Sunshine Community Gardens

17 October 2019

www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org

Gardener's Picture page

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Safety Needs To Be a Priority at the Garden

Kay McMurry writes: "I encountered a potentially dangerous situation the other day trying to enter the garden and wanted to let people know that if they're driving out of the garden while another vehicle is trying to enter, they need to yield and back up for that vehicle. The situation was this: I was waiting to turn left off of Sunshine Drive into the garden on another car that was entering the garden from the other direction. It paused and stayed motionless for a few minutes. Turns out someone was exiting the garden and wouldn't back up. Eventually the entering car backed up into the street, a very dangerous move as the cars behind me waiting for me to turn became very impatient and began driving around me, narrowly missing the car that had backed up. It's always safer for the vehicle already in the garden to back up than the one entering the garden.

Note: People entering the garden should also be aware of people exiting the garden. If the person exiting is nearly at the gate, please pause and give them a chance to exit. It's just common courtesy... There is a lot more to say, but it has been dismissed by the board.

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A Useful Recycling Guide

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Ingenious Way to Weed

Gardener Bill Gaventa shares a weeding method he found on Facebook.

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Zilker Botanical Gardens Events

"Herbs 101: All the Dirt on Soil" - TWiG: Talks & Walks in the Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden

October 19th, 2019 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

The Austin Herb Society invites all herb gardening novices and Austin newcomers to attend "Herbs 101: All the Dirt on Soil" at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19 in the Zilker Herb Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden. This class, free with garden admission, is part of the Austin Herb Society's new educational series, TWiG: Talks & Walks in the Garden, which offers free interactive workshops on gardening with an emphasis on herbs.

"Herbs 101: All the Dirt on Soil" will look at the seven types of soil found in the Austin area and how to improve each to maximize results in home gardens. AHS horticulture director and master gardener Judith Craft will lead the talk, which also includes an opportunity to tour the Zilker Herb Garden and learn about the many varieties of herbs grown there.

Cost: Free with garden admission.

To learn more, visit the Austin Herb Society's website.

For more info, check out our Facebook event.

Violet Crown Garden Club's Fall Flower Show - "Amazing Zilker"

October 19th & 20th, 2019 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Join us for The Violet Crown Garden Club's Fall Show, titled "Amazing Zilker", with both horticulture and design that celebrate all things great about the Garden! In fact, each section of the horticulture division will be named after a garden club that meets in the Garden Center, while the design division will honor the Taniguchi Garden, since this is the 50th anniversary of it's completion. Different elements of the Japanese Garden will be highlighted while our designers compete for first place in a variety of design styles. Judged by nationally accredited judges from around the state, this show is sure to be an exciting, beautiful reflection of our "Amazing Zilker."

Cost: Free, with garden admission.

To learn more about the Violet Crown Garden Club, visit their website.

For more info, check out our Facebook event.

"Pollinators in Grasslands: Habitat Requirements & Management" with Dr. Elinor Lichtenberg

Austin Butterfly Forum's Monthly Meeting

October 28th, 2019 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Grasslands provide habitat for diverse flower-visiting insects, but are highly threatened by human activities (e.g., urbanization, invasive grasses, disrupted fire regimes). In order to understand how various activities might affect pollinators - both negatively and positively - we need a better understanding of how pollinator communities respond to multiple aspects of grassland habitat. This talk will discuss habitat requirements of bees and other pollinators. It will also describe ongoing research on how grassland restoration impacts pollinator communities.

Dr. Elinor Lichtenberg is currently a postdoc in Shalene Jha's lab at UT Austin, and is starting as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas in 2020. Her research focuses on plant-pollinator interactions, including animal behavior and community ecology. Elinor's interest in pollinators grew out of her doctoral research on communication by tropical stingless bees (UC San Diego). She has since studied topics such as nectar robbing behavior, and how various land management practices impact pollinator communities. Elinor has become increasingly interested in how such activities affect pollinators with different life histories and resource requirements.

For more about the Austin Butterfly Forum, visit their website.

RSVP to the Facebook event.

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Weeder Content

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