Fort Scott takes program to new heights

In 2007, Fort Scott became one of the first Kansas communities to join the "Our Community -- A More Colorful Place" which is a joint program between K-State Research and Extension and the Kansas PRIDE program. The goal of the program is to bring more color to the community through the use of flowers.

Last summer flowers were planted in several public venues including Heritage Park, downtown planters along Main Street and at Skubitz Plaza, the County Courthouse and the swimming pool. These plantings received many positive comments from both citizens and visitors to Fort Scott.

The City of Fort Scott paid for the plants (all purchased locally) and did the watering. The Bourbon County Master Gardeners & Garden Club planted all of the flowers. In addition, a citizens group called "Friends of the Gardens" helped with maintenance during the summer.

This year our goal is to be the first Kansas community to take the program to the private sector. Several Kansas communities have planted flowers in public and business venues but we will be encouraging citizens to plant flowers in their front yards to expand these "color spots" throughout Fort Scott. Citizens can plant a whole garden, line a sidewalk with plants or just add a few colorful pots to the porch or yard.

We will be asking citizens to choose some plants from a list of flowers from the K-State Prairie Star collection because of their exceptional performance in Bourbon County for the last two years. Local greenhouses have been asked to stock these plants as well as others from the Prairie Star list so they will be readily available for planting. Lists of these plants will be available this spring so gardeners can use them in their garden plans.

Dr. Alan Stevens, founder of the Prairie Star program for K-State, spoke at the annual Spring Gardening Forum held last March. He was a very popular and enthusiastic speaker, and we are fortunate that he has agreed to speak again at 6 p.m. March 10 at Citizens Bank Lobby. He will discuss the "Our Community" program, introduce some new plants that made the Prairie Star list this year, and answer gardening questions. So mark your calendars for this important date.

The following information about the "Our Community" program is from the K-State website (www.prairiestarflowers.com):

There are many things a community can do to improve their appeal, but few can compare to the immediate impact of colorful flowers. Dr. Alan Stevens, Extension Floriculture Specialist in the Department of Horticulture at K-State has announced a new program, "Our Community, a More Colorful Place".

In partnership with Kansas PRIDE, the new program seeks to build community pride through more people, planting more flowers, in more places. Relieve the blahs by adding the spice of colorful flowers to our communities.

Color our world by planting flowers at the entrance to city hall, along our streets, in planters downtown, in front of our businesses, in our parks and spots of colorful flowers in each of our front yards. Everyone can play a part in making our community a more colorful place.

Think of your community as it is decorated during the December holiday season. We place bright lights and ornaments downtown, in businesses, and in each of our front yards. Why do we decorate our communities for the holidays? We feel the holiday decorations make our community a better place to live, work, shop, and play. Many families have a tradition of riding around and enjoying all the holiday decorations. Our quality of live is improved.

Wouldn't making our communities a more colorful place during the spring, summer and fall by planting flowers everywhere also improve our quality of life? We can take great pride in living in a community that embraces flowers and a quality environment.

Our Community, A More Colorful Place is a great community development, PRIDE program. It is one that can be accomplished with realistic resources while having an immediate visual impact.

The Our Community, A More Colorful Place program is supported by K-State Research & Extension through the Prairie Star annual flower program (prairiestarflowers.com) and technical, flower-growing information through County Extension Offices and the Master Gardener program.