June Calendar of Triangle Gardening Programs

Glass creations by Dale Chihuly for his garden installation for the Seattle Center.
Chihuly's Garden and Glass project will be presented June 13 at the J.C Raulston Arboretum.

NC Botanical Gardens
http://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=5&wp=184&aid=NCBG
Location: 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC.

Tour of the Honey Beehive
June 1, 2-3 p.m.
Sunday, June 1, 2:00–3:00 pm (rain date June 8 11am-12noon) This workshop takes place at the Carolina Campus Community Garden (CCCG), located off Cameron Avenue in Chapel Hill. Learn about one of the world’s most fascinating insects, bees, who are responsible for pollinating one-third of the world’s food and produce one of the sweetest treats around. We will explore a live hive with hobbyist beekeeper Anne Cabell, MPH. For all ages and free-of-charge, but please register in advance! For directions to the CCCG and to confirm that the workshop will be held if weather is uncertain, see: http://uncgarden.web.unc.edu/

Third Annual Carolina Moonlight Gala: Celebrating Sustainable Living
June 7, 7-11 pm
The Carolina Moonlight Gala is the annual fundraising soirée for the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Presented by the Botanical Garden Foundation, this gala event raises funds to further the Garden's mission of inspiring and advancing a sustainable relationship between people and nature. Tickets can be purchased online: https://www.501auctions.com/bgfcmg/tickets/?type=ticket



Organic gardening presented with Toxic Free NC
June 18 at the NC Botanical Gardens.

Organic Gardening for Everyone!
June 18, 3-4:30 p.m.
Everybody deserves fresh, pesticide-free food. We can help you build a better habitat for good bugs that will keep your garden’s pests in check, and we’ll have fun doing it! You provide the community garden site, and we’ll provide a hands-on workshop that builds on the shared knowledge of everyone in the group and Toxic Free NC’s expertise on organic methods for preventing and controlling NC’s most common garden pests. Free, but pre-registration required. For directions to CCCG, see the website uncgarden.web.unc.edu/contact-us/

The Nature Cure: Health Benefits of Urban Green Space
June 19, noon-1 p.m.
Urban green space is often viewed as simply an aesthetic or recreational amenity. In recent years, however, researchers working in a variety of fields have argued that urban green space should be recognized and valued as an effective remedy for various ills of modern civilization, such as obesity and attention-deficit disorder. In this talk, Schwartz reviews some research bearing on these questions, considers some obstacles that hinder city-dwellers from reaping the benefits of the green space available to them, and mentions some interesting new ways that different communities are weaving green space into their urban fabric. Free, but advanced registration required.

Butoh, Dance Life of Plants
June 21, 9:30-12:30 p.m.
In this workshop students connect with the secret life of plants through improvisational movement, deep listening and mediation. Using the Japanese dance form of poetic imagery called Butoh, students create dance that is an expression of nature. This is a fun outdoor workshop, designed for a broad audience - non-dancers, poets, scientists, actors and dancers alike. No previous experience required. Fee: $40 ($35 NCBG members/student/senior).

JC Raulston Arboretum
http://jcra.ncsu.edu.
Location: Ruby C. Mc Swain Education Center, JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State
University, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC.

Plantsmen's Tour: "Monocot Madness—Grasses, Lilies, and Elephant Ears"
June 3, 9:00 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Mark Weathington, Assistant Director and Curator of Collections

Glass and flowers, Chihuly Garden and Glass.

Sizzling Summer Celebration: Cool Designs at the Chihuly Garden and Glass
A Dinner and Presentation with Richard HartlageJune 13, 6 p.m.
Celebrate the beginning of summer at the JC Raulston Arboretum on one of the longest nights of the year. Join us for a summer BBQ in the garden at its peak summer show and a lecture presented by Richard Hartlage, the 2010 Outstanding Alumnus for Horticultural Science at NC State and hybridizer of 'Hartlage Wine' sweetshrub. As the sun sets, cool off on the rooftop of the Ruby C. McSwain Education Center with a refreshing ice cream social featuring NC State's Howling Cow ice cream.

