Category Archives: Plants

ICS Grade 2 Students Bring Plants for Butterflies

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Last Friday the amazing grade 2 students at ICS each brought in a plant for the butterfly garden. Ms. McLane had suggested a list of plants that are good for the butterflies in Florida. The students followed the recommendations and brought in salvia, pentas, lantana, firebush, and petunias.

ICS Students hold their plants for the butterfly garden.

ICS Students hold their plants for the butterfly garden.

They were eager to put their flowers in the garden for the butterflies. The Town N Country Garden Circle ladies were in the garden waiting for them. As soon as they got there, students were arranged in groups, so all the salvia plants were together, all of the pentas together, etc. Next the plants were placed on the ground in the garden. We wanted similar plants together, but also had to plan so each plant had enough room to reach its full size.

The women had a knife to cut through the newspaper and mulch placed in the garden last week. Holes were dug for each plant, while students worked to get their plants out of the pots. As each student planted the flower that he or she brought, the roots were spread apart slightly. Then students tapped and pressed the soil around each plant to set it in place. It was a busy time but within 30 minute, all plants were in the ground. What a miracle.

A monarch butterfly was fluttering around the milkweed plant that had been placed in the garden last week. The students were delighted to see the butterfly and happy that their plants were already working to feed the butterflies. As the students went back to school to get cleaned up and ready for the Friday Stations of the Cross, the women watered the plants to help give them a good start.

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Garden Club Prepares the Garden

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Three weeks ago the garden club students learned how to take a soil sample to send to the IFAS extension office for evaluation to see what needs to be added to the soil to make it more fertile for vegetables. They also collected a soil sample in a large glass jar, added water to fill the jar and shook it to thoroughly mix the soil and water. This was left for a week to settle to see how much of the mixture was sand, how much soil and how much clay and humus. Sand is heaviest and settles to the bottom first. Soil settles on top of the sand. The smaller, lighter clay particles settle on top of the soil. The humus, remains of plants, floats on top.

The following week when we met to look at the layers in the jar and to discuss the soil results. We found that the soil has some sand, very little clay but a thick layer of soil. We were joined that week by Ms. Lesley Allen and Ms. Lois McLane from the Town N Country garden circle who have volunteered to help us. After examining the soil sample, we took them to the garden so they could see the size of the area and get an idea of the environment. We also showed them the compost pile and explained what we are doing to maintain it.

Our plan for the garden is to have the lower level developed into a butterfly garden with the younger elementary students caring for it with the help of Ms. McLane and Ms. Allen. The garden club students will each be assigned a row or two to weed, plant and maintain in the upper level.

Two weeks ago Ms. Allen and Ms. McLane worked with the grade 2 students to weed the lower section. After school, the garden club students transplanted tomatoes from the lower section to the upper section, and they put down newspaper and mulch around the tomatoes to stop weed growth. In the lower section of the garden, the garden club students planted plants brought in by Ms. Allen and Ms. McLane. Some of these plants will provide food for the caterpillars and some will provide food for the butterflies.

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Grade 2 in the ICS Garden

Posted on by rhondacarrier
Grade 2 Gardenrs

Grade 2 Gardeners

Incarnation has had two wonderful women, Lesley Allen and Lois McLane, from the Town N Country Garden Circle volunteer to help us with our garden. Our garden was neglected during the Christmas vacation and badly needed weeding. We decided that was where they would start to help us. We also had an eager group of garden workers waiting to work in the grade 2 classroom.

We put on our garden gloves and went to work. It took an hour, but under the guidance of Ms. Allen and Ms. McLane, the students completed the task of weeding the lower level of the garden. They also got to watch Mr. Arnold unload 20 bags of mulch to be used to cover sections of the garden so the weeds do not come back. Students were asked to bring in newspapers from home to help control the weeds in the garden. Newspaper is placed down first and the mulch spread on top of it. This forms a barrier so the weeds do not get sunlight and are unable to grow.

The lower half of the garden will become the butterfly garden. Ms. Allen and Ms. McLane brought some plants to start this section of the garden. They also brought cuttings of other plants. These were left in the grade 2 classroom for the students to keep watered and so the students could watch the roots grow. The grade 2 students will plant them in the garden in a few weeks.

The students contributed banana peels and apple cores to the compost pile and watched in amazement as Ms. Allen dumped a large bag of coffee grounds into the compost bin. She regularly collects coffee grounds from local coffee shops. It makes a fertile addition to the compost pile.

We would like to thank them for their help and look forward to the development of the butterfly garden this spring.

