Wescott Bulb Project

Syracuse Daffodil Days Press Release – April, 2011

admin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:30:08 +0000

For More Information Contact For Immediate Release

Peter Wirth

315-637-0331

pwirth2@verizon.net

Syracuse Daffodil Days

City Wide

“We encourage people to get out this spring; walk around the city and see the work of dozens of organizations and hundreds of volunteers who planted thousands of daffodil bulbs – 22,000 to be exact,” says Peter Wirth, organizer of the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project.

Since the project started in 2003 seventy two thousand bulbs have been planted. Up until last year the focus was the east side neighborhood around the Wescott Community Center, co-sponsor of the project. Last year we expanded to the North, South and West sides of the city.

A special thanks to the following organizations who helped spread the project throughout the city: Northside Urban Partnership, Skunk City Neighborhood Organization, Westside Initiative & Women Transcending Boundaries – Sept. 11 Acts of Kindness Project.

Sites where you can see bulbs blooming:

* Westcott neighborhood – hundreds of homes

* Westcott Community Gardens – Harvard Place near Westcott st.

* Cooperative Federal Credit Union hillside – 723 Westcott St.

* Westcott Community Cntr. – Cor. of Westcott & Euclid

* Ed Smith School – Broad St. & Lancaster Ave.

* Hutchings Courtyard Garden – 550 Cedar St.

* Sunrise Community Cntr. – 1330 E. Washington St.

* McGroarty Park – McBride Street between East Laurel Street & Union Avenue.

* Faith Hope Community Center – 1029 Montgomery Street

* Mundy Branch Library – 1204 S. Geddes, corner of Rowland & Geddes

* House of Providence – 1700 West Onondaga Street

* Delaware Academy – 900 South Geddes St. corner of Delaware S.

* Hartson Street – 100 block in front yards

Theses are just a handful of the places bulbs were planted.

To learn more about the project started in 2003, the 20 co-sponsoring organizations and where they planted 22,000daffodil bulbs throughout the city in 2010 go to www.bulbproject.org Click on WBP History for a list of sites planted in 2010.

– 30 -

Flower Bulb Project Report – 2010

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:12:45 +0000

2010 Bulb Project Reports

2010 was a banner year for the Westcott neighborhood Bulb project, a project of the Westcott Community Center. This year we expanded our focus from the Westcott Neighborhood to the entire city. Over 22,000 daffodil bulbs were plated throughout the city of Syracuse.

A special thanks goes to Northside Urban Partnership, Skunk City Neighborhood Organization, Westside Initiative, Women Transcending Boundaries -Acts of Kindness Project.

Enclosed are reports from 20 sponsoring partners representing over 30 community organizations.

As usual, we hosted the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Give Away at the Westcott Community Center the first Saturday in Oct. Over 300 individuals showed up. We gave away 5,400 bulbs to be planted in the Westcott Neighborhood. Look for them this spring.

Since the project started in 2003 the project has worked with numerous community organizations and hundreds of individuals who have helped plant 72,000 spring blooming bulbs in the city of Syracuse.

Pete Wirth

pwirth2@verizon.net

Cab Fab

We got all the bulbs planted split evenly between Burnet and Marcellus St – we shared with neighbors in each place, and all were planted in the front yards. We’ll send photos once they bloom.

Thanks,

Carolyn

pc@cabfab.com

Central New York Services, Inc.

Central New York Services, Inc. (CNYS) was glad to be part of the bulb program for the first time this year. The program tied in with our current initiative to provide gardening activities for our residential consumers. CNYS has a variety of housing programs located across the City of Syracuse with residences located within our distinct city areas – Eastside, Westside, Southside, and Valley districts.

Each of our 5 sites received 100 bulbs which staff planted with our consumers. A party was held at each residence to commemorate the occasion and everyone is looking forward to seeing the results this coming Spring.

The experience was positive for everyone involved and the agency looks forward to continuing this partnership in the future.

While this program was limited to our residential services, CNYS provides a variety of other services for adults with mental health and substance abuse issues including outpatient treatment, case management and programs within the criminal justice system.

Fern Whyland

Coordinator of Community Outreach

fwhyland@cnyservices.org

Cooperative Federal Credit Union

Cooperative Federal staff took a break from opening accounts and processing checks on a brisk November afternoon, to add lovely scilla and crocus bulbs to our hillside at the Westcott St office. Thanks to the work of volunteers, credit union members, and the ESF Landscape club there are already over 800 daffodil and other bulbs planted, all donated through the Bulb Project. We’ll be looking forward to the massive bloom in spring!

Christina Sauve

christinasauve@coopfed.org

Ed Smith School

City Students Study and Plant Flower Bulbs

October 22, 2010

For the seventh year students at Edward Smith K-8 school planted daffodil bulbs along the two city streets that border their building.

4th graders in Ms. Berish’s class took part in a classroom lesson and laboratory experiment to gain an understanding of what flowering bulbs are and how they grow. They made observations about the appearance of bulbs and then dissected and explored their inner structures. Having recently completed a unit on plants students were able to make connections between their new knowledge of plant biology and the similar but distinct characteristics of spring flowering bulbs. The chance to touch, feel, and smell the bulbs engaged every student and created many spontaneous observations and discussions comparing ideas. Students recorded their observations and ideas using drawings and words. The excitement in the room during this simple science experiment was contagious.

The classroom lesson highlights information about the human discovery and cultivation of flowering bulbs from a historical perspective, and the specific environmental requirements of the bulbs we would be planting. Students are encouraged to make predictions about the climates worldwide where bulbs might thrive based on their developing understanding of biomes around the world.

Students worked in small groups to dig and plant bulbs along Lancaster Avenue and Broad Street. Every young person was proud to have the chance to use a large garden spade to dig a wide deep hole. Most got their hands dirty with relish and discovered that digging a hole takes muscle, teamwork, and patience. The discovery of rocks, bug larva, and worms was a further thrill.

Each year I point out to students that people in their community, who don’t know them personally, care about them and want them to be proud of their school and their community. I let them know that the daffodils they plant with the Westcott Bulb Project will grow and multiply every year. I tell them that they will see their flowers this and every spring. Today’s 4th graders might decide to show their children these flowers one day. The amazement and pride in the faces of each group of kids as they think about the possibility is a wonderful thing to behold each year.

The Westcott Bulb Project offers the students of Edward Smith School the opportunity to make important connections between many areas of school work. We read the instructions for planting, we measure the size of the bulbs and the size of the holes we dig. We are scientists as we explore the structure of the bulb and make comparisons to other living organisms. We make predictions, we think about the people in other cultures and at other times in history who also planted bulbs. We make connections between our neighborhoods and the larger world.

The Ed. Smith community thanks the Westcott Bulb Planting Project for this highly valuable learning opportunity, and will eagerly await the spring bloom of nearly 3,300 bulbs planted by our students, staff and parents over the past seven years.

Lisa Neville, parent

lneville@verizon.net

Housings Visions

On a sunny warm afternoon in October, veterans from Housing Visions’ Eaglewood East property on Pine and E. Fayette St. planted 200 daffodil bulbs between their parking lot and Rite Aide. It looked like a lot of work at first but these guys made it look easy. The bright daffodils will be a welcome site come Spring and a nice change to see in this spot. More daffodils were also given to residents on E. Fayette St. and also at the Housing Visions rental office on E. Genesee St. Plus 250 daffodils were handed out to neighbors at a September 11 block party on Catherine St. We look forward to the Spring and future plantings and partnering!

Kathy Alibrandi

kalibrandi@housingvisions.org

Hutchings Psychiatric Center

Hutchings Psychiatric Center assists persons with mental illness opportunities to acheive a self-directed quality of life by supporting their individual recovery in the areas of living,learning,working and socializing for as long as needed or desired.

Gardening for them has become an outlet of creative expression and healing as they discover the beauty in designing, planting and caring for the gardens in a variety of settings.

Gardening has given people opportunites to share their experiences by teaching others both as a vocation and as a leisure time activity. We have started new gardens, planted vegetable gardens and assisted people in learning about good nutrition. We have planted bulbs along the connective corridor to enhance that we are a part of the community and have a vital stake in making our community beautiful to look at and live in.

We had over 25 people help at any one time to prepare the beds, plant the seeds, and bulbs and harvest the vegetables .

We are grateful for the opportunity to receive the bulbs and make us a part of the community bulb project.

Sincerely,

Kathy Eber

Senior Recreation Therapist

HUISKKE@omh.state.ny.us

Jill Nilles

Music Therapist

Hutchings Psychiatric Center

Jowonio

The Labyrinth Project at Jowonio

The Jowonio School grounds (at 3049 East Genesee St.) now include a labyrinth thanks to 34 volunteers who donated 108 hours on September 11th and 12th. This was one of the designated community service projects for the Acts of Kindness Weekend organized by Women Transcending Boundaries for, what is hoped will become, an annual observance of 9/11.

