Much Abloom in Town
A new pollinator garden was created at the Robert Adams Middle School on Community Service Day in late May.
Students cleared the area of the existing clumps of hosta and weeds earlier in the day. After school, RAMS science teacher Mrs. Doire, her Green Team students, and Holliston in Bloom member Cherry Fenton planted over 20 perennials and several types of annuals for summer and fall blooms that would attract different pollinators.
The students chose to leave the common milkweed plants that had started to grow in the space because common milkweed is the sole food source for monarch butterflies and has become increasingly scarce. Plants and bags of compost were donated by Ahronian Landscaping
The above pictures are before and after the students worked on Community Day.
The garden is located in a recessed nook that is open to the sky to the right of the entrance when facing the school. Mrs. Doire and her students are excited to have participated in the selection and installation of the plants for the new garden and have committed to caring for the new garden over the summer months.
Holliston in Bloom member and stonemason PJ Kilkelly built three new raised 4’ x 8’ garden beds at Mission Springs senior housing last month. The fenced-in garden named Chicken Brook Farm now has a total of five raised beds which enable individuals with limited mobility to garden.
Residents Phyllis McPhee, Mary Manglio, and Gail Bertuzzio were the lucky recipients of the new raised beds.
Last year, the DPW created new planting areas at Town Hall – around the monument, along the foundation, and on a slope. Dozens of perennials were planted along the foundation and hundreds of annuals were also planted. On June 14, three HIB members planted about 75 sun-loving perennials around the monument and in the sloped garden.
HIB member and Downtown Marigold Project’s Bobby Blair just added annuals at Town Hall for more summer color in addition to planting throughout public areas downtown and at the Metcalf Pump House. HIB member and Pinecrest Advisory Board member Deb Moore completed her week-long planting frenzy at Pinecrest a few weeks ago with the help of her husband John.
