The gardener's eye

The Gardener's Eye

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Peterborough's Community Garden Project

Francie Watering one of the Four Flower Boxes on the Bridge

The Northwest Flower Box

The Northeast Box with the Nation's First Public Library Behind

Close Up and Personal: The Southeast Flower Box

Francie Von Mertens was busy watering the flower boxes on one of the bridges entering downtown Peterborough early this morning. Francie and her volunteers, the Community Garden Project (CGP), plant and maintain the eight flower boxes on the two bridges. This dry summer has meant watering eight gallons of water for each flower box every other day. Francie's husband, Carl, built the boxes at the base of the light posts.

Around Memorial Day, the CGP volunteers plant the boxes with an exuberant combination of annuals selected by Francie. Some of her favorites are petunias, Salvia 'Victoria', verbenias and the trailing Sanvitalia procumbens also known as creeping zinnia. They continue deadheading the display until the first frost in early October. Around Thanksgiving, they fill the boxes to overflowing with branches of white pine, spruce, junipers and winterberry to adorn the bridges for the winter months. It is a labor of love that has become an eagerly anticipated tradition in Peterborough.


4 comments:

  1. Peterborough appears to be a wonderful place to live. Pretty name too. We have a painting done by a friend many years ago of a scene on Peterborough Street in Boston's Fenway, so that word "Peterborough" evokes many pleasant associations for me. A very musical sound.

    ReplyDelete
  2. James,
    Thanks for your commnent. Peterborough's motto is "a good town to live in." Not proper English but true.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great community spirit in action.
    Lovely welcome into the town!
    Best Wishes
    Robert

    ReplyDelete
  4. Robert,

    The boxes are beloved and very welcoming. We do have strong community spirit here. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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