Dig native plants?
Cedar Lake Park Association (CLPA) is organizing a planting of native-specie flowers in the Cedar Lake Park Prairie on Saturday, May 13 at 9 a.m.
CLPA will provide plants, trowels, gloves, shovels, etc., as well as food and water. All you have to do is show up and dig in the dirt.
We start at 9 a.m. and usually the planting takes about four hours to complete. If you wish further info, please call 612-419-3006.
Neil Trembley, CLPA
Years ago, before Uber or Lyft, I walked to a restaurant in Loring Park from my home in Lowry Hill to meet a friend for dinner. An ice storm rained down on the city while we ate, making the walk home on leather-soled shoes a perilous one.
I managed to cross the treacherous Hennepin-Lyndale intersection and land safely on the narrow concrete pad known as the Douglas Median, at the time a concrete lunarscape devoid of vegetation or any sign of human life.
Trying to shave a few minutes off my trip home, I hurried across the median, slipped and landed hard on the icy pavement. As I examined my bruised and frozen hands, I vowed to change that ugly inhospitable median.
Over the subsequent months I lobbied the city hard to change the corridor. Joined by my counterpart in Loring Park, John VanHeel, we organized a commonsense movement to “fix” the corridor by replacing concrete with vegetation and making the sidewalks, paths and crossings more people friendly. It took time but we prevailed. The plantings and seasonal greens you see there now, as well as the tall grasses in the median by the Walker, are the result.
To create and maintain the new green spaces, we collaborated with Green Minneapolis, a 501(c)(3) that “envisions a green future for our city with trees on every street and active public spaces. We are enriching quality of life, creating a healthier environment and connecting people through place.”
Over the years, Green Minneapolis has graciously maintained the Hennepin-Lyndale corridor, which includes the Douglas Median located along Hennepin Ave. S. between Douglas Ave. and Groveland Ter. This includes tending the plants and planters, picking up trash and making it friendly to bees, birds and people alike.
The city of Minneapolis once provided ample funding to neighborhoods, which enabled residents the flexibility and agency to decide how best to improve their neighborhoods. This ranged from adding amenities to the parks or historic street lighting or affordable housing. The city has slashed that funding over the last decade to provide little more than a few thousand dollars with highly prescriptive spending guidance.
Lowry Hill Neighborhood Association used some of those funds to help maintain the Douglas median, but the city’s cuts ended that in 2023. This year the neighborhood fell $2,500 short of the $3,500 needed to cover its part of the $25,000 annual cost of maintaining the entire Hennepin-Lyndale corridor. Without funding, Green Minneapolis will be forced to halt maintaining the greenspace of the Douglas median. Without upkeep, it will return to a barren eyesore.
If you appreciate this addition of greenery and beauty to our city, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution in honor of the Douglas Median to Green Minneapolis via QR code pictured in the ad or visit www.greenminneapolis.org. You can also send a check payable to Green Minneapolis with “Douglas Median” in the memo to:
