The Open House held on Saturday morning June 12 to celebrate our refurbished Pollinator and Rain Gardens was a festive occasion. Close to 60 people attended, including six customers for Ian’s Curbside Bicycle tune-ups. Many people came to see the gardens, talk about native plants and pollinators, and pick up free plants, seedlings or seeds. Judy Kingsbury and Susan Carpenter from the U.W. Madison Arboretum were on hand to help answer plant and pollinator questions. CMNNA provided coffee, juice, and treats. As promised, Janet Wood made ginger cookies shaped and decorated as bumble bees. They were yummy!
A number of families came, and several children enjoyed coloring, chalking the sidewalk, and filling out Rachel’s garden activities sheet. We took advantage of the chance to talk to folks about the Neighborhood Association, and hand out some information and donation sheets. Some cash was donated to the “tip jar”. Our alder, Jannette Figueroa Cole was there, along with Linda Horvath and some of her colleagues from the City Planning Office. Some of the SW Path gardening stewards also came. It was a good time to make or strengthen connections.
We had much more favorable weather than at our previous Open Houses that were held in October!It was quite warm, but the ramp structure provided some shade. The drought we were in resulted in some plants starting to wilt, but there were still plenty of blooms on the Tall Beardstongue, Coreopsis, Butterfly Milkweed, and Black-eyed Susan. Newly added plant labels added interest and educational value to the gardens.
Although we did not feature a ribbon cutting ceremony, our president Mary Odell provided some ceremony in the form of an official proclamation, read by Dennis. After a number of “Whereas” clauses touting the achievements of negotiating permits, creating the gardens, upgrading it with the grant, the proclamation states “Be it Resolved by the Board of Directors of the Crawford Marlborough Nakoma Neighborhood Association, that hence forth and forever more, this space shall be known as the Warwick Way Gardens”. It is signed by Mary and contains a gold “Official Seal of Excellence”. Thank you, Mary and Dennis! And a huge thank you to all who attended, and to those who made it happen. Let’s not wait two years for the next one!
