Gardeners, animal volunteers work to spruce up TALGV

The yipping and barking of puppies and dogs echoed in the air Wednesday as volunteers of The Animal League of Green Valley and the Green Valley Gardeners showed up with shovels for a tree-planting party.

It was a cooperative beautification project where volunteers from both non-profit organizations worked to enhance the back landscape of The Animal League on Duval Mine Road.

Animal League president Jean Davis said the cooperative venture came about when mutual acquaintances of the two groups were talking one day.

“The next thing I knew, president of Green Valley Gardeners Mary Kidnocker called. She took the initiative and said the Green Valley Gardeners likes to do projects in the community.

“It’s a blending of flora and fauna you might say. We have that bond,” Davis said.

The project has been in the works since the beginning of summer and Davis said it was Animal League volunteer Vern Allred who got the group thinking in the right direction.

Davis said this time was chosen because Kidnocker said the best time to plant trees is between now and mid November.

“Here we have two groups with diverse interests working together on a common cause... We chose the trees, we bought the trees and we’re planting the trees. They’re all Desert Willows,” Kidnocker said.

Native to the southwest and northern Mexico the small deciduous tree has narrow, light green leaves and beautiful, trumpet-shaped flowers. One source said few trees rival the beauty of the flowering Desert Willow whose flowers range from white to purple although a pale pink to lavender is the most common.

Davis said though The Animal League was asked to install the watering system, the Green Valley Gardeners are paying for it. Animal League volunteers also dug 15 holes for the Desert Willows and the planting party was completed earlier than planned.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.