Subdivision: 453 NM-165
Owner/ Designer: Placitas Community Library (PCL)
Garden Type or Feature: The PCL Seed Library is a pilot program made possible by a patron who collected seed packet donations from big box stores. Other patrons added seeds from their own gardens, including red yucca, hollyhock and Palmer’s penstemon seeds. Request seeds in person or online at https://placitaslibrary.com/seeds-gardens/.
Artist in the Garden: Steve McKibbin.
Description: Placitas Community Library, one of the seven properties on the 2024 Placitas Garden Tour, is known for more than its books. On Sept. 8 its native and xeric gardens, meditative labyrinth and new seed library will be open to visitors. Guests also can enjoy an exhibit of garden art, fall produce cooking demonstrations and the chance to make seed balls from soil, clay and seeds, meant to protect the contents until it’s time for them to germinate. The Sandoval County Extension Master Gardeners will be present to answer your garden questions.
The library’s well-tended garden beds and natural spaces are the handiwork of several waves of volunteers. Xeric pioneer David Salman planned the first bed shortly after the original building was finished in 201x, using donated natives and xeric plants to blend with the library’s undeveloped surroundings. A community-built labyrinth followed to honor longtime volunteer Bill Dunmire, and for the past several years a new crop of volunteers has softened the edges of a new library wing with an interesting mix of flowers, shrubs and textures that can survive in the site’s hard, sand soil and the challenge of full sun and frequent winds.
Its colorful perennials include sunflowers, iris, yarrow, penstemons, and blanket flowers. Smoke bush, purple sand cherry, muhly grasses, agaves and yuccas add textural context, while fruiting Wolfberry and Fruitland Silverberry shrubs feed bees and squirrels. Serious gardeners can find more information about each garden bed in the online Plant Database, https://placitaslibrary.com/seeds-gardens/seeds-gardens/.
