Ready for summer
(From left) Jacob Knight, Ian Cox and Kyia Hunter-Kanoff add flowers to a planter in downtown Moses Lake Thursday morning. Planting the flower containers is an annual project of Moses Lake High School FFA and horticulture students.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Jaedynn Dietmeyer (left) and James Doyer (right) prepare the planter and petunias Thursday morning in downtown Moses Lake.
Austin Kern fills a planter in downtown Moses Lake Thursday. These planters are maintained throughout the summer by the Downtown Moses Lake Association as part of their efforts to draw visitors to the area.
(From left) Moses Lake High School ag instructor Tony Kern gives planting instructions to Alexis McGuckin, Sydney Garza and Paytan Andrews while Moses Lake FFA and horticulture students were planting downtown flower boxes Thursday.
MOSES LAKE — Jacob Knight explained the layout - the ornamental grass in the middle of the flower container, with the sweet potato vines and petunias in opposite corners.
Knight, a student at Moses Lake High School, was among the MLHS horticulture class and Future Farmers of America members who worked their way down West Third Avenue and adjoining side streets planting flower containers Thursday morning.
Kyia Hunter-Kanoff said it’s an annual FFA project.
“It’s one of our big community service projects,” Hunter-Kanoff said.”To make things pretty (downtown), so people can enjoy the flowers.”
The plants are grown in the two MLHS greenhouses, tended throughout the winter and spring by horticulture students and FFA members. The Downtown Moses Lake Association orders the flowers; the students grow and plant them downtown.
All over downtown. There are a lot of planters downtown.
“I believe there are 137 cement curbside planters and there are 16 wooden planter boxes,” said MLHS ag teacher Tony Kern.
There’s also the planter at the base of the clock in the intersection of West Third Avenue and Ash Street, and the flower bed at the Moses Lake post office.
The DMLA maintains the flower containers during the summer to keep downtown looking fresh.
“In the fall we’ll come back and clean them all out,” Hunter-Kanoff said.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