The labyrinth volunteers included 10 members of the Onondaga Valley Presbyterian Church Youth Group, Jowonio families and staff, Jowonio alumni, and community members who dropped by to lend a hand. They shoveled dirt, heaved boulders, hauled mulch and then planted 1000 daffodil bulbs along the edges of the spiral pathway. They also helped clean up the playground gardens and trail.

Many thanks to Peter Wirth and the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project for, once again, donating crates of bulbs; Dan Reeder from Natural Systems Landscape Design & Build for the wonderful sense of aesthetics he has brought to creating this and most of Jowonio’s other outdoor spaces; Reverend Beth DuBois and OVP Youth Group; the City of Syracuse Parks & Recreation Department for delivering a truck full of mulch; Betsy Wiggins from Women Transcending Boundaries; Carl Scruggs from Senator Valesky’s office; and the many other community and Jowonio volunteers.

Jowonio students are enjoying the spiral pathway now and are very excited about the prospect of it being a blaze of daffodils in the spring.

Ann Sutherland

ann.sutherland@jowonio.org

NEHDA – North East Hawley Development Association

A neighborhood resident asked to purchase two hundred of the bulbs which he distributed and planted on his own.

On October 8, we held one of our gardening workshops and gave out bulbs to each of the workshop participants. Planting bulbs in anticipation of spring was the topic of the workshop.

We gave some to the Hawley/Green Neighborhood Watch members. And we gave about a hundred to the Hawley Youth Organization for planting at the Syracuse Northeast Community Center.

We conducted a spring gardening workshop with HYO fourth graders and planted the raised garden bed at the Center with flowers and vegetables. It was very successful so we thought this would be a perfect fit. My understanding was that the pre-schoolers were going to participate in this project as a way of learning about community service. I thought that was a great idea. I will keep after them if they have not yet planted. Part of the plan was to do an article for our upcoming newsletter on this project.

And of course, staff and I planted bulbs in front of our building ( By the way, the squirrels sensed the ground was disturbed, so they managed to dig up some bulbs.)

We will get photos of these in the spring.

We would be interested in participating again.

Report by Alberta

nehda@cnymail.com

Northside Collaborative

On a bright Saturday morning in early October, a few dedicated Northside residents gathered to plant bulbs in McGroarty Park. Located in the Prospect Hill neighborhood along McBride Street, the park has received various levels of attention over the years, and its time is coming again with renewed interest in the neighborhood as St. Joseph’s Hospital’s $220 million expansion project is underway.

Patti Pirro, a member of the McBride Street neighborhood group, saw a bulb planting as a way to capitalize upon this energy. She engaged neighborhood residents to give away 400 bulbs, some planted in the front yards of residents along McBride Street, and others in McGroarty Park. Approximately 120 bulbs were planted in the flower beds at the base of the park signs. In addition to the work by the residents, approximately 1,000 additional bulbs were planted in McGroarty Park by a local workforce training class, Green Train Landscaping and Urban Ecology, run by the Northside Urban Partnership and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Jonathan Logan

jlogan@northsideup.org

Nottingham

Five National Honor Society students led by two parents planted 100 bulbs around the new statue of Nottingham High School’s mascot, the bull dog. We gathered at 10am on Sunday Nov 7 and had the job done before lunch time. Hot chocolate was enjoyed by all.

Angela

thoram2@yahoo.com

Onondaga Earth Corp.

The Onondaga Earth Corps and Southside Interfaith CDC made 400 bulbs available for community members on the Southside of Syracuse. As part of the Acts of Kindness weekend, on September 11th, 200 bulbs were distributed as we did a community clean up with the Onondaga Earth Corps, Southside Interfaith CDC, Southeast Gateway, Southside Home Owners Association and Mothers Against Gun Violence. We planted another 100 bulbs at the Faith and Hope Community Center in collaboration with SUNY-EOC and their staff. Southside Interfaith CDC has made the remaining 100 bulbs available to their membership and community members to plant at their homes.

We look forward to expanding our efforts in the years to come.

Greg

gmichel@ecoaha.com

www.onondagaearthcorps.org

Shakespeare Garden

We were able to purchase bulbs through Pat. We had a group of stalwart Shakespeare Festival folks who helped prepare the beds and do the first phase of the planting. Also Parks and Rec personnel were most helpful. Cheryl Doble at ESF was in charge of plans along with a graduate student.

And now we await spring, a time in Shakespeare’s words:

WHEN daises pied, and violets blue,

And lady-smocks all silver-white,

And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue

Do paint the meadows with delight.

Best,

Amy

amyza@aol.com

Skunk City Neighborhood Organization

I think our ole’ Skunk City will be looking a bit better come spring. This thanks everyone for all the expertise and experience that was shared with us during our first venture into its beautification.

One of our goals is to help develop a sense of community and cohesiveness. Kinda get to know your neighbors and area a little better. All in all, I do think that our venture on Saturday was a start in the right direction. The bulbs, farm fresh market and certainly the music was a real bonus. As mentioned Kelly Herzog, the booking agent for “Mercury in the Derby” heard about our call for some donated vibes and came through. Those that gave articles for the raffle and give a ways were welcoming and extremely generous. Of course, kudos cannot be given without mentioning our magnificent Community Initiative Core Group Team. The Library Staff was taken out of their norm and assisted in every aspect of the project welcoming the children, assisting in their craft projects, making popcorn, and of course wrapping up some of the donated food items items.

Special thanks goes to Luke Dougherty, Neighborhood Revitalization Specialist, with the City of Syracuse for publicity, notices, flyers, etc. But first of all putting up with us, and coming through in the clinches

I am personally very glad that you were able to come to Mundy for a few minutes and chat with a couple of our residents and team members. Your daughter is absolutely charming it was a pleasure to meet her. Sounds like she aced her pre PSA. You were beaming with pride.

Some bulbs that were not distributed on Saturday will be hand delivered to seniors in the area. Others will be picked up by custodian and placed around Delaware Elementary School, Mundy Branch Library, SUN members that were not present will receive a bag at meeting on Wednesday.

Shirley Humble

Shumble@twcny.rr.com

Sumner School

One warm and sunny day in late fall, 18 preschoolers did a community service project which consisted of planting 300 daffodil bulbs between the sidewalk and the street on South Beech street. The bulbs were planted along side of the Sumner school playground.

Phil Drmocker dug the trench for us. It was great fun and a lot of enthusiasm was expressed by the children while planting the bulbs. The children got to be very expert in determining what end should go down in the dirt first. They learned all about the roots and how the daffodils will grow under the ground this winter. A few days after the planting the children wondered if they were coming up yet.

Oh the wonder of a child’s sense of timing.

Carol E. Simson

Prek teacher at Ed Smith

simsoncarol@gmail.com

Syracuse Peace Council

The Syracuse Center for Peace and Social Justice was delighted to again partner with the Westcott Bulb Project to help beautify the eastside neighborhood. Our dedicated volunteers planted nearly 200 bulbs, including crocuses, sicilia, tulips and narcissus which we expect to

bloom brightly come spring time.

The bulbs are a great complement to the many perennial flowers and shrubs which grace our visible front hillside right along the main corridor of East Genesee St. Here in Central New York where the sun shines less often than we’d like, beautiful flowers which brighten our days from April through October are a wonderful addition to our lives.

Thanks and Peace,

Andy Mager

andy@peacecouncil.net

Westcott Community Center

2010 was our best year ever. We estimate 500 people attended in the 4 hours (10:00 am – 2:00 pm) we had the Bulb Give Away, a project of the Westcott Community Center. “Many people who attended commented on what a great community feel the event had. Some hung out for hours,” said Steve Sussman, Exec. Dir. Of Westcott Community Center.

We gave away over 5,700 bulbs. We broke down 5,400 daffodils into 300 bags of 18 each with the help of students from E.S.F. and S.U. and some neighbors the night before. Volunteers from ESF and SU were extremely helpful in making the Bulb Give Away Day a success by helping set up, staff tables and clean up after the event.

By 1:15 on Saturday we were running out of bulbs. My wife drove to Fayetteville and picked up some additional loose daffodil bulbs and bags of tulip bulbs. By 2:00 pm, the end of The Bulb Give Away, we ran out.

We added two new elements this year: Angela Nelson from Daily Harvest Farm sold produce and flowers and we organized a perennial plant sale. Both really added to the event.

Given this was our first year for the plant sale, we were very pleased to raise $170 for the Westcott Kid’s Club. The pumpkins, donated by the Syracuse Real Food Coop, which sold out, brought in $116 and the Kid’s Club table raised an additional $40. The Bulb Project table sold approximately $240 worth of raffle tickets.

