Fort Scott to join beautification program

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Fort Scott is to be one of the first Kansas communities to join a Kansas PRIDE program titled "Our Community, A More Colorful Place," program co-organizer Becky Mann said in a written a statement.

"On behalf of the city, we are pleased that the Bourbon County Master Gardeners and Garden Club are offering their time, talent and expertise to help beautify our downtown area," Fort Scott City Manager Richard Nienstedt said. "When they are done, I hope the entire community appreciates the beauty that will be unique to Fort Scott."

Kansas State University horticulturist Alan Stevens visited Fort Scott in late March to speak at the Garden Club's Annual Spring Gardening Forum. Stevens is also the director of the K- State Horticulture Research Center, located west of Olathe, and leads the Extension Horticulture program for the state of Kansas.

Stevens focuses his research on the evaluation of flowering plants for the challenging transitional climate in Fort Scott and Bourbon County. His research plots provide the basis for the Prairie Star type of annual plants and the Prairie Bloom type of perennial plants, plants that are ideal for the climate and soils in Bourbon County.

Stevens became interested in Fort Scott when he learned that both these plant types were used successfully last summer in the downtown Heritage Park, the statement from Mann said.

During his visit, Stevens met with city and county officials to describe a new program that he developed called "Our Community, A More Colorful Place." At that meeting, he announced that this program has joined with the PRIDE organization in an effort to increase the beauty of public spaces.

After viewing downtown Fort Scott, Stevens felt that Fort Scott was a good candidate to become one of the first Kansas communities to be a part of this program, the statement said.

A local task force from the Bourbon County Master Gardeners and Garden Club, including Mann, Judy Orton, Martha Jane Gentry, and Sheryl Bloomfield, also met with city officials to request that Fort Scott become part of the program. According to Mann's statement, Fort Scott's involvement would include the following: * All plantings at Heritage Park in downtown Fort Scott, including Skubitz Plaza, the library and municipal pool will be coordinated to create an impressive horticultural display that will attract people so they will want to visit the downtown area. If officials maintain this display over a period of years, the community will become known for its flowers and ultimately, this will help with economic development because businesses, restaurants, and even loft living will be attracted to Fort Scott, Mann said.

* The Bourbon County Master Gardeners and Garden Club will plan the plantings for all of the planters using appropriate flowers from the K-State Prairie Star and Prairie Bloom collections, which will be available at local greenhouses and hardware stores. These are the plants that are genetically best suited for the region's challenging climate. "All of these garden centers have worked with us to be sure that these plants will be available locally," Bloomfield said.

Other merchants who offer flowers may also have some of the plants available. Visit http:// www. prairiestarflowers. co m on the Internet for a complete list of merchants who sell these types of plants.

* The city will order the plants and materials from local garden centers so that plants used in the project will be available in Fort Scott to encourage residents to shop locally for their gardening needs.

* The city will water the planters during the growing season to ensure that they receive consistent hydration.

* A new volunteer group called "Friends of the Fort Scott Gardens" will be established to check on the planters throughout the growing season, deadhead the plants, and weed and clean up around the planters to keep the horticultural display in beautiful condition all summer.

"We are very glad that city officials saw the same opportunity to beautify downtown Fort Scott that we did," Mann said. "We are excited about this project and hope that the citizens of Fort Scott will be too."

According to Gentry, "This project will also involve our high school and middle school PRIDE kids. They will work with other volunteers to make this dream of a more beautiful Fort Scott a reality."

The project will begin on Thursday with a clean-up of the planters and soil preparation downtown.

"We hope to be able to plant the first week of May if the weather cooperates," Orton said. "And we would love to have volunteers to become part of the Friends of the Fort Scott Gardens."

For information about the program or joining the group, call Mann at (620) 223-6266, Bloomfield at 223- 5355, or Gentry at (620) 223-0866.