Beautifying San Damiano
garden club digs in to bring color to sisters’ pittsburgh property
Linda Hyde and Sister Gracy Kundukulam plant around the sign that welcomes visitors to the San Damiano and Mt. Assisi Place properties.
Linda Hyde, Barbara Martin and Sister Gracy Kundukulam unload a truckload of plants from a local nursery.
Sister Gracy Kundukulam and garden club members plot out plants for the best configuration around the Mount Assisi sign.
As Franciscans, our Sisters find faith in the beauty of nature and their natural surroundings. We are also blessed to have special friends who share our appreciation of God’s creations. Faith and friendship collided recently when members of the Forest Hills Late Bloomers Garden Club spent a day beautifying the grounds of our San Damiano Convent in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Our long-time employee Linda Hyde, an officer with the garden club, mobilized club president Barbara Martin, a master gardener, and members Susan Shrag and Patty DeMarco on a beautiful June day to transform the flowerbeds at San Damiano into colorful testaments to the beauty of nature.
It was a special project for the Late Bloomers, who care for the roadside islands and flowerbeds in the Forest Hills suburb of Pittsburgh and also run the Forest Hills Farmers Market each Friday during the warmer months. The group returned a week later to complete the project. They were assisted on both days by our own Sister Gracy Kundukulam, who has an affinity for plants, keeps her own small garden at San Damiano and enjoyed picking up tips from the other gardeners.
Named for the 12th Century church and monastery near Assisi, Italy, San Damiano sits adjacent to our former Mount Assisi Convent — now Mt. Assisi Place personal care home — and directly abuts the large property sign that serves as a showcase for some of the newly-planted flowers. The garden club’s handiwork is featured front and center for the many drivers and walkers who pass the corner each day.
The Late Bloomers carefully selected plants and flowers to complement the surroundings, including plants that bloom in spring, summer and fall to provide three seasons of color. Among their selections were bleeding hearts, pinky winky hydrangeas, lavender, spirea, asters and daisies — all plants that bees and butterflies flock to for nectar. The flowerbeds were also given a fresh coat of mulch.
“We selected plants for a sunny, well-drained area,” Barbara explains. “Hot colors — including oranges, yellows and whites — complement the colors of the Mount Assisi sign.”
While they worked, the gardeners were interviewed by master gardener and local media personality Doug Oster, who stopped by to do a feature for his Gardening Green with Doug weekly blog. Oster also is the voice of The Organic Gardener Radio Show that airs on Sunday mornings in Pittsburgh.
“Everything looks so beautiful,” says Sister Frances Marie Duncan, provincial minister of the School Sisters of St. Francis and resident of San Damiano Convent. “We are so grateful to Linda and the Late Bloomers for taking such great care with our flowerbeds.”
Linda Hyde packs dirt to secure a plant in a long flowerbed at San Damiano Convent.
Sister Frances Marie Duncan (upper right) thanks members of the Forest Hills Late Bloomers Garden Club — shown with TV and radio host Doug Oster — for their efforts in beautifying the San Damiano grounds.