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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Our official opening on May 11, was planned to coincide with National Public Gardens Day, a celebration of public gardens around the country. The house was open from 10am-6pm and we featured an afternoon butterfly release inside the house. Prior to that, the butterfly house was unlocked and open to the public during April to view the early spring butterflies who nectared on the lilac bushes and other small flowers that had emerged with the early warm temperatures. The official last day of operation was Sunday, October 7.

A total of 22,448 people visited the house in this time, nearly 5,500 more than last season. This was largely due to an expansion of days and hours made possible by a greater volunteer base. Posted hours remained Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5pm-dusk and Saturdays and Sundays from 10a-6p. Thanks to a volunteer group that continued growing in number throughout the season, the house was able to be scheduled open most weekday evenings and many daytime hours during the week as well. A total of 60 volunteers have recorded close to 3800 service hours in collecting butterflies, growing plants, raising livestock, watering, weeding, pruning, hosting tours, and working scheduled shifts, greeting and educating visitors. We had and have a great group of docents who love their work and who can’t wait to share their enthusiasm of Lepidoptera with others.

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Friends of the Garden is constantly seeking funds to further our beautiful gardens, expand, maintain and develop programs of interest to the public, However, we did not have a plan in place that directly addressed the desires of the board of directors or that matched our mission statement. While trying to seek funding, it became apparent that foundations, corporations and even individuals required a detailed strategic plan for how we planned to exist and use funding for the next few years. In June of 2012, the Board of Directors listed priorities for our organization: first of all our gardens, secondly, educating the community about nature and lastly being a resource to the community and catering to the needs of the public. The Executive Committee then held a day long study session to turn lists into goals and strategies. The final product, The Sustainability Plan 2013-2014 was brought to the board at the October Board meeting and board members were to identify and commit to areas of the plan where they could make the goals and strategies happen. Our overall goal now is make the Sustainability Plan a living and working document, defining the ways in which we operate and prioritize our volunteer time. If and when holes become apparent in the plan it is our intention to bring in professional training to assist in steering us in the direction to complete our plan.

 Sustainability Plan 2013-2014 (4.03 MB)

Major and Marthe Close accept a Leader's Honor Roll aware from MU Extension, presented by Gaylord Moore, retired horticulture specialist.SPRINGFIELD, MO – The Greene County Extension Council honored three individuals Feb. 27 during its annual meeting by adding their names to the University of Missouri Extension’s “Leader’s Honor Roll.”

Among the honorees were Major and Marthe Close, driving forces behind the creation of the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center and the headquarters for Greene County Extension.

“Due to a very special gentleman named Major Close, we can be thankful for the construction of this great landmark and an extraordinary beautiful place to house Extension. Major and Martha, you are truly friends to Extension whom I highly admire and respect for all you have done and continue to do for this community,” said Gaylord Moore, a retired horticulture specialist with Greene County Extension during his introduction of the Closes.

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George Deatz stands outside the Botanical Center during a Grand Opening function in October of 2010.It's hard to believe that my third year as president of Friends of the Garden is over. As you know a lot of great things have developed around the Botanical Center & Gardens this past year with the help of our many volunteers and all of our members.

The Azalea Garden is in place with the exception of some stone work and the foot bridge; it was adopted by Kim Hutter. The Winter Garden phase one is complete with phase two already underway. The concept was introduced by Bill Roston with the working design by Gail Wright. Bill Roston is currently designing and working on a water feature for the garden.

A major donor agreed to fund construction and maintenance of the Kay Cummins Finnie Memorial Dogwood Garden. A first class design by Katie Steinhoff is in place and work on the garden has already begun. The Ethnic Tree Trail Memorial, including 32 black gum trees, donated by Jim Mauldin and his group is almost complete.

A paved sandstone area with arbor were installed for weddings and other events in the Dwarf Conifer Garden. The gardens all have an official "adopter" including Avis Holloway who joined the Dwarf Conifer Garden crew of Ed and Ruby Miller.

All of the Close Memorial Park gardens we wanted on automatic irrigation (the Rose Garden isn't included due to potential problems with disease) are now on line with the completion of the Redbud Garden during November.

Merger of the Sensory Garden with the proposed Parks Department Kitchen Garden is a work in progress. The Entrance Garden has been redesigned by Katie Steinhoff to expanded it. Construction should be ready to start in 2012 with funding assistance from another private donor.

