Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens

Photo Contest Winners

2012-01-05T07:42:00.001-08:00

Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens

2011 Photo Contest Winners

Category: PLANTS

Adult

First Place: Judy Harvey

Crooked Stick

Second Place: Selina Darger

Lilies of the Valley

Third Place: Judy Harvey

Spider Azalea

Youth

First Place: Carlee Anne Punt

Companula

Second Place: Carlee Anne Punt

Hosta

Third Place: Carlee Anne Punt

Funny Face

Category: LANDSCAPE/SCENERY

Adult

First Place: Linda Price

Let's Sit a Spell

Second Place: MaryAnn Czermak

Early Morning at the River

Third Place: Linda Price

Stairway to Heaven

Youth

First Place: Carlee Anne Punt

Vista

Category: PEOPLE IN NATURE

Adult

First Place: Cora Sue Swords

Busy Man (Photo Unavailable)

Second Place: Cora Sue Swords

Bosses! (Photo Unavailable)

Third Place: (Only two entries received in this category)

Youth

(No entries received in this category)

YOUTH DIVISION WINNER:

Carlee Anne Punt ~ Companula

ADULT DIVISION WINNER:

Judy Harvey ~ Crooked Stick

PEOPLE'S CHOICE:

Selina Darger ~ Lilies of the Valley

BEST OF SHOW:

Judy Harvey ~ Crooked Stick

Judges: Shery Larson, Paul Melo, Myrna Dupzyk, Wayne Eng

2011 Photo Contest

2012-01-05T07:37:00.000-08:00

2011 Winners Photo Gallery

Winners of the 2011 Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens Photo Contest were announced October 27, 2011 at a Gallery Showing and reception at The Box Car Gallery. All of the photos were taken in the Botanical Gardens throughout the year.

Judges for the contest were Paul Melo, Shery Larson, Myrna Dupzyk and Wayne Eng. First, second and third place winners in the categories of Wildlife, Plants, Landscape/Scenery and People in Nature for each Division received ribbons. Best of Youth and Adult Divisions were awarded a $50 cash prize. There were no entries in the Professional Division. Visitors to the exhibit at The Box Car through the month of October and Autumn Art Walk October 29 had the opportunity to vote for a special People’s Choice Award.

Contest committee member Judy Harvey stated, “The photos received during the annual contest have been wonderful and we look forward to an increase in participants in 2012. We urge photographers to begin taking their photos now. The deadline for the 2012 contest is September 28, 2012.

Information regarding the 2012 Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens Photo Contest will be coming soon. Please check the website EVENTS for the rules and forms for this year’s contest.

Photo Contest Winners

2011-08-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens Outreach/Education committee wishes to remind all photographers, amateur and professional, to enter the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens’ 2011 nature Photo Contest. Photos taken in the Botanical Gardens may be entered in categories including wildlife, plants, landscape/scenery and people in nature. The contest is open to all ages with youth, adult and professional divisions.

The deadline for entries is October 14, 2011 but entries may be submitted any time prior to the October deadline to the Dunsmuir Recreation District office, 4841 Dunsmuir Avenue, Dunsmuir between 9:00 AM and 12 Noon, Tuesday through Friday. A complete list of rules and entry forms are available on this website. The best of the entries will be featured in future Gardens’ publications and other promotional materials. For more information contact us via email at: info@dunsmuirbotanicalgardens.org or call 530-235-2219.

Botanical Gardens Volunteer Fair

2011-03-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens will be the site of the Botanical Gardens Volunteer Opportunity Fair Saturday, April 9, at 12:00 Noon in the Dunsmuir City Park. Bring your own brown bag lunch and explore the many volunteer opportunities available this season in the Gardens. There is something for everyone’s interest and schedule. The event is the kick-off for the formation of the Botanical Gardens Stewards Program. This team of Gardens volunteers will assist horticulturalist, Candace Miller, and part-time gardener, Adriana Ospina, in the on-going tasks that keep the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens blooming.

