Have you seen what’s growing in SaddleBrooke gardens? Would you like to? Would you like to meet people whose gardens produce bags of citrus, baskets of fresh vegetables and herbs, roses of every color and size and cactus flowers that the javelina won’t touch? Would you like to learn what has worked for gardeners in our unique SaddleBrooke climate? Out of such questions a new club was formed in the summer of 2024. Over 150 gardeners have joined the new SaddleBrooke Gardening Club to share their successes and challenges, and to learn from each other’s gardening experiences. Four subgroups offer like-minded members breakout meetings covering issues relevant to their interests.
Vegetable and Herb subgroup meetings and garden tours have addressed numerous topics including: raised bed gardening versus movable container gardening; full sun versus partial shade locations; square foot gardening in containers versus raised beds; built-in protection from sun, wind, heat and pests; planning considerations for larger plants like tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, and peppers versus smaller crops like lettuce, spinach, radishes, and beets; drip systems versus hand watering; and a crowd favorite, red wriggler worms!
Flower and Rose subgroup members had the opportunity to visit a monthly Tucson Rose Society meeting and plan to visit a local nursery in advance of the Spring planting season. Garden tours in SaddleBrooke have included a mature pollinator garden featuring native blooming plants such as spectacular Mexican Sunflower bushes, Mexican Oregano and vivid purple salvias. Other flower gardens on tours included flowers and roses in raised beds and pots in addition to flowering plants in the ground. Members are looking forward to some garden parties when our yards are blooming this spring.
Citrus and Fruit Tree subgroup meetings, trips and garden tours delighted members with a local nursery tour and a lesson in foliar feeding complete with a recipe for a fertilizer/nutrient combination that by the looks of this SaddleBrooke garden, really produces incredibly healthy fruitful trees!
Cactus and Succulents subgroup meetings and garden tours included discussion of deterring pests and visiting a garden with mature cactus. Succulents, of course, are also a favorite topic as they have a place in any garden or patio and are so easily propagated they make great giveaways!
Wherever you are from, wherever you learned to garden, you have learned one thing here in SaddleBrooke—gardening is very different here due to our climate and growing conditions. We are so fortunate to live in a community of neighbors who have the time and the heart to share their gardening experiences in this new SaddleBrooke Gardening Club. This is a club where members are invited into other members’ gardens to see first-hand what has worked for them here in SaddleBrooke.
Check out the SaddleBrooke Gardening Club’s website at sbgardeningclub.weebly.com for the great gardening information there, as well as information on upcoming meetings. Online, too, there is also a membership application if you are interested in sharing our mission of Members Helping Members!
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