(FREE) People of Ponca Series: Sarah Schukkman
Article and Interview by Morgan Murphy / Ponca City Monthly Intern
The “People of Ponca” is a limited series featuring stories of local Ponca City residents. New stories will be featured every Friday. Be sure to sign up for Ponca City Monthly Plus to get emails every time we post a new story!
Sarah Schukkman - Grand, August 2, 2024
What are you doing?
I work for the city Parks and Recreation Department, and it's our job to maintain all the city plantings. So, right now, I am pulling the weeds out and throwing mulch down.
Where is your favorite place to plant?
Where is my favorite? Right here. You're looking at it. I love planting Grand. I get great joy from it. It's a lot of work and requires a lot of hand-watering, but I really enjoy it when it happens.
What has been the hardest thing you’ve dealt with this year?
That is a story. For the Horticulture Department, it's been a very rough year. In total, four of us are full-time city employees for the Horticulture Department. One of our co-workers was injured and hasn't been to work since January. And one of our other co-workers was in a work-related accident and was off for six weeks. So, we started the season with half of our staff. And we have had some plant issues. We grow all of our plants in the greenhouses in our parking lot. And we had a lot of trouble with plants early on in the season. We had a lot of plant deaths, which is very sad. But now it's catch-up time. Now we're playing catch-up.
What is your favorite flower?
My favorite flower isn't necessarily a flower at all. It's a tropical vine slash shrub. It's called bougainvillea. I love to put tropicals out for interest, usually because it's nice to see stuff that you don't see on everybody's lawns. So, bougainvillea is my favorite. Dangerous, but favorite. I don't use them often here, but they're my favorite. But, if I had to go with just normal, everyday plants, gosh, that's hard. Lantana, maybe, because it's reliable. You can count on it to bloom, even in the extreme heat.
➡️ Opt in or out of different newsletters on your “My Account” page.
➡️ Learn more about Ponca City Monthly+
Ponca City Monthly is a locally owned publication that delivers hyperlocal news in print and online.
Like what we are doing? Feel free to forward this along and tell a friend.
Sponsorship information/customer service: email editor@poncacitymonthly.com