In the past we have seen some pretty dismal flower baskets on Detroit. Too high, to small, ugly...
Not this year!
They are low enough to see, and filled with beautiful dangling flowers!
Nice.
Thanks.
.
Flower Baskets Back!
Moderator: Jim O'Bryan
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Jim O'Bryan
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- Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:12 pm
- Location: Lakewood
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Flower Baskets Back!
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
-
Lynn Farris
- Posts: 559
- Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2005 8:24 pm
- Location: Lakewood, Ohio
- Contact:
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Jim O'Bryan
- Posts: 14196
- Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:12 pm
- Location: Lakewood
- Contact:
Maybe Rueben got a clue, that yes the mall is packed, and filled, but he could always use a couple bucks to make it nicer.Lynn Farris wrote:I agree Jim the ones this year look great. But are they only at the Marc's Plaza or will they be everywhere?
or
Getting ready for Band2Gether?
They look great from the office.
.
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
-
Danielle Masters
- Posts: 1139
- Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2005 12:39 am
- Location: Lakewood, OH
-
Mary Anne Crampton
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:34 am
It took a village......
When I came on board Main Street, all the committees agreed that we would commit only to projects for which we could find funding and for which we could maintain quality control. First big (and successful) example: Light Up Lakewood.
Clearly, the flower baskets of the past 2 years did not come close to meeting expectations....the City was responsible for watering (with a contribution from LCPI)....it always started out great, but as the summer wore on, resources dwindled.....as did the flowers. The baskets needed to be lower and watered regularly for the entire season....it just wasn't happening.
We renamed the program Main Street Lakewood Blossoms and started over. Mantra: Small and high quality.
We secured agreement from The Coral Company property manager in late winter to work with us on flower baskets in the Sinagra Park area. The city kindly agreed to remove and re-hang 8 brackets (which had been purchased by LCPI) at our designated 10 ft height. The 8 baskets you see were purchased and hung by The Coral Company, and they are indeed beautiful.
The United Methodist Church has agreed to expand its Sinagra Park volunteer gardening effort to include watering of the baskets. This is a huge commitment - but they have a great plan. We are so enormously grateful. In recognition of their contribution, LCPI/Main Street Lakewood will be making a contribution to the church from its Main Street Lakewood Blossoms fund. Tomorrow look for us on step ladders as we add "soil moist" to the baskets in an attempt to retain moisture between watering sessions.
UMC also maintains the big flower pots in Sinagra Park. With the help of the City, Keep Lakewood Beautiful funds, and LakewoodAlive volunteers, those pots will be replanted for the summer over the weekend.
Expanding the hanging basket program will require the resources to address all the elements mentioned above. These 8 baskets match our resources for 2008 and are the extent of the hanging flower program for this year.
The rest of the story.....
We wanted more flowers on Main Street, but merchants have indicated that daily watering & maintenance was something they were reluctant to commit to. So, with "seed" money from Keep Lakewood Beautiful, we tried a pilot program in the summer of 2007 with Earth Boxes...they have a water reservoir in the bottom, which minimizes daily watering requirements. The Earth Boxes worked so well on the window sill of the Chamber office, we went to Rotary for funds to expand the program. With a 2008 gift from Rotary, we were able to create a program for merchants/property owners who would make a 1-season commitment to have filled Earth Boxes delivered in June and picked up LCPI/Main Street in early October. Thirty EarthBoxes were delivered today, and look FABULOUS. Kathy Haber coordinated this effort which was so very well done. The merchants/property owners are responsible for maintaining the boxes in front of their businesses.
In addition, you have undoubtedly seen the gorgeous, colorful window boxes in front of Geigers, and CVS has also installed window boxes and hanging baskets outside its Main Street store.
PLEASE thank the merchants who are making our downtown even more inviting this summer. And heartfelt thanks to the volunteers, who we turn to again and again to enhance and protect our quality of life.
So indeed, Main Street Lakewood is blossoming this summer. We would love to expand the Earth Box program city-wide next year - we'll see how it goes. In the meantime, there is nothing to keep property owners from doing their own thing to beautify our streetscape...as we Michigan State Spartans say..."GO GREEN!"
I think I just wrote my next LO article. Look for it and pictures in an upcoming edition!
Mary Anne
When I came on board Main Street, all the committees agreed that we would commit only to projects for which we could find funding and for which we could maintain quality control. First big (and successful) example: Light Up Lakewood.
Clearly, the flower baskets of the past 2 years did not come close to meeting expectations....the City was responsible for watering (with a contribution from LCPI)....it always started out great, but as the summer wore on, resources dwindled.....as did the flowers. The baskets needed to be lower and watered regularly for the entire season....it just wasn't happening.
We renamed the program Main Street Lakewood Blossoms and started over. Mantra: Small and high quality.
We secured agreement from The Coral Company property manager in late winter to work with us on flower baskets in the Sinagra Park area. The city kindly agreed to remove and re-hang 8 brackets (which had been purchased by LCPI) at our designated 10 ft height. The 8 baskets you see were purchased and hung by The Coral Company, and they are indeed beautiful.
The United Methodist Church has agreed to expand its Sinagra Park volunteer gardening effort to include watering of the baskets. This is a huge commitment - but they have a great plan. We are so enormously grateful. In recognition of their contribution, LCPI/Main Street Lakewood will be making a contribution to the church from its Main Street Lakewood Blossoms fund. Tomorrow look for us on step ladders as we add "soil moist" to the baskets in an attempt to retain moisture between watering sessions.
UMC also maintains the big flower pots in Sinagra Park. With the help of the City, Keep Lakewood Beautiful funds, and LakewoodAlive volunteers, those pots will be replanted for the summer over the weekend.
Expanding the hanging basket program will require the resources to address all the elements mentioned above. These 8 baskets match our resources for 2008 and are the extent of the hanging flower program for this year.
The rest of the story.....
We wanted more flowers on Main Street, but merchants have indicated that daily watering & maintenance was something they were reluctant to commit to. So, with "seed" money from Keep Lakewood Beautiful, we tried a pilot program in the summer of 2007 with Earth Boxes...they have a water reservoir in the bottom, which minimizes daily watering requirements. The Earth Boxes worked so well on the window sill of the Chamber office, we went to Rotary for funds to expand the program. With a 2008 gift from Rotary, we were able to create a program for merchants/property owners who would make a 1-season commitment to have filled Earth Boxes delivered in June and picked up LCPI/Main Street in early October. Thirty EarthBoxes were delivered today, and look FABULOUS. Kathy Haber coordinated this effort which was so very well done. The merchants/property owners are responsible for maintaining the boxes in front of their businesses.
In addition, you have undoubtedly seen the gorgeous, colorful window boxes in front of Geigers, and CVS has also installed window boxes and hanging baskets outside its Main Street store.
PLEASE thank the merchants who are making our downtown even more inviting this summer. And heartfelt thanks to the volunteers, who we turn to again and again to enhance and protect our quality of life.
So indeed, Main Street Lakewood is blossoming this summer. We would love to expand the Earth Box program city-wide next year - we'll see how it goes. In the meantime, there is nothing to keep property owners from doing their own thing to beautify our streetscape...as we Michigan State Spartans say..."GO GREEN!"
I think I just wrote my next LO article. Look for it and pictures in an upcoming edition!
Mary Anne