Thanks to the City’s Public Works Department, Old City Cemetery has a new addition to its landscape. A 40’ x 20’ shade house is now being constructed adjacent to the Compost Education Center and City Toolhouse.
The new shade house will protect plants until they are ready to be planted. It will also give us an opportunity to propagate new ones on-site. City Horticulturist Kirk Schultz first conceived the idea of the shade house as a way to protect the “mother” roses we inherited in late spring when our grower retired. The rooted cuttings we sell every spring during the Antique Rose Festival come from this very special collection of roses.
The compost area has also been renovated by Cemetery staff and volunteers. We have constructed bins to make compost for new rose plantings and as needed for all of the other Cemetery plants.
The tentative completion date for the shade house is October 1. We hope to have an open house when the entire area is completed. Stay tuned…
—Karen Bracco, Visitor Services Manager