In case of rain, the Volunteer Fair will be held in the Dunsmuir Community Building, 4841 Dunsmuir Avenue.

COME GROW WITH US!

For more information, please contact info@dunsmuirbotanicalgardens.org

or call (530)235-2219 or (530)235-4674.

Membership Drive Begins

2011-03-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens annual membership drive is underway. The monies raised during the spring campaign are crucial to the Gardens’ activities and projects. As an established non-profit organization, the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens depends on the generosity of the public for its maintenance and support. The funds raised from Supporting memberships provides for the normal annual expenses, a part-time gardener’s salary, additional plants and necessary maintenance.

Supporting members of the Botanical Gardens will receive many benefits including discounts on Gardens’ events, an invitation to the Members Appreciation Garden Party, free quarterly newsletter, Early Bird ticket sales for the Tribute to the Trees concert June 25 and private member tours upon request.

Join today and keep the Gardens always free and always beautiful!

For further information about becoming a Supporting member of the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens contact info@dunsmuirbotanicalgardens.org, write to Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens, PO Box 242, Dunsmuir, CA or call (530)235-0210.

2010 Photo Contest Winners

2011-01-30T07:09:00.001-08:00

CATEGORY: PLANTS

ADULT

First Place: MaryAnn Czermak ~ Yesteryear's Leaves

Second Place: Judy Harvey ~ Snow Wreath

Third Place: Alexandra Bogdan ~ A Myriad of Blooms

CATEGORY: PLANTS

YOUTH

First Place: Carlee Anne Punt ~ Sprout

Second Place: Carlee Ann Punt ~ White Bells

Third Place: Carlee Anne Punt ~ Lava Beds

CATEGORY: PEOPLE IN NATURE

ADULT

First Place: Sue Lang ~ Evening on the Sac

Second Place: Sue Lang ~ Happy Birthday

Third Place: Cora Sue Sword ~ Swords Wedding

* Youth ~ No Youth entries in this category

CATEGORY: Landscape/Scenery

Adult

First Place: Judy Harvey ~ Dogwood in Spring

Second Place: Judy Harvey ~ Fall Color

Third Place: Nick Bogdan ~ A Peaceful Walk

CATEGORY: Landscape/Scenery

Youth

First Place: Carlee Anne Punt ~ Twisted

YOUTH DIVISION WINNER: Carlee Anne Punt ~ Twisted

ADULT DIVISION WINNER: MaryAnn Czermak ~ Yesteryear's Leaves

PEOPLE'S CHOICE: (Tie)

MaryAnn Czermak, #4 ~ Yesteryear's Leaves

and Carlee Anne Punt, #5 ~ Sprout

Judges: Donn Brannon, Paul Melo and Scott Nystrom

Photo Contest

2011-01-30T06:50:00.000-08:00

Winners of the 2010 Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens Photo Contest were announced October 28, 2010 at a Gallery Showing and reception at The Box Car Gallery. All of the photos were taken in the Botanical Gardens throughout the year.

Judges for the contest were Donn Brannon, Scott Nystrom and Paul Melo. First, second and third place winners in the categories of Wildlife, Plants, Landscape/Scenery and People in Nature for each Division received ribbons. Best of Youth and Adult Divisions were awarded in an a $50 cash prize. There were no entries in the Professional Division. Visitors to the exhibit at The Box Car through the month of October had the opportunity to vote for a special People's Choice Award.

Connie Crawford, president of the Gardens' Board of Directors, thanked all who entered this year's contest. She said, "We are proud of the fact that so many citizens and visitors choose to to enjoy the education and recreation opportunites that the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens offers."

Information regarding the 2011 Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens Photo Contest will be coming soon. Please check the website EVENTS for the rules and forms for this year's contest.

