My recent post on how to design a landscape for a person with colorblindness got a lot of attention from people who are colorblind or have other types of vision impairment or differences, and really got me thinking. So when Nancy Peck over at Garden Club Salon told me she was going to visit the horticultural center at a school for the blind, I was excited to learn more:
Deborah leads us to one of the Pappas Center classrooms. I am struck by the musky smell of herbs. In the corner a collapsible clothes drying rack serves well as a place to hang bundles of herbs. Next to it a volunteer-crafted wooden cabinet of drying trays holds rose petals, mint, eucalyptus, anise, lavender, rosemary.
On the table in the center of the room is a small straw wreath sparsely decorated with dried pom-pom flowers. A parent was to pick up the keepsake that day. Cafeteria type trays serve as self-contained workstations keeping materials organized for each student’s project. At the end of the table is a container holding desk supplies and Braille plant labels.
Read about the rest of her tour here, and be sure to ask her any questions you may have about cultivating a love for gardening in people who are blind. It sounds like she learned a lot on her tour.
Sunflower sprouting indoors
Stevie over at Garden Therapy has a cool project for us now that it’s gotten too chilly out to garden outside every day: sunflower sprouts! She used a plastic container from one of those rotisserie chickens, but you could also use a tub from buying lettuce leaves to do this if you are a vegetarian.
I love making sprouts, but I’ve never tried this type. Thanks for the great suggestion, Stevie!
Dining alfresco
The Garden Designers Roundtable dreams of summer with their posts on how to create gorgeous dining spaces outside. Rebecca and Shirley inspire with tons of gorgeous photos and slideshows, while Susan S. reminds us that dining outdoors is the great social equalizer; there’s no need to get too fancypants about it; just go outside and have fun!
Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In the Garden : Los Altos, CA
Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA
Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ
Susan Schlenger : Landscape Design Advice : Hampton, NJ
One response to “Monday Miscellany: Gardening for the Blind, Sunflower Sprouts Indoors, and Dining Alfresco”
I really loved that garden for the blind post – wow it really makes you think about how sensory the garden is. And thanks for including my sunflower sprouts project. I’ve gobbled them all up, turned the soil in that tiny tray, and I’m growing pea greens now.