Vermont Blooms Initiative

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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.

Our most recent 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.

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

  • 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

PAST PROJECTS:

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.  See 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

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On October 17 and 18, 2020 VNLA members and volunteers gathered at 3 different sites completing the first “Vermont Blooms” planting projects.  See the slideshow below.  The projects were at the following locations:

LAMOILLE COUNTY

Jeffersonville Family Housing at Mann’s Meadow
100 Mann’s Meadow
Jeffersonville, VT
Installation of raised vegetable beds and bulb planting.

ADDISON COUNTY

Vergennes Union Elementary School
43 East Street
Vergennes, VT
Install a planting bed and maintenance work on their outdoor classroom area.

Platt Memorial Library
279 Main Street
Shoreham, VT
Planting trees, planting bed clean-up and maintenance.

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING for making these first three projects happen.  We could not have launched this initiative without the following who donated time, labor, plants, and materials. It is amazing what a small group can do!

  • Ashley Robinson, Landscape Designer
  • Gabe & Tyler Bushey, Crafted Landscapes, LLC
  • Ralph Fitz-Gerald and Horsford Gardens & Nursery
  • Melita Bass, VCH
  • Piquette & Jack DiPiazza, Good to Grow
  • Pat Toporowski, VT Stone and Horticulture
  • Liam Murphy & Santiago Fernandez, Murphy Landscape Design and Siteworks
  • Gardener's Supply Company
  • Greenhaven Gardens & Nursery
  • Ruby Dombek
  • Kristina MacKulin, VNLA

 

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