At the beginning of February 2018, the Community Garden project began when our club was called upon to clear dead and hurricane-damaged trees and shrubs from the area at NW 6th Avenue and Seacrest Boulevard. With the help of workers from the Boynton Beach Department of Recreation and Parks, we cleared the debris. We then defined planting areas with salvaged bricks, lined a pathway with ferns and oyster plants, and installed a new sign. As we became more involved with the garden, we decided to introduce native plantings, including a Simpson stopper, the lovely beautyberry bush, the once-endangered coontie, wild coffee, aloe, vinca, and croton.
Mayor Grant then suggested that we adopt this garden and by the beginning of the summer of 2018, our members had mulched the beds, established large areas of plants, and replaced some plantings with cuttings from their own gardens. Once fall came, wanting to attract birds and butterflies, the members considered firebush, milkweed, elderberry, blue porterweed and the club’s flower, the allamanda.
Once again, Mayor Grant approached us with the idea of a Plant Sharing Day, a special day to provide small plants for interested neighborhood residents. Accepting the challenge, club members started plant cuttings, potted them, and brought them to the garden for our first November Sharing Day. In addition to our plants, Mayor Grant donated some herbs and contacted a local nursery who brought small apple trees. More than 75 neighbors stopped by to admire the restored garden and accept a small potted plant. A second Sharing Day was held at the end of April of 2019 and attracted an even larger group of visitors. Many of the neighbors were repeat visitors.
Every year, we continue to share plants with our community during our annual Plant Sharing Day and National Garden Week in June. We continue to slowly add new plants to the Community Garden, such as verbena, jasmine, Trumpet creeper, and ground orchids.
Club members are thankful for the opportunity to promote our love of gardening. We are encouraged by the additional corner of beauty in our community. But mainly, our pursuit of this project can best be explained by relating a recent experience. At one point, we decided to plant another fruit tree in the garden and chose a Key Lime. One of the neighbors stopped by as we were preparing the hole and he offered to help. He mentioned that he often stops by the garden to spend some quiet, peaceful moments among the trees and lush plantings. Witnessing his gratitude for the cherished community space we have nurtured is the most fulfilling reward of all.