Herbaceous Perennials Propagation Workshop

June 21, 9–noon  

Douglas Ruhren, Ironwood Gardens and JCRA Volunteer 

Propagating plants is rewarding, often easily done, and is a great way to add to the plants in your landscape. Join Doug Ruhren in this propagation workshop focused solely on propagating herbaceous perennials. Techniques discussed included division, stem and leaf cuttings, and seed. Following the discussion, participants will gain hands-on experience propagating some perennials to take home with them.


Azalea bonsai.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens

420 Anderson St Durham, NC 27708
http://gardens.duke.edu/events.  Please call 919-668-1707 to register.

Extension Gardener Series: Herb Gardening
June 12, 6:30-8 p.m.
Learn about growing herbs with Master Gardener Marti Warburton. Sponsored in partnership with the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service: Durham County Center. Location: Doris Duke Center. Fee: Free drop-in event. No parking fees after 5 p.m.

Durham Garden Forum: VermicompostingJune 17, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
An informal group, independent of Sarah P. Duke Gardens, the forum meets once a month to enrich its members’ gardening knowledge and skill. This meeting’s topic is composting with worms. Sponsored in partnership with N.C. Cooperative Extension: Durham County Center. Location: Doris Duke Center. Lecture fee: $10 per meeting for non-members; forum members free with annual membership.

Advanced Bonsai Workshop
June 21, 9:30-1:30 p.m.
This workshop, led by Harold Johnson of the Triangle Bonsai Society, is for people already working with bonsai. Participants can bring their bonsai trees to the workshop to discuss how to refine it. Additionally, participants can contact Harold directly to order a plant for this workshop. Tree orders must be placed by mid-May, and the ordering and cost of the tree are arranged directly with Harold. For more information about bonsai, please visit trianglebonsai.com. Location: Doris Duke Center. Participant limit: 10. Fee: $50; Gardens members $40.

Disease Profile: Viral Rose Rosette Disease (RRD)

'Knockout roses' can be susceptible to the viral
rose rosette disease (RRD).
Symptoms can include excessive thorniness
and permanently red growth.

Our neighbors to the north, the Virginia Extension Office, have researched the deadly rose disease, rose rosette disease (RRD), and it is worth the read to learn how protect your prized cultivars and even your 'Knockouts'!

 

Rose Rosette Disease

By Chuan Hong, Extension Plant Pathologist, Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center
Mary Ann Hansen, Extension Plant Pathologist, Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, Virginia Tech
Eric Day, Extension Entomologist, Virginia Tech


Introduction
Rose rosette disease (RRD), a disease believed to be caused by the recently identified Rose rosette virus, has been spreading through much of the wild rose population of the Midwestern, Southern, and Eastern United States for years. It has been confirmed in cultivated roses in Virginia and other states. RRD is of great concern to the nursery industry and to many home gardeners because it is known to be lethal to the wild multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), and it is potentially lethal to many ornamental rose species and cultivars. It has long been known that the eriophyid mite, Phyllocoptes fructiphilus, spreads the disease, but the likely viral pathogen was only recently identified.


Symptoms
Symptoms of RRD are highly variable, depending on the species or cultivar of rose affected. This variability can complicate diagnosis. Some of the more recognizable symptoms include rapid elongation of new shoots, followed by development of witches’ brooms or clustering of small branches. Leaves in the witches’ broom are small, distorted, and may have a conspicuous red pigmentation, although red pigmentation is not a consistent symptom. Canes on some species or cultivars develop excessive growth of unusually soft and pliable red or green thorns that may stiffen later. When this symptom is present, it is diagnostic for RRD.

Symptomatic canes may also be noticeably thicker than the parent cane from which they emerged, or they may grow in a spiral pattern. Flowers may be distorted with fewer petals than normal, and flower color may be abnormal. For example, flowers that are normally a solid color may be mottled. Buds may abort, be deformed, or be converted to leaf-like tissue. Infected rose plants often die within one to two years.

When all of the above symptoms are present, diagnosis is relatively straightforward. However, a diseased plant may exhibit few of these symptoms, especially in the early stages of the disease. By the time symptoms are severe and recognizable, the disease is likely to have already spread to neighboring plants.