A special thanks to our generous donors who made the raffle possible: Pat Koloski, Garden World; Carol Watson, Watson’s Garden Center and the Syracuse Soap Works folks.

Free compost was donated by Toad Hollow and baskets were for sale from Ghana by Blue Tree Studios. Cornell Cooperative Extension distributed information on rain gardens and gave tours of the functioning rain garden at the Westcott Community Center.

Vendors, Kheli Robin Willetts and Renee-Noelle Felice sold garden related photographs, bulbs and craft items. Greg Gelewski represented OCRRA and gave away blue bins, literature on recycling and compost from OCRRA.

Frank Raymond Cetera from Alchemical Nursery, helped organize the film showing of “Visions of Utopia,” a film on intentional communities. He said, “Everyone who attended the film and discussion only had great things to say. The panelists especially enjoyed the chance to meet together as a group and engage in the discussion with the audience and with each other. We had a full house, couldn’t ask for more and there are requests for an encore showing of the film.”

Fifty six people attended the film showing and 25 stayed for the panel discussion afterwards. They collected 17 new e-mail signups for their newsletter. To see photos on the film showing go to http://www.meetup.com/Permaculture-and-Urban-Homesteading/calendar/14654192/

Music by Larry Hoyt rounded off the day.

Photos from the day and more information can be found at www.bulbproject.org (This is in process)

Submitted by Wesctott Neighborhood Bulb Project Committee: Margot Clark, Mark Rupert, Peter, Jane & Reena Tretler -Wirth. For more information contact pwirth2@verizon.net

Westcott Neighborhood Garden

The Westcott Community Garden received over 75 crocus and daffodil bulbs to plant in the ornamental areas surrounding the garden beds. Three families, six adults and four children, gathered in the afternoon on November 14 to plant the bulbs, rake leaves, pick up trash, and stock our newly delivered garden shed. As we were working in the garden another local resident stopped by with his two young children and stayed to help with planting for over an hour. The kids enjoyed digging their hands in the dirt and taking care of their neighborhood. We all worked together to fill the large ornamental bed that faces Harvard Place.

We look forward to the burst of color in the spring and we will send photos of the garden in full bloom. Thank you for your support!

Lisa Kuerbis

Westcott Community Garden

lkuerbis@syr.edu

Westside Initiative

We ended up giving out about 2000 bulbs to residents and have given another 500 to agencies and community groups.

We did the bulb-giveaway in conjunction with a neighborhood picnic at Ward Bakery Park. About 200 people came throughout the afternoon. The picnic had free food, music, and games for kids. We gave out bags of 20 bulbs and had instructions in both English and Spanish. The community groups that were given the bulbs were: The Stone Soup community garden at St. Lucy’s church, La Liga, and the 601 Tully Project and community garden.

Maarten Jacobs

mjacob01@syr.edu

Women Transcending Boundaries

Acts of Kindness Project

The following is a list of community organizations the September 11 Acts of Kindness Weekend sponsored by Women Transcending Boundaries that participated in the bulb project.

- 1000 daffodils went to Mike Behnke for the Sunnycrest Park on the East side

- 200 planted around University United Methodist Church

- 200 planted on the Northside around the Assisi Center

- 200 planted around St. Lucy’s, 432 Gifford Street

- 200 planted around Hopps Memorial CME Church, 1110 South State Street

- 200 planted around the Mary Nelson Youth Center, 2849 South Salina Street

- 400 planted in Oakwood Cemetery for the K.J.’s Angels project around infant graves

- 250 for Nancy McCoy’s garden on the State Street

- 500 planted around the Rahma Clinic on South Salina Street (free clinic for people w/no insurance funded by the Muslim community)

- 400 for the “Butternut Style” policing center and neighborhood clean up

- 250 more for Jowonio School children’s labyrinth project

- 200 for Syracuse New Times

We’ve been told by the folks in charge of planting daffodils at Oakwood Cemetery, Rahma Clinic, Sunnycrest Park, and Jowonio School that they will send us pictures of the daffodils when they bloom in the spring. Will forward on to you.

Best,

Betsy Wiggins

Bwiggins@twcny.rr.com

Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:57:12 +0000

Since the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project started in 2003, approximately 72,000 spring blooming bulbs (daffodils, crocuses, tulips etc.) have been planted by neighborhood volunteers and residents.

The concept is simple – Community groups volunteer to plant bulbs in public spaces such as schools, median strips, libraries etc. Individuals who are willing to plant bulbs in front of their houses where all can enjoy the blooms, pick up packets (18) of free bulbs in the fall. Last year 300 people from the Westcott neighborhood participated.

Bulb Giveaway and Garden Extravaganva – Saturday, October 1 , 2011 – 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Westcott Community Center (corner of Euclid and Westcott). The event is open to the general public. Bulb give away for Westcott neighborhood reidents only.

In 2010 we expanded the project city wide. Over 20 neighborhood organizations helped plant 22,000 bulbs in 2010. Each community organization decides what will be done in their neighborhood. See our 2010 Bulb Project Report to learn what the different neighborhood organizations did.

View our 3 minute video on the neighborhood by Mark Rupert or his google earth photos of the bulb project in action in the Westcott neighborhood.

Our two librarians on the WNBP put together a list of ten garden related books for children.

Flower Bulb Planting Reports – 2009

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:06:25 +0000

2009 Report
Westcott Street Bulb Give Away | Garden Extravaganza

2009 was challenging year for the Westcott Bulb Project. With the downturn in the economy we did not receive one of our major grants we received for the last few years. In spite of this we hit the 50,000 bulb mark. In 2009 we gave away approximately 5,400 bulbs to neighborhood residents and assisted community organizations and schools to plant another 3,000 bulbs. See
reports from schools and community organizations below.

The Garden Extravaganza was a great success. We partnered with Alchemical Nursery and aired the documentary film, Homegrown. This film told the story of how a family in downtown Pasadena, CA grew over 8,000 pounds of vegetables on an urban lot.

Almost 100 people attended the showing in addition to hundreds of neighborhood residents who came to pick up free packets of 18 daffodil bulbs and compost.

The Youth program at the Westcott Community Center raised $150 by selling food and crafts at the Garden Extravaganza and Alchemical Nursery raised $175 for their programs.

We also partnered with CNY Plant Exchange. Their attendance enabled us to collect perennial plants for levy school in addition to daffodil bulbs we donated.

Perhaps most exciting is that we are in contact with community organizations on the North and
West sides of the city to expand the Bulb Project city wide in 2010.

Submitted by
Peter Wirth
pwirth2@verizon.net

Schools

Ed Smith School

City Students Study and Plant Bulbs

University Neighborhood residents might have noticed some unusual activity outside Edward Smith K-8 school on two recent sunny afternoons. More than 50 students in grades 4 and 5 worked together to make their community a more beautiful place by planting 200 daffodil bulbs on the school grounds. This was sixth year students at the school planted bulbs around the school and
along the two city streets that run alongside the building.

But the planting was the final in a series of interesting activities. 4th graders in Ms. Berish’s class and 5th graders in Mrs. Brennan’s class took part in a classroom laboratory experiment to gain an understanding of what flowering bulbs are and how they grow. They made observations about the appearance of bulbs and then dissected and explored their inner structures. Having recently completed a unit on plants students were able to make connections between their new knowledge of plant biology and
the similar but distinct characteristics of spring flowering bulbs. The chance to touch, feel, and even smell the bulbs engaged every
student and created many spontaneous observations and discussions comparing ideas. The excitement in the room during this simple science experiment was contagious.

The classroom lesson highlights information about the human discovery and cultivation of flowering bulbs from a historical perspective, and the specific environmental requirements of the bulbs we would be planting. Students are encouraged to
make predictions about the climates worldwide where bulbs might thrive based on their developing understanding of biomes around the world.

Students worked in small groups to dig and plant bulbs at the entrance to the school parking lot. Every young person was proud to have the chance to use a large garden spade to dig a wide deep hole. Most got their hands dirty with relish and discovered that digging a hole takes muscle, teamwork, and patience. The discovery of rocks, bug larva, and especially worms was a further thrill. Mrs. Brennan’s students wrote and illustrated a sequence, much like a graphic novel, recording the experience.

Each year I point out to students that people in their community, who don’t know them personally, care about them and want them to be proud of their school and their community. I let them know that the daffodils they plant with the Westcott Bulb Project will grow and multiply every year. I tell them that they will see their flowers this and every spring. Today’s 4th and 5th graders might decide to show their children their flowers one day. The amazement and pride in the faces of each group of kids as they think about the possibility is a wonderful thing to behold each year.

The Ed. Smith community thanks the Westcott Bulb Planting Project for this highly valuable learning opportunity, and will eagerly await the spring bloom of nearly 3,200 bulbs planted by our students, staff and parents over the past six years.

