Bettine Clemen, celebrated International solo flautist, preformed a captivating benefit concert at the Botanical Center for the Friends of the Garden's planned Edible Sensory Garden Sunday afternoon that brought tears to the eyes of some concert goers.

After a long career as a celebrated orchestral and solo flutist and recording artist, Bettine Clemen has made her reputation as a true healer with her unique concert programs. By bringing together images of nature, animals, children and people from all over the planet with her personal interpretation through her flutes, Bettine evokes the healing power of music and is a perfect artist to highlight the healing power of our future Edible Sensory Garden. For more information and where to order Bettine's music click here http://www.joyofmusic.com/home.htm

This garden will truly be a garden for healing. It will be completely accessible to the disabled. Plants will be specially selected for the senses so that the garden can be appreciated by the blind and partially blind and provide fragrance, taste, touch and feel. It will be a place of peace and beauty with seating capacity to accommodate those who are convalescing from illness.

This concert was a fundraiser for our future Edible Sensory Garden and was the finale to the three-day celebration of the first anniversary of the Botanical Center, which opened in October 2010. To make an additional contribution to this garden please make a check payable and mail to Friends of the Garden, P.O.Box 8566, Springfield MO, 65801. Note "Sensory Garden" on the memo line. Your investment will help us reach our objective of starting phase one.

Bettine, thank you !

Springfield Botanical Gardens Nathanael Greene/Close Park Garden Report 2012
By Bob Childress, Friends of the Garden

January 10, 2013

Garden Construction and Maintenance

Winter Garden: Our main project this year was phase 2 of the Winter Garden. This garden covers about an acre of ground and is the largest garden in Close Memorial Park. We added 5 new sections and planted hundreds of plants designed to have year-round interest. Our expenditure for topsoil, mulch, compost, the water feature with circulating pump, decorative boulders and stone edging was about $27,000, funded for the most part by Friends of the Garden membership dues. We still have about 1/3 of the garden left to construct before it's totally completed. The garden and water feature were designed by Gail Wright and Dr Bill Roston. Working along with many Friends of the Garden volunteers they are developing another "jewel" in the park, we hope you have seen it.

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Walking is good for the body and meditating is good for the soul. Throw into the mix a dynamite location, the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden, and you’re sure to experience a sense of serenity and peace of mind, says Nancy Schmidt, chair of the Friends of the Garden volunteer group that helps maintain the Stroll Garden, located within Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park.

Janice Murrell will lead the Walking Meditation at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, 2013. The Meditation Stroll is free of charge, but admission to the Stroll Garden is $3.

“With our busy lives and our own ‘mind noise,’ we tend to lose touch with the peace and joy that is available in each moment, the sun and breeze upon our face, sound of birds singing and the gratefulness in being alive,” said Murrell. “The practice of Walking Meditation brings us back to be fully present and aware with every step, filling each new moment with peace, joy and gratefulness.”

Since 1986, the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden has attracted thousands of visitors to its more than seven acres of lush and mature landscaping, waterfalls, winding paths, meditation areas, ponds, bonsai shelter, tea house, pagoda and other features. The garden was named in honor of Yuriko Mizumoto Scott, the first Japanese war bride to come to the U.S. after World War II.

The volunteer members of the Friends of the Garden, together with Master Gardeners of Greene County, other nonprofit organizations and the staff and employees of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, create and maintain the gardens within the 114-acre public park at 2400 S. Scenic Ave.

Friends of the Garden tax-deductible $25 annual memberships can be purchased at the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center gift shop. For more information, visit FriendsoftheGarden.org or Facebook at FriendsoftheGarden/events.

 

Take a video tour of the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Gardens and Complex

Episode: Produced and broadcast by OPT OzarksWatch Video Magazine

With host Dale Moore, original air date 10/10/11

Watch The Springfield-Greene County Botanical Gardens and Complex on PBS. See more from KOZK.

The Springfield-Greene County Botanical Gardens and Complex at Nathanael Greene and Close Memorial Parks, is an amazing collection of specialty gardens and historical and educational exhibits. Jodie Adams, Marthe and Major Close, George Deatz and Kenny Knauer introduce us to the history of the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Gardens and Complex and its overall beauty that anyone will enjoy. (The original broadcast date was 18 months ago. It was recently added to the OPT video archives and made available.)