Most of us don’t have big acreage for our gardens. That’s why we try to pack so much into them. Sometimes, though, we do get carried away, putting the least amount of space required between plants. That’s how usually I practice gardening. Just when you’re certain you have no room to spare, nature finds that one unoccupied spot and fills it. Sometimes plants just appear in my garden, my wildly overplanted garden! 

KNPR Features

Some Gardens Have A Mind Of Their Own

 This summer marks the 50th anniversary of a major event that should have had a greater impact than it did, but still mattered. We mean the 1971 consent decree mandating the employment of Black workers in the gaming industry. Many of you recall the Moulin Rouge Agreement of 1960. That just about eliminated the ban on Blacks patronizing Las Vegas Strip and downtown properties. But what about jobs? Most people of color worked in the back of the house, in jobs like porters, maids, and dishwashers.

50 Years Since Consent Decree Mandates Employment Of Black Workers

Last time, we were talking about the group that built the Union Plaza—Frank Scott, Sam Boyd, Jackie Gaughan, and Kell Houssels, Junior, along with investors like Bill Boyd and Howard Cannon. Let’s look at what they produced.

Union Plaza, Part 2

This year we mark a golden anniversary: The Union Plaza opened on July 2, 1971. It has quite a history … and so does its location.The address Number One Main Street is just a few steps south of a historical marker. There, on May 15, 1905, the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad auctioned off the heart of what we call downtown Las Vegas. The next year, the railroad completed construction of a Spanish-style depot. It tore down that depot to replace it with a station done in the Streamline Moderne style—a kind of Art Deco. It opened in 1940.

Union Plaza

This year, there’s a diamond jubilee going on just north of our studios. It’s the seventy-fifth birthday of the City of North Las Vegas, incorporated on May 1, 1946.

North Las Vegas

If you've thought about adding some 'desert natives' to your lawn or garden, there are some choices that don't include thorns. More 

Native Plants

For a splash of color in your garden, check out Gazanias.

Gazanias

The USDA offers suggestions for a healthy diet. But how much of that can you grow at home?

MyPlate Garden

Nevada's first capitol building has stood the test of time.

The State Capitol

A veggie garden can add a splash of color to your landscape.

An Edible Landscape

It's been 50 years since a law was passed in Nevada that clarified where prostitution would be allowed, and where it wouldn't.

Brothels

There was a time when Nevada was the only state without a community college. How that changed.

Community College

When the soil is frozen solid in other parts of the country, our soil isn’t. Now there are times when the soil in our area is just so hard to dig that it might as well be frozen. But, once you get past that problem, you’ll be able to create a space where a fruit tree will thrive.  When I say thrive, I mean - it’ll grow and produce fabulous fruit!

Winter Fruit Trees

It was 50 years ago that Nevada fell in line with a Fair Housing Act. We'll hear how that came about - ahead on Nevada Yesterdays. 

Fair Housing Act

Phyllis McGuire died at the end of 2020, and with her died a lot of the history of show business, Las Vegas society, and, yes, organized crime.

Phyllis McGuire

Nevada Public Radio presents the latest editions of our popular features: Nevada Yesterdays and Desert Bloom. Refreshes weekly. Subscribe to this feed. 3-6 minutes.