Lisa Neville, parent
Edward Smith School
Syracuse City School District
lneville@verizon.net

Levy

Westcott Bulb and Beautification Project
Fall 2009 Report

Three teachers, a Westcott Nation volunteer, and several students participated in grounds upkeep and beautification this fall. Ms. Carolyn Messina-Yauchzy collaborated with 2nd grade teacher Ms. Martha Starkey-Flagg and Building Women founder, Ms. Deidro Brooks, and Westcott community resident Renee Noel Felice.

Several middle school student girls were given choices in Building Women’s after-school program, and chose to garden. On two separate occasions, the middle school girls and adults joined forces. Tasks accomplished included:

turning, sifting and harvesting compost.
applying Levy compost to existing plantings, and new planting
using plants donated to the Westcott

Bulb project by many members of the CNY Plantcycle group. These included a butterfly bush, lilies, irises, and many other perennials, chosen for their ability to attract bees and butterflies.

These were planted in the gardens adjacent to the Fellows Ave. sidewalk, in front of the
school.

Finally, some brave kindergartners went out during a cold snap with “Ms. M.”, and planted daffodil bulbs around the base of our new sugar maple. (This tree was donated to the school by OCRRA, as an acknowledgement of Levy winning 1st place among recycling schools for the 2008-09 school year.)

Carolyn Messina-Yauchzy
Kindergarten teacher
Levy preK-8 School
mountainsong129@msn.com

Jowonio

Spring gets brighter each year at Jowonio thanks to the ongoing support of the Westcott Bulb Planting Project. This fall, bags of bulbs were divided between the school’s ten classrooms.

They were planted in garden areas in front of the school, on Main Street in Trike Town, and in the playground. A few were saved to be dissected in class. Most were planted by the Jowonio’s 160 students with the assistance of their teachers and aides. A group of volunteers from SUNY-ESF helped to get the last ones in the ground before the snow arrived.

Ann Sutherland
Program Manager
Jowonio School
ann.sutherland@jowonio.org

LaFayette Big Picture High School

Summer 2009, The LaFayette Big Picture High School received a CNY Works Youth Employment Grant to hire ten Big Picture students. As the grant was written they were required to help out in a LaFayette beautification project. Among other activities they helped to plan a project to order and plant 1000 flower bulbs in LaFayette. Students engaged in a math project to figure out how many bulbs they could order based on the budget we had and supplies we needed. They researched how to plant and when, and determined where the best places in LaFayette would be to plant the bulbs.

Unfortunately, the beginning of the school year was more hectic than anticipated. We had planned to plant in several different places, however ended up planting the majority of the bulbs at the Jr./Sr. High School in front of the school, as well as in two of the tribute gardens by the entrances. Some of the bulbs were also distributed to community members.

Although the first year did not go exactly as anticipated it was a great learning experience and will certainly yield beautiful results. We also have a much clearer idea about how to plan for the project next year. Thank you to Pete Wirth for your guidance and support. This project would not have happened this year in LaFayette with out your help.

Megan MacDaniel, MSW
mmacdaniel@lafcs.cnyric.org
Learning Through Interest Coordinator
Big Picture Learning
LaFayette Central School District

Westcott Street Landscaping Project – Summer 2009

Westcott East Neighborhood Association and the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project teamed up this summer to help landscape Westcott Street. All the planting beds on Westcott and Dell Street were weeded and covered with cedar mulch. Some additional plants were added.

The tree pits on Westcott were weeded. In addition five of the tree pits received special attention. Soil was removed and compost added to improve the growing medium. Day lilies were planted and perennial bulbs replanted. Edging material was reset and cedar mulch added.

Neighborhood volunteers and students from ESF landsacpe club helped make this possible.

We plan to continue this project in the spring/summer of 2010.

Sincerely yours,

Baraba Humphrey
Westcott East Neighborhood Association
Peter Wirth
Westcott Neighborhood Bulb project

Westcott Community Center

This fall, the flower bulbs were used in three ways. Firstly, they were used to frame a border around both our new water gardens in order to help “frame” them and set them apart. This will aid us as we start using these gardens as a teaching tool.

Secondly, they were used around the new tree near the front of our side lot and thirdly, to supplement the flowers in our front garden picnic and seating area.

In addition we planted 40 oriental lily plants donated by the Bulb project.

We are very excited to see how they enhance our landscaping efforts this spring. They were planted with help from the youth in our
Kid’s Club after school program as well as students from ESF.

Steve Susman, WCC
steves@westcottcc.org

Housing Visions – Maple Heights

We came, We dug, We planted!

You never know what you might get for weather in October, but October 12 was the perfect day to plant a little Spring Surprise. Hundreds of daffodil bulbs from the Westcott Bulb Project were put to sleep in the ground at Maple Heights Apartments facing E. Genesee St. – they will awake come Springtime and look glorious on the hill!

Housing Visions residents Reggie Jackson and Marion Muldrew plus Monique Davis, Housing Visions staff, and lots of youth from Maple Heights helped to make it possible.

Kathy Alibrandi
kalibrandi@housingvisions.org

Syracuse Center for Peace and Social Justice

Westcott Bulbs help beautify Syracuse Center

When we began work to establish the Syracuse Center for Peace and Social Justice we were excited to create a central facility for local activism in Syracuse. We also knew that creating a green facility was important to carrying out our vision.

With the assistance of Dan Reeder of Natural Landscapes, we developed a comprehensive landscaping plan composed primarily of native perennial plants. Over the past two years our volunteer committee has worked hard to implement that plan. This past fall we were pleased to receive 200 daffodil bulbs to use as part of the planting. Most of the bulbs will appear in clusters next spring in the front of the Center, visible for thousands of people to see daily along East Genesee St. The remainder of the bulbs will beautify the area in the rear of the building.

The Center is always looking for more folks who want to join in our mission to “collaborate and expand efforts to build a more peaceful and just city, nation and world.” Landscaping is only part of that work.

Andy Mager
magcap@bigfoot.com

Hutchings

Hutchings Psychiatric Inpatient and Outpatients were pleased to receive several bulbs this past fall for spring beautification. As our greenhouse was torn down, we initiated a new Park like setting in our quad area between E. Genesee St and Cedar St.

The bulbs will beautify this area along with our perennial beds which we also got from some of the bulb project recipients. We now have a beautiful area for picnicing and to host our common grounds concerts in the summer.

We had over 10 people help plant and maintain the garden beds and for our inpatients they too will enjoy the beauty of flowering gardens in their courtyards. Flowers are so refreshing and therapeutic for our folks.

Thanks to the bulb project, we are part of the community as a whole and so appreciate the support and help.

Kathy Eber
HUISKKE@omh.state.ny.us

Evangelisti Enterprises Inc.

We received approximately 125 daffodil bulbs. We planted about 75 at 2 rental properties next to each other, 102 Judson a single family house, and 104 Judson a 2 family house. We planted them around the bushes in the front of each house, so hopefully in the spring we will have lots of yellow color across the 2 houses.

We planted the other 50 at 2 other rental properties both 2 family houses, 104 and 108 Trinity Place. Again they are planted in the
front among day lilies and other annuals, so there will be bright spring color. Thank you for the bulbs. We appreciate them, and the neighborhood will in the spring.

Jae Evangelisti
jaevang@twcny.rr.com

Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union

Over the past few years, volunteers, staff and friends have planted over 800 bulbs at the Cooperative Federal office on Westcott Street.
The credit union enjoys a refreshing burst of color in the spring, and spots of purple and yellow that crop up in the fall, too.

In the fall of 2009, we were very happy to plant 35 bulbs in containers, to be moved around in the spring to fill in splashes of color in the few flower-less areas remaining. Each spring, the flowers fill in a little more we’re hoping to have a sea of daffodils, tulips, and more!

Christina Sauve
christinasauve@coopfed.org

Flower Bulb Planting Reports – 2008

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:59:56 +0000

2008 Report
Westcott Street Bulb Give Away | Garden Extravaganza

The bulb give away, Saturday, October 4 was a resounding success. In four hours we gave away 5,400 bulbs, planting instructions and free compost donated by Toad Hollow Farms to 300 residents from the neighborhood. By now most people already knew the requirement that the bulbs were free as long as they were planted where they could be seen from the street.

Building on our success from last year we held a photo contest to highlight the natural beauty of the neighborhood. Winners were chosen in the following categories: youth, student and adult and prizes awarded. Winning photos were displayed at the Westcott Community Center and Mom’s Diner on Westcott St.

Between schools, community organizations and the bulb give away we distributed close to 9,000 bulbs to be planted in the neighborhood.

