Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan ■ Saturday,June 26, 2010PAGE 6B www.yankton.net

HOMEGARDEN

PHOTO: DAVE TUNGE/DAKOTA AERIALSYankton’s Dave Tunge of Dakota Aerials took this image of the patchwork progress being made on theYankton Community Garden along West City Limits Road. The garden, which is sponsored by HealthyYankton, is in its second year, and it was expanded this year to accommodate more gardeners. Formore information on the garden, contact Healthy Yankton at 668-8590 or visitwww.HealthyYankton.org.

A VIEW FROM ABOVE

Nancy and Pat Zelenka901 West 4th St.

For a floral treat, check outthe side yard at this home.Bordering the driveway is afree-flowing flower bed bor-dered by a rock wall.

Included in the garden areperennial geraniums, daisies,forester grass, fern geraniums,day lilies, tiger lilies, yarrow andsedum. In the corner of the driveis a huge yucca plant that isready to bloom. Clematis growon trellises and eventually willcover an arch to patio behindthe house. Gazing balls givesparkle to the garden and hang-ing baskets complete the look.

A huge tree gives shade tothe flowers and a well-main-tained yard.

Nancy has also started anherb garden.

———Mary Jo and Bud

Schneider2803 Lakeview Dr.

This yard is beautiful — ithas two hanging baskets of

geraniums and many pots oflovely annuals, as well asmarigolds and salvias in a cir-cular bed of landscapingblocks, bushes and solar stakesin the front yard. TheSchneiders have planted hostain the north yard and the backyard has maple and sprucetrees. A wonderful yard todrive by and view.

———Christine and Steve Vellek

1507 Peninah This is a huge yard — 50

rose bushes in the back yard,healthily and blooming; thereis a bed of coleus and impa-tiens, a bed of salvia, a bed ofbleeding hearts and clematisclimbing on arbors. There areseveral potted geraniumshanging on trellises.Everywhere you turn there isanother flower or bed of flow-ers to admire. Drive by andsee what time and a lot ofwork can do with a large yard— it’s beautiful.

June Yards Of TheMonth Announced

BY MARY BETH BRECKENRIDGE© 2010, Akron Beacon Journal

Q: I want to build a rain bar-rel to water my vegetable gar-den this summer. Do you knowwhere I can find an inexpen-sive barrel?

A: Hartville, Ohio, residentJeff Taiclet sells plain barrels for$10 each. You can reach him at330-935-0164. He also sells com-pleted rain barrels.

Another source is ContainerCompliance Corp. in Cleveland,which sells plain barrels for$20.

Its number is 216-961-0035,and its Web site ishttp://www.containercompli-ance.com.

Sometimes food distributorswill sell used barrels, too.

Typically food-grade con-tainers are used to make rainbarrels, because they’ve neverheld toxic chemicals thatmight harm your garden or theenvironment.

———

ON THE SHELF: GUIDE FOCUSESON GARDEN COLOR

One of the most challengingparts of gardening is choosingplants that will provide interestall year long.

Stephanie Cohen and JenniferBenner make that simpler with“The Nonstop Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide to Smart PlantChoices and Four-SeasonDesigns.”

Cohen and Benner argueagainst a purist’s approach andadvocate creating mixed bor-ders that incorporate trees,shrubs, perennials, annuals,tropicals, bulbs, vines and edi-ble plants. They suggest low-maintenance plants in eachcategory, offer strategies forputting them together artfullyand even provide 10 gardendesigns that you can just copyin your own yard.

The Nonstop Garden is pub-lished by Timber Press and sellsfor $19.95 in softcover.

———

WHAT’S NEW: LIGHT FIXTURESMATCH FAUCETS

Moen is helping homeown-ers create a coordinated bath-room by offering lighting fix-tures to match some of itsfaucets.

The lighting is available infour collections in its high-endShowHouse line: Waterhill,Felicity, Solace and Savvy.Various finishes and configura-tions are offered in each collec-tion.

The lighting fixtures featurequick-connect wiring, and manycan be mounted with the bulbsfacing up or down — or in thecase of Solace, vertically or hori-zontally.

Suggested prices range from$163 to $427, depending on thenumber of lights in the fixtureand the finish.

To find a retailer near you,visithttp://showhouse.moen.com orcall 800-289-6636.

GARDEN NOTES:

Rain Barrels Can Be Bought

BY KATHY VAN MULLEKOM© 2010, Daily Press

(Newport News, Va.)

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Awee bit of fantasy and a wholelot of outdoor energy takesover the Enchanted Forest atNorfolk Botanical Garden inNorfolk, Va., when its summerexhibit opens Father’s Day,June 20.

The exhibit, which closesSept. 6, features a collection ofcustom-built, interactive story-book playhouses based on chil-dren’s classics like “Jack and theBeanstalk” and “There was aCrooked Man.” Groups likeHabitat for Humanity and com-panies like Painted FernLandscape Architecture arebuilding the miniature struc-tures.

“We want to encouragereading and we want to teachkids about plants and abouttheir relationships with theoutdoors,” says Amy Dagnall,spokeswoman for the 155-acrebotanical garden in southeast-ern Virginia.

“Trails will take you to secretplaces, get you off the pavedpath where kids can turn overrocks and see bugs and theecosystem that lives underthem.”

Just days before the exhibitopens, builders are still puttingfinal touches on the eight play-houses found along the 25-acreEnchanted Storybook Forest’spaved pathway.

Crystal Morelli and her hus-band, Bob, traveled fromElysburg, Pa., to help Crystal’sbrother, Todd Horne, finish the“Little Red Riding Hood” bunga-low.

