Wednesday, November 25, 2009

HOLIDAY FESTIVAL, SUPPER WITH SANTA AND THANKS

posted by admin at  7:26 || under Monthly Newsletters

Holiday Festival - Supper with Santa - Thank You Dear Friends,  As Thanksgiving approaches the staff at Clark Gardens is thankful to our many friends and supporters of the gardens.  Our membership and volunteer program has grown in both numbers and strengths.  In 2010 we will celebrate our 10th anniversary.  This would not have been possible without your support.  Thank you! BOOtanical Festival saw a record number of attendees.  Over 1200 people attended the festival.  The admission fee to enjoy the Halloween fun was a nonperishable food item.  Through the generous donations of our guests, food items were donated to the three area food banks, First United Methodist Church, First Christian Church and the New Haven Ministries.  All three food banks are grateful for the donations.   Fall in the Gardens The fall color in Clark Gardens has been spectacular this year. The bald cypress trees put on quite a show as did two of my favorite fall blooming perennials, the American Beautyberry and the Fall Aster. According to the Lady Bird Johnson Mr. Smarty Plants (http://www.wildflower.org/expert/ ) the American beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana L., member of the Verbena Family) "most often grows 3-5 feet tall and usually just as wide.  It can reach 9 feet in height in favorable soil and moisture conditions. It has long, arching branches and yellow-green fall foliage, but its most striking feature is the clusters of glossy, iridescent-purple fruit." It is a great plant to grow in shady areas under taller shade trees.  It blooms in early summer with small white or pink flowers.  The fruit is a beautiful deep purple color and is a good food source for birds.  The American Beautyberry is a Texas Native Plant.  Pruning may be done in the winter and will encourage more compact growth and more flowers and fruit. Beautyberry photo by Judy Valentine. Another Texas Native is the Fall Aster.  As the days begin to get cooler this plant blooms the most beautiful purple color imaginable.  The plants mound at 2-3 feet and are covered with 1 1/2 inch wide lavender flowers. The plants are drought tolerant and prefer a sunny, well-drained location, but will flower in partial shade. Fall aster photo by Larry Cominski. Although not a perennial but an annual, the flowers in the family Celosia gave the gardens quite a beautiful show.  A common name for this plant is the cockscomb. According to an online article on the Aggie Horticulture website there are three types of celosia - plumes, crests, and spikes.  They are heat and drought tolerant and are low maintenance.  Easily grown from seeds, celosias will grow in almost any soil and prefer full sun.  Estella, one of Clark Gardens' gardeners, grew ours from seed along the southern trail of the Summer House lawn.  They were spectacular.  Cockscomb photo by Judy Valentine.   Holiday Festival - Supper with Santa  As winter is fast approaching it is time for the second annual Holiday Festival.  The festival is held the first two weekends in December. Thursday, December 3rd through Sunday, December 6th and Thursday, December 10th through Sunday, December 13th.   Times: Thursday through Saturday, 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Sunday, 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Thursday, December 3rd at 5:30pm, the festival comes to life with tree lighting, caroling and a surprise visit from Santa. A highlight of the festival is the Supper with Santa Saturday night dinners.  Both adults and children loved this event last year and we are repeating it this year.  On the two Saturday evenings a traditional Italian buffet, artfully prepared by Nancy's Italian Texan Grill, will be served.  Guests will enjoy holiday music and arts and crafts are available for the children.  Santa makes a surprise appearance and children may visit with Santa in an unhurried setting offering that perfect picture opportunity.  Reservations are required.  This link will take you to the online reservation form. This year the opening event, Thursday, December 3, will be a benefit for ARM (Addiction Recovery Ministries).  Entertainment will be provided by the Mineral Wells Wranglerettes, the Millsap High School Band, a local Boys Drum line, and a special musical appearance by Stan Crawford and Cowboy poetry preformed by David Owens and Tim Graham. Horse drawn hay rides will be available for guests' enjoyment.  All proceeds from the evening will be donated to ARM.  ARM, serves the citizens of Palo Pinto County in need of a variety of counseling services from addiction recovery to grief counseling and benevolence ministries through their Grace Ministries program.  In the past three years ARM has serviced more than 200 clients suffering with addictions.  The approximate success rate for their clients is 70 percent. There's just something about Clark Gardens that encourages the community to come out and enjoy the holiday lights and support a deserving community organization, ARM.  A special thanks to the performers who are all donating their time and talents.   Gift Shop  During your visit, be sure to check out the special gifts for the gardener on your shopping list. Clark Gardens memberships-will be festively wrapped with 2 iris rhizomes and a package of poppy seeds (an added $20 value). Remember to reserve your 2010 Clark Garden calendar. Gardening Books Children Nature Toys Photographic note cards featuring images of Clark Gardens by Criseyda Koonce. A special gift pack is now available that includes some of the images below.   December 2009 In This Issue Dear Friends Fall in the Gardens Holiday Festival Article Headline See something you like? Use the button below to forward this email to a friend. Do you have a Clark Garden's story? We'd love to hear it.  Visit our online Guestbook and share. Contact Information Clark Gardens Botanical Park 567 Maddux Road Weatherford, Texas 76088 940-682-4856 mail to: PO Box 276 Mineral Wells,Texas 76068 ---------- Garden Hours Open Daily, Year Round Mon-Sat, 7:30am-6:00pm Sun, 10:00am-5:00pm Visit Us Online   We hope you have enjoyed this edition of the Clark Gardens newsletter and look forward to sharing more information with you soon.  Thank you for your continued support. The Clark Gardens Family Copyright 2009 Clark Gardens Botanical Park. All rights reserved. Clark Gardens is a 501(c)(3) organization. Newsletter production by Pro Epic.