1,600 bulbs were planted at 5 schools.
Report from Sumner Middle School

Bless the Westcott Street Bulb Project! With the 250 daffodil bulbs given to us this year, we stressed the importance of doing a Community Service project with the two Syracuse City Schools PreKindergarten classrooms, and their parents and some of the grandparents at Ed Smith Prek at Sumner School.

We decided to plant the bulbs this year outside the playground fence between the sidewalk and the street on South Beech Street. The children loved the digging with shovels and trowels and discovering worms and bugs while doing it. Placing the bulbs in the trench was quite an experience. Sometimes the bulbs were planted upside down and had to be righted up. We used rulers to measure the 8 inch depth of the trench.

After the planting ,the children were asked when they thought the daffodil flowers would come up? Most responses were “in a week”. We are now using a calendar to see how long it will take for the daffodils to bloom.

A few weeks after the planting, we also put wakame seaweed on top of the soil where we planted the bulbs to help to nurture the soil and the bulbs. So when you’re driving down South Beech Street this spring enjoy the beautiful daffodil bulbs. Thank You.

Ed Smith PreK at Sumner School
“Carol Simson”
csimson1@twcny.rr.com

Report from Levy Middle School

Several classes at Levy School took advantage of the bulbs that were donated to us by the Westcott Bulb Project in partnership with the Westcott Community Center.

Mrs. Flagg’s second grade class planted bulbs along the Fellows Ave. fence in front of our school. It was a hands-on learning experience. The students learned about both plant growth and
composting, thanks to our art teacher and avid gardener, Mrs. Montgomery. The young horticulturists are looking forward to seeing the results of their work in the spring.

The class went for a walk around the neighborhood and admired the way people take care of their houses and yards. They discussed how that helps the whole community. The students now understand how their plantings will positively affect our school and neighbors. Many
thanks to the people who donated the bulbs.

Deborah Meyer
dmeyer@scsd.us

Colone Kelly
Kcolone@scsd.us

Report from Ed Smith Elementary School

For the fifth year students at Ed. Smith K-8 school in the Syracuse City School District rolled up their sleeves and dug in the dirt to make their community a more beautiful place. More than 130 students in grades 4 and 6 planted 300 daffodil bulbs on the school grounds. Bulbs were planted in all public areas around the school and in high concentrations along the two city streets that run alongside the building.

4th graders in Ms. Berish’s class took part in a classroom laboratory experiment to gain an understanding of what flowering bulbs are and how they grow. They made observations about the appearance of bulbs and then dissected and explored their inner structures. Having recently completed a unit on plants students were able to make connections between their new knowledge of plant biology and the similar but distinct characteristics of spring flowering bulbs. The chance to touch, feel, and even smell the bulbs engaged every student and created many spontaneous observations and discussions comparing ideas. The excitement in the room during this simple science experiment was contagious.

I also shared information about the human discovery and cultivation of flowering bulbs from a historical perspective, and the specific environmental requirements of the bulbs we would be planting. We also made predictions about the climates worldwide where bulbs might thrive based on students’ developing understanding of the biomes of the world.

Students worked in small groups to dig and plant bulbs at the entrance to the school parking lot. There were many young people who were extremely proud to have the chance to use a large garden spade to dig a wide deep hole. Every student got their hands dirty with relish and discovered that digging a hole takes muscle and patience. The discovery of rocks, bug larva, and especially worms was a further thrill.

One of the things I have most enjoyed telling every group who has planted Westcott Bulb Project bulbs is that the daffodils they plant will grow and multiply every year. That they will see their flowers this and every spring. That they might decide to show their children their flowers one day. That by the time they are adults there might be ten times as many flowers planted by hundreds of other children. The amazement and pride in the faces of each group of kids is a wonderful thing to behold each year.

The Westcott Bulb Project offers the students of Ed. Smith School the opportunity to make important connections between many areas of school work. We read the instructions for planting, we measure the size of the bulbs and the size of the holes we dig. We are scientists as we explore the structure of the bulb and make comparisons to other living organisms. We make predictions, we think about the people in other cultures and at other times in history who also planted bulbs.
The Ed. Smith community thanks the Westcott Bulb Planting Project for this highly valuable learning opportunity, and will eagerly await the bloom of nearly 3,000 bulbs planted by our students, staff and parents over the past five years.

Lisa Neville, parent

Report from Nottingham High School

Nottingham School Report

Saturday, Oct 11 was a day of renewal at Nottingham High School. The class of ’68 renewed their relationship with their alma mater after 40 years while their current counterparts renewed the grounds.

Students from the National Honor Society and the Key Club planted 200 daffodil bulbs around the flag post while volunteers from the ESF class of 2012 planted an additional 100 bulbs by the pool sign.

The bulbs, courtesy of the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project, will provide a bright addition to the grounds come the spring. Some of the students brightened the day of the alums, asking if it was “the class of ’82 or something like that.” When the students were asked if they could imagine themselves coming back in 40 years, a resounding “No Way!” was heard.

Thanks to these students for participating in the planting and cleanup.

Angela Thor
thoram2@yahoo.com

Jowonio School Report

Jowonio preschoolers have been busy this fall planting bulbs along the boulevard and amphitheater of the school’s new Trike Town facility.

Thanks to the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Planting Project, each of the ten classrooms were given bags of daffodil bulbs (500 in all) to examine and bury in the ground. After months of watching the bulldozers, backhoes, pavers and carpenters working on the site’s construction, bulb planting was a perfect way for our students to contribute and feel a part of the development of Trike Town.

The spring flowers will also provide a welcome and colorful accent for the Grand Opening Ceremony to be held in the spring.

Ann Sutherland
ann.sutherland@jowonio.org

Report from Parks and other Community Organizations

1,600 bulbs were planted by community groups

Westcott Community Center Report

Westcott Community Center is the focal point of the Syracuse University Neighborhood. We were so appreciative to be able to receive 100′s of Bulbs to beautify our corner lot. Neighbors, residents, seniors – from our senior program, and kids – from our Free After School Program all were able to participate in the planting of bulbs. A Pizza party was held at the center on the weekend and ESF Students did some of the bulb planting as well. The Center has an existing plan and are fortunate to add future design plans to enhance our property with the bulbs.

Renee
reneem@westcottcc.org

Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union

Thanks to the hard work of the SUNY-ESF LANDscape club, this spring we’ll see hundreds of flowers in bloom on the hillside along the 700 block of Westcott Street, next to Cooperative Federal’s credit union office. More than twenty ESF students came together to plant over 840 bulbs, including fragrant daffodils, hyacinth, crocus, lilies, allium and tulips on the hillside next to this neighborhood institution. All bulbs were donated by the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project in partnership with the Westcott Community Center.

According to LANDscape Club co-President Henry Paul Sombke, “the club had a wonderful time working on it and everyone had a say in the design. It was a great chance for the younger students to learn from the older students.” The Club hopes to return in the spring to do even more work on this showcase project.

The Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project gives away packages of free bulbs to neighborhood residents, as long as they are planted where they can be seen from the street for all to enjoy. Over forty thousand bulbs have been planted in the Westcott neighborhood since the project started in 2003. The planting on the credit union hillside will be a vibrant display to showcase the Project, and a testament to the work done to make our neighborhood a beautiful and enjoyable place to walk.

Christina Sauve
christinasauve@syrcoopfcu.org

Hutchings Psychiatric Center

500 bulbs will blossom in spring along the connective corridor area including the Hutchings Psychiatric Center community. Over seven different inpatient and outpatient programs benefitted from the westcott bulb project bulb give-a-way.

Clients of Hutchings Psychiatric Centers services spent a few days planting bulbs in front of their auditorium located on E.Genesee St., our member support services program, several of the inpatient buildings and the outpatient clinic.

People felt a sense of purpose in beautifying the gardens for spring. They learned how easy it is to plant bulbs and better the lasting effects flowers have on an environment. Everyone feel’s good around a garden. How therapeutic is that? We think it helps a lot.

Kathy Eber
HUISKKE@omh.state.ny.us

Flower Bulb Planting Reports – 2007

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:55:14 +0000

2007 Report

Westcott Street Bulb Give Away | Garden Extravaganza
The Garden Extravaganza grew out of the Westcott Bulb Give Away day which was first held in 2003. In the fall of 2007 over 300 people from the Westcott neighborhood came to pick up free daffodil bulbs; take home compost donated by Toad Hollow Farms; buy food; hear music and shop at garden and craft vendors.

Last year we set aside bulbs for 250 people and ran out. This year we set aside 5,400 daffodil bulbs (or 18 per person for 300 people). By 2:00 pm we were giving away our last free packet of bulbs.

It has taken us five years but when people came to the table many already knew “the bulbs were free as long as you planted them up front for all in the neighborhood to enjoy.”
We also got the Westcott Street merchants involved this year. Flowers courtesy of Westcott Florist were on the tables of the Westcott Street restaurants that weekend, along with our table tents advertising the Bulb Project.

