December 15, 2006

Beautifying Matsumoto Elementary School

By Arvind Kumar
Special to the Times

It looked like a regular school day at Matsumoto Elementary: the parking lot was full, and parents and children were milling about. But what were they doing there on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 3?

They were there to help plant daffodils and native bulbs as part of a school beautification project. The project was conceived by the Evergreen Valley Garden Club, of which third grade teacher Sally Brooks-Schulke is a member.

The bulbs were provided at no charge by San Jose Beautiful, which gives away 30,000 free bulbs to citizen groups every year for beautification of public spaces around the city. Some of the bulbs were donated by private citizens. The school administrators helped by getting the maintenance staff to loosen up the soil.

Garden Club president Vinatha Kutagula and founder Laura Balaoro were among the several garden club members spearheading the activity. But it was the parents and children who were the real stars of the effort. Armed with spades, trowels and bulb planters, they planted over 300 bulbs in less than two hours. Both parents and children were enthusiastic about planting. At one point, water bottles mysteriously appeared and were gratefully consumed.

Bulbs are easy to plant and require no maintenance after planting. They come up with the winter rains, flower in spring, and then go dormant. Properly situated, bulbs return year after year with no effort on anyone's part. Their one requirement is summer dormancy, when they like to be dry.

The project came about due to the efforts of the Evergreen Valley Garden Club, which has been meeting at Matsumoto School for the last year. The club meets monthly to hear guest speakers on topics as varied as orchid care and native wildflowers, as well as go on conducted tours of private and public gardens. Starting next year, the club will meet at the newly opened Evergreen Library on Aborn Road. Plans call for monthly classes on gardening topics; all are welcome.

To learn more about the club, visit www.evergreenvalleygardenclub.org.