Horticultural Intern, Theresa Sims, discusses plants with the plant nursery's first customer, long-term Grand Bahama resident, Phil Galiano.

Grand Bahama Island - Two exciting events took place at the Garden on Saturday, August 29th. The first one was the opening of the plant nursery where many residents made purchases of our home-grown plants for their weekend gardening.
 
During the past year we have worked very hard with our green-thumbed gardening staff to grow "babies" from the many beautiful plants at the Garden. We have practically potted all our cuttings from plants in the Garden such as Hibiscus, Lantana. Bouganvillae and Jasmine bushes as well as Gumbo Limbo, Horseflesh and Java Plum trees and many, many others. These plants are healthy and already adapted to our soil and climate.
 
 

Joel Hyacinthe makes plant cuttings grow like a magician - he knows the right mix of soil, compost, water and tender loving care!

The star of our "plants growing department" is undoubtedly Joel Hyacinthe who has brought 25 years of gardening experience to the Garden. Joel has the ability to produce the correct soil and fertilizer mixture to grow anything. He has created an inventory of over 1000 new plants in "h i s" nursery! He tends to the plants daily like a loving parent to children and gives specific instructions to all of us what to do on his days off!
 
Theresa Sims, a horticultural intern at the Garden has been in charge of getting our plant nursery ready for the public over the past three months. Theresa is a native of Nassau and has studied at Niagara College in Canada to obtain her horticultural degree. She meticulously organized and labeled our plants for the first opening to the public and worked tirelessly throughout the sales event where she also discussed sun or shade requirements and soil conditions with our customers.
 

Marilyn Laing and son Leron as volunteers at the Garden of the Groves during the summer of 2008

Theresa and Joel would not have succeeded in getting the nursery ready without the assistance and hard work of Marilyn Laing, an accomplished home gardener herself at High Rock and the first landscaping staff member at the restored Garden of the Groves. Marilyn actually joined us as a volunteer during her summer break in 2008, fell in love with us (or rather the Garden) and resigned from a school teaching position. Her teaching skills have proven to be invaluable during our educational school fieldtrips that she conducts at the Garden of the Groves.
 
News about this plant sale has already spread through the community and during these difficult economic times many customers have benefitted from these inexpensive, home-grown plants.
 

Judy Zuber having fun with Desert Rose blossoms during workshop

We will conduct our next plant sale on Saturday, September 12th from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm. You may access the Plant Nursery during the sales event by following the "Plant Nursery" sign on Midshipman Road and driving right up to the greenhouse. On other days, please come to the front entrance from where one of our staff members will be happy to guide you to the plant nursery.
 
While our plant sale was in progress, Judy Zuber, the Garden's Desert Rose specialist, was holding another one of her popular workshops in the Hibiscus Garden. This time Desert Rose aficionados were taught how to graft which means to perform the delicate procedure of "connecting" a white blossomed flower with a red one! The trick is to make it appear as if a single Desert Rose can actually have two different color blossoms and survive as well!
 
This was one of Judy's advanced workshops that was attended by a number of participants who had already "graduated" from the basic workshop which we held towards the end of last year.
 
Would you like to become a "Friend of the Garden" and receive our monthly newsletter of events, workshops and happenings? Just call us at the Garden at 242-374-7778, or email: info@thegardenofthegroves.com

Joan Neely and friend with the resident plant nursery cat taking a break from selecting plants for their weekend gardening

Participants of advanced Desert Rose workshop with instructor Judy Zuber

 

The final touches are applied to the Plant nursery sign at Garden of the Groves by Tony Joseph

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