Feedback from the community was very positive. In the process we were also focused on helping promote the activities of the Westcott Community Center.

School Reports
Five local schools worked with students to plant almost 1,800 bulbs.

Report from Sumner Middle School | 250 daffodil bulbs

Well today, 11-29-07, we finished planting 250 daffodil bulbs. My class of 18 preschoolers from Ed Smith PreK at Sumner planted all the bulbs. It took us five times to get them all into the ground.

We now have planted bulbs along both sides of the staircase which is located on the eastern side of the parking lot. We did the other staircase last year. The rest of the bulbs were planted along South Beech Street between the sidewalk and the street. We planted them in eight big circles.

The children thoroughly enjoyed learning how to use the tools to plant with. They loved the shovel but kept saying ,”Wow, this is heavy or hard.” We also had a great discussion about earthworms and what earthworms do to help keep our soil healthy.

Thank you again.

Carol E. Simson, Pre Kindergarten

Report from Levy Middle School | 300 daffodil bulbs

For the fourth year in a row, Levy Middle School staff and students were involved in beautifying the grounds with a very generous donation of bulbs from the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Planting Project.

The seventh grade team used this opportunity to help build a closer community among the students and staff. The head custodian (Mr. Marsh) offered tips and tools, one of the guidance counselors (Mrs. Rath) offered her bulb planting techniques to the students, and the math teacher (Miss. Bott) helped the science teacher (Mrs. Colone) direct the students to the proper places to plant the bulbs.

We took a look at the Kids and Gardening brochures that Mr. Wirth had provided for us and came up with a plan of how and where the bulbs should be planted. Many students swore that they didn’t have a green thumb and there was no way they could get anything to grow. We promised them that they were wrong and come spring we would take a walk just to see what our hands had helped bring to life.

This was the first time many of the students had ever planted in a garden, which made it a very exciting and gratifying experience. They were proud to be part of making Levy an inviting place for all who are part of this community.

Kelly Colone

Report from Ed Smith Elementary School | 650 daffodils and 32 tulips

Ed. Smith School Plants Spring Color – For the fourth year in a row students from Ed. Smith School planted more than 650 daffodil bulbs donated by the Westcott Bulb Planting Project. Nearly 150 third, fifth, and sixth graders took part in classroom lessons and planting on the school grounds coordinated by the school’s parent teacher organization.

Students learned about the biology of spring flowering bulbs in their classrooms. They then planted daffodils on the school grounds where blooms will be visible to all who walk or drive by the school this spring. This year’s students added to the collection of more than 2,000 bulbs donated by the WBPP over the past three years.

In letters to the Westcott Bulb Planting Project students shared new knowledge about flowering bulbs and expressed pride in participating a community service project. Perhaps nothing sums up the experience as well as students’ own words;

“What I learned was that community service does more for people as much as it does you.” Nathan Knight.
“It was fun to plant them in the rain. I felt good about my work.” Benjamin Atkinson.
“I feel great about helping our community.” Lizzie Buchanan.
“I learned that it is fun to plant bulbs.” Jasper Schep.
“It was an honor to make our school better” Tone Judge.

Lisa Neville,
lneville@verizon.net
for Healthy Kids,
The Health and Fitness Subcommittee of the Ed. Smith School PTO,
Working for the health and wellness of the Ed. Smith School Community.

Report from Nottingham High School | 300 daffodil bulbs

On Saturday, Sept 29th, we had 21 parents and 6 students show up for Landscape Dayat Nottingham High School. Our parents included: Tamera Beard, Peggy Conan and James Traver, John Conroy, Rich Dausman, Kathy Ferro, Jane Hudson, Deb Hutchinson, Bobbie and Hugh Jones, Pat King, Helen Moore, Lee Sabine, Rachel Sequin, Jane Slabowski, Angela and Alex Thor, Wendy Thowdis, Terry Works and Nina and Phil Andon-McLane. The students were: Nissa Thor, Denisa Memelli, Javier Garcia, Riley O’Neill, Aaron Alexander and Ben Jones.

We weeded, trimmed, thinned, planted, picked up trash, swept and weeded some more. We also planted 300 bulbs provided free from the Westcott Bulb Project. Look for these in the Spring on both sides of the front entrance and by the entrance door just to the left of the main entrance. In the last two years, we have planted over 600 bulbs!

Thanks so much for your help!

Nina Andon-McLane

1,145 bulbs were planted in public places in the neighborhood.

St Albans Park | 36 – 48 daffodils

Berkely Park | 40 bulbs

The planting of the 20 Mixed Daffodil bulbs received from the Westcott Bulb Project was completed today, Nov. 27, 2007.

Half of the bulbs were planted at the base of a young tree in the triangular public greenspace at the southern end of Berkeley Drive. The balance were planted at the base of one of two trees recently planted by the city on the 200 block of Berkeley Drive. Additionally, bulbs which I personally received at the Bulb Give Away were planted at the base of the second mentioned tree on the median.

Virginia Schechter

Westcott Community Center | 200 daffodils and 64 tulips

This year, the WCC gave flower bulbs to 25 local seniors and helped two of them plant at their homes. This was done with the help of youth from our Kid’s Club After School Program. We also planted a few hundred bulbs around the Center. The youth also helped with this planting. In addition, 3 ESF students helped us with design & planting around the Center as well. Our Americorps-Vista program helped beautify the neighborhood in the Lexington Park area by also assisting neighbors with their planting.

The Garden Extravaganza which was held concurrently at the WCC was also a great success. The vendors who participated were very pleased with the turnout and families & youth enjoyed the live music and the Center sold mums & pumpkins as well. All in all the event was fabulous.

Steve Susman
Executive Director
Westcott Community Center

Loguen Park on E. Genesee St | 100 daffodil bulbs and 32 tulips

Erie Canal Monument | 40 daffodils and 30 tulips

In November two members of the Bulb Committee planted approximately a total of 70 bulbs in the 4 corners of the monument. We felt there was less chance the flowers would be mowed down by planting in the corners. We chopped out the grass, removed some broken glass and worked organic matter into the soil.

Submitted by Pete Wirth

Hutchings Psychiatric Center | 250 daffodils

Hutchings Psychiatric Center Benefits From the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Planting Project In a Big Way.

We acquired over 250 daffodil bulbs to share among 3 adult units, a children/adolescent unit and our outpatient programs as well. Many of our clients never planted bulbs before. This was a wonderful extension of our brand new gardening group we started last spring to get more participation from our members.

We linked a concert series with our gardening group. This was another way to get folks out in
the fresh air enjoying nature, our gardens and music as well. This spring, we will all have something to look forward to. Our two block area will be flowering with color come spring. SU students and hospital employees will also benefit the spring blooming flowers as they walk by our campus.

KathyEber

Syracuse Cooperative Federal Union | 150 daffodils, 30 tulips

We did two activities with our daffodil bulbs:

International Credit Union Day. We planted about 30 bulbs, along with other shrubs and plants, at a home owned by Home HeadQuarters. The press release, with details, is below.
Daffodil Day at Cooperative Federal’s 723 Westcott Street. Staff, VISTA members, and a volunteer came together to plant a sea of daffodils on our hillside. In all, we planted 120 daffodil bulbs and 30 tulip bulbs at our office at 723 Westcott Street. Members seemed to enjoy the sight of us all out there digging in the dirt in the rain, and a few even thanked us for our work.

Christina Sauve

Central New York Credit Unions, Home HeadQuarters Landscape City Home in Syracuse NY

On Thursday, October 18, 2007, a coalition of Central New York Credit Unions, including Cooperative Federal, will landscape a home in Syracuse’s Eastside neighborhood to commemorate International Credit Union Day. The building is home to an extended family of refugees saving up to purchase the house, which is currently managed by Home HeadQuarters, Inc.

The Landscaping Party was held at 10am on Thursday, October 18th. The home to be landscaped is located at 301 South Beech Street, Syracuse NY 13210 (on the corner of East Fayette).”The credit union movement shares an ideal of People Helping People. This cooperative effort by local credit unions is just one example of our philosophy in action,” said Ron Ehrenreich, President of the Central New York Chapter of the New York State Credit Union League.

Westcott Street Tree Pits | 96 Tulips

Kevin Lyons-Sherwood, a volunteer who planted bulbs in the tree pits on Westcott St. in 2006 planted an additional 96 tulips in the tree pits this year.

Logan Park | 50 daffodils and 15 tulips

On November 21, 2007 Dominic and Allen and a volunteer from the Bulb Committee took the bulbs (50 daffodils and 15 tulips) earmarked for Percy Hughes and planted them at Logan Park on E. Genesee near Cherry Hill.

