put up a fence on the western side of the garden and provide water. The garden would be discontinued if the city decides the site’s better for something else — a train station, for instance.<br />The Community Garden has already set in place initial plans for fundraising, Weissing said: It’s in partnership with Whole Foods, with a “5-percent day” coming up in January and is preparing to sell bricks.<br />Mayor Susan Whelchel gave the garden her support and said, “We’re excited. People are asking about it all the time. A community garden that will afford food to be given away is an outstanding opportunity for the city of Boca Raton.”<br />“This is a beautiful example of a citizens initiative that’s 100 percent positive,” said council member Michael <br />Mullaugh.</div>The tangled webs we weave... in the gardenhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/the-tangled-webs-we-weave-in2010-09-29T15:30:00.000Z2010-09-29T15:30:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:left;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960309464,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<span style="font-size:11pt;">By Joanne Davis</span> <br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The thought of long, slender legs and a home draped in colorful silk conjure up an image of royalty and elegance. But couple those things with cunning, stealth and entrapment, and we’re likely to be wary.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Fascinating yet scary is one way to describe spiders, yet some undeservedly deem them evil or dangerous.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">“The mystique of the web and the cultural misconception of sucking the life out of its prey add to the stigma,” says Dr. Gregg Nuessly of the University of Florida Everglades Research Center.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">According to Nuessly, there are only four dangerous spiders in Florida: the brown recluse, the black widow, red widow and brown widow. They are all shy and are usually encountered by accident.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">More common are the harmless and beneficial spiders.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">One of these is the golden silk orb weaver. It lives in mature woodlands and yards with tall vegetation. It needs tall trees to launch a thin thread in the wind. When the thread catches on something, the spider walks along it trailing a stronger non-sticky thread. It repeats the process in the center of the line to form a strong Y-frame. Around this, it spins the rest of the web out of sticky capture silk.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The web is large and is built to last, up to 18 feet high and 6 feet across. The angled web is usually off-center and its golden color gives the spider its name. It is strong enough to capture small birds — which the spider doesn’t eat. The birds’ thrashing destroys the web, so the spider will leave “signature” threads or a line of insect husks in it to deter them, like the decals on our glass doors.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">This year it seems golden orb weaver spiders are everywhere. Because they need tall trees to start their webs, the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 took a terrible toll on their ability to build. Plus the wind and driving rain undoubtedly destroyed populations.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Now, with the recovery of our canopy — and some rest from high wind — the golden orb weavers have been busy.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Tribal peoples have used the golden orb weavers’ webs for fishing lures and nets, and to stop bleeding. Today, the silk from the orb spider is being considered for uses such as parachutes, bulletproof vests, lightweight clothing, seat belts, light but strong ropes, as sutures in operations, artificial tendons and ligaments. <br /></span></p>
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Their cousin, the spiny orb weaver, is one of the most colorful and easily recognized in Florida. It has a white underside with black spots and red spikes around its body. It shares the same web style as the golden orb. These webs are beneficial <span style="font-size:11pt;">and capture many insects we don’t want around.</span>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Most spiders, including the orb spider, are relatively harmless. They all can bite, but most don’t, even when we destroy their web. They are beautiful animals, graceful, skillful and elegant in their architecture. Their benefits greatly outweigh any misconception we may have about them.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;">This Halloween, catch a look at the beauty of our “spooky” friends. Orb weavers are fascinating neighbors.</span></p>
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