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Garden Gift from Grandparents

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Last Friday the St. Francis Garden Club met after school as usual. Students were assigned rows to weed. They also planted carrots seeds since the carrots previously planted are not sprouting. Our green beans, radishes and beets are doing well however. During the last half hour of work, the grandparents of one of the students arrived with plants to give to the group. Everyone received a small potted snakeplant. The plants are sprouts of a plant that has been in their family for years. Students were told to water the plant thoroughly once a week and to put it in good indirect light. Our gardeners were delighted with the plants. We thank them for their generosity.

Photo opportunity after an afternoon weeding and planting.

Showing off our garden gifts.

St. Francis Garden Club – Compost, Raised Beds, Planting, Skunkvine

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Last Friday after stopping to see the compost pile, we divided the garden club students into groups to complete various tasks: (1) working on the square raised beds for the early elementary students, (2) weeding and planting flower seeds, and (3) clearing skunkvine from bushes on campus.

Compost: Earlier in the day, the temperature in the compost pile was 92°F while the air temperature was only 72°F indicating active microbial growth. Later in the morning, the compost pile was covered with small mushrooms. After school when the garden club met, most of the mushrooms on the surface were gone, but students found a few button mushrooms inside the compost when we turned the hay with a pitch fork. We added vegetables from the cafeteria and watered it since it was not supposed to rain over the weekend.

Watering the compost

Raised Gardens: We set up the four square raised gardens two weeks ago, but hadn’t had enough soil at that time. The Incarnation Parish staff purchased more potting soil, so our garden students broke up the clumps of soil and pulled a few weeds that had stared growing already.

Working in the raised-bed garden

Weeding and Planting: Students were assigned rows to weed in the garden. They also planted flower seeds in the lower level. Our goal is to grow vegetables in the top level, but to establish a healthy environment for bees and butterflies in the lower level. Each section was labeled with the type of seed planted. These included Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus), Alyssum (Saxatile compactum), Forget-Me-Not (Nomeolvides), Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus), and some packages of mixed flower seeds.

Adding fertile soil from a pile on the side of the garden while planting flower seeds.

Skunkvine: In a conversation with the kindergarten teachers a few weeks ago, they mentioned the “smelly” plants growing outside their classroom. I investigated last week and found skunkvine, also called stink vine, growing over the bushes. The scientific name is Paederia foetida. It was brought into Florida as a possible fiber crop but it soon escaped cultivation to become an invasive problem throughout Florida and neighboring states. It is a rapidly growing vine that can damage and kill plants it is growing on. The garden club students pulled the vine off the bushes to temporarily free the area from the vine. They did not use any chemicals, so the roots are still active in the soil and the vine will come back again. We’ll let it come gradually come back and I will get chemicals to spray it. The IFAS site describes the plant and its control as follows:

Skunkvine is a woody vine that does not have thorns. Its vines are able to grow 30 feet in length, climbing up into tree canopies or crawling along the ground. For some unknown reason, the vines constantly twine to the right. The smelly, foul odor released when skunkvine is crushed may a useful characteristic that can aid in identification. Skunkvine leaves vary in size and shape. Generally skunkvine leaf blades have rounded to cordate (heart) shaped bases and acuminate (pointed) tips, with entire (smooth) margins. Leaves may be opposite on the stem. In rare instances, leaves have also been found in whorls of three. Leaves and flowers are on petioles about 2 ½ inches long. Skunk vine flowers are small, light grayish pink or lilac, with red centers. The fruit are small, spherical, shiny brown having 2 black, non-winged seeds. Skunkvine is able to reproduce vegetatively and via seed. Its stems are able to root readily in soil. It is thought that seeds are eaten by frugivorous birds and spread, but has not yet been verified.

Chemical control is one of the most effective means of control for skunkvine, but single applications will generally not provide complete control. This is due to resprouting from rootstocks or root crowns. A dilution of triclopyr (Garlon 3A at 1 to 2% solution or Garlon 4 at 0.5 to 2% solution) in water can be an effective control for skunkvine when applied as a foliar application. Be sure to include a non-ionic surfactant at 0.25% (10 mLs or 2 teaspoons per gallon of spray solution). These herbicides are systemic (move throughout plant tissue) so care must be exercised to minimize off-target damage. If skunkvine is growing up into trees or other desirable species, vines should be cut or pulled down to minimize damage to the desirable vegetation. Pulling the vines down without severing them from the root crown will allow the herbicide to move into the root and provide better control. The best time to apply an herbicide is in the spring and summer when skunkvine is actively growing. Be sure to allow adequate time for the plant to regrow from the winter to ensure movement of the herbicide back into the roots. (As plants grow and mature, they begin to move sugars back into the roots).

Pulling off the skunk vine.