Rockin’ at Joshua Tree’s Hi-Desert Cultural Center
Kaye Ballard Theater’s Water-Wise Demonstration Garden Taking Shape
JOSHUA TREE, CA – With a donation of native boulders and lots of “volunteer power” – plus the use of some pretty heavy-duty equipment, volunteers at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center were plowing forward with the installation of the Center’s water-wise landscape demonstration garden on Wednesday. Situated in front of the Center’s Kaye Ballard Theater building, the new high-profile exhibit is expected to be a tourist point of interest along Highway 62 as it draws the views of the more than 1.4 million visitors to Joshua Tree National Park each year.
The demonstration garden plan includes a varied selection of native boulders and stones intertwined with native cacti and other water-wise flora chosen from the pallet of species growing at the Joshua Tree Water-Wise Demonstration Garden located at the Joshua Basin Water District.
The installation of the decorative native stone, donated by long-time Yucca Valley supporters Jack and Mary Towne, represents the second phase of the garden installation. Earlier this spring the garden received a donation of several native Joshua Trees, which were carefully transplanted with a tree spade by corporate sponsor, Unique Garden and Landscape Center. The final phase of the garden that was made possible by a donation from the Joshua Tree Sportsman’s Club, includes adding a dry riverbed, lighting, stone seating, and, when cooler weather arrives, many more water-wise plants.
For more information, to volunteer, or to donate, you may contact the Center’s box office at 760.366.3777 or may visit it on the web at www.hidesertculturalcenter.com. Also online is the Center’s new digital brochure that highlights the Center’s programs and current expansion efforts.
PICTURE CAPTION: Volunteers position boulders at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s new water-wise demonstration garden in front of the Kaye Ballard Theater building. From left to right: Nathan Williams, HDCC President Jarrod Radnich, Thomas Gray, Mackinley Stewart, James Towne, Jack Towne.
PHOTO CREDIT: HDCC Photographer, Robert Spoecker