Vermont Blooms Initiative

Vermont Blooms Initiative

The VNLA launched the Vermont Blooms Initiative in the Fall of 2020.   It is a planting program dedicated to enhancing Vermonters health by improving and beautifying our civic landscapes.   This all-volunteer endeavor, funded by donations from our VNLA members and associates, seeks to improve/enhance public outdoor spaces across our towns throughout Vermont.  These projected are intended to be relatively simple and easy to implement.  Projects could include planting trees, planting a pollinator garden, a pruning project, etc.    Locations for these projects could include a town center, a boys & girls club site, a community garden, local school, or public library to name a few.

Please watch our WCAX interview about the launch of this program HERE.

The first project of 2023 occurred on July 8, 2023 at the CP Smith Elementary School in Burlington where a rain garden was installed.  This project was led by VNLA member Holly Greenleaf and was in collaboration with Champlain College students and the Lake Champlain Basin Program, which provided an outreach grant to support this project.

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING for their donations of time, plants, and materials and making this project a reality:

• Kim Brockway & Family, CP Smith Elementary School
• Lenore Budd
• Robin Collins, Champlain College
• Evergreen Gardens (donation)
• Ralph Fitz-Gerald, Horsford Gardens & Nursery
• Full Circle Garens (donation)
• Gardener's Supply Co. (donation)
• Greenhaven Gardens & Nursery (donation)
• Holly Greenleaf, Greenleaf Design
• Horsford Gardens & Nursery (donation)
• Silvia Jope, Old World Garden Design
• Jesse Labrecque, J. Labrecque LLC(& donation)
  
• Landshapes (donation)
• Kelsey McWilliams, Point of Shift 
• Kristina MacKulin (donation)
• Ashley Robinson, Landscape Designer
• Rocky Dale Gardens (donation)
• Jill Sarazen, Lake Champlain Sea Grant & VTDEC
• Micayla Schambura, UVM Grad Student
• Morgan Thibodeau, Graphic Designer
• Van Berkum Nursery (donation)
• Linzy Vos, Rocky Dale Gardens 

The second project of 2023 occurred on August 25, 2023 at the Allen Brook Elementary School in Williston.  This project began with an idea by Fred Erdman, a school volunteer, who wanted to enhance the plantings around the school.  He reached out to the VNLA's Volunteer Project Outreach Committee and the garden was planted just in time for the start of school. 

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING for their donations of time, plants, and materials and making this project a reality:

• Cindy Cole
• Fred Erdman
• Claussen’s Florist, Greenhouse & Perennial Nursery (donation)
• Full Circle Gardens (donation)
• Gardener’s Supply Co. (donation)
• Ashley Robinson, Landscape Designer
• Rocky Dale Gardens (donation)
• Mark Saunders
• Lynn Walker

PAST PROJECTS:

A VT Blooms Initiative project occurred on August 6, 2022 at the Ronald McDonald House in downtown Burlington.   VNLA members and volunteers spent the day planting shrubs and trees on the property.  You can see the story as posted on WCAX News HERE and view the slideshow below.

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING for their donations of time, plants, and materials and making this project a reality:

• Ashley Robinson, Landscape Designer
• Cole Ewoldsen
• Crafted Landscapes, LLC - Gabe Bushey
  
• Evergreen Gardens, Waterbury Center
• Finn Riley
• Gardener's Supply Company, Williston
• Kristina MacKulin, VNLA Executive Director
• Miles Jope
• Prides Corner Farms, Lebanon, CT
• Ralph Fitz-Gerald, Horsford Nursery & Gardens
• Rocky Dale Gardens, Bristol
  
• Silvia Jope, Old World Garden Design
• VJ Comai, Burlington City Arborist

Our August 7, 2021 VNLA in downtown Vergennes VNLA members and local volunteers, in collaboration with a local business, The Daily Chocolate, completed a "street" planting which included installing a stone bench to sit on.  You can view the slideshow below.

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING for making this project a reality:

• Ashley Robinson, Landscape Designer,
• City of Vergennes
• Crafted Landscapes, LLC,
• Daily Chocolate
• Greenhaven Gardens & Nursery
• Horsford Gardens & Nursery
• Red Wagon Plants
• Rocky Dale Gardens