Landscaping Camp Growing Flowers and Fans By Verna Gates Photography courtesy of Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Foundation Retirement Attraction Program
Summer camp – a time to sing Kumbaya around the campfire and tell bad jokes and classic ghost stories. Or not. For adults, it means thinking outside of the boxwood. In Landscaping Camp, the only songs are the ones that vibrate from the throats of warblers as adults will be participating in three days of garden intensives. Set for May 25-27 in Oxford, Mississippi, the camp will explore everything from pruning to cutting flowers and to what herbs went into William Faulkner’s whiskies at Rowan Oak. Participants will indulge their passion for outdoor spaces with classes and field trips emanating from the Inn at Ole Miss. Landscape Camp emerged from the local pride in the University of Mississippi. Named the most beautiful college campus in America by numerous publications, Ole
Miss supplied the idea that others might be interested in their gardening acumen. Director of Landscape Services Jeff McManus is known as the genius behind the exquisite grounds. He agreed to share his secrets of creating beauty from nature’s palette when the camp launched to great fanfare last year. “Jeff is the reason people come to see the campus. Last year, we were amazed by the camp’s success and by the people who came from multiple states to attend,” says Rosie Vassallo, Director of Retirement Attraction for the OxfordLafayette County Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Foundation. DeSoto 33