Flower Bulb Planting Reports – 2006

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:46:27 +0000

2006 Report

2006 was our most successful effort. In addition to raising funds to have more bulbs planted than ever before – 10,000 – we developed a relationship with a design professor at SU.

Professor Heckmen helped us develop a brochure, a button and produce a web site, which is linked to the Westcott Community Center web site. At our web site you can buy raffle tickets, download our brochure, make a request for a neighborhood bulb planting proposal, read history on the project, current press releases, see photos or make a contribution.

We also started the Westcott Neighborhood Plant Sharing Project. The concept is simple.

If you are a gardener, you know that at times you have more plants than you can manage in your garden. You get tired of a particular plant; a plant grows beyond its allocated space; it is time for dividing a plant or digging up a garden bed. Instead of having those plants end up on the compost pile, let’s put them to work in other gardens in our neighborhood.

If you have plants or other garden items (pots, tools etc.) to give away, please list them with your contact info. If you’re looking for free plants, check out the site to see what is available in our neighborhood.

Go to the home page of the Westcott Community Center web site or and click on Flower Bulb and Plant Exchange. This will take you to a page where you can post a message if you have something to give away or read posts from other individuals in the neighborhood to see what is available.

In 2006 we gave away over 7,000 bulbs to 300 individuals who stopped by the WCC for our bulb give away. Anyone from the neighborhood who was willing to plant bulbs where they were visible from the street could pick up 24 free bulbs, planting instructions and compost donated by Toad Hollow.

The Bulb Give Away day was expanded into what we now call the Garden Extravaganza.
In addition to the free bulbs there was music and vendors selling plants and garden related material.

The free bulb giveaway extravaganza was a great success. OCRRA, City Lead Department, Kid’s Club Bake sale, Lauren Ritchie; artist, Art for Home & Garden-Terry Askey-Cole, Lakeside Stained Glass Studio, Candace Rhea; artist, Centners Trees, Shrubs & Perennials, Watsons Greenhouse, Toad Hollow Compost, Abdo’s Market, Syracuse Real-Food Coop, Larry Hoyt & Acoustic Jammers, several Environmental School of Forestry Students, Kim Jackson and so many volunteers who spent their time and energy on that gorgeous fall day made it happen.

In addition approximately 3,000 bulbs were planted in the following public places:

In the tree pits along Westcott St. and Harvard Place in the business district
Westcott Community Center, (cor. of Euclid & Westcott. St.)
Levy Middle School in the Levy Habitat Garden
City property by Harvard Place near Levy
Sumner School on S. Beech * Ed Smith School on Lancaster
Berkely Park Median
Jowonio school on E. Genesee
Nottingham school
Curbside Appeal project winners

Our 2006 raffle prizes.

This year we have five prizes donated by the following generous supporters:

Two speciality packets of 140 perennial each from VanBloem Gardens. Value $40 each.
$50 gift certificate donated by Watson’s Gardens Center.
A $20 gift certificate donated by Jerry’s Florist.
A unique, hand crafted garden planter – $50 value! Donated by Heagerty’s Home & Garden Store.

Reports from schools

Ed Smith
The Health and Fitness Subcommittee of the Ed. Smith School PTO
Working for the health and wellness of the Ed. Smith School Community
The Westcott Bulb Planting Project 2006
In partnership with the Healthy Kids Committee of the Ed. Smith PTO

Plant new ideas in your classroom this fall and watch them bloom…

October 25, 2006

Dear Patrons and Members of the Committee of the Westcott Bulb Planting Project;

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Westcott Bulb Planting Project. The generous financial support of your grants and patrons enabled the Ed. Smith community to wrap its building in the anticipation of a beautiful spring. Thoughtful collaboration allowed us to choose flowers that will bloom in our school colors. The experience of planning and planting a garden is rich with teachable moments, physical activity, and pure pleasure in nature. Our participation in the bulb project provided a valuable opportunity for collaboration between teachers, students, community volunteers, and the Healthy Kids Committee of the Parent Teacher Organization.

Ed Smith Elementary School in the University Neighborhood of Syracuse is typical of most Syracuse City School District schools in that it serves children of diverse and increasingly challenging economic backgrounds. Sixty percent of the students at Ed Smith qualify for the free or reduced lunch program, indicating households living at or below the poverty level. Yet in the face of these challenges, Ed Smith students are learning to play together, peacefully resolve conflicts, and take care of themselves and the members of their school community through the Community of Caring character education curriculum.

One hundred and seventy fifth and sixth grade students at Ed. Smith School and their teachers planted more than 750 flower bulbs this October. Students, teachers, and two parent volunteers from the Healthy Kids committee rolled up our sleeves and put our hands in the dirt to show pride in our school and caring for our neighborhood. Classroom teachers were encouraged to make participation in the Westcott Bulb Planting Project part of students’ classroom experience. Students had the opportunity to dissect and study spring flowering bulbs, used math and reasoning skills to decide how to plant them, and worked in teams to dig holes and plant bulbs. Ed. Smith pride will greet neighbors and visitors alike next spring when yellow tulips and “blue” hyacinths bloom in the school’s colors for all to see.

Seven classroom groups carried out the planting of bulbs in the public spaces around the school. In preparation for planting teachers were asked to review information about the program in advance to enable them to choose how to tie the project into their curriculum. Later classes read the articles about the Westcott Bulb Planting Project appearing in local newspapers. On the day of the planting students participated in a classroom lesson and worked outside in peer groups which included students with and with out special needs. Finally classroom teachers created a writing assignment for their students related to the bulb project.

Students were presented with the following on the day of the planting:

The history and mission of the Westcott Bulb Planting Project and the concept of community service
A lesson including the parts of a flowering bulb, it’s lifecycle, and environmental requirements for growth thanks to lesson plans available at:www.kidsgardening.com/Dig/Dig.taf
Hands on dissection of onion, garlic, and flower bulbs using lesson plans available at www.learner.org/jnorth/
Instruction on how to dig a good hole and the appropriate planting depths for the various bulbs planted

In addition this year a Healthy Kids committee member who has secured a National Science Foundation grant to promote the use of school grounds for science education has joined the bulb project. She will work with two fifth grade classrooms using the Journey North curriculum to track the arrival of spring around the world.

Students will collect data on the growth of tulips planted at Ed. Smith and enter it into a web-based database to be compared with other students’ data from around the world. It is clear in reading our students’ writing that they value this meaningful and memorable opportunity to make their world more beautiful. I join the teachers and students in thanking you for the opportunity to participate in this project. We all enjoyed getting outside on several of the most beautiful days this fall and sharing what we learned about how learning in the classroom applies to life outside school.

Sincerely,

Lisa Neville
For Healthy Kids

Levy Middle School
Levy Habitat garden report
Fall, 2006

Once again, the Westcott Bulb Project has made a wonderful contribution to the Levy Habitat garden. Parents from Ed Smith Elementary School started the garden last year to beautify the Levy Middle School grounds and contribute a new source of investigations and inspiration to the neighborhood and to the school’s science and art curriculum. This year, a new sculptural bench was installed in the garden, which has made it a gathering place for neighborhood families.

Last year Levy science classes planted the bulbs and then used the sprouting flowers in lessons on measurement and scientific observation. This year the bulb planting happened late in the season and classes were unable to participate. But three ESF students from the Landscape Club joined one Ed Smith parent to plant the bulbs. Daffodils and grape hyacinth will delineate the edges of the flower beds around the sculpture in spring, and tall alliums will grace the sunny bed near the wall of the school along Harvard Place. Since most of the plants in the garden are perennials that appear late in the spring or in summer, the presence of bulbs will be especially welcome in the early to mid-spring.

Sincerely,

Rachel May

Nottingham
10/19/2006

Thanks for all of those bulbs! We had a Landscape Day at Nottingham on Saturday,October 14th and had about 18 volunteers (mostly parents, a few teachers and a student) to help plant and clean-up.

We planted about 300 bulbs, nine mums and several bushes. We weeded and cleaned up the front entrance area and the back courtyard. Bulbs were planted on both sides of the circular drive at the main entranceto Nottingham High School. Most are in the ground in a landscaped area on the north side of the drive and some are in large pots near the cafeteria side door on the south side of the circular drive.

We can’t wait until spring to see all of those daffodils and hyacinths!

Nina Andon-Mclane

Sumner School

With such a wet fall, I didn’t get to planting the bulbs until late November. 200 Daffodil bulbs were planted on either side of the stairs coming from the parking lot at sumner school. The other daffodil bulbs were planted in front of the building. We enlarged the single circle of bulbs planted last year to having 3 concentric circles of daffodils planted.

Plant Swap/Sale Fundraiser for Westcott Community Center – Donations Needed

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:13:00 +0000

As part of the Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Give Away/Garden Extravaganza Day, Saturday, October 2 there will be a fall perennial plant swap/sale as a fundraiser for the Westcott Community Center Kids Club.

