Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeSaturday, Aug. 23, 2008
Roots and blooms: West Richland family sweeps fair's horticultural contests
By Mary Hopkin, Herald staff writer
Green thumbs seem to be hereditary in Karen Evans' family. Evans has been growing flowers and vegetables to display at the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo since she was in grade school and has collected plenty of ribbons along the way -- including this year's best of show award for a mixed collection of flowers.
This year, two of her children, Sarah, 7, and Josh, 5, also collected a bouquet of "Best of Show" ribbons. Sarah won for a simple but sophisticated flower arrangement that included zinnias and globe amaranth, accented with wisteria vines in a cylinder vase.
And Josh won for a sunflower he grew in an area of the family's bountiful and bright West Richland garden that has been set aside for the kids.
"We wanted them to have an area of their own -- they plant the seeds each spring," said Evans, who got her green thumb from her mother, LouAnn Schielke of Richland.
Schielke collected a best of show award for her dahlias, making it a family super sweep in the floral and horticulture categories.
Evans started growing flowers and vegetables when she was 10 years old and involved in 4-H. Her mother was a leader.
"That's where we got started," said Schielke. "That's where I learned how much work it was to grow dahlias."
Today, both women are avid gardeners and members of the Garden Genies club in Richland.
While her mother specializes in raising dahlias, the Evanses' garden doesn't contain a single dahlia bulb. Evans says they are too much work. But her compact 50-by-50-foot garden is a bright, vibrant example of the wide variety of vegetables and flowers that can grow in the Mid-Columbia.
Thick vines snake along the ground, heavy with the special golden watermelon her husband, Daniel, didn't want to enter in the fair. Red, yellow and green peppers hang from vines and silk peeks from corn husks. Their tomatoes come in all shapes, sizes and colors. There are okra, purple beans and raspberry plants and concord grapes line a corner of their one-acre lot.
The children's sunflowers top 8 feet and create a canopy of shade between the rows, where Tonka trucks powered by small hands move sandy dirt from one end to the other -- and back again.
"The kids love to play out here," she said.
Evans said Sarah loves to pick flowers -- the zinnias are her favorite. Josh likes his sunflowers. And Evans' youngest, Ryan, 2, is content to play between the flowers.
They are all gatherers and know exactly which of the fruit trees that border the property carry the sweetest, ripest apples, peaches, pears, plums or nectarines.
Sarah and Ryan have their own trees. Sarah's is a doughnut peach and Ryan's is a nectarine.
"When we planted them, the trees were the same size as the kids," said Evans as Ryan bit into a fresh nectarine from his tree, juice dripping from his chin.
Janis Louder, the open class floriculture superintendent at the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo, said Evans and Schielke are among the top regular exhibitors they have -- each offering up more than 100 entries annually for the fair.
"And they always come and replace their flowers during the week," Louder said.
They also bring in extra flowers to freshen up other exhibitors' entries, so visitors late in the week are treated to bright, fresh flowers rather than wilting ones, she said.
But the judges especially were impressed this year by young Sarah, Louder said.
The designs must be done at the fair, in front of the judges and must be created by the exhibitor, Louder said.
"We have accredited judges and there are very specific criteria the entries must meet," she said. "For a 7-year-old to do this kind of arrangement, to understand the balance, is remarkable."
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