Click here to sign up for email notification about programs & events of interest

Reports

Westcott Community Center
2004 Fall Bulb Give Away

^{The feedback was all-positive about how organized and how the presentation of bulbs looked.  Many people commented how wonderful it was that we reached out to the community in such a beautiful way.}   

^{Many new neighbors were hoping that this will continue to the next year.  There were some neighbors who thought having compost available was an excellent idea and praised its quality,  many took the Toad Hollow information down.}  

^{The center also offered our after-school youth to plant the bulbs  for the senior citizens of the neighborhood.  We had 4 seniors sign up that day and the youth made arrangements that following week for 10 other seniors for planting.}  

^{The Kids had a great time planting at the seniors houses and the seniors were much appreciative.  Sherwin, age 10 said, "It was fun. We got to plant in other people’s yards". Roz, age 11, said, "It was fun because we were outside and at other people’s houses". We ended up planting at 8 senior’s houses because some of the seniors who had made arrangements for us to plant had relatives pick up & plant the bulbs for them.}

^{About 100 daffodils and 100 crocuses  were also planted at The Westcott Community Center by youth & staff.  
Report submitted by "Kim Jackson" <> and Steve Susman <> 478-8634}

Junior Girl Scout Troop 383

Junior Girl Scout Troop 383, located at Ed Smith School, planted approximately  100 daffodil bulbs as part of the Westcott Community Center's Neighborhood  Bulb Project.  The daffodils were planted around a recently-purchased school   sign, and the Scouts look forward to seeing the springtime blooms next year.

The 6th grade Girl Scouts were intrigued with the notion that fall is the time  to plant certain bulbs if we want to enjoy them next year.  They spent several  minutes reading the directions that accompanied the bulbs, then insuring that  the holes being dug were wide enough and deep enough for the bulbs.
Scouts Ellen Voorheis and Delaney Pfohl commented, "We planted the bulbs in  groups of 5, 7, 9, or 11.  We think the daffodils will look great next spring  when they come up in bright yellow clusters."

This summer the troop was awarded a "green grant" to purchase plants and  planting material to landscape the sign, so the planting of the bulbs  completes their environmental service project for the school and Ed Smith  neighborhood.  The Scouts look forward to watching "their" plants for years to come and taking pride in their work.

Report submitted by Molly Voorheis <>

Sixty bulbs were planted by the staff and volunteers involved with the Porches Plus program.

Porches Plus is a team under the umbrella of Eastside Neighbors in Partnership. Our aim, in collaboration with SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, is to work with residents living in the  immediate vicinity, (north of E. Genesee St to Erie Blvd and approx. Maple to Westmoreland), to design and landscape their yards.

 In doing so, the tenants are taught how to maintain the upkeep of these plantings and sign a contract to that effect. We also require them to participate by donating $50.00 towards the plantings, although some have donated sweat equity instead.

The  daffodils and crocus bulbs were  planted by  members of the Porches Plus teams in the yards of five of the homes where we have already designed and installed plantings or will be doing so in the spring. These include homes on Columbus Ave. Maple, Beech and Westmoreland.

Report submitted by Mimi Hancock-Olech, 

	Ed Smith Elementary School Students Planting Bulbs on the School Grounds

Ed Smith Report

The Westcott Bulb Planting Project
in partnership with the Healthy Kids Committee of the Ed. Smith PTO
An Ed. Smith Call to Hope Call to Action Project
Plant new ideas in your classroom this fall and watch them bloom…
November 3, 2004
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. Seven hundred daffodils and two hundred  crocuses bulbs were planted.  I undertook this project on behalf of the Ed. Smith School Healthy Kids health and fitness Committee to get kids up, out, and using their muscles and brains to work together to make their community a better place.

The real life experience of planning and planting a garden is rich with teachable moments, physical activity, and pure pleasure in nature.  This seemed a perfect partnership project for teachers, students, and Healthy Kids.

