Group spruces up Downtown Uniontown
What a difference a flower can make.
Downtown Uniontown has undergone a transformation with the recent addition of plants and flowers in beautiful spring colors that are brightening city streets. The Green Gardeners held their annual planting day Monday, installing more than 2,200 plants in gardens and planters throughout the city. Twenty volunteers completed the project in less than four hours.
“It’s our civic responsibility,’ said member Ellen Ulmer, who coordinated the planting. “And it’s going to be spectacular this year. That’s all I can say.’
Planting day has long been a tradition for the 55-year-old organization that has planted trees and maintained gardens in downtown Uniontown for years as well as provides educational programs to the public.
The Green Gardeners planted Monday morning at the garden at the parking garage at the corner of South, Church and Morgantown streets, Five Corners, the shade garden on Pittsburgh Street, troughs on Church Street, and urns on Morgantown, Beeson and Gallatin avenues.
Member Valerie Sesler said, “We have a lot of new things this year.’
“The reason we have so many beautiful and unusual plants is that we have a new member who designed public gardens in New York City for years – Laura Tebbitt,’ said Ulmer.
This year’s plants include cordyline, licorice (chartreuse), tidal wave Hedge-A-Flora petunia (purple tidal wave), Algerian ivy, juncus – javeline; light pink wave petunias, trailing red coleus (dark), ajuga – tricolor, pistachio nightmare coleus, dwarf zinnia (profusion), bonanza marigolds, bronze begonias, creeping jenny, Richard Wallace canna lilies, ruby chard, blue geranium (Rozanne), verbena, mixed-color easy wave petunias, red easy wave petunias, white easy wave petunias and blue easy wave petunias.
“The grower had never grown some of the plants,’ said Ulmer.
David’s Greenhouse in Georges Township supplied plants to both the Green Gardeners and the Third Annual Community Planting Day, which took place in downtown Uniontown on Saturday. Community Planting Day is sponsored by the Fayette Progress Council with assistance from the Green Gardeners.
Jessica Hajeck of the Fayette Progress Council, said of the Community Planting Day, “It went extremely well. We started at 9 a.m. and finished by 11:30 a.m. We planted 1,500 plants, so we had a number of different volunteers of different ages.’
Saturday’s planting included Main Street, Nemacolin Courtyard, Storey Square and the first block of Morgantown Street.
“The reason we host the event is to engage community members in the ongoing revitalization of downtown Uniontown,’ said Hajeck. “It’s truly amazing to see the response we received this year. It went exceptionally well.’
Both organizations are hoping that downtown merchants will adopt a planter, and water and maintain the plants that are in front of their establishments. Care sheets were passed out to explain how to tend to the plants.
It can be dirty work, but there are rewards in doing the job.
Sesler said, “It makes our city look so beautiful.’
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