An Appreciation for More than Flowers

Summer 2014
An Appreciation for More than Flowers
Inside this issue:
Portage Library Lane
2
30th Celebration Weekend 2
Save the Dates
3
Our Season Thus Far
3
Tributes
4
To view this newsletter in
color, please visit our
website or Facebook page.
Mark your calendar
 August 1-August 3, 2014
KIB 30th Celebration
Weekend, Bronson Park
- August 1 Art Hop
- August 2 Plein Aire
(open air painting)
- August 3 Tribute Event
(prior to Concert in the
Park)
 Mid August-October 2014
KalamaZOO Hop more
details, map & schedule
of events to come!
 September 13, 2014
Tomato Taste-Off
 November 5, 2014
Pumpkin Soiree
Kalamazoo in Bloom plants locally grown flowers and plants in public spaces to beautify
our metropolitan communities. Read that last sentence one more time and think about
what that really means. Now give it a minute to digest.
More than 325,000 people call the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Area their home,
which is among the largest in the state of Michigan. An estimated two million visitors
frequent Kalamazoo and Portage annually.
For the past 30 years, Kalamazoo in Bloom has planted locally grown flowers and plants
at a variety of community and public gathering places in metropolitan areas, including
the Kalamazoo County Administration Building, Bronson Park, Kalamazoo and Portage
City Halls, Portage Library Lane, Kalamazoo Transportation Center, Arcadia Creek
Festival Place, Nazareth Complex, Comstock Community Center, and Crane Park.
Now imagine a trip to the Portage District Library without the botanical canoe display
(this year a butterfly). Imagine a family outing down to June Jubilee for the KIA Art Fair
without “Mike the Peacock”, and other various plants and flowers in Bronson Park.
Imagine attending a concert at the Taste of Kalamazoo & Brew in July at the Arcadia
Creek Festival Place without more than one thousand flowers scattered throughout flower
pots and planting beds. And finally, imagine your metropolitan area with 50,000 less
locally grown flowers and plants.
Kalamazoo in Bloom’s vision statement is, “Beautiful public spaces enhance the quality
of life in our metropolitan communities.” As a Kalamazoo in Bloom board member,
former staff person to the Kalamazoo Downtown Development Authority, and most importantly as a resident of our metropolitan
community, I urge you to take just one more
look around the next time you visit any of
the aforementioned areas.
Appreciate the countless number of
volunteer hours that go into each planting
bed. Appreciate beautiful public spaces.
Appreciate Kalamazoo County as a
“Bedding Plant Capital of the World”
and what it brings to our community.
Appreciate “Kalamazoo in Bloom.”
Park full of event-goers at a Concert in the Park
- Brian Persky, Former Board President
Enhancing quality of life by beautifying public spaces with locally grown plants and flowers
A lane full of flowers
Library Lane in Portage is one of the shortest and most
beautiful streets within the city limits. If you’re not familiar with the Portage Library entrance off South Westnedge
Avenue at Shaver Road, you should make time to view
some of the flower beds and special designs and topiaries.
They were developed by Kalamazoo in Bloom, a nonprofit organization dedicated to beautifying Kalamazoo and
Portage. These beds as well as the beds in front of City
Hall were planted and are now maintained by volunteers
(bed adopters). Take the walk or just drive by slowly.
You will enjoy the view. Volunteers are what it takes.
It is local people who love the spring and summer flowers,
who have the desire to make Portage attractive and offer
a welcome to one of the focal points in the City.
Some 50,000 people pass through Library Lane each
month. Most are going to the Portage District Library, but
this entrance also provides access to the Portage Senior
Center. The need to maintain a constant guard against
weeds and flower eating critters is constant. Watering is
often needed during dry spells. Volunteers are the back
bone of this project. Without adequate workers, this would
be just another road that would get a mowing. That’s why
Library Lane and the City Hall flower beds need an hour or
so of your time each week to help maintain visual beauty
that has been a part of the City for many years. Hopefully,
it will continue, with help from residents who care about an
attractive and presentable part of Portage.
Visit www.kalamazooinbloom.org if you feel you would
like to be involved with a small amount of volunteer time
that makes Portage a place people will point to and say,
“now that’s a really neat place to visit.”
- Cara Terry, Volunteer Bed Adopter
SAVE THE DATE
Wednesday, November 5
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Gardens that surpass expectations
What a season it has been! The weather has been
perfect for growing everything since we planted in May.
Couple days of sun, couple days of rain make for happy
plants and a very happy gardener!
