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10 www.DesertMessenger.com December 20, 2023 Gardening with Dennis Stay up to date with Town Hall Town of Quartzsite now offers text notifications on your phone through TextMyGov. iWorQ is excited to an- nounce a strategic partnership with @TextMyGov to expand citizen en- gagement with text messaging To opt in, text the word "QUARTZSITE" to 91896. What to expect: After the initial keyword is sent, you'll receive a con- firmation message asking you to re- ply "YES" to verify opt-in. There will be up to 4 text messages per month with a notification from the Town re- garding the categories you are opted- in for. Message and data rates may apply. Check with your mobile phone carrieer for more details. How to Opt-Out: Text "STOP" at any time to remove yourself from the notification list. Also are you looking for an- swers? Need to report an issue? Now you can Text the Town of Quartzsite directly. Introducing the new way to skip a phone call and use your mobile phone's text messaging to find answers to your questions. Text "hi" or one the words listed below, to 928-260-4442. "Trees, Sewer, Contact, Street, Water, Pothole, Weeds, Departments, FAQ."TextMyGov will help you to quickly find the answers your looking for or help you to report an issue to the Town. A BLACK THUMB By Alex Taft A black thumb is defined by Mer- riam-Webster Dictionary as, "a no- table inability to make plants grow: a tendency to fail as a gardener; also : a person who has a black thumb." I have heard many people say they have black thumbs. Some who claim to have one may just not want to en- gage in the whole gardening activity. Understandable. Sometimes a black thumb is temporary. Life changes can turn a black thumb into a green one, and sometimes not. If it is an excuse or a real condition or an easy way to say I don't want to, for some, gardening is not an option. This does not mean that that you cannot have a beautiful yard. Landscaping and gardening do not have to go together, especial- ly in the desert. If there are trees and shrubs already in your yard, use them as points of landscap- ing. Sometimes landscape can be achieved by simply clearing clut- ter around what is already in your yard. Then landscape rocks, gravel, or dirt mound covered by gravel can be added to give the landscape more than one level for the eye to follow. This requires planting nothing. Some yards include a sculpture for a focal point or metal art. Some add different colors of rock and gravel to create a design that suggests a sand painting or movement and flow. You can skip the gravel and landscape rocks and create a fo- cal point with yard art, or sculpture. Dead trees make a stunning land- scape focus and the birds usu- ally find them a good place to perch. Driving around town reveals dif- ferent eras of landscaping trends by winter visitors who were not here in the summer to take care of their yard but wanted something unique and distinctive for their winter home. There are glass bottle sculp- tures which were more prevalent 20 years ago. Some yards have colored glass sculptures and wells around native plants and cactus. Rock de- signs in the dirt are another option. Some paint their rocks and make a display out of it. All of it is interest- ing to look at and none of it requires a green thumb. The town has used metal sculptures of ocotillo and saguaro. The problem with that is it requires maintenance. Metal art can lose its color, in which case, the effect is lost. "Not everybody has a green thumb, but all of us do need nature in order to breathe and thrive," as stated by author Andres Engracia. Landscap- ing to enjoy the outdoors can be done without the challenges of black thumbs, by using what is already in your yard. So many yards have a focal point of cactus surrounded by medium-sized rocks that were in the yard. From the street, it looks like landscaping without much mainte- nance and no gardening. This type of landscaping makes the home blend into the desert and can be the best of two worlds. Dennis came from the pacific northwest. Growing roses was one of his hobbies. When he came to the desert, he had to learn a whole new approach to gardening. He un- dertook to understand the land he now found himself in and decided to grow where he was planted. He was successful because he was dedi- cated, and gardened like he cooked, by following tried and true recipes that he researched. Most success- ful gardeners are not sentimental. If a plant starts to fail, it is replaced. That was Dennis's practice and he became a master gardener. Not everyone wants to put forth much effort. If you have a black thumb or think you do, some of the other ideas noted above can serve as an enjoyable landscape that requires no digging or watering! Note: for those who did not know Note: for those who did not know Dennis, he was a part-time employ- ee of the town parks department, a Master Gardener since 1985 and instructor for the Master Gardener Class. He passed away in 2018. Craft Fair 1st Sat. of every month! Daily Activities! QIA 928-927-6325 235 E. Ironwood St., Quartzsite BINGO FRIDAYS! Starts Nov. 10th Opens at 5pm. Early Birds 6:30pm. Main 7pm. Concessions Available DEADLINE : WED. JAN 10 TH for Jan. 17 th edition Desert Messenger News Email: editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 www.DesertMessenger.com The Quartzsite GFWC Women's Club is sponsoring a blood drive with Vitalant Monday January 22nd at the Quartzsite Com- munity Center Annex, from 9am to 2 pm. Walk ins always welcome but it is faster of you have an appointment. 35 pints were do- nated in November. 6 people do- nated for the first time. Thank you to everyone who donates. You may be saving a life. You can schedule a time by calling 877-258-4826 or online at www.donors.vitalant.org blood drive L1250. There is no age limit. (See ad on Page 23.) Blood Drive

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