Some symptoms, such as leaf coloration, may be subtle. Although some diseased plants develop very obvious red pigmentation, others exhibit a less striking reddish-pink color on leaf undersides or along the margins of otherwise green leaves. Because the new leaves of many rose cultivars normally have reddish pigments, it may be difficult to determine whether the reddish color is abnormal or not. Therefore, it is important to continue to monitor symptoms on suspect roses. On RRD-infected plants, the reddish color does not go away, whereas on healthy plants, the reddish color usually disappears as the leaf matures.



Witches’ brooms on some diseased plants may be an unusual color of green that can be mistaken for symptoms of a nutrient deficiency. However, nutrient deficiency should affect the whole plant. If these symptoms appear only on parts of the plant, they are probably not due to nutrient deficiency and RRD is more likely.

A "witches' broom" cluster of small red stems and deformed leaves

from RRD grown on the top of this 'Knockout'.

The witches’ broom symptom itself is not necessarily diagnostic for rose rosette disease. This symptom can also occur in response to certain types of herbicide injury. For example, if glyphosate, the active ingredient of the herbicide Roundup, contacts green tissue of rose plants in the fall, it is translocated to the buds, and symptoms do not become evident until those buds emerge the following spring. Witches’ brooms with yellow, narrow leaves on clusters of shoots are typical of glyphosate injury. The commonly used broadleaf herbicide 2,4-D can also cause leaf distortion on roses. Unless plants are injured again, symptoms of herbicide injury should disappear by the following year. 

Other symptoms of rose rosette disease that may be expressed include:

• Blackening and death of the canes on some cultivars.
• Short internodal distances.
• Blind shoots (shoots that do not produce a flower) that remain blind.
• Greater sensitivity of reddish purple tissue to frost.
• Roughened, "pebbly" texture to leaves.
• Increased susceptibility to the fungal disease, powdery mildew. This is especially evident when nearby roses known to be highly susceptible to powdery mildew do not develop signs of this disease.

History of Rose Rosette Disease

Symptoms that were undoubtedly due to rose rosette disease were described in the United States as early as 1941. Spread of the disease in the U.S. was linked to the history of the multiflora rose, an exotic plant that was introduced from Japan in 1866 as a rootstock for ornamental roses. During the 1930s through the 1960s, planting multiflora rose was recommended for erosion control, as a bird sanctuary and food source, as a living fence for cattle, for strip mine reclamation, and as a crash barrier on highways. This recommendation ultimately backfired because multiflora rose can produce a million or more seeds per plant and can propagate itself vegetatively as well. It quickly spread and is now declared a noxious weed in several states.

Multiflora rose is highly susceptible to RRD — so much so that the disease was initially considered a potential biological control for multiflora rose. Even now, some people suggest introducing RRD-infected plants into areas with multiflora rose as a way to reduce spread of this invasive plant. Most rose growers, however, are very wary of this recommendation because RRD can spread quickly from multiflora rose to cultivated roses.

Disease Cycle

Rose rosette disease is most likely caused by the newly named Rose rosette virus, an Emaravirus. In 2011, researchers at the University of Arkansas showed a strong correlation between the presence of symptoms of rose rosette disease and the presence of Rose rosette virus: The virus was present in 84 of 84 rose plants showing symptoms of RRD but not in 30 of 30 asymptomatic plants. Now that the putative virus has been identified, it should be possible to use more rapid tests to confirm Rose rosette virus in plant diagnostic labs. In the past, the disease was diagnosed based on a preponderance of characteristic symptoms or by grafting suspect plant material onto known healthy roses and demonstrating transmission of symptoms after a period of weeks to months.

 

The disease is transmitted by the eriophyid mite, Phyllocoptes fructiphylus, or by grafting. The wild multiflora rose is very susceptible to the disease and is a common source of inoculum. Cultivated roses planted downwind of infected multiflora rose are especially at risk because the mite vector travels on wind currents from infected to healthy plants. Some growers have observed symptoms on previously healthy plants within four weeks of being planted downwind from diseased multiflora rose.

