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Romping through the tulips
When I saw Mr. Action Line and avid gardener Mike Smedley was planning a lecture about tulips for the Life-Long Learning Series put on by the Professional Associates of Fort Lewis College, I had to find time to attend.
And he made it well worth the effort for this columnist and about 80 other garden lovers Thursday eve-ning.
Smedley billed it as more of a romp than a tiptoe through the tulips, and boy was it. From the origin of the species (with a nod to Darwin), to its journey through Turkey to the Netherlands and what grows well here, Smedley was thorough, fun and charming.
First of all, he got us with a trick question, asking where the flower originated. Everyone said that the flower originated in Turkey. Wrong. It originally comes from the shadow of the Tian Shan Mountains in Central Asia, the world of Genghis Khan, with other genetic material coming from the Caucasus Mountains.
Travels along the Silk Road brought it to the Middle East, where a dagger-petal shaped version arrived in Persia in about 1050. It was beloved of the Seljuk Turks and later the rulers of the Ottoman Empire, whose soldiers went into battle with verses from the Quran on the front of their undergarments and a tulip on the back.
The Ottomans planted it in what they called paradise gardens, created for beauty, while folks from Europe still were planting gardens only for their usefulness. (Although how much pleasure a person can have entering a garden with severed heads on white pillars at the entrance is debatable.)
The flower arrived in Europe by the time of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, where the 30,000-strong forces of Murad I defeated Serbian Christian Prince Lazar. That's where the English name came from - the Turks wore the flowers on their turbans, and tulip is a variation on turban.
Perhaps the most fascinating chapter in the history of tulips was when bulbs became a hotly traded commodity in the wine bars of the Netherlands. The Semper Augustus tulip, the rarest of the rare, went for more than $1 thousand a bulb at the craze's height, before a crash on Feb. 5, 1637 wiped out many a fortune.
Luckily, our climate of dry, cold winters, brutally hot summers, thin soil, lots of rocks and mountainous terrain is like old home week for tulips. That's what their homeland in the Tian Shan Mountains is like. And that's why species tulips, those that are the least hybridized and the most genetically pure, do well here. But while tulips are perennials, they are not eternal. They are, however, the bulbs in the garden that most often outlive the gardener.
Now, between Halloween and Thanksgiving, is ideal planting time. Smedley recommends those among you who want to tackle the "aristocrat of spring" to have fun mixing and matching species and colors like paint chips at Home Depot.
Be prepared to fight off the deer, for which tulips are like candy. Fences, stringing clear fishing line and spraying Liquid Fence and Deer Off are some of the best bets. If you're not up to the challenge, daffodils and hyacinths, two other spring flowers, are deer-proof.
I'll never look at a tulip the same way again.
Possibly celebrating their October birthdays with an early winter snow are Cheryl Freiemuth, Maxine Headrick, Tyler Black, Marty Hutson, Susan Wright, Wil Rathke, Margaret Barge, Carrie Forsythe, Hannah Robertson, Jayson Helms, Erin Burke, Saige Hall, Carol Lewin, Mary Knowles, Gracie Caldwell, Yvonne Lashmett, Dwight McAnear, Megan Dignum, Cherie Hanson, Nick Reynolds, Gary Jones, Tom Lorenzen and Mary Jo McLaughlin Wickman.
Very special birthday greetings go out to Ruth Parkinson on her 85th birthday today.
My thanks go out to the Lions Club of Durango for a yummy (okay, a couple of yummy) bowls of chili Saturday. The club's annual Chili Fiesta brought in 208 diners, up 35 from last year, which is definitely a trend in the right direction. Part of that was thanks to folks attending the Durango High School Homecoming football game and others at the 4-H Rodeo at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
The club depends on member Jim Miles' tried-and-true recipe, and this year he and his band of helpers prepared 400 servings. If most people were like me and went back for seconds, they ladled most of it up.
The oldest service club in Durango by a few months, the club celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2008. (Sorry, Rotary Club of Durango, the Lions get the bragging rights.)