If you have extra perennial plants („What gardener doesn‚t?‰) drop them off, labeled, at the Westcott Community Center, corner of Euclid and Westcott street Saturday, Oct 2 from 8:00 am – 10:00 am or the day before. If you donate plants you get a plant for free.

Help us beautify the Westcott Neighborhood. For more information contact pwirth2@verizon.net or call 476-3396.

8th Annual Bulb Give Away/Garden Extravaganza

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:11:56 +0000

Saturday, October 2, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm the 8th annual Bulb Give Away/Garden Extravaganza, a project of the Westcott Community Center will be held at the Westcott Community Center, corner of Euclid and Westcott street.

In addition we are working with community organizations throughout the city for the first time to plant over 20,000 daffodil bulbs this fall.

Westcott neighbors only can pick up 18 free perennial daffodil bulbs as long as they are willing to plant them where they can be seen from the street for all to enjoy. 5,400 will be set aside for the first 300 people to show up from the Westcott neighborhood. Compost donated by Toad Hollow Farms, www.toadhollowfarms.com (Please bring your own container). Planting instructions will be available.. Come Early! Last year we ran out.

All events on Sat. Oct. 2 open to public with the exception of the Bulb Give Away for Westcott residents only.

So come and join the fun: Pick up bulbs, view our award-winning film, purchase fresh vegetables, flowers and handspun yarn from Daily Harvest Farm’s Farmers market www.dailyharvestfarm.com , enjoy live music by Larry Hoyt and Friends; buy handwoven baskets from Ghana ideal for organizing your garden tools or harvesting the fruits of your labor, from Bluetree Studios, purchase a pumpkin for your child, hyacinth and allium bulbs, earth-sourced jewelry and note cards from Songs of Earth and support the WCC Kid’s Club bake and perennial plant sale/fundraiser.

Schedule:
10:00 – Bulb Give Away starts, food, farmers market, vendors, perennial plant sale…
11:00 – Film showing – “Visions of Utopia” followed by panel discussion.
2:00 – Bulb Give Away ends

This year we are excited to offer a free showing open to all from Syracuse of the documentary film “Visions of Utopia” (94 minutes) co-sponsored by The Alchemical Nursery, www.alchemicalnursery.org

Visions of Utopia, distributed by the Fellowship for Intentional Communities, features profiles of seven diverse communities from across the United States plus a fascinating history of 2,500 years of shared living in intentional communities. This film won the Communal Studies Association’s “Outstanding Project Award.”

A panel discussion will be held at the conclusion of the screening to discuss reaction to the film as well as intentional community and ecovillage initiatives in the CNY region. The Alchemical Nursery is committed to promoting the development of regenertative lifestyles and landscapes, and furthering the principles of Permaculture.

The Westcott Neighborhood Bulb Project, a project of the Westcott Community Center in conjunction with the Northside Collaboratory, Near Westside Initiative, Women Transcending Boundaries Acts of Kindness Project and numerous volunteer organizations, is working to distribute 20,000 bulbs for planting throughout Syracuse this fall.

For information contact:
Jonathan Logan – Northside Collaboratory, 299-8228 ext. 11
Maarten Jacobs – Near Westside Initiative, 443-0320
Greg Michel – Southside Interfaith CDC/Onondaga Earth Corps, 418-7470
Betsy Wiggins – Women Transcending Boundaries, 446-1694

50,000 bulbs have been planted in the Westcott neighborhood since the project started in 2003.

To help raise funds for the (WNBP), we are announcing our 2010 raffle prizes. Ten prizes donated by the following generous supporters:

* Six speciality packets, 100 perennial bulbs each from Pat Koloski, sales rep. for VanBloem Gardens.

* $50 gift certificate donated by: Watson’s Garden Center – www.watsongreenhouse.com , Lafayette, NY

* Gardeners Gift Box donated by: Syracuse Soapworks – www.syracusesoapworks.com , 1153 West Fayette St.

* Large wooden handmade flower box

* Book – “The Well Designed Mixed Garden” by Tracy DiSabatu-Aust, 460 pgs., $39.95

Tickets will be available at the Westcott Bulb Give Away on Saturday Oct. 2, or contact Jane Tretler at jtretler@verizon.net, 315-637-0331. Tickets are $1, 6 for $5, 15 for $10. Drawing held week of Oct. 10.

Flower Bulb Planting Reports – 2005

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:04:22 +0000

A Note from the Petit Branch Library

This fall, the Petit Branch Library received 50 crocus and 50 daffodil bulbs from the Westcott Bulb Planting Project. On October 19th, landscape architect and garden designer Dan Reeder, together with Ollie Clubb, another one of the originators of our Petit Garden Courtyard, planted the bulbs in various areas of the garden, including the street tree planting beds, the larger planting beds to the right of the library entrance and the new planting bed to the left of the entrance.

We look forward to the new burst of color in the spring, and we will send photos of the garden in bloom.

Thank you for your support.

Marilyn Smith, Branch Manager

Petit Branch Library

Ed Smith Report

114 fifth and sixth grade students at Ed. Smith school and their teachers were joined by volunteers from the School of Environmental Science and Forestry representing the group Motivating People for Peace. Together they rolled up their sleeves and put their hands in the dirt to show pride in their school and caring for their neighborhood. The Healthy Kids Committee of the Parent Teacher Organization supported classroom teachers in making the Westcott Bulb Planting Project part of students’ classroom experience.

Students had the opportunity to dissect and study spring flowering bulbs, used math and reasoning skills to decide how to plant them, and worked in teams to plant 400 tulip and grape hyacinth bulbs. Ed. Smith pride will great neighbors and visitors alike next spring when yellow tulips and “blue” hyacinths bloom in the school’s colors.

Nottingham Report

Nottingham High School PTSO received 375 from the Westcott Community Center bulb project. These were planted at our semi-annual grounds clean-up and landscaping day, October 1. In the words of our landscaping chair, Deborah Stewart, “The bulbs are going to beautify the doors by the cafeteria in the front of the school. We are also grateful for the 4 recycling bins’ worth of rich compost from the WCC.” Parents, students, and staff participated in the clean up, with the lucky ones planting the bulbs.

Levy Report

We FINALLY planted 600 bulbs outside Levy Middle School this morning, after many false starts because of rain. Kelly Macyczko’s science classes worked with a will to get all the bulbs in the ground. (Marion Wilson and I had gone out ahead to loosen the soil, and then another Levy Teacher, Karen Victory, did a lot of the work of last-minute soil preparation and advising the students as they planted.) We made about 40 groupings of bulbs, and they should look great in the spring. Quite a few students showed a real interest in gardening — maybe we got some converts along the way.

Kelly and I will give you a final report shortly, and she can explain how she is using the bulbs educationally in her classes.

Thank you so much for making this possible. It will add a lot to the garden, both educationally with the involvement of the students and because the perennials we planted will be slow to emerge in the spring and it will be wonderful to have some color in there first.

Pre-Kindergarten at Sumner School Report

During the second week of October, my pre-kindergarten class went out to the garden near the front steps of Sumner School and started to pull weeds so we could plant the spring crocus and daffodil bulbs. After an hour of digging and pulling, I knew that we needed more help in order to plant our 625 bulbs.

So on the weekend before Halloween, David Sky, a Westcott St. resident, helped us by roto-tilling 6 new garden beds around Sumner school for the crocus and daffodil bulbs .

On November 1st 250 preschoolers between the ages of two and four planted most of the bulbs in five o of the beds. The degree of planting skills ranged from taking aim and throwing the bulbs into the holes to carefully getting down on one’s stomach to reach into the hole to plant the bulb right so that the roots were on the bottom. With some planting lessons all the bulbs ended up in the holes the right way. Most of all the event was enjoyed by all.

The final day of planting the bulbs was on a cold and blustery day on November 10th. We planted the rest of the bulbs in the planter on the playground.

Sumner School would like to thank TNT for donating the money to the Westcott Bulb Project so that we could take this opportunity to beautify our school grounds.

Thank you, again,

Carol E. Simson

University United Methodist Church Confirmation Class Report

The 2005-2006 University United Methodist Church Confirmation Class and teachers planted their 72 bulbs around three trees outside the University Avenue entrance to the church on the crisp, beautiful autumn morning of Sunday, October 30th. Four of the six class members (Rachel Boll, Grace Bradshaw, Neil Damron, and Elizabeth Magowan) and two teachers (Leatha and Tim Damron) participated. The project was done as a part of the community outreach portion of the confirmation class this Sunday, during which the teens and pre-teens also made over one hundred peanut butter and jelly as well as bologna and cheese sandwiches for the Hopps Church program.