Adam Prudhomme
Editor
As green thumbs begin to map out their garden for the coming spring, the Town of Greater Napanee is asking them to think yellow.
Taking the lead from a campaign launched by Communities in Bloom, the town is asking residents to plant yellow flowers as part of the Hope is Growing campaign.
“Yellow is the international symbol of hope and with everything going on with COVID (Communities in Bloom) just thought this would be a nice way to lift everybody’s spirits and get people into gardening at the same time,” Greater Napanee community engagement clerk Brianna Clement said. “We jumped on board with this initiative.”
Local Communities in Bloom member Kathy Medd brought the project to the attention of the town. Greater Napanee’s Downtown BIA has committed to including plenty of yellow in their planting this year, as has the County of Lennox and Addington and local businesses are encouraged to do the same.
“Across Canada and beyond, our goal is to see the land awash with gardens featuring yellow, the international colour of hope,” reads a release on the Communities in Bloom website. “Whether it’s flowers, fruits, shrubs or vegetables – just plant the seeds. From parks to playgrounds, front yards, back yards, balconies, baskets, boulevards, barrels and planters, wherever there’s an empty space to grow, there is room for a plant.”
Hobby gardening saw resurgence last spring in the wake of the pandemic and Communities in Bloom is hoping to continue that momentum into this year’s gardening season.
Clement says the town is also encouraging people to snap photos of their yellow gardens to their social media pages, tagged with #HopeIsGrowing. The collection of photos will be passed along to Communities in Bloom.
“We’re hoping each week to put a different yellow flower on our social media just to get people’s thoughts working,” added Clement. “A lot of people think yellow flower will think sunflower but there’s so many other flowers you could be planting too.”
According to their website, Communities in Bloom is a Canadian non-profit organization and national charity committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement and the challenge of a national program, with focus on the enhancement of green spaces in communities.