And like all service clubs, the Lions Club works to help the community. One of its activities is to collect used eyeglasses and refurbish the frames to hold new lenses. After all, these days, the frames are a big part of the cost. I'll have more on that in a future column.
I've had very few Lions Club stories in the nine and a half years I've been writing Neighbors, but now that I know Jim and Carol Lewin and Susie and Dan Amman are members, I have sources! Thanks to the Ammans for the information about how many people enjoyed chili at the fundraiser.
On Thursday, the La Plata Family Centers Coalition invited a number of community members to learn more about it and its work. Paul Gelose and his crew at The Palace Restaurant served up a bounty of appetizers as they welcomed guests to the Depot Room.
Gelose said he is supporting the coalition because it supports the community, and he cares about the community. (In fact, one definition of a successful community is that it is a place where families thrive.)
Beverly Vaughn, the vice chairwoman of the board, aptly quoted the organization's Web site at the event, "In these days when villages have been replaced by cities, and extended families are scattered across the country, we have to create new ways to meet the needs of families and children."
About 10 percent of the population of La Plata County, 4,000 families, received help from a family center in the county in the last year.
The centers support family strengths and healthy child development, as well as providing services to families in crisis or in need of resources and information.
One of many services the family centers provide is after-school care for 5 year olds so they don't go home to an empty house. Vaughn said that is why she opened her checkbook, because she had twin boys who were 5 at the time, and she couldn't imagine children that age home alone for three hours until parents got home from work.
Vaughn, secretary of the board Ryan Brown and Executive Director Gaye Weiss organized the event. Weiss said services the family centers in La Plata County provide are unduplicated in our community. They include several early-childhood development programs, Safe Exchange for parents undergoing or who have undergone a divorce where domestic violence was involved and Latino outreach. The Liz Cary Community Playroom is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
One mother came in for help because her young son had asthma, and she had no insurance or money to get him an inhaler. Within an hour, the family advocate had enrolled the child in Child Health Plan Plus and the child had an insurance card - and shortly thereafter, an inhaler.
About 32 people attended the event, including La Plata County Commissioner Kellie Hotter, local nonprofit guru Bob Over, Margaret Kraul, president of Wells Fargo Bank, Drs. Mark and Mandy Saddler, Chris Vivolo, the owner of the Hampton Inn, Rick and Cathy Gaskell, the owners of Cobalt Automation, John and Jody Earley, with Saddle Butte Pipeline Co., and Jack Vaughn, the chairman of Peak Energy Resources, a major financial supporter of the family centers.
Compared to last year, the LFCC has had a 76 percent increase in family-support needs and a 40 percent drop in funding, both because of our hard economic times. No matter how you look at it, that's bad math. The center operates on a lean 9 percent of expenses for administration, so the cutting is likely to come from these programs and services that are so critical.
The coalition is asking for help in any way people can. In addition to money (sorely needed), volunteers for a fundraiser on Feb. 27, 2010, also are being sought. It's a Kelley Hunt concert complete with silent auction. (So items are needed for that, as well.)
Monetary donations may be sent to the Durango Family Center, 489 Florida Road, Durango, CO 81301. You can designate donations for the Family Centers of Durango and Bayfield or the Family Programs in Ignacio and Fort Lewis Mesa.
If you would like to attend the next social gathering or have a tour of the LFCC, call Vaughn at 749-3322.
To learn more, visit www.lp fcc.org.
Celebrating their anniversaries with ghosties and ghouls lurking are Richard and Bonnie Jung, Troy and Leanne Moore, Todd and Diana Smith and Kent and Kathy Stottlemyer.
For information about upcoming events and fundraisers, check Local Briefs.
Here's how to reach me: neighbors@durangoherald.com; phone 375-4584; fax 259-5011; mail items to the Herald; or drop them off at the front desk. Please include contact names and phone numbers for all items.
If you are submitting an item for preview, please send it with briefs in the subject line and e-mail it to her ald@durangoherald.com.
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