The causal agent of rose rosette disease is not soil-borne, so it is possible to successfully plant healthy roses in beds where diseased plants have been removed. However, because the pathogen is systemic in infected plants, the virus may persist in RRD-infected root pieces that remain in the soil. If plants regrow from these old root pieces, as multiflora rose is apt to do, they can serve as an inoculum source for healthy plants. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly remove symptomatic plants and ensure that infected plants are not allowed to regrow from old, infected root pieces.

 

Control

No effective control is available for rose rosette disease in existing infected rose plants, but the disease may be prevented from spreading to healthy plants by using a combination of the following approaches.

 

Resistance

R. multiflora is the species that appears to be most susceptible to RRD. However, many species and selections of cultivated roses are also highly susceptible, and no cultivars have been proven to be resistant. Although the native species Rosa setigera is reported to be resistant to the disease, one grower has reported increased susceptibility to powdery mildew on plants of R. setigera, which could indicate some level of infection by the RRD pathogen. 

A species called the McCartney rose, which exists as a weed in Texas, is susceptible to RRD but resistant to feeding by the mites that transmit the disease. It may be possible, through breeding techniques, to incorporate this mite resistance into cultivated roses in the future. In the meantime, it would be wise to assume that all cultivated roses are potentially susceptible to the disease and to be on the lookout for symptoms of rose rosette.

Cultural Control

Early detection of the disease is the key to effective cultural control. Any suspect roses should be removed and destroyed immediately or monitored for continued symptoms and removed as soon as presence of RRD is ascertained. In some areas, burning is permitted and can be used to destroy diseased plants. If burning is not allowed in the area, plants should be bagged and removed. Diseased plants that have been uprooted should not be allowed to remain in the vicinity of healthy roses because they can continue to serve as a source of inoculum.

If possible, R. multiflora plants — which frequently serve as the source of inoculum — should be eliminated from the immediate vicinity (100-meter radius) of rose nurseries and gardens. Locations where individual multiflora rose plants have been removed should be monitored for regrowth, and any regrowth should be removed and destroyed. Multiflora rose over larger areas is difficult to control and complete removal may not be practical.

To prevent infection of new transplants, avoid planting cultivated roses on hilltops or downwind of known multiflora rose plantings where the cultivated rose transplants are more susceptible to invasion by the mites. Space plants so that canes and leaves do not touch each other. Eriophyid mites do not have wings and must crawl from plant to plant. Proper spacing makes it more difficult for the mites to move within a planting.

Chemical Control

Although there is no compound that will directly control Rose rosette virus, effective control of mites with certain miticides can reduce the risk of spread. Be aware that miticides registered for control of spider mites do not control the eriophyid mites that transmit RRD. Some researchers have obtained reasonable control with either carbaryl or bifenthrin insecticides; however, mites are very small and it can be difficult to get complete coverage. Also, use of carbaryl to control eriophyid mites can lead to outbreaks of spider mites. The insecticide Avid is registered for control of both eriophyid and spider mites on roses.

Use of miticides in the absence of cultural controls is not recommended. One way to use a miticide as an additional tool in a control program is to focus sprays on plants that surround spots where diseased plants have been removed. These are the most likely plants to which mites from within a planting would have moved. Spraying every two weeks from April until September should significantly reduce the mite population and the risk of transmission. Additional sprays may be needed during hot, dry weather when eriophyid mites are most active.

 

Resources

Amrine, J. W., Jr., and D. F. Hindal. 1988. Rose Rosette: A Fatal Disease of Multiflora Rose. West Virginia University Circular 147. Morgantown: West Virginia University.
Amrine, J. W., and S. Zhao. 1998. "Research on Aerial Dispersal of Phyllocoptes fructiphilus (Acari: Eriophyidae), Vector of Rose Rosette Disease." American Rose, March 1998, 28-29.
Laney, A. G., K. E. Keller, R. R. Martin, and I. E. Tzanetakis. 2011. "A Discovery 70 Years in the Making: Characterization of the Rose Rosette Virus." Journal of General Virology 92:1727-32.
Peck, A. 2007. Rose Rosette: A Web Book. Updated May 2007. www.rosegeeks.com.

 

Disclaimer: Commercial products are named in this publication for informational purposes only. Virginia Cooperative Extension does not endorse these products and does not intend discrimination against other products that also may be suitable.

http://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/450/450-620/450-620_pdf.pdf

Affordable Veterans Housing in Durham named for Durham County Master Gardener

Groundbreaking February 2014.

