April 2005 The Shoreline Page 9
Meet Your Neighbor - The Steenlands
By Marge Green
I am sure that most of you have come
to the realization that I do enjoy doing
this column each month. It allows me to
really get to know some very interesting
people. I hope all our readers will seek
them out and enjoy their various talents.
PKS is a microcosm constantly being
enriched and changed by our new
neighbors. One such couple is Bill and
Dot Steenland. They have just moved
into their new house at 105 Loblolly
Drive.
I first met them at the sittum several
months ago. They were renting on Cedar
Road in order to watch over the building
of their new home. They both are very
open, lively and interesting. Someone
that evening mentioned something about
the book I was writing for my children
and Dorothy became interested. Lo and
behold she had done a lot of editorial
work in her previous life so she offered
to help me if I got stuck in the details or
with the computer. Little did either of us
know how helpful she would become in
the months ahead as I raced toward a
deadline for a finished book by Christmas.
However, this is about them so let me tell
you a few things.
Bill and Dorothy have five children
in their blended family. Lynn, the oldest.
is an engineer doing mostly consulting work.
She and her husband live in Columbia, South
Carolina. They say an apple doesn’t fall far
from the tree. She, like Bill and Dorothy, loves
the water. They have a home on Lake Marion,
a popular area for South Carolinians.
Kathleen was bom in California
and returned there as an adult
to establish it as her home. In
some respects she has drifted
away from her initial career.
Her degree is in Fine Arts
which transformed into a
working career in graphic
arts. She now is the Director
of Transition House, an
organization that seeks to
aid homeless families
transition back into normal
society. This at times can
be a difficult undertaking,
but the rewards are
priceless.
Kathleen is married to a wonderful fellow,
and they live in Santa B arbara with two teenage
sons.
Michael, like Kathleen, was born in
California but only lived there until he was
several months old. However, when it came
time to settle down he decided San Francisco
was the place for him. He is not married. He is
■\".i //.-
a residential architect and designed Dot and
Bill’s home. He saw the lot once, took some
pictures, and produced a very livable, beautiful
home for them.
Michelle and her husband live in Cary with
their two small children. She and her
husband run their own business from
their home. That is a help to a
om and dad with a two year
old and four year old.
Bryn, the youngest, will be
married in April. She lives in
West Chester, Pennsylvania.
While she has a degree in
nutrition, she is currently
employed in other endeavors.
Four of the Steenland’s
five children graduated from
Virginia Tech while one
went to Virginia
Commonwealth, which is
the University for the Arts
in Virginia.
Bill was originally from Long Island but
came to the Washington, D.C. area for college.
Dorothy was bom and spent her younger days
in the northern part of Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula. Suffice it to say Dot came to the
D.C. area via a number of stops along the way.
While both worked at the C.I.A. they did not
meet there. I will refrain from telling you that
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story, but you must ask them some day.
Bill was a project manager for the in-house
renovations at the agency. Dot, on the other
hand, proofed, formatted and disseminated
intelligence reports. She has a wealth of
computer knowledge as the result of her job
and loves to figure out those maddening glitches
that are the bane of all those who use a computer.
For me, she was and has remained a blessing.
After coming to this general area, they
decided to buy a lot. Unfortunately, it was in
New Bern at Greenbriar (now Emerald
Plantation). The parent of one of Bill’s friends
in high school had moved to Pine Knoll Shores
to retire, and he was influential in their decision
to retire here. The ocean and the general
ambience of our town, quickly overcame New
Bem’s attractions.
When asked their likes and dislikes, they
mirrored our own. They love the water, the
boating, fishing, kayaking, and running on the
beach. The friendly people, the trees and quiet
are a bonus. The establishment of a rapport
with the medical profession is a work in
progress. Isolation and quiet makes it difficult
when you want to get on a plane and fly
someplace directly. So there is always a trade
off. Bill and Dorothy are comfortable here and
are a wonderful addition to our town.
Greetings, Gardeners
Submitted by Karen Neill
Roses:
Garden centers are gearing up for the
season and will soon be selling what are
referred to as Bare Root roses, meaning
that the plant is field grown then dug
while dormant and shipped with no soil
around its root system with only peat to
keep them from drying out. There are
hundreds of roses out there to choose
from but to make your selection easier,
look for the All America Rose Selections.
All-America Rose Selections is an
association of growers dedicated to the
introduction and promotion of exceptional
roses and they have been doing this since
1938. Every AARS winning rose
completes an extensive two-year trial
program where it’s judged on everything
from disease resistance to flower
production, color and fragrance. This
sophisticated evaluation process
guarantees that only the best of the crop
make it into your garden. This year there
are four wonderful selections:
DayDream™ is a low-growing
compact landscape shrub rose reaching
just 2' in height. The massive clusters of fuschia-
pink blooms will flower all summer long. Each
lightly scented single blossom is wide and flat,
resembling a little button. Foliage is glossy,
deep green and highly disease resistant.
DayDream’s diminutive size and neat round
habit make it an appropriate choice for a variety
of garden situations.
An upright, spreading shrub rose. Lady
Elsie May^*^ offers a vigorous, uniform growth
habit and excellent disease resistance. The
flower is coral pink and grows in clusters on
strong 12-20 inch cutting stems. Each flower is
approximately 3 _ to 4 inches wide and had 12-
14 petals. The fragrance is slight and the foliage
is dark green and waxed.
About Face™ is a grandiflora with a very
novel ‘backwards’ bicolor whose light color of
deep golden yellow is carried on the inside of
the petals with a darker bronzy orange-red
backside. This super-vigorous plant yields long
stems with full old-fashioned blossoms that
catch attention throughout the life of the bloom.
The flowers, up to five inches in diameter,
offer a mild fresh apple fragrance and are
beautifully complimented by lush, clean green
leaves.
Combining a strong spicy, citrus-y
fragrance with a high-centered classic rosebud,
ELLE^'^ is a hybrid tea that produces shell
pink flowers with deep yellow undertones.
The dark glossy foliage provides a nice contrast
to the soft, non-fading flower, and offers above
average disease tolerance to mildew and black
spot. Flowers bloom on 10-14 inch stems and
are 4-5 inches wide with a petal count of50-55.
Pruning:
Have a limb or two that interferes with your
ability to mow? When removing a tree limb
follow these three steps;
1) Using a pruning saw, make a cut on the
underside of a branch, one third of the way
through the limb and 12 inches above the
branch collar. This cut will help avoid any
tearing of the tree’s bark.
2) Now make a cut all the way through the
limb about 21 -4 inches beyond the original cut
but this time start on the top.
3) Make the final cut by removing the
remaining stub. This cut should be made right
outside the branch collar. If you make the cut
inside the collar the tree will have a hard time
healing over the wound.
If you have to stand on a ladder with a
chainsaw to remove limbs from your tree, it is
time to call in a Certified Arborist. These folks
are certified by the International Society of
Arborists and you can get a complete list of
those in your area by going to; hhtp://www.isa-
arbor.com/.
Now is the time to begin pruning broad
leaved evergreen shrubs. This will enable to
the new growth to cover the cut surfaces and
exposed inner branches. Use a combination of
thinning and heading back cuts to promote
healthier plants. A good rule of thumb is not to
remove much more than one third of the overall
foliage at one time as the plant is never under
any stress this way.
Proper timing and a description of the two
different types of pmning cuts can be found at;
hhtp://w ww.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/
consumer/agpubs/ag-071 .pdf