Lewes in Bloom Brightens up Second Street!

If 2nd street has been looking brighter this summer it might be due to the new planters that line the street. From Reeves Holt House to Touch of Italy, Lewes in Bloom has been busy planting over 200 flowers in 32 new pots.

This project was a joint effort between the town and Lewes in Bloom. It began with the town removing the old plants in the bump outs. This required careful digging so as not to disturb any electrical wiring in the ground. Then pea gravel was used to help make the bump outs more attractive as well as keep the weeds down. With no irrigation along Second Street investing in self-watering planters like those used at St. Peters would be the only solution. A “self-watering” container doesn’t actually water itself. It is a watering system using planters that contain a reservoir of water at the bottom. This reservoir connects to the soil via a fabric “wick”. In a wick system, water is drawn up the wick via capillary action into the soil. This system would only require filling the reservoir as needed. This is done by a dedicated person hired by the town.

At last on June 10, the Lewes in Bloom 2nd Street Patrons planted the flowers. Many of which were grown by our volunteers at the Lewes in Bloom warehouse. We covered and uncovered the young plants depending on the early spring weather, we fertilized, watered and nursed them along for several months till they were ready to be planted.

Next time you are in town take notice of the planters and enjoy them. Treat them kindly they don’t like trash or cigarette butts but they do love to be admired. If you are in town at 7:30AM on Tuesdays say hello to the patrons who are busy dead heading and keeping the planters looking their best.

Thank You Patrons!

We have had a very unprecedented planting season to say the least. To recap: We had to cut back on our plant orders because of funding, two of our new planters on 2nd Street were run over by a truck…literally, and we had to revise the way we do the business of planting our gardens and planters. The World came down with a virus! And it has rocked ours. We couldn’t ask for an” ALL HANDS” event like in the past for our larger gardens. We had to ask a lot of our patrons to pitch in. We needed to” schedule work shifts” in very small groups. Patrons who were comfortable working under state guidelines of wearing a mask and social distancing, showed up to plant. This was not an easy task!

Many of you came out to help…not only in your assigned gardens, but in many of LIB’s other gardens. Those who could not come out supported the efforts in other ways! And we hope to see you all very soon.

So many of us have received thanks from locals and tourists for being in the gardens planting…saying they had hoped LIB would be planting under the current conditions… and how much they have enjoyed the flowers over the years!

So, as we wind down this year’s planting season, and head toward maintaining our sites, we shout out a big thank you, dear patrons. You are the best!

Take a few minutes to tour LIB gardens and see the beautiful results of our collective work.

Ellen McCathran, Horticulture

Message from our Co-Chairs

As the pandemic rolls on, the future should be getting clearer, but the message from the experts gets more confusing. Should we or shouldn’t we, can we or can’t we, can I or can’t I? It is hard for an individual to know what is safe. It is even harder for an organization, especially one such as ours that is based on a mission, but also finds its strength from teamwork and fellowship. Although the government is easing restrictions, there are many of us who are hesitant to venture out. At this juncture, the earliest we will schedule a general meeting is September. The board wants you to know that we miss you, but we do respect the individual concerns. So just know that we are here and when you are ready, join us.

Yes, the pandemic has impacted our activities and yes, Mother Nature has shown us who rules, but our members and members’ friends have been very generous in their donations to Lewes in Bloom the last month or so. Some donations were for specific gardens and projects. It is great to see that certain places mean so much to individuals. If you would like to donate, click this LINK.

Again, thank you.

Stay safe,
Dianne Stevens and Sue Crawford, co-chairs

Are you wondering what happened to the baskets on the Lewes Drawbridge?

16 Lewes Drawbridge Hayracks – patiently waiting

Well the hayrack planters are all planted and waiting to be hung, but DELDOT is not totally finished with testing and certifying the refurbished drawbridge yet.  So the planters are waiting patiently at the LIB warehouse. We have a dedicated crew that waters them and tends them.  Hopefully they can be hung before the end of the summer!

Have you seen a noteworthy garden or garden spot in Lewes?

