Summer-y

It was quite the summer for The Wildflower Project. Here’s a brief summary of our last three months.

• After a month of cultivation, and even a few seedlings poking through the ground, our first site at the rail yard met a harsh end. The railroad came through and sprayed everything green until the only color resided on the graffiti of the rail cars. It was a difficult reality to swallow, considering the time and effort put in, but somber lessons were learned.
• While our first site was being destroyed, we were actively pursuing new locations. We found a much safer location at the Merriam Station Community Garden. The good folks over there gave us 800 square feet to plant our wildflowers in the hopes that they would benefit the adjacent vegetable gardens. After a steamy two-day install (in the middle of July!), our first garden was planted. Since the planting, the native grasses and plants are thriving, and thousands of seeds have germinated to become tiny seedlings. It’s an exciting first step, and we can’t wait to see the color come this fall!
  
• We also found a sweet spot in Dinkytown a few short blocks from TCF Bank Stadium. It happens to be at another community garden, but this particular location has two huge things going for it. The first is the location off the light rail – lots of awareness potential. The second thing, this spot has bees! Pollinate Minnesota, an local pollinator advocate, keeps a couple of bee house on the property. We’re looking at a fall install, so stay tuned.
• Our Joy of the People project continues to slowly trudge on. There isn’t a whole lot to report, but JOTP wants to work with us. Aside from the original location on the hillside (which has been approved by the city!), they’ve also asked us to do a second spot, about 200 square feet, right next to their building. This too is targeted for this fall.
• Other than that, we have about 6 more sites in the hopper, which are more than likely going to be spring ’17 projects.

Hopefully we’ll be able to update more regularly in the coming months (with colorful pictures!) and share more exciting stories of progress. Until then, here’s some colorful photos to think about the beauty to come…