The Denson Apartments for Veterans Phase 1, May 20, 2014.
Phase 2 funding was approved by the City of Durham on May 5.
Photos by CASA.

This Memorial Day, Durham veterans have a Durham County Extension Master Gardener to honor for his singular leadership and commitment to their housing needs.

Alex B. Denson, a Durham County EMG, Naval veteran, retired US Magistrate Judge, and long-time advocate for the Triangle community’s homeless, is working in partnership with the nonprofit Community Alternatives for Supportive Abodes (CASA) to build The Denson Apartments for Veterans.  The construction project will offer a total of 23 units of permanent, supportive housing for homeless Durham veterans with disabilities.

“Any of us could suffer a tragedy, accident, illness or bad luck at any time that could cause us to lose our jobs, our possessions, and our homes causing us to become homeless. If that happens, we are the same people we always were, but we need a hand up to be able to return to independent living in safe, comfortable housing.

As a veteran, I feel that I am in a special group of people who have served their country, often at great sacrifice to themselves and their families. We enjoy the freedoms of our democracy today because of the many people who have made this sacrifice. They were there for us when we needed them. We need to be there for them when they need us, and CASA is,“ Denson said.


Denson served as CASA’s third Board Chair, from 1992 to 2000, and is humbly honored CASA named the project for him. Since 1992, CASA has provided permanent homes in the Triangle for more than 1,000 low-wealth persons with disabilities. It is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, and the North Carolina Housing Coalition.



Alex B. Denson: 
Durham County Extension Master Gardener,
Naval veteran, retired US Magistrate Judge,
and retired CASA Chairman.
 

Tenants at the Denson Apartments for Veterans will sign a lease and pay rent like any apartment, but their rent to CASA will be only 30% of their income. Utilities will be covered by CASA, and tenants will have access to services and supports through a variety of community-based service partners including the VA Medical Center and Healing with CAARE.



Phase 1 of The Denson Apartments for Veterans offers 11 apartments at the corner of Guess and Sedgefield Roads in Durham. Groundbreaking took place February 2014 with an opening set for October-November 2014. More than $1.3M in combined funding has been pledged from the City of Durham, the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, and the Home Depot Foundation.



Phase 2 of the project will consist of a second building with an additional 12 units. Financing for Phase 2 was approved in early May by the City of Durham and will cover approximately 75% of costs, but construction will not until late 2015. Fundraising for Phase 2 has not yet begun.  

Distinguished Military and Law Careers, and a Durham County Master Gardener

Denson served in the United States Navy, attending Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., in 1959; was commissioned in 1960, served as a Line Officer (and Legal Officer) aboard the USS NORTHAMPTON in the 2nd Fleet until 1963.  His ship was the "mobile Pentagon" that would have served as the command post for US forces had the Pentagon been destroyed in a first attack by the Soviet Union (as was feared at the time).  Denson’s ship was at the Bay of Pigs and also the Cuban Missile Crisis while he was on board.

To test the naval facility, President John F. Kennedy visited the ship on one occasion.  The ship's officers were required to dine at the early seating the evening while Kennedy and his retinue were on board. However, Denson was on watch as the Officer of the Deck during the early seating, and had the rare fortune to dine with the President and dignitaries during main seating.  In the Wardroom, officers are seated by rank.  LTJG Denson was the junior officer; the second most junior was Admiral Arleigh Burke who sat on his right, and the third was General David Shoop, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, who sat on Burke’s left. 

Denson was a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, covering 44 of NC's 100 counties, from Wake County to the coast.  He tried civil jury and non-jury trials and some limited criminal matters.  He served a total of 22 years, retiring in 2002. Denson earned a law degree from Duke Law School and was in private practice in Raleigh specializing in civil trials before being selected for the bench.

 

Members of the Town & Country Garden Club present a
$5,000 check for landscaping. Photo by CASA.