Nominate it for our LIB BEAUTY SPOT AWARD by clicking below.

LIB BEAUTY SPOT NOMINATION

See our latest winners garden – June 2020 Awardee Sue Ritter – Click Here

To read more about our Beauty Spot Program and see all of the previous winners Click Here to go to our Beauty Spot Program Page 

New LIB Award Display case at the Rollins Community Center

Lewes in Bloom is pleased to announce that we finally have a home for all our awards and accolades. Late in February, a new showcase was ordered and delivered in mid-March, just as the pandemic struck. Now that the Rollins Center has reopened, we’ve been able to get the showcase set up. It can be found in the section of the museum set aside for local non-profits. When you get a chance, stop by and take a look. It’s beautiful, as you can see from the photo.

Picture of ours gardens – click on a picture then scroll thru – Enjoy

LIB Member Volunteers have completed the planting of our spring annuals

We have been working in small groups during this spring to grow thousands of annuals at our warehouse. Now that the weather is finally cooperating, we planted these in all of the LIB maintained gardens, baskets and planters.  The first was the Lewes Firehouse and the iconic Dogfish and Graves corners (1st Street and Savannah Rd) about 350 plants.  Next was the Gateway Garden and 1812 Park, almost 2000 plants.  We continued with Otis Smith Park, Mary Vessels Park, Stango Park, County Bank, Caldwell Banker, St Peter’s baskets, City Hall, BPW, the Lewes Public Library, the Rollins Center, the new planters on 2nd Street and the 2nd Street baskets, all togethers about 5000 more plants.  Below are a few pictures of our dedicated member volunteers with their masks and maintaining social distancing while planting.  Thank you to all our volunteers.

Expect to see Lewes in full Bloom later this summer!   See the pictures above for how our gardens appeared on 6-20-2020.

Betsy Hansot at the Lewes Firehouse

Marilyn Vai at Dogfish Graves Corners

Kathleen Merlo and Becky Forney at 1812

Joe Rooney and Stuart Weiner at 1812

Maryanne Cherry

Gavin Braithwaite and Heidi Zimmerman

Barbara and Don Coburn

Mary Jo Johnson

Becky Forney and Stuart Weiner

Nancy Palladino

Frank and Deb Cebula

Catherine Harris

Beth Mills

Stango Park

Stango Park

Stango Park

Stango Park

2nd Street Baskets

2nd Street Baskets

LIB Members – remember to check out the Member Only News for our latest insider updates

Work on the Lewes Drawbridge Mosaic Mural Continues

Even though much activity in Sussex County has come to a halt because of the spread of Covid-19, work on the mosaic mural destined for the Lewes Drawbridge this fall has continued safely, of course, in a small way.

Although more than 50 Lewes in Bloom members volunteered to help with the project earlier this spring, fundraising and activity on the project had to be halted for everyone’s safety. Since then, however, Artist Lorelei Meanor, designer of the mural, has worked solo on the mural panels in her studio. She has been aided by Art in Bloom Co-chair Sue Sandmeyer and volunteer Linda Rancourt, who continued to grout and tile and work safely on the panels in their own garage. 

When these panels are completed, the first 50 feet of the 100-foot mural will be finished. There is so much enthusiasm within the community that we didn’t feel we should stop working on the panels as long as we abided by the city and state’s guidelines for social distancing.

Art in Bloom raised almost half of its goal before the closures were instituted and have continued to receive donations during this period. The support for this project – both in terms of volunteers and donors – has been phenomenal.

When it is safe to bring volunteers together again, work will resume on the final 50 feet of the mural. We continue to anticipate a fall installation of the mural.
Donations for the Lewes Drawbridge Mosaic Mural are gratefully still being accepted and can be made by sending a check to Art in Bloom at P.O. Box 61, Lewes, DE 19958 or visit: lewesinbloom.org/art-in-bloom-donations/

Enjoy pictures of our LIB Gardens 

Stay Safe – click on a picture then scroll thru

If you have any pictures of a LIB Garden taken this spring and want to share with those that can’t get out to see our gardens, please email a copy to lewesinbloomde@gmail.com