What began as a whisper to beautify our town square four years ago grew into a good-natured community expression and put Burnsville on Doug Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park website [avl.mx/d7j].
From the beginning of our Beautify Burnsville project, the town conveyed there was no budget for flowers in our town square. So rather than waiting on funds, community members donated plants from their personal gardens or purchased them at nearby nurseries and farmers markets. Other neighbors joined in broadcasting annual seeds, dropping off extra daylilies, irises and coneflowers, etc. Friends helped weed and water. A former mayor donated currency to purchase keystone plants from our local native nursery. Two generous neighbors donated hundreds of dollars for native plant plugs, which we ordered online and planted this spring. Nearly every plant came with a personal story and a wish to beautify a communal area. It was fun, apolitical and innovative.
As a result, the flowering garden was revered by countless people (elderly, children, artists, photographers, wedding parties and guests visiting from afar). In our fourth year, the garden was alive with a vast variety of beneficial insects, including luna moths and monarch butterflies. In addition, countless local honeybees swarmed to the native mountain mint for nectar.
Without our awareness on Tuesday, Sept. 16, three months ago, we arrived at town square to witness a group of hired workers pulling out the last of 100 flowering plants and throwing every plant in the back of a pickup truck. We stood in shock as a collective labor of love vanished. It was a violent, foolish scene that demonstrated a disconnect to nature, community and caring, and sent forth an unsympathetic message. Ironically, the exact opposite message of a serene, flowering garden…