We’ll soon have some new and interesting plant specimens growing at St. Simeon’s that will we can all enjoy for years to come. Dana Forrest, our Horticulturist, attended Herb Day in Brookside and brought back several plants native to Oklahoma that you can’t find at every supermarket and plant stand all over town. We’ll be transplanting in the next week Mexican Sunflowers, Woodland Phlox, Lizard’s Tail, Butterfly Weed, Salvia (Black & Blue and Bright Blue varieties), Aster, Beauty Berry, Saskatoon Service Berry and Blue-eyed Grass Iris.

Doesn’t the new roof over the Health Care Center look wonderful! Did you see what a great job the roofers did protecting our Johnny Appleseed Apple Tree? Even though they were working almost right over it tossing roof debris into the dumpster and had to have their heavy equipment within just a couple of feet they never disturbed a leaf!

We have a wonderful set of plant videos that Gayle Eby has donated. It is the six volume series, David Attenborough’s The Private Life of Plants. Described as, “A dazzling kaleidoscope of the essence of life on earth”. The covers alone are beautiful. This was a British Broadcasting Corporation series that I missed and I bet some of you did too. They are available if someone wishes to check them out (each 50 minutes) and from time-to-time we’ll show them here at one of our Garden Club or Roots n’ Shoots meetings. Titles: “Branching Out”, “Putting Down Roots”, “The Birds & the Bees”, “Plant Politics”, “Living Together”, and “It’s a Jungle Out There”.

We’re going to have another Plant Swap here at St. Simeon’s. We did this a couple of years ago (it was the idea of Akilah Rezzaq, one of our Psych Techs in the Memory Center – check out her plants in Home 3) and folks seemed to really enjoy it. Now is the best time to start new plants, repot and take cutting from old ones and share our “harvest”. Bring any plants that you no longer want or cutting from those that do particularly well for you and you would be willing to share. No money exchanges hands, just a chance to give a plant or start a new one. I recommend investing in a little package of Rootone powder to encourage roots to grow but it is not essential. We’ll do this on Wednesday, May 7th in the Multi-Media Room (behind Administration offices). All residents, employees and family members are invited to participate.

Drop by the Education Office to see two color photos Adelle Graves provided of some Darlingtonia Californicas – meat-eating plants. Don’t worry about stepping on one of these and losing a toe because they are only native to the bog areas of northern California and southwestern Oregon. They resemble small cobras and insects are attracted to the leaf opening under the “cobra hood” either by the nectar or the colorful “petal-like” appendages. Once inside the hood they become confused by the many transparent areas in the upper parts of the leaves, which appear as exits. They eventually lose their footing on the glassy smooth surface and fall into a pool of liquid at the base and are digested.

Well, good for the Darlingtonia Californicas but I think we can all agree that we prefer selecting our meals from the steam table and salad bar...

At the recent Auxiliary Book Sale we discovered a book to put in our Gardening Library, The International Book of Trees, which was donated by AnnaBelle Shearer. Both she and her mother were once residents of St. Simeon’s. Anna Belle was a big fan of fresh tomatoes. During each tomato season she would go out in the country and buy fresh tomatoes to bring back and share with everyone.

Another resident gone for many years but not forgotten is Sue Morey. She loved working with flowers and kept beautiful ferns in Eckel Parlor. Regularly she would have Maintenance take them outside and than she would beat the living daylights out of them with a broom to get rid of all the brown leaves. Paula and Stella still use Sue’s watering can. Sue and Clara Hewitt are also responsible for the Japanese Red Maple growing outside the City View Dining Room.

Adelle Graves has shared many plants and ideas with us – including recently a very helpful Seed Planting Guide. She is moving soon to live near her daughter in Chattanooga, Tennessee but we’ll always enjoy seeing her tulips and jonquils every spring. Fran Lewis received an azalea as a gift a couple of years ago and though a “florist azalea” often is not hardy outside, she had it planted and it has bloomed its heart out. The irises that Jack Ward donated last year are blooming in the first circle flower bed. We appreciate all of you and everyone else that can’t be mentioned with the space and time available. As Paula Sampson says, “Some people leave a mark on our hearts and on our yard.”