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Rich Harrison on Landscape Design, People, Pollinators and Joy

A nonexistent raingarden is how Rich Harrison connected with Metro Blooms. He was the caretaker of the apartment building where he lived, and the yard there was a mess: a couple of trees had been taken down, stormwater was collecting, and nothing was growing. Harrison decided to put in a raingarden. He knew of Metro…

headshot man in suit and tie

John Kinara Appointed New Chair of Metro Blooms Board

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Metro Blooms is pleased to announce that John Kinara has been appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Metro Blooms. Kinara, formerly Vice-Chair, takes on the leadership role from Carol Kuechler, who will continue to serve as a Board member. “This is a very proud moment for me, stepping into the…

A happy person wearing gardening gloves holding butterfly weed near garden

Environmental Justice

For Metro Blooms, Environmental Justice means healing and liberation for people and the earth, from toxic pollutants in our air, land, and water and freedom from the systems that cause these harms.  Environmental Justice isn’t just about the environment, it’s social and economic justice, health, the quality of your surroundings, access to food and green…

Qualified Charitable Distributions

Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA Starting at age 70-1/2, you can make a qualified charitable distribution from your traditional IRA. This may reduce the taxable portion of your annual required minimum distribution. To qualify: You must be 70½ or older at the time of gift. Distributions must be made directly from a traditional IRA…

More Ways to Give

The work to protect Minnesota’s lakes and rivers, to support pollinators, and to create resilient landscapes in all of our communities starts with each of us. We are planting the seeds for a more sustainable future. Thank you for supporting our work with a gift.

sculptural wall planter with new plants

38th Street: Goodridge Building Green Wall

During the six years that Becca Cerra has had a studio at Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC), she never noticed the Goodridge Building, one of CAFAC’s neighbors at George Floyd Square. With a non-descript brick front, it looked like just another quiet office space among a string of local businesses that make up the…

red planter with native flowers near red pergola

38th Street: Plants at Mama Sheila’s House of Soul

Earlier in the fall, passers-by might have noticed some bright-red planters, with late-season blooms spilling out, at the entrance to Mama Sheila’s House of Soul in Minneapolis. They matched perfectly with the outdoor tables and pergola. It was almost as if it had been planned that way all along. But it was something new. In…

bee in plant stem

Help Tuck Pollinators into Bed for the Winter

“Leaving the leaves” is how we can help pollinators get ready for cold weather. Last autumn, Jessica Miller took some of her neighbors’ raked-up leaves and spread them out in her yard. She put layers in her garden beds and small piles around her trees and shrubs. In a society that prizes the pristine lawn…

art sculpture in small garden in front of building winter

38th Street: Art, Native Plants and Pollinators

A pollinator garden on 38th Street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis, steps from our office, is a garden for all seasons. At the height of the summer, there are blooming coneflowers and black-eyed Susans. Right now the garden is blanketed in white, the coneflowers covered with snow hats. It’s the perfect backdrop for viewing the…

38th Street: More Nature at Hardshell Fitness

The more nature, the better, for Ben Swarts. A couple of years ago, when he moved his business, Hardshell Fitness, into a former gas station on 38th Street at Longfellow, Swarts “threw” some seeds down behind the building. Today that space is a beautiful wildflower garden. Now he looks at the gray expanse of paved…

All Nations Church: Planting Seeds of Stewardship

Bendu Kollie wants to learn as much as she can about the plants growing in her church’s raingarden. Her church community, All Nations Seventh-Day Adventist Church, planted it in August with the help of Metro Blooms in a landscape renovation to manage stormwater and help pollinators. She hopes it plants seeds of stewardship among the…

Kenwood School

Built in 2015, the Kenwood Poetry Stepping Stone Raingarden is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between Metro Blooms, Kenwood Elementary School, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, artist Zoran Mojsilov and writer Louis Erdrich.…  Read More

Measuring Runoff on a Permeable City Alley

How well does permeable pavement reduce runoff? Metro Blooms set out to answer this question in a privately-owned alley in Minneapolis’ Standish-Ericsson neighborhood. We compared how much rain flowed down…  Read More

Autumn Ridge and Building Capacity

Metro Blooms is coordinating a major landscape renovation at an affordable housing complex in Brooklyn Park involving many partners, including residents, the owner, local government, a community organization and the watershed district.

Metro Blooms at the One Water Summit

(Caption: Some people bring their best game faces to important events. Community Engagement Manager Kimberly Carpenter brought Metro Blooms’ best flower faces. Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Extension). Metro Blooms…  Read More

Choosing Turf Alternatives

If you want to change your lawn, ask yourself what you expect from your new landscape. How different do you want it to look? How much time are you prepared…  Read More

Workshop Reflections

What a Twentysomething Renter Learned   I have recently experienced the effects of poorly managed stormwater: water dripped from the roof and into the spaces between my apartment walls, paint…  Read More

Permeable Pavement Maintenance

You’ve got this great new permeable pavement in your driveway. Now what? As with everything we value, some level of maintenance is required in order to keep it looking good…  Read More

Seasonal Garden Guide

As a landscape designer, the most common question that I get asked when walking around a yard with a homeowner is “How do I maintain all of these plants, and…  Read More

Green Streets For Blue Waters

Hello All, We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the participants of the Bloomington Green Streets for Blue Waters program for taking part in this important project and give…  Read More

Blooming Schoolyards 2013

Many Metro Blooms supporters have not heard of Blooming Schoolyards, Metro Blooms’ K-12 outdoor classroom education program. And what a shame that is because I can tell you from experience…  Read More

Biography Of The Month

To kick off a new year of staff, board and volunteer biographies (that’s right volunteers, I’m coming for you next) I interviewed Bryan Pynn, Metro Blooms’ director of design and…  Read More

Culver’s Root

Family: Scrophulariaceae (Figwort) Scientific Name: Veronicastrum virginicum Native, colonizing wildflower from 3-6′ tall that grows in rich woods and moist prairies. Has a central taproot as well as underground running…  Read More