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.  As part of a year long campaign, "Call to Hope Call to Action," community service projects are being developed for students in each of Ed. Smith’s K-6 grades.

I worked with three class groups at Ed. Smith to plan and carry out the planting of hundreds of daffodil and crocus 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.

Students were presented with the following "basics of bulbs and their planting" when I visited their class on the day of the planting.

*       The concept of community service and the interconnectedness of this community, and about the Westcott Bulb Planting Project in particular

*       The parts of a bulb, environmental requirements for growth, and it’s lifecycle

*       The differences between daffodils and crocus, specifically growth and bloom characteristics

*       How to dig a good hole and the appropriate planting depths for our bulbs

*       The importance of mulch

Students then carried their equipment to their planting area, where they discussed, experimented with, and trouble shot their ideas about how and where to arrange their bulbs.  Several kids got the chance to work together to carry big bags of mulch to their friends’ planting areas.  Every kid looked forward to their turn digging and all agreed that using the large shovel to clear their holes made sense and was the most fun.  By the end of the afternoon kids could identify the top and bottom of both types of bulbs, describe a "good hole," how deep to plant each bulb, and name several benefits of mulching a garden.  In addition;

*       Diane Berman’s 5^th graders had just finished a science unit on plants and were active participants in the lesson I presented on the basics of bulbs and their planting.  Ms. Berman remarked that she was glad to have the opportunity to participate in this project as she is constantly looking for ways to work naturally occurring reading and writing into her students’ experience.  The students in room 209 wrote letters describing their experience in the project.  

*       Barb Walter’s 4^th graders used their math skills both on the classroom blackboard and out in the garden to divide the students in their class into planting groups, to divide the available bulbs evenly among those groups, and to plan how many bulbs to plant in each area.

*       Jennifer Bowman’s 6^th graders worked to develop their understanding community through participation in this service project.  Students worked in peer groups which included students with and with out disabilities.   Participants from room 108 used computers to write letters about their experience.

It is clear in reading the letters from our students 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 from each other about how the things you learn in the classroom apply to life outside school.

Sincerely,
Lisa Neville
132 Kensington Place
Syracuse, New York 13210
lneville@verizon.net
476-5176

Healthy Minds, Strong Bodies, Happy Kids
The Healthy Kids Committee of the Ed. Smith PTO
Ed. Smith Elementary School
1200 Lancaster Avenue Syracuse, New York 13210 435-4650

Quotes from student letters at Ed Smith.

" By doing this project it will make our school and community a better looking place. So, when we come to pass Ed Smith in five years we’ll remember when we were in fifth grade. You’ve showed that you care about Ed Smith and how it looks.
        I would like to say one more huge thank you to the whole Westcott Community people."

" Thank you for helping us with all the bulbs. I hope you have the chance to provide more bulbs next year. All of us were working hard to make the school look better."

"We had a great time and learned a lot about bulbs.  Ed Smith is going to be a much nicer place because of the project.
        The first thing we did was work together to get all the supplies to the hole. The, we took some time to arrange the flowers.  We dug our hole and planted the bulbs."

"This project was special to this  school. If you wouldn’t have given us these bulbs our school still would look plain."

"What we did was dig six inches into the ground and put in the bulbs...Than we covered it with mulch. Then we left it to sit."

"Thank you for the cool, colored flowers."

"Thank you for the bulbs. They will make our school look better.... The bulbs are in the ground now growing up to be a plant. I got to carry the mulch. Again, thank you for the bulbs. I had fun planting them. I brought my mom to see them."

Levy Middle School Report

We had to wait until we had our newest members of student council before we could begin the project. Two hundred daffodils and one hundred and seventy five crocuses were planted.

Unfortunately, this meant dealing with the chance that the weather would not cooperate, and it chose not to. We forged on through rain, hail and snow, digging planting, and covering with mulch. The students were troopers, never complaining about the dirt sticking to their wet clothing. It took us a half day to complete the project.

We were very lucky to have help from our principal Ms. Kelly, Mrs. Bonfe our art teacher and her classes and Mrs. Byrnes and her first period class.