My goal for this year was: bigger. We have completely
surpassed that goal.
Our planting days in May began with beautiful sunshine
and happy volunteers. In recent years, our flowers were
mostly standard size 48-count flats. This year, I
ordered plants in 4”, 6”, 8”, and even 12” pots, so from
the start, the plants were larger, yet we needed fewer
than before. This also meant that we could lay out each
flower bed before planting, to ensure better coverage of
the beds. Everyone was excited about the larger plantings; some bigger beds were much easier to plant while
looking just as full.
The Topiary Zoo has added the most amazing punch of
all. The animals are all a treat, from the Jungle to the
Farm, from the U.P. to the Humane Society, the smiles
of delight and the numerous cameras are the special joy
received from all our efforts for this 30th Anniversary
Year. Nessie the Sea Monster (on Lovell Street behind
City Hall) looks like she just came up from under the
sea with seaweed covering her back.
The Deer in Portage are multiplying; starting with the two
in the Portage Gateway bed, one tiny plastic deer appeared
between them. Recently, another was seen…and yes, the
real ones have also been spotted by the bed. Anyone
witnessing this who happens to have a camera handy, be
sure to get a shot.
If you know of anyone wanting a tour, please contact me.
I love to walk people through the Park and answer questions. I could quiz you on flowers; there are at least 50
different varieties (including a vegetable garden) in the
containers alone. Each flower tree contains 19 different
plants – how many can you identify?
Come down and visit anytime. I am there every morning,
or come down for Sunday concerts or Friday lunches.
Thanks to everyone who has helped make this my most
fabulous achievement! My heart overflows with pride and
gratitude.
- CJ Drenth, KIB Gardener Educator
[email protected]
Get your tomatoes ready!
Tomato Taste-Off
Saturday, September 11
Kalamazoo in Bloom, Inc.
P.O. Box 20178
Kalamazoo, MI 49019-1178
269.548.6232
www.kalamazooinbloom.org
Board of Directors
Tom McCoy, President
Shirley Wise, Vice President/Secretary
Mary Van Tassel, Treasurer
Bob Day
Mike Klooster
Nicole Marques
Elizabeth Mullins
Cam Peterson
Diana Schneider
Joyce Tuinier
Linda Whitlock
Monika Trahe, Executive Director
CJ Drenth, Gardener Educator
The mission of Kalamazoo in Bloom is to plant locally grown flowers and plants
in public spaces to beautify our metropolitan communities.
Tributes
In Honor of:
Bill Deming
Andrea Deming
CJ Drenth & Mary VanTassel
Joann Dodson
Carolyn & John Houdek,
greatest volunteers!
Drs. Edward J. & Ruth M. Heinig
Steve Elms, Landscape Arborist Services
Kalamazoo Garden Club
The passing of Thomas Hill
Mattawan Garden Club
Monika Trahe
Wilma Tays
Rachel Davis
Joyce K. Thran
Florence Cheron
Gerry Tregerman
Mary & Jerry VanTassel’s 50th
Wedding Anniversary
Carol & John Trittschuh
In Memory of:
Thomas R. Berglund
Jill Berglund
Gerald ‘Bud” Walter and
Sally Appleyard
Joyce Buxton-Tuinier
Timothy John Cain
The Cain Family
Ruth Pearson
Rosemary Candelario
Joe Cekola
Dee Cekola
Gerald DeNooyer
Joyce B. DeNooyer
Elwood B. Ehrle
Nancy Decker Ehrle
Aziz & Warda Chamoun
Nabil Ghazal
Arlene Glass & Madelyne R. Koban
Pat Glass
Dale Grimm
D. Philip & Dolores Malpass
Sallie Kittredge
Betty & Jerry Mason
Alma McKinnon
Lynda McKinnon
Leila Bradfield
Dr. & Mrs. David Milko
Francis & Irene Hamilton and
Phil & Ethel Miller
Barb & Gordon Miller
Robert N. Oudsema, Sr.
Margaret M. Oudsema Tanner
August Roty, Jr. M.D.
Mrs. August Roty, Jr.
Frances Russell
Freeman Russell
Kaye Arlington
Diana Schneider
Katie Schultz
Colleen & Greg Schultz
Anthony Sinkula
Michaline Sinkula
Steven L. Tyler
Tyler Little Family Foundation
Edward Gustus
Mary & Jerry VanTassel
Olive B. White
Robert G. White
Tributes listed here were received
between December 9, 2013 and
July 5, 2014.

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