All About Bats

2010-06-16T21:16:00.001-07:00

Local bat Researcher, Ray Miller, will discuss bats during a special program to be held on Wednesday, July, 7th, 6:00 PM at the Dunsmuir Community Building, 4821 Dunsmuir Avenue. Although bats are poorly understood and seldom seen there are probably more bats in this area than any other type of animal. Mr. Miller’s presentation will touch on the various species found locally, their habits and the myths associated with them. There will be time for questions.

This presentation is part off a series of educational opportunities offered by the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens’ Education/Outreach Committee. Admission is free for those attending. Fora additional information, please call (530) 235-2219 or contact the Botanical Gardens: info@dunsmuirbotanicalgardens.org.

Planters Petal Power

2010-05-04T08:39:00.001-07:00

The Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens annual planting of new perennials and annuals has been scheduled for Friday May 14 and Saturday May 15. Gardens volunteers will be planting each morning from 10:00 am until 12:00 noon. Bring your favorite planting tool, knee pads and gloves.

Please call (530) 235-4603 to sign up or for more information.

Help keep our City Park and Botanical Gardens beautiful.

Crevice Rock Garden Underway

2010-05-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Mr. Josef Halda has arrived in Dunsmuir to begin the design and construction of a new crevice rock garden in the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens. Mr. Halda is a noted botanist, seed collector and crevice rock garden designer from the Czech Republic. The proposed crevice garden is approximately 20’by 24’ and will showcase alpine evergreens and perennials native to the mountains surrounding Dunsmuir which would create year-round and seasonal displays. Mr. Halda has built more than 30 crevice gardens in the United States.

Candace Miller, Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens, horticulturalist, will be working with Mr. Halda to construct and plant the new garden with plants from alpine plant nurseries that propagate the plants from seeds collected in the local Klamath, Siskiyou and Cascade mountain ranges. This project has been funded by grants from The McConnell Fund of the Shasta Regional Community Foundation and the Union Pacific Foundation.

Pictured: Mr. Halda and Art Horvath, stone mason, moving the boulders into place during the early stages of construction.

Union Pacific Donation

2010-02-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

The Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens has received a $2500 donation from the Union Pacific Foundation. Union Pacific Director of Public Affairs for Corporate Relations, Wesley Lujan, announced earlier this month. Union Pacific believes that the quality of life in the communities in which its employees live and work is an integral part of the company’s success. The Union Pacific Foundation supports local projects and programs that enhance their community’s quality of life. The donation was presented to the Botanical Gardens President, Judy Harvey, and Gardens Oversight Chair, Candace Miller, December 9, 2009 by Dunsmuir Union Pacific Manager of Train Operations Buck Grochol.

This donation will be used for ongoing maintenance, special projects and educational programs in the Gardens.

2010-01-25T18:42:00.000-08:00

The Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens received a grant from The McConnell Fund of the Shasta Regional Community Foundation on November 25, 2009. Grant monies will be used to install permanent plant identification signs throughout the Gardens, metal-etched interpretive signs in four areas of the Gardens and attach permanent metal-etched accession record tags to each of the Garden's perennial woody plants.

In addition, the grant will enable the purchase of a laptop computer and software to create an accession database for the Gardens’ permanent plant collection.

Another project will be the partial funding of a professionally designed and installed crevice rock garden featuring alpine plants native to our local mountain ranges.

Candace Miller, Gardens Oversight Chair, is a currently working to indentify the genus, species and variety of all perennial woody plants in the Gardens. As plants are identified and provenance information is gathered an accession record is made for each plant. A numbered tag corresponding to the accession record number will be permanently affixed to the north side of each woody plant currently in the Gardens and to each new woody plant that the Gardens receive. This information will be entered into the accession database. The information fields for each accession record will follow the US National Arboretum accession record format. This database is the heart of a botanical garden and is crucial to planning horticultural education outreach and for sharing information with researchers, students and other botanical gardens. Metal interpretive signs for the Native Plant Area, Butterfly/Hummingbird Garden, Crevice Rock Garden and River Overlook will enhance the horticultural education for visitors to the Gardens.