We are very excited to see how much the flowers will add to the beauty of our building in the spring.   Thank you for providing this opportunity for our school and the students.

It was great to see them working together, focused and committed to completing this activity. It will be wonderful to walk into school each day in the spring seeing the beautiful flowers, smelling their wonderful scents - everyone will begin the day on a positive note.

We feel this project was already a great success.

Report prepared by Karen Strickland
Teacher at Levy
435-4444

A special thanks to the organizations which gave grants to make this project possible:

        * Central New York Community Foundation
        * Ed Smith PTO
        * Home HeadQuarters / Syracuse Neighborhood Initiatives
        * Syracuse University Office of Government  & Community Relations
        * University Neighborhood Preservation Association
        * Westcott Community Development Foundation
        * Westcott East Neighborhood Association
        * Alto Cinco

and to
        * Toad Hollow Compost (655-4756) for donating  three cubic yards of compost
        * Laurie Cronin for  donating her graphic arts skills and designing our poster
        * Patrons Mike and Grace Flusche, Jane Tretler and Jerry & Judy Grant.

and individual donors
* Chris Geyer
* Ian S. Brown
* Vicky Schipper
* Paul N. Melnikow
* James Gibbs
* Westcott Street Cultural Fair Donations
* Stanmore
* Jane Begley
* Pam Walker 
* Margo Clark
* Mark Rupert
* Peter Wirth
* Jane Tretler


For more information or if you're interested in getting involved with this project this year contact Peter With, 476-3396, pwirth@accucom.net.  

The Following information is provided by Daniel A. Reeder regarding the bulbs that were given out last year:

Trumpet Daffodil ‘Dutch Master’

Flower: 18”h, large showy golden flowers
Growth rate:  vigorous; March-April
Growing conditions:  sun - shade
Hardiness:   cold hardy, Zones 3 -8
Culture/care:  Plant at least 3 times the depth of the bulb (+8”).  Good for massed borders, rock gardens, planting beds.  Also good for both forcing indoors and as cut flowers. Use bulb fertilizer and/or slow release bulb food, rather than bone meal to encourage growth.  Daffodil bulbs can strengthen over the years.

Darwin Hybrid Tulip ‘Apeldoorn’s Elite’

Flower: 20” h, large, bright red petals with golden streaks
Growth rate:  strong stems and long lasting blooms; April - May
Growing conditions:  sun - part shade
Hardiness:   cold hardy, Zones 3-8
Culture/care:  Plant 7-10” deep in well-drained soil (points up).  Good for massed borders and formalized edges.  Tulips can weaken over the years, and may need to be replaced.

Vernus Crocus ‘Remembrance’

Flower: 6”h x 3”w, purple, silvery (close in darkness); Grass-like leaves about 4”h
Growth rate:  fast and early; March
Growing conditions:  organic, well drained soil; tolerates sun - part shade
Hardiness: cold hardy to Zone 4
Culture/care:  Plant 3-4” deep.  Good for massed borders, rock gardens or naturalizing in lawns (can be left in lawn until leaves die out a few weeks into mowing season.)  May need protection from hungry squirrels by planting in fine mesh cages or under chicken wire.  

---

Information provided by Dan Reeder

NATURAL SYSTEMS Landscape Design & Build

We specialize in taking worthwhile projects from the initial discussion stage through to final construction, providing sound design advice to achieve practical/flexible outcomes.

“Committed to the creation & preservation of functional human environments
in balance with natural surroundings.”

Services include garden paths, patios, plantings, perennial and water gardens, stone walls and steps, and landscape design / master planning.  Many school, commercial, residential and community projects are constantly underway in various phases year round.

Daniel A. Reeder, RLA
Faculty of Landscape Architecture
325 Marshall Hall
SUNY ESF, Syracuse, NY 13210
Phone: 315.470.6544
6320 Ledgewood Drive, Jamesville, NY 13078, Phone: 469.8501