We've Got Benches

Notice anything different about this picture?

Take another look.

Look closely...

That's right! These girls in our After 4 gang are all sitting down. That's something new for our garden. Because up to now, we've never really had anything to sit on.

But thanks to the good people at the Wardman Court Condominium Association, we now have five new park benches.

The association, located just up the hill from us at 13th and Clifton Streets NW here in the District of Columbia, recently donated the benches to Children's Studio School so that visitors to the garden can have a place to sit and relax.

People like to eat lunch in the garden or contemplate the beautiful flowers and herbs. They should have a place to sit and enjoy our space.

Our good friend Darren, who also helped build the garden, lives at the Wardman Court. He heard that the condominium association was looking for a new home for these benches and thought of us. Darren also helped disassemble the benches and transport them to Children's Studio School.

The benches are a cool green color--just like most of our plants--attached to black-colored iron legs. The legs are actually very long because they are designed to be sunk into the ground or into concrete. The legs have to be shortened so that people can sit in the benches. Baba Jose and Mama Elizabeth are working with a metal grinder to cut the legs down to the correct height.

Four of the benches will be installed around our central herb planter, where Mama Elizabeth and the After 4 gang are now assembling a solar-powered water fountain (we can't wait to see that). The fifth bench will be placed in the playground area where it will make a huge difference for our artist/teachers, who up to now have had to find folding chairs in order to sit while they are supervising children on the playground.

These benches are making a huge difference in the garden and on the playground. Thank you, Wardman Court Condominium Association, for thinking of us and making such a great donation!

Garden in Bloom

One of my favorite displays in the garden right now are the clusters of Sweet William and dianthus blooming next to the silvery lamb's ears. We have multicolored flowers of pink and crimson and almost purple, and the small flowers look so perky next to the fuzzy, floppy lamb's ears.

Also the roses are putting on a big show right now. We have one rose climbing against the wall that has a profusion of pink blossoms. Two roses set on either side of the entrance to the garden from the sidewalk have big blooms of creamy peach.

The rock cress, with the tiny little sky-blue blossoms, are only now beginning to fade after a rioutous early Spring blooming. Many of the daisies look like they are getting ready to pop. And you can just see the beginnings of flower buds on the Black-eyed Susans and the cone flowers.

Lately we have been planting lots of different kinds of lettuces because they do so well in the garden and we can make salad for the whole school. We've also been planting a number of flowers, including the marigolds whose seeds we saved from last year, and Shasta daisy, asters, cosmos, zinnias and nasturtiums.

Next week we hope to plant several different kinds of sunflowers. But we have to put more soil in our planter boxes first.

And here's a surprise. We received a note from our friends at the Garden Club of Annapolis. They sent us a very kind donation. So we went right out and bought two winterberry trees, a male and a female, and ordered some clematis vines that will help cover the chain link fence around our garden. We also want to order some small fruit trees, such as peach and plum.

Thank you Garden Club of Annapolis!

This is a picture of our friend Helen holding our even newer friend, Hazel. They came to the garden to help us plant seeds. Wasn't that fun Hazel?

Please come again soon...