September 2021 Beauty Spot Awardees Ellen and Ken Schnable

Left to right – Dianne Stevens – LIB Co-chair, Linda McDonald, Awardees Ellen and Ken Schnable, Lauren Rush and Lois Sechehay

I have always been interested in container gardening. Using different shapes, sizes, color and textures of containers brings new and interest dimensions to a garden. It is a lot less labor intensive to dig out any “mistakes” from a container than from traditional gardens. Normally I would have about 2/3 perennials, most of them being some type of evergreen which will provide color and interest throughout the year. Annuals, especially tropicals fill the remaining 1/3 of my containers providing lots of color throughout the summer. The Spring of 2020 Covid brought disaster and hardships on so many people throughout our nation. As I was watching a 60 Minutes segment on the depletion of food supplies from food banks and the interviews with people who had just lost their jobs or businesses hoping they could navigate the endless line of cars before the food ran out and parents who ate every other day so their children could eat was a big wake up call for me! The next day I was planning on buying my usual annuals and it reality hit me! How can I possibly think it’s justified to spend money on annuals when people have no food! Now my “annual” money goes to food banks and shelters and all but 5 of my containers are now perennials. Most of them coming from various sections of my garden where they needed to be thinned out anyway! It really was a win/win! Still colorful in the summer, thank you hydrangeas, and money better spent!