More on America in Bloom
We are very excited about the number of residents and businesses here in Northfield who are participating in the America in Bloom program. We have a healthy supply of the designated colors in annuals and we have many planters planted with the designated annuals as well for those who would just like to buy a pre-planted container! Leif’s article in the Northfield News this week shares his thoughts on America in Bloom
The Northfield Garden Club is working hard to encourage Northfield area residents, businesses and institutions to beautify town and build a greater sense of community by getting involved in the America in Bloom program. It’s easy and enjoyable and costs little more than what you would spend anyway on annual flowers for your gardens and planters.
Participation in the Northfield America in Bloom project is as simple as choosing annual flowers that follow the 2008 suggested color theme of combining pink, chartreuse and burgundy/violet. As these theme colors appear all over town, we will be individually and collectively participating in the building/re-building of community spirit, and beautifying homes, businesses and public spaces.
Some of the annual flower color combinations recommended by the Garden Club are pink petunias and pink wave petunias, chartreuse/lime green sweet potato vine, darker purple/violet shades of coleus and sun coleus. Purple fountain grass is also nice for a more vertical component in your annual beds or planters. Depending on the amount of shade at your planting site, other annuals to consider might be pink begonias and non-stop begonias, pink and purple/burgundy impatiens, chartreuse/lime green coleus, pink phlox, pink geraniums, pink super bells, and calibrachoa. Feel free to use your imagination and creativity while joining together to support the color theme of the 2008 America in bloom project. Our city can benefit from a renewed sense of community spirit, and can have some fun while you are participating. If you are wondering what these color combination look like, ask your supplier to show you examples of how they can be put together.
For those faced with the daunting task of selling a house in the current market, dressing up the curb appeal of the property with colorful and inexpensive annuals can do a lot to help prospective buyers see your home as a place they would be proud to own and in which they would be comfortable living. That wonderful splash of color is very much a part of the buyer’s first impression, and most buyers form a first impression in the first 30 seconds they view a home.
The America in Bloom program actually has eight different evaluation criteria. They are:
Floral displays
Environmental Awareness
Landscaped Areas
Urban Forestry
Heritage Preservation
Turf and Groundcovers
Community Involvement
For more information on this program, you can check out the official website at americainbloom.org.
This year consider supporting the Northfield Garden Club’s America in Bloom project by combining annuals in shades of pink, chartreuse and lime green and purple, burgundy and violet. Together we can beautify the entire town and renew our sense of community and we might even with a national award!
Plant Spotlight: Magnolias. The lovely shrubs and small trees blooming around town the last week in shades of white and pink are probably northern hardy Magnolias. It was a very long winter, and it was so refreshing to drive up to our house yesterday and see an 8 foot mound of large white blossoms dancing in the air on my Merrill’s Magnolia. Since Magnolias in these parts bloom before leaves appear, they can create the illusion that the flowers are floating in space. Royal Star and Merrill’s sport white blossoms, Leonard Messel pink, and Butterflies a light yellow. Check out the lovely Magnolias for a way to inject very early spring flowers into your landscape.
