D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
June
2009
The Median Is the Message
Designers and gardeners combine to create a happy median. Plus midweek shopping at Bayard's farmers market.
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Ric Altamirano (left) and Denny Strand relax with Chala Werber and her daughter after meeting a one-week deadline to complete the town's newest Adopt-a-Median star. |
A virtuosic composition of landscaping has popped up at the Silver City intersection of College and Pope Streets in the form of a traffic median. That's right, a median — a roadway island that separates opposing flows of traffic. In traffic-engineer speak, the word "calming" is used to describe a median's purported effect on traffic flow. Remember that next time you see a motorist run a stop sign anchored on a median.
Concrete medians are usually so tediously drab that a person would be hard pressed to recollect one. For myself — hyper-conscious and appreciative of landscaping wherever it may appear — I feel both compassion and admiration for those planted strips of yucca and agave that endure carbon dioxide fumes, dust, temperature extremes and litter bombardment all day long.
Yet even careening motorists are apt to notice the newest median sponsored by Diane's Restaurant, part of the Adopt-a-Median program managed by Silver City MainStreet Project.
Designed by Diane Holloway's daughter, Chala Werber, the initial step for the median began two years ago. At that time Chala was pregnant and also grieving the death of her father. Assisted by friends, she oversaw the placement of brick pavers to provide landings for pedestrians crossing Pope Street between Life Quest and the Silver City Brewing Company.
"Back then," explains Chala, "that's all Diane's could afford, and I was having a lot of illness during my pregnancy." Still, her design unfolded as a "concho belt" studded by equally sized, but unique planting mounds accentuated against the patterned brick.
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Cold-hardy cactus from Desert Nursery II in Deming are among the plant selections at the Bayard Farmer's Market. |
As a graphic designer who also studied horticulture at City College of San Francisco, Chala envisioned some distinctive, native xeric plants to lead the eye down the 180-foot-long space.
"The project advanced to fast track when my mother wanted the median completed in time for Tour of the Gila," Chala says. "We had one week left before the event began, so the median became an 'It Takes a Village' effort. By 10:30 p.m. on the seventh day we had finished!"
She adds, "It never would have happened without the involvement of Coyote Phoenix." Coyote practices a quiet philanthropy that has supported many other projects in town. "She donated the work crew composed of Ric Altamirano, Bruce Barton and Aari Werber — and also purchased the plants from Lone Mountain Natives and Ace Hardware.
Many other folks assumed the guise of "villagers." Diane's Restaurant chipped in for rocks and gravel from Creative Vision Landscaping, which, in turn, donated labor, equipment, small stones and accent rocks. Pinos Altos Plumbing Co. provided a water truck for the installation; builder Denny Strand donated his labor; Franz Raiter, Chala's boyfriend, helped install the large rocks; and DW Anderson Construction donated the protective orange cones and barrels used for the installation. Diane's Restaurant also donated topsoil and the tile embellishment on the sponsorship sign created by artist Jan Goldberg.
Chala's plant list included five large species, each one to be centered on a concho mound: desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), two Thompson yuccas and two Texas Ranger "Rio Bravo" leucophyllums. For sturdy, smaller fillers, she chose catmint (Nepeta), blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum), sulfur flower (Eriogonum umbellatum), blue flax (Linum perenne), desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata), spineless opuntia and nine different penstemons.
When given fast-draining soil and rocks to cool their roots, plants growing in medians prove themselves as botanical marathon athletes. Anyone who wants to make a successful minimum-care garden should become familiar with these species.
There are several praiseworthy streetscapes near the Diane's Restaurant median that reveal more xeric plant species. In the Flowerings-sponsored medians, cascading rosemary, bird of paradise bush (Caesalpinia gilliesii) and red yucca take prominence. The height of the plantings helps the area to assert itself as either an entrance to, or an exit from, Bullard Street and the historic business district.
The small streetscape at the corner of College and Arizona, sponsored by notary Cosette Laperruque, proves the maxim "less is more."
The one-block-long "lavender field" project — initiated by thespian Frances Trotta in coordination with the city — recently looked as clipped and crisp as topiary at Versailles. With its intense seasonal fragrance, the three-year-old lavender field can turn a neighborhood stroll on 10th Street into a free aromatherapy session.
MainStreet manager Frank Milan says that median adoption is "usually undertaken by businesses or nonprofit organizations who must assume responsibility for maintenance, acquiring drought-resistant plants and purchasing a sponsorship sign."
He added that two medians inside the city limits are currently available for adoption.
Hmmm. . . could this foretell a flurry of median mania? Can art find exhibition space on planted medians? It does in many other cities. Perhaps there's potential here for creating town landmarks, median cafes and banner spaces. A Median Design Competition could be the ticket to exploring the possibilities. Just remember what Chala Werber said: "'It Takes a Village' kind of effort."
Farmer's Market in Bayard Offers Midweek Shopping
To me, farmer's markets should possess at least one memorable attribute. In Santa Fe, for instance, it's the performance artists; in Santa Barbara, Calif., the mind-boggling variety of produce; in Silver City, a natural setting that fuses the lower Ditch level into a grand scenario of vendor activity.
The Bayard Farmer's Market, sited on city property next to a community garden, may soon be known for its whirlwind fresh produce. Several vendors plan to harvest vegetables from their plots in the community garden (a separate project led by Loretta Martuffo) to sell at their vending tables.
The market's Wednesday-only venue from 3:15 to 6 p.m. attracts parents picking up kids from school as well as after-work shoppers.
On my first visit, I was delighted to meet a vendor who sold several varieties of tomato plants, including the hard-to-find Greek Thessaloniki tomato. On a subsequent visit, alas, she wasn't there.
According to Louis Baum, owner of AIR Coffee, who serves as market chairman, the goal is to attract 20 vendors. Besides seasonal produce, Baum promises alfalfa, hay, nuts, eggs, earthworms, cactus, ornamental plants — plus jewelry and other Craft items. Current vendors come from various towns including Santa Clara, Mimbres and Deming.
The Bayard Farmer's Market is located across the street from the Post Office at 810 Central Ave. Prospective vendors may contact Louis Baum (537-396) or the market site managers, Deborah Rodriguez and Bobbie Fisher.
Southwest Gardener columnist Vivian Savitt gardens at Ditch Cottage in Silver City.