Madelyne Spaide
There is new scenery coming to FHS!
Agriculture Teacher Ben Skipor and his intern Madelyne Spaide recently worked to map out a new plan for the courtyard that is visible from the senior hallway that will include planting perennial flowers in the 40 different raised beds that are located in the courtyard.
Skipor and Spaide picked out a variety of flowers such as daylilies, cone flowers, milkweed, blanket flower, beebalm, peonies, and more.
When it came to mapping out the placement of the plants, they had to think about sizing, spacing, bloom times, and the amount of sun each variety of plant requires.
Skipor’s Agriculture Biology and Horticulture Science classes removed the previous vegetable plants from the raised beds in preparation for the new plants.
The whole process took about three weeks in total from the planning all the way to adding the finishing touches such as mulch to the beds.
“Seeing them from the hall will brighten my day,” Alexia Newcomer, a senior here at FHS said.
These perennials will mainly grow and bloom over the spring and summer, then die back each autumn and winter. You will notice them most in the spring when they bloom back.
“After being a part of all the behind the scenes of this process I am excited to see all of these flowers bloom come spring time,” Spaide said
The motive behind this addition to FHS was to make better use of the courtyard space. With Skipor’s classes mainly working in the greenhouse and the garden across the street, the raised beds were not getting as much attention. The perennial flowers are low-maintenance and provide an appealing look to the courtyard. The future may bring opportunities of hand-made bouquets being created from these flowers.
Most importantly, this new addition of sensory to FHS is guaranteed to bring smiles to faces and a sense of joy within.