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Reimagine Your Yard
Northeast Minneapolis Commercial Corridor
This revitalization project brought clean water projects and native habitat to businesses and organizations on Central Avenue and nearby. The projects were on small, urban, almost completely impervious sites, so we got creative in our use of raingardens, permeable pavement, bee lawn boulevards, native prairie, native plantings and a green roof (our first). We worked… Read More →
COVID-19 and Metro Blooms
General Operations Updated: July 29, 2021 The health and safety of the community and our staff is utmost in our minds. Metro Blooms has determined our occupational risk for COVID-19 to be low risk. We are therefore allowing employees the option of returning to in-person work at our office. Metro Blooms is not currently requiring…
Employment
Who We Are Metro Blooms is a nonprofit that partners with communities, property owners, organizations and local governments to create resilient landscapes and clean watersheds, embracing the values of equity, and inclusion to solve environmental challenges.
Neighborhood Projects
For over ten years, we have worked with neighborhoods, cities, and so many other partners to install accessible and functional projects with their residents.
Education
Workshop Series We offer a suite of workshops through our Blue Thumb program that promote actions that home gardeners can easily take to make their yards more resilient and help the environment. Participants learn about site planning, rain gardens, native planting, habitat for pollinators, turf alternatives, trees and shrubs and more. The workshops start during…
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Reimagine Your Yard
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 MN & Iowa, a longtime Metro Blooms partner. This organization has installed more of our raingardens than any other group we work with. In turn,… Read More →
Collecting Native Seeds for Garden Expansion
Many of Minnesota’s native plants are seed factories. Most of our favorite species, while being fairly non-aggressive spreaders in the garden, produce large quantities of viable seed that can delight gardeners with their high germination rates. With a little help, plants that are typically well behaved in the garden can be counted on to spread… 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 when do I do it?!” If you aren’t a Master Gardener or you are just a busy person and don’t have tons of time to… Read More →
Winter Garden Maintenance
It’s certainly been cold in Minnesota this last month, but it’s going to warm up this weekend and with that warm-up maybe you’ll start thinking about the up and coming garden season! Or maybe not, but in either case, we wanted to remind you of some winter maintenance practices for your garden so it’s ready… Read More →
Springtime Raingarden Maintenance
Now that the sun is finally beginning to shine a little longer and our days are getting a bit warmer (I said a bit, not a LOT warmer yet), we wanted to remind you of some simple spring time maintenance activities to help preserve the effectiveness and beauty of your raingarden. You should try and… Read More →
Biography Of The Month
Metro Blooms’ biography for the month of November (I know it’s really December, but only by three days!) is highlighting our executive director, Becky Rice. Becky may be the only other person in the office right now, but she was going to be our biography of the month anyway because she has super interesting stories… Read More →
Biography Of The Month
Metro Blooms has been thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice if the people we work with and outreach to knew us on a more personal level so we could really connect?” Okay, not all of Metro Blooms was thinking this, but after attending a workshop on engaging people this past week, I certainly was (nice to… Read More →
Beebalm
Family: Lamiaceae (Mint) Family Scientific name: Monarda fistulosa Grows on prairie hillsides, pastures, roadsides, stream banks, and occasionally in open woods. Usually in rocky soil. Perennial herb. Watch for: Purple flower, leaves simple, opposite and lance-shaped. Fragrant, lower surfaces hairy, with square stem. Other names: Wild Bergamont, Oswego Tea (Lake Oswego, Oregon), Long-flowered Horsemint, Fern Mint. History: Beebalm… Read More →