Denson earned certification as a Durham County Extension Master Gardener in 2003 with wife Mary. (Mary Denson serves as the Town & Country Garden Club Treasurer and is a Durham Council of Garden Clubs Past Vice President and Special Events Chairman. She has chaired the GCNC District 9 and Council Joint Meetings as well as the 2012 GCNC Fall Board Meeting.) As an Extension Master Gardener, Denson said he reviewed CASA’s landscaping plan for the veterans’ apartments and only made a few adjustments.



Landscaping Support



The Denson Apartments for Veterans project hopes to raise about $20,000 for landscaping. Plants chosen include varieties of hollies, maples, crepe myrtles, elms, dogwoods, azaleas, viburnum, redbuds, compact juniper, and others. About $9,000 has been raised with additional pledges from Durham area organizations.

Donors include garden clubs and individuals from the Durham Council of Garden Clubs: Town & Country Garden Club donated $5,000: DCGC President Marcia Loudon gave $100: the Council donated about $110; and Blossom Garden Club gave $54.

To speak with CASA about supporting landscaping for The Denson Apartments for Veterans, please contact Missy Hatley at 919.754-9960, x42.

Forest Hills' Amy Winston Carr Memorial Garden Renewed

Amy Winston Carr Memorial Garden from October 2013 to April 2014.
Photos by Margaret Rauwald, Project Chair.

By Margaret Rauwald
Forest Hills Garden Club

 

This spring the ‘Amy Winston Carr Memorial Garden’ awakened with a bright new face! 

 

In October 2013, the memorial garden was revamped in thanks to the Forest Hills Garden Club.  It is marked by a small wooden sign and bench located just inside the park from the corner of W. Forest Hills Blvd. and University Drive, opposite corner from the larger ‘Birds of Flight’ sculpture perennial garden.

 

The Memorial Bed was first planted in 1959 to honor Garden Club Founder Amy Carr - Mrs. George Watts Carr, Sr. who lived at 15 Oak Drive.  The bed was primarily made up of plants that were given in her memory at her death.  In 1982, upon the death of another Garden Club stalwart, Mary Anne Stockton, of 1124 West Forest Hills Blvd., another memorial garden, funded by Mary Anne's own will, was planted right next to it. From 1982 until 1997 the two beds were lovingly cared for by Mrs. Ava Hobgood, a garden club member who lived at 17 Oak Drive. Ava planted bulbs and got the two beds to grow together making them indistinguishable from one another. However over the past six years the garden received only minimal care, was over-grown, deeply shaded and needed rejuvenation.  It was then decided by the garden club to use available funds and come up with a new plan.

 

As a Forest Hills GC member and garden design enthusiast, I was thrilled to take the lead on this project.  Collaborating with members, the garden plan was created and put into action. The work began with the help of KC’s Trees who limbed up surrounding trees including massive overhanging beech and holly limbs, opening the area to more light. The old railroad ties border was also removed, all for a nominal fee working within a tight budget.

 

With a good day of planting, pruning and debris cleanup in partnership with a team from TROSA, the garden was beautifully transformed.  It now incorporates a bronze colored metal border curving around 100 feet of area with 76 new shade and semi-shade plants grouped with the original azaleas, camellias and large vibernum. Monkey grass was transplanted further back giving front row space for new blooming perennials. A small antique cement bench and butterfly themed stepping-stones now lead you into the front sunnier side of garden and the painted birdbath is tucked around the corner among azaleas.

 

New Plantings: 

Ajuga ‘Burgandy Glow’, Camellia Japonica ‘Marie Bracey’, Dianthus ‘Firewitch’,

Ferns (Woodland & Evergreen varieties), Helleborus (Lenten Roses), Heucheras (Coral Bells), Hosta variety, Hydrangeas ‘Oakleaf & Endless Summer’, Lirope muscari ‘Variegata’, Loropetalum Chinensis ‘Purple Pixie’, Rhododendrum ‘Autumn Twist’, Solomon Seal, Verbena ‘Lilac’

 

In addition, 180 daffodil bulbs were planted by neighborhood volunteers including the newly formed FH Junior Garden Club started by garden club member Caroline Carrington.

 

Further down into the west end of the park is the ‘Kathleen Garden.’  A green metal park bench and native plants mark this area while neighboring giant magnolias and majestic oaks offer a sense of protection making it another peaceful place to sit, reflect and be thankful for the natural beauty all around us.