No doubt, the Kentucky Horse Park is alive with events, new arenas and museum space, and a renewed sense of purpose with the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games just over a year away. If you haven’t seen visited the park in a while, you will be surprised at the changes, which only begin with the entrance landscaping, still a work-in-progress.
This week, Vaulting events took the center stage at the new indoor arena, sponsored by the American Vaulting Association and WEG2010 Foundation. Remember the old pommel horse in gym class? Here, the horses are real and on the move. In the discipline called vaulting, the horse canters around a circular arena at the end of a longe line, directed by a person called a team member called a longeur who stands in the circle’s center. The vaulters perform dance or gymnastics elements to music while atop the moving horse; riders leap to mount and dismount without using stirrups. As with other arena settings, greenery and flowers create a pastoral atmosphere, lining the circle and accessways.
 From its origins with the ancient Minoan culture, to today’s practice at the Kentucky Hose park, this combination of grace and athleticism is a work of art.
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At the same time, other classic equestrian activities can be spotted, from Draft Horse demos, to Rocky Mountain Horses with western appeal and quick-stops to U.S. Pony Club flag games, and more. As Executive Director John Nicholson says of the upcoming World Equestrian Games, “We plan to celebrate the horse in the same way as we do every day, just on a larger scale.”  If hoof beats get your heart beating, catch a sneak preview of what’s happening right now in 2009 at the Kentucky Horse Park.
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Gourdgeous       
Gourds are for more than just porch decor. With a bit of basic know-how, you can transform them into jewelry with an organic aura. Guest crafter Judy Denham will be teaching a hands-on class at The Arboretum at 500 Alumni Drive from 1-4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28. Use of the basic tools, like a wood burner and dyes, and findings enough to create earrings, a necklace and a pin are included in the $30 registration fee. To join this class, you must pre-register by calling 859.257.9339. More information can be found by clicking THE ARBORETUM. Two additional gourd transformation classes, Gourd Birdhouse, August 18 1-4 p.m., $25; and Coiled Pine Needle Gourd Vessel, September 29 1-4 p.m., $30, are on the schedule.
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Look close. You should be able to see right through this week’s Whatzit. 
Leave your guess as a comment this week; the official answer will be posted Sunday.
Whatzit #7 is an antique cloche, which is a glass dome that acts like a mini-greenhouse. Cloche is French for ‘bell’, the shape of this cover. Cloches come in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes used to protect garden plants from early freezes, or to protect, decorate and control humidity for indoor plants. This particular cloche was found during the Canal House Cooking book signing by Saveur magazine’s founder Christopher Hirsheimer. She was in Lexington to speak at the Woodford Human Society’s Fundraise, but also served up some cookbook snacks one evening at Debbie Chamblin’s Belle Maison Antiques and Trillium. Click on the shop names for Web-site access.Â
Belle Maison Antiques
525 West Short Street
Lexington, KY 40507
t/f 859.252.9030
www.bellemaisonantiques.com
Trillium
525 West Short Street
Lexington, KY 40507
859.255.1010
www.trilliumstyle.com
Here, a snapshot reveals the 
solution to Whatzit #5. Howard Frankel, whose lilies were featured on the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Clippings column in the Inside/Out section this Saturday, has a lot of gardening experience. This Whatzit is an easy, uplifting way to keep long-handled tools organized, out of the way, and easy to grab.
Artemesia
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  Jasmine
Gardens are not only for sunny days.  They can cast an evening glow with reflected light as well.  One idea: Choose plants with light and shiny flowers and leaves, which show up well when it’s dark. The feathery leaves of silver Artemesia, reminiscent of the mood goddess Artemis, are a good choice along side a mass of white begonias.  Think about other senses in the dark, too. Some flowers, like night-blooming jasmine, open when it’s dark, to release an amazing, almost overpowering soporific fragrance.Â
Ahhh, the magic of midsummer nights!
This week’s Whatzit is a photo of the leaves and flowers of the Neem tree, aka Azadirachta indica , which can grow up to 100 feet tall in tropical climates.  It isn’t hardy in Kentucky, so would need to be cultivated as a smaller container specimen and transferred near a sunny indoor window or into a greenhouse to overwinter This tree, which is native to India and Southeast Asia, produces organic compounds said to be insecticides, plant growth hormones, and are used in making skin lotions and teas.
Read more about Neem at Plant Cultures: Exploring Plants & People HERE. The drop-down list of plants will broaden your awareness of culturally important plants around the globe.
There is an undeniable dignity and decorum added to a garden setting when the Stars and Stripes of our flag is displayed. This past month, as I traveled throughout towns in Central Kentucky, it was easy to collect photos which speak for themselves about posies and patriotism. Happy 4th of July, Kentucky!
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Clintonville, Bourbon County
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Mt. Eden, Spencer County
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Renfro Valley, Rockcastle County
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Camp Nelson, Jessamine County
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Liberty, Casey County
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Paris, Bourbon County
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Danville, Boyle County
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Kentucky Horse Park, Fayette County
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Midway, Woodford County
Red, white and blue, for the 4th of July!Â
 Petunias are one of the most popular annual bedding plants. Hybrids have been developed in a rainbow of trumpet-shaped blossom colors and patterns, as well as growth habits which are great for planting many different settings, from hanging baskets to spreading over ground beds. They’re members of the sun-loving Solanaceae family, which makes them cousins to tomatoes and nicotiana. So plant them in full sun, and them pinch back when they become too leggy, to encourage lateral blossoms to develop.
The National Garden Bureau provides more about the history and cultivation of petunias HERE.
No doubt, the Kentucky Horse Park is alive with events, new arenas and museum space, and a renewed sense of purpose with the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games just over a year away. If you haven’t seen visited the park in a while, you will be surprised at the changes, which only begin with the entrance landscaping, still a work-in-progress.
 From its origins with the ancient Minoan culture, to today’s practice at the Kentucky Hose park, this combination of grace and athleticism is a work of art.
