Whether you’re planting or simply observing, gardening is a good activity for both the mind and body that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. This is especially true for Michelle Warner of Owatonna, who has been caring for the flowers and plants at the fairgrounds for several years.
Last year, despite there being no fair, Warner was still dedicated to keeping the flowers on the grounds vibrant and alive. The program that maintains the flowers is a senior citizen program through Cedar Valley Services. Because of the pandemic, they were on leave, and Warner had to do it all independently.
And while the fair is set to return in a little over a week, this year has come with its own set of challenges. With the scorching hot temperatures and minimal rain, taking care of the multiple flower beds throughout the grounds has been especially difficult.
“It’s hard with the drought because everything needs more water and we really haven’t had any breaks because we’ve only had a handful of rainy days,” Warner said. With more watering, however, comes the added concerns of fungus and mildew because of the intense heat and moisture.
“You don’t want to over-water, but you don’t want to under-water either,”she said. “It becomes a game of balance.”
Warner has spent nearly 25 hours a week caring for the flowers, which is significantly more time than previous years. Most of that is contracted with Cedar Valley Services, and the rest has been graciously donated by Warner.
How do the flowers stay so beautiful?
All the flowers seen at the fairgrounds are started from seed. Warner said the secret to keeping them vibrant and in bloom so late in the season is to start planting a little later than what a greenhouse would typically do. Because the fair is so late, she said if they followed the same planting schedule as a greenhouse the plants would be too mature by the time the fair comes around.
Her second secret is constantly pulling off the spend buds.
“If you don’t, the plant starts to go to seed and spends all of its energy making seed pods and no longer blooms,” Warner said. “So you have to get the dead heads off quickly if you want it to continue to bloom.”
Besides watering nearly every day and the constant pruning of the plants, Warner and her volunteers also fertilize once a week, alternating between an acid fertilizer and the following week they use a multi-purpose fertilizer. Warner said this is because the acid fertilizer helps to keep the foliage green while the other promotes more blooms.
When asked if she had any advice for people who want to keep their gardens looking great all year round, Warner said is it important to avoid giving plants too much water - even in the current drought.
“Typically, what people tend to do is over-water their flowers and plants,” she said adding that while the care required will depend on the type of plant, a good rule of thumb is to stick the tip of your finger down an inch or two to see if water is needed. “Just because the top of the soil is dry doesn’t mean that down in the soil where the roots are aren’t still moist, and this is where the problem of over watering comes into play.”
Warner also recommends moisture beads if people have troubling remembering to water or aren’t around to water their plants as often as needed. The beads are about the size of a BB and are mixed in with the soil. As the soil dries, the beads let go of the moisture they’ve absorbed, allowing more time between watering.
This year there are two new flowers beds adorning the grounds. One is on the east side of the swine building and the other outside the flower building. Aside from the flowers at the fair, Warner and her volunteers from CVS also work hard to care for the flowers in downtown Owatonna, keeping both ends of town colorful and cheery all season long.