In Close Memorial Park we had three major "Garden Extreme Makeovers" in 2012. The Ornamental Grass Garden by Hannah Renner with her volunteers and the Hosta Garden organized by Tom Lakowske along with the Greater Ozarks Hosta Society. The Redbud Garden was brought to life by Stan Horsch working with a dedicated crew.

The Ozark Daylily Society members and Ozarks Regional Lily Society with Frank Mason worked hard on their respective gardens to improve their presentation to the public, these gardens should be a stand out this coming year. A major donation of plant material was provided the garden and the Missouri Native Plant Society planted it in an area developed by Friends of the Garden volunteers just south of the Wildflower Garden.

Three additional major improvements were made to the support structure of the gardens. A major donor funded an 810 foot section of blacktop trail along the east side of Close Memorial Park connecting the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll garden and the Gray-Campbell Farmstead to the South Creek Greenway. The trail base was graded with rock provided by the Parks Department. Electrical service was brought to the south side of Lake Drummond to serve the Dwarf Conifer Garden thanks to the efforts of Friends of the Garden members Ed Miller and Bob Childress working with the Parks Department. Finally Friends of the Garden and the Parks Department worked together to extended 4 inch water lines east and south of the new Botanical Center to help with the gardens complex irrigation system.

The Bill Roston Native Butterfly House had record attendance that exceeded 17,000 during 2011 keeping Scott Cunningham and his group of volunteer docents busy from mid May through September. The very successful Butterfly Festival repeated again last July, thanks to Cindy Wills and her group of over 100 volunteers. The end of September Lisa Bakerink with her group of volunteers held our second successful Monarch Watch Butterfly Tagging day. The Butterfly House Operations Group is planning to start a Junior Docent training program this coming spring centered around 5th graders with an adult partner.

During the year we participated in many community events from the Lawn & Garden Show, to Young Spouts, the Japanese Fall Festival, and the Botanical Center anniversary to name a few. Along the way we sponsored the 2011 January Bee Keeping Class, Tablescapes, the Easter Egg Roll, and Santa & Friends.

The merger of the Botanical Society of Southwest Missouri and FOG was officially completed the end of October. The new Japanese Gardening Group is at work to identify, prioritize, and plan the funding needed for maintenance projects throughout the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden. The 7.5 acre garden has been adopted by Don and Nancy Schmidt working in conjunction with the Parks Department and other volunteers.

According to Kauleen, it looks like we have 1038 current members as of mid December. Katie Ryland has done an excellent job as our Membership Coordinator helping build our excellent membership base.

Of course, we have an excellent slate of new officers ready to take over in 2012; Nancy Hopkins, president; Christine Chiu, vice president; Cindy Baird, secretary; Brent Bothwell Palmer, treasurer.

I am quite sure there is more "news you can use" that I have missed! News like our excellent, informative website maintained by RJ Jacob. Plus our quality newsletter tucked inside each new issue of the fantastic Greene Magazine. Both are edited by George Freeman and distributed by his partner Mike Noggle.

Thank you for the commitment that you made this year to Friends of the Garden and our community asset, Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park, home of the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center & Gardens.

I look forward to seeing you around the gardens during 2012.

My best regards,

George Deatz
President 2011

FRIENDS OF THE GARDEN REPORTS MORE MEMBERS, MORE GARDENS FOR THE PUBLIC TO ENJOY AT NATHANAEL GREENE/CLOSE MEMORIAL PARK

Just as flowers bloom, trees grow taller and shrubs denser, the Friends of the Garden has grown to include more than 1,000 members and has created more gardens for the public to enjoy at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park.

In 2009 when George Deatz began the first of three terms as president of Friends of the Garden, the volunteer organization had 250 members. “People make an organization strong,” said Deatz. “The more members we have, the more gardens we can create, build and maintain.” The count stood at 800 last fall and recently crossed the thousand-plus milestone, a portion of that increase due to the merger of the Botanical Society of Southwest Missouri into the Friends of the Garden.

The mission of the Botanical Society was to help maintain the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden, located in the northeast corner of the public park and arboretum at 2400 S. Scenic Ave. Now, members will incorporate that mission under the umbrella of the Friends of the Garden.

 

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