Horne who owns Built RightInc., a home-improvement com-pany in Virginia Beach, Va., alsosent many of his staff to work onthe project.

Constructed withHardiplank siding, cedar shakeaccents, copper trim and cus-tom shutters, Little Red RidingHood’s house will offer kids alot of things to do — play withpretend dress-up clothes in acloset, write on a chalkboardin the kitchen, put magnets ona refrigerator, play a miniaturepiano in the loft and, hopefully,see the actual fairytale told ona screen.

Crystal and Bob were hard atwork, painting multi-dimensionalwooden flowers for a “garden.”They had also turned a furry-looking brown bathroom ruginto a Big Bad Wolf’s face for atoss-the-ball game.

“Whatever my brother does,he puts his heart into it,” saysCrystal.

Further down the EnchantedForest path, the oversized, lace-up footwear for “There Was anOld Woman Who Lived in aShoe” by COMPO ConstructionCompany and RRMM Architectsis almost complete. Energizedkids can climb a rope ladder,glide down a slide or ring anoversized bell.

Nearby, botanical gardenmaintenance staff members final-ize their handiwork on a raft for“The Adventures of HuckleberryFinn.”

Four large coil springs posi-tioned in the ground andattached to the bottom of theraft give kids a gentle rockingmotion, making them feel likethey are floating down the river,seeking adventure just like Huckdid. Landscape timbers, hun-dreds of feet of natural rope andscavenged sticks form the rusticcraft.

After the grand opening,The Enchanted StorybookForest still provides lots to dodaily until it closes Sept. 6. Inaddition to play time in thestorybook houses, kids canhear stories and make arts and

crafts daily.Norfolk Botanical Garden

lost 70 trees in last November’snortheastern and that fallenwood is being put to creativeuse for the summer exhibit.Staff is cutting downed trees toform the trail.

Tree Trek Trail, a long path-way for exploring, and stump-style seats for the outdoorclassroom called AcornAcademy. Saws are turningslabs of wood into tic-tac-toeand checker board games;gumballs and other naturalobjects will act as playingpieces. Branches and stickswill be available for children touse as construction materialfor homes they can build forvisiting gnomes.

Families also can venture

over to the WOW Children’sGarden, a 3-acre site filled withcooling fountains, bubblers andjet sprays — especially nice on ahot summer day.

The site takes you on aplant safari, through a dirt fac-tory and into an explorationstation.

Since the children’s gardenopened in 2006, NorfolkBotanical Garden has increas-ingly emphasized programs forfamilies and increased its mem-bership base from 4,500 to7,000, according to Dagnall.Annual attendance runs about280,000.

“This has become a fun, coolplace to be, very much aboutfamilies,” she says.

Kids Garden Takes Root In Va.

BY KATHY VAN MULLEKOM© 2010, Daily Press

(Newport News, Va.)

Bees need us and we needthem.

In your yard, plant a succes-sion of spring, summer and fallflowering plants so bees have acontinual source of nectar.

In return, they help pollinateplants in our home vegetablegardens and farm fields.

To further help bees, createsimple houses for orchardmason bees in celebration ofNational Pollinator Week June21-27.

Orchard mason bees, smallerthan a honey bee and a shinydark blue in color, do not live ina nest like other bees. They livein wooden blocks but do notdrill holes and destroy thingslike some bees. Instead, the beesuse holes that are already avail-able. The male orchard masonbee cannot sting and the femalerarely stings.

Here’s how to build a beehouse, according to the NationalWildlife Federation:

Drill it. With drill bits of vari-ous sizes, 5/16 of an inch worksbest for an orchard mason bee,simply take some scrap lumberand drill holes 3 to 5 inches deepbut not all the way through thewood block. For example, get a4-inch square piece of wood anddrill holes that are 3 1/2 inchesdeep.

Protect it. Cover the holeswith chicken wire to help keepbirds away from the bee house.

Place it. Securely place thebee house on the south side of

buildings, fence posts or trees.Then scatter some of the

houses through your community.Bee house tips:— Do not move bee houses

after they are in place until atleast November.

— Do not spray strong insec-ticides on or around bee houses.

— If you build your own beehouse, do not use treated wood.

To help pollinators:— Reduce the use of pesti-

cides or, if possible, stop usingthem altogether. If you must usean insecticide, apply it in theevening, when many pollinatorsare inactive.

— Plant native, nectar-pro-ducing flowers. Go to http://polli-nator.org/guides.htm and type inyour zip code to receive informa-tion about pollinators in yourarea, plus a list of pollinatorplants.

— Leave tree stumps, deadbranches and rotting trees onyour property, if possible. Theyprovide nests for some speciesof bees.

— When a bee nest is tooclose to your home, don’tdestroy it. Contact a local bee-keeper or your cooperativeextension service to learn howto remove it without harming thebees.

To learn more about bees andother pollinating insects, visitwww.fws.gov/pollinators andwww.pollinators.org.

You can buy a premadeorchard mason bee housethrough mail-order sites such asPlanet Natural at www.planetnat-ural.com or 1-800-289-6656.

Creating SimpleBee Houses

GOT NEWS?Call The Press & Dakotan At 665-7811

ADRIN SNIDER/NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS/MCTJason Whitcomb puts the finishing touches on the floor of the "Little Red Riding Hood" house, June8, 2010, in Norfolk, Virginia. The house will join other of the storybook theme in the Gnome/Storybookexhibit at Norfolk Botanical Garden.