Standish Ericsson Permeable Alley
Working in conjunction with numerous partners, this project led to the first permeable alleyway, privately owned, in Minneapolis. We monitored runoff in the alley for a year. Then, in the… Read More →
Search Results
Searched for: all 2015
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 →
A Permeable Alley in a Minneapolis Neighborhood
Lori Fewer is pleased with the new surface on the alley, just installed, behind her house. “It’s beautiful,” she says. The network of interlocking concrete pavers is much more inviting… Read More →
2015 Top Garden Awardees Announced
Metro Blooms is pleased to announce the 2015 Top Minneapolis Garden Awards. These gardens represent some of the most beautiful, creative and sustainable gardens in the Minneapolis, selected by volunteer… Read More →
Blooming Alleys Partnership Results
In our first post about the Blooming Alleys Partnership I described the collaborative meeting we had in April, here at Sabathani, with all of our project partners to figure out what… Read More →
What Is Blooming Alleys All About?
Blooming Alleys is a program of Metro Blooms that aims to protect waterways, create habitat, and transform communities by working with blocks of residents to re-imagine what their alleyway looks like… Read More →
Blooming Alleys Partnerships
In the fall of 2014 Metro Blooms worked with some great community members just to the west of Lake Nokomis to install the first ever “Blooming Alley” in Minneapolis. Since… Read More →
Lake Nokomis Alley Get-Together
On April 12th, 2014 more then 35 neighbors from two blocks in the Lake Nokomis watershed got together to reimagine their alleyway. Why? How? Where? Was there food? you may be… Read More →
Fall Raingarden Maintenance
Well folks it’s time. It seems to me like our spattering of 70 degree days are done for the year, which means you can trade in your lawn mower for… Read More →
Neighborhood Of Raingarden Installations 2013
Throughout the summer and fall of 2013, Metro Blooms has been working hard with the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa to install raingardens in five different neighborhoods in Minneapolis.… Read More →
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…
Who We Are
Mission Metro Blooms partners with communities to create resilient landscapes and foster clean watersheds, embracing the values of equity and inclusion to solve environmental challenges.
Our Roots, Our Work
Metro Blooms grew out of a volunteer-powered garden recognition program, the Minneapolis Garden Awards program, which was first established by the City of Minneapolis’ Committee on the Urban Environment (CUE). Between 1979 and 2016, hundreds of trained volunteer evaluators visited thousands of gardens, every year recognizing and celebrating excellence, and inspiring a proud culture of…
Minneapolis Public Schools Maintenance
Metro Blooms works with Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) to maintain and inspect stormwater management practices at more than 20 sites district wide. These practices include rain gardens, underground infiltration systems,… Read More →
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 →
Blue Thumb Education
Blue Thumb – Planting for Clean Water is a partnership of local government, landscape contractors, native plant nurseries and other entities committed to the promotion of native plantings, rain gardens, and shoreline plantings. Blue Thumb is managed by Metro Blooms and provides our education programs, including the ones listed below. Learn more about Blue Thumb…
Mission + Vision + Equity
Mission Metro Blooms partners with communities to create resilient landscapes and foster clean watersheds, embracing the values of equity and inclusion to solve environmental challenges.
Conservation Corps MN & Iowa: a Raingarden Partner
When Metro Blooms is in the field, there’s a good chance that the crew on site are wearing yellow helmets. If so, they are likely a crew from Conservation Corps… Read More →
A Year In Summary – 2016
The end of a year naturally brings about a desire to reflect on what we as an organization have achieved, what’s made us pound our heads on our desks, and… Read More →
A Year in Summary
As I began thinking about a summary of our year at Metro Blooms, I started thinking about what excites me the most about my job. At Metro Blooms, we couple… Read More →
Grow with KARE: Best cottage garden
Take time to “smell the roses” with the first of 3 eye-catching segments with Belinda Jensen featuring a few of our 2014 top garden award-winners! Tune in the next several… Read More →
Blue Thumb/Metro Blooms Merger: Frequently Asked Questions
Metro Blooms and Blue Thumb are Merging! The following describes the current understanding of how the Blue Thumb program would be governed and would operate following a merger of the… Read More →
2014 Triumphs And Lessons Learned
Wow. I know I said last year was busy, but 2014 was so busy we hardly had time to blog about, well, anything. Over the last 12 months we’ve worked… Read More →
Raingarden Maintenance: Plant Replacement And Establishment
As you may have read in our recent blog post ‘Green Streets for Blue Waters’, our two year project in partnership with the City of Bloomington just wrapped up. The project… 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 →
Volunteer Spotlight: Greg Silverman And The EvaluateIt Mobile App Team
Greg first heard about Metro Blooms when he met Bob Wolk and his wife Debby at a High Tea hosted by Adam Majewski. When Bob learned that Greg was interested… Read More →
Volunteer Spotlight: Bob Wolk
Bob Wolk joined Metro Blooms’ team of volunteers in 2008. As someone who likes to constantly reinvent himself, he’s taken on many different roles to support Metro Blooms over the… Read More →
Volunteer Spotlight: Marcella Grandpre
Marcella Grandpre is a life-long gardener and longtime supporter of Metro Blooms. She became a volunteer in 2005 when a master gardener told her about us. She became a garden evaluator… Read More →
Prairie Dropseed
Family: Poaceae Scientific Name: Sporobolus heterolepis This perennial prairie grass is native to the Central and Eastern United States and Canada. It requires full sun and prefers well-drained soils. For that reason,… Read More →
Volunteer Spotlight: Barb Gasterland
Barb Gasterland is one of our longtime volunteers. She started out as a garden evaluator in 2005, when her interest in a raingarden movement happening at the time led her… Read More →