By Carol Chicci

Hello to all of you in Durango from Flagstaff, AZ.  I usualy write about roses, but I want to share with you what has been going on with general gardening in Flagstaff during this time of social distancing, economic challenges, and travel restrictions.

When we are under restrictions, we can feel that our lives are not as full as we would like. However, I am privileged to know gardeners who live every day to the fullest and who do not wait for “better times.” Our two excellent family-owned nurseries led the way last spring with websites allowing you to order online and then pick up at their curb side or have your plants and amendments delivered to your door.

Many people planted vegetable gardens for the first time, adding needed food to their tables while showing their children the joy in observing new life sprouting and then ripening into edible produce.

More leisure time since we were not commuting allowed many of us to finally finish landscaping the front and back yard. This was another worthwhile activity for our children to help us with, broadening their knowledge of the outdoors and helping them experience the satisfaction of a job well done.

Bartering with neighbors for gardening equipment and supplies has increased. These same people will probably look throughout their yards and neighborhoods this fall for leaves and pine needles to use for mulch. 

          Meilland's 'Eden' at left, David Austin's 'James Galway' at right

In the Hospice garden where I have volunteered all summer long for the past seven summers since I became a master gardener, we have replaced three of our climbing roses which were either diseased or had not bloomed for several years. Attached are pictures of these roses, two of Meilland’s ‘Eden’ and David Austin’s ‘James Galway.’

Hopefully we in Flagstaff, as well as you in Durango, will carry over all that we have learned in our gardens during this unusual summer and add it to each of our future gardens, ensuring that a very difficult time was also one of our most productive times.

Carol Chicci, a certified Master Gardener of the Coconino Master Gardener Association, has grown roses in Phoenix for 15 years and for 16 years in Flagstaff. She is a member of the Denver Rose Society, the American Rose Society, and the Durango Botanic Gardens.  If you'd like to reach Carol, do so at mtngardener07@gmail.com.