Art in flowers

Often, when people think about art, they imagine oil on canvas and sculpting in stone or metal. However, among the elemental mediums through which some artists express their passion are plants.

Donna Ricks has volunteered at the Moorcroft Senior Center for many years and is a familiar face at the center's get-togethers. She also provides many of the beautiful annuals guests enjoy at the entrance and in the rooms.

Ricks, like many kids who grew up in rural areas at the time, worked with her entire family in a food garden. A chore she hated, she says: "I was never going to have a garden when I grew up; I didn't like pulling weeds!"

While she and her siblings had to weed the family's garden, their mother canned the produce to feed the household over the winter.

"It was kind of survival. We were 50 miles from town and if [we] wanted to eat, [we] had a garden," she says.

When she married, though, Ricks learned how to enjoy working with the soil from her father-in-law.

"He would help me do strawberries – he would help me weed them and pick them," she says.

"He wanted strawberries every morning for breakfast with his cream. So I do enjoy gardening now."

Ricks admits to spending a great deal of time in her flower and vegetable beds at home, saying, "I've got beets, radishes, carrots, peas, tomatoes [and] cucumbers." She shares her bounty with neighbors and friends at harvest.

The old water trough before the senior center's entrance is filled with pink, purple and yellow beauties, accompanied by a supporting cast that welcomes guests to smile as they open the doors to visit flowers and friends from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The language of flowers is an interesting study and worth notice. The Farmer's Almanac online offers some history and meaning for many of the common flowers planted today.