At the north end of the meadow, a crevice rock garden is planned. The 20ft by 24ft garden will showcase alpine evergreens and perennials native to the mountains surrounding Dunsmuir which will create year-round and seasonal displays. The plants will be obtained from alpine nurseries in Oregon that propagate the plants from seeds collected in the Klamath, Siskiyou and Cascade mountain ranges. The garden will be constructed of stone native to the area. Smaller rocks would be added to large foundation boulders to create crevices which will then be planted with alpine plants. The rock garden will be built to form a small “mountain” with walking trails where visitors can view the plants. Following completion, the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens’ Crevice Rock Garden will be the only public rock garden available to visitors between Sacramento, California and Portland, Oregon. Project work will begin in the late winter or early spring as soon as snow conditions will allow. It is hoped to have the work completed by May 1, 2011.

Pacific Dogwood

2009-05-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Cornus nuttallii, commonly known as the Pacific Dogwood, Western Dogwood, Western Flowering Dogwood, or Mountain Dogwood, grows abundantly at Dunsmuir Botanical gardens. "Cornus" means horn and apparently refers to the hard wood of the tree. "Nuttallii" is taken from the name of British born botanist and ornithologist, Thomas Nuttall.

The tree thrives in deep, coarse, moist but well drained soil and can grow from 6 to 18 metres high. It is often found beneath Douglas fir, grand fir and western hemlock trees. It flowers profusely in April and May with large creamy white blossoms. The beautiful blooms are actually four to six bracts around 30 to 40 small green flowers which are compacted into a "button". The tree will also sometimes flower a second time in the fall.

The leaves are opposite and oval with pointed tips and slightly toothed edges and are beautiful in autumn when they turn a brilliant orange-red.

The bark is smooth and grey colored and the wood is fine grained, hard and heavy. Traditionally the wood was used for making bows and arrows by the native people and the bark was used as a tanning agent. The branches were used to make slingshots.

After the flowers fade the tree produces dark red berries which are edible but taste very bitter. The berries stay on the tree after the leaves have fallen and are an important source of food for birds and animals. They form part of the diet of pigeons, quail, grosbeaks, hermit thrush, flickers and waxwings. Bears and beavers enjoy the fruit and leaves and deer eat the twigs.

Folklore suggests waiting until after the dogwood tree has flowered before setting out cold sensitive plants. The reason is a cold spell known as "Dogwood Winter". Dogwood Winter usually occurs after a Spring warm spell and brings with it several days of cold weather with heavy frost. It occurs during May and coincides with the flowering of the dogwood tree.

Tribute to the Trees

2008-04-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

Simply Magical, the theme for the 21st annual Tribute to the Trees concert, will feature the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra with Benjamin Simon, Music Director and Conductor, and soloist, Teddy Abrams, clarinet. This fundraiser for the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens, scheduled for Saturday, June 25, 2011, offers the allure of magical surprises, beautiful music and a catered supper by Lily's Restaurant of Mt. Shasta enjoyed alfresco on the Gardens' meadow.

This year's program features a program of masterpieces from England and Norway. Soloist, Teddy Abrams performing Finzi's seldom-heard Bagatelles for Clarinet and String Orchestra will delight. Also featured is the world premiere of a brand new work by this year's Youth-for Youth Commission by Elizabeth Ogonek, a student at USC's Thorton School of Music.

Gate opens at 4:00 PM with supper served at 5:00 PM followed by the Concert which begins at 6:30 PM. Dinner and Concert tickets with unreserved seating are $40 and include supper and concert. Concert Only tickets are $20 with open lawn seating. Concert Sponsor tickets are $75 which include supper, a complimentary glass of wine, commemorative gift, reserved seating at table for supper and the concert and program recognition. For tickets or additional information, please call the Concert Box Office: (530) 235-4740.

Founded by William Whitson in 1966, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (PACO) is an award winning training orchestra for San Francisco Bay Area string players of high-school age and younger. The emphasis on chamber music sets PACO apart from other youth orchestras in the Bay Area and lies at the core of their educational program.