Since 2018, we have worked with the City of St. Louis Park’s Rainwater Rewards program, which supports residents to take on stormwater management practices in their yards. Our first year, we installed 20 rain gardens in participating residents’ yards, and the program has grown since. This work is part of our Neighborhood of Rain Gardens…
Metro Blooms has been working with the Riverside Plaza community since 2018 to redesign outdoor spaces for greater environmental resilience and better quality of outdoor living. Through our partnership, we created beautiful community green spaces that manage stormwater sustainably and provide habitat for pollinators. We worked with the Riverside Plaza Tenant Association (RPTA) and owner…
Small business properties in cities often don’t have space for flowers or trees, and have lots of impermeable concrete outdoor areas. But our design team identified many opportunities to improve water quality and create habitat for pollinators. We partnered with local businesses and organizations in Northeast Minneapolis to install clean water and native habitat projects…
Through Blooming Boulevards, we engage residents in communities impacted by environmental injustices to receive pollinator-friendly boulevard rain gardens, taking part in planting and maintenance events. We also partner with local youth/young adult groups on learning and paid work opportunities. We are building ongoing relationships through this program; every year, we learn more about better supporting…
From 2020–2022, Metro Blooms and art partner Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC) worked with local businesses and community organizations to add pollinator plantings and pollinator-themed art along the 38th Street commercial corridor. Projects included planters at Mama Sheila’s House of Soul, native plantings and sculptural art work at Everett’s Foods, Cedar Small Engine Repair, HardShell Fitness amd…
We worked with the community at Beam Apartments and Townhomes in North Minneapolis to plan and create a mini-park. Starting in 2022, we met residents at community events — including a neighborhood cleanup and a bingo evening — to learn their priorities for the project. The final design included native plant pollinator gardens, fruit trees,…
Residents of affordable housing communities, many of them long-term community members, may care deeply about where they live but not have the ability to influence decisions that impact their home. We partnered with the Brook Gardens community in Brooklyn Park to center resident priorities. Brook Gardens is a townhome/apartment complex that is home to many…
Metro Blooms provides resources to help people care for land and water. This often includes support to install rain gardens that filter and clean water or native plantings that provide habitat for pollinators. Partnership and relationships are central to how we work. We partner with community groups, nonprofits, local government, business owners and individuals, from…
When Hawo Abdi saw a flier about a tree-planting event in the elevator at her apartment building, she immediately took a picture and sent it around to other friends with children urging them to attend. The event would teach youth about how to plant trees, take better care of the earth, and give their time…
One morning last May, fifth-graders from the American Indian Magnet School gathered in a circle on a little island near the shore of Keller Lake Regional Park in Maplewood. Teacher Thomas Draskovic, a Lakota/Dakota culture and language specialist, led student drummers in a song acknowledging the four directions, the sky, and Mother Earth. Then it…
An event to celebrate the Riverside Plaza Community Gardens and our dedicated donors Thursday, July 18 4pm – 6pm Riverside Plaza, at the small park on the northwest corner of 6th Street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. Please let us know if you plan to attend.
Through the Blue Thumb Sustainable Landcare Training (SLC) program, we’re growing a local green infrastructure workforce and creating pathways in the environmental field. During the 30-hour program, trainees learn about… Read More →
If you have a rain garden installed by Metro Blooms but no longer have the sign it came with, we have replacements! Our newest version is bilingual, with English on one side and Spanish on the other. It is 10 inches wide, so you may need to get a new sign stake for it as…
Through our Blue Thumb Education programming, we provide DIYers with the information to make their outdoor spaces more beautiful and sustainable. In 2005, we started our first workshops for home… Read More →
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…
We invite you to sponsor our work, supporting people, water, and pollinators.
Shannon modestly calls herself a “first-grader” when it comes to gardening. But she clearly knows a thing or two. Just ask about her yard, and she’ll tell you about her hostas and rhododendron; the hydrangea near her front porch that exploded in blooms last summer; her royal oak, Ralph; and the most recent addition: a…
Drive along Brooklyn Boulevard in Brooklyn Park, and you’ll pass a typical sprawling parking lot for a shopping center. But look a little closer, and you’ll see something different about the green strip bordering the road. Amidst the typical turfgrass, cheerful clumps of native grasses and flowers beckon visitors, plantings arranged in gently curving beds…
Rooted Together Rooted Together: Connecting with Native Plants through Tea and Tarot is a fundraiser celebrating our relationship with native plants! Join us to connect, create, and support Metro Blooms’ work across Minnesota. Connect with native plants through tea and tarot—guided by local herbalist Rowan Emmanuel, with Tamiko French on sound bowls. Tickets will support our…
For Metro Blooms, Environmental Justice means healing and liberation for people and the earth, from toxic pollutants in our air, land, and water and freedom from the systems that cause these harms. Environmental Justice isn’t just about the environment, it’s social and economic justice, health, the quality of your surroundings, access to food and green…
A job inspecting rain gardens was not exactly on Edwin’s radar when he decided to join Metro Blooms’ Sustainable Landcare Training program. The North Minneapolis resident had done some gardening in middle school and learned about plants in recent volunteer work. What he didn’t know was the potential for this interest to turn into well-paid…
We worked with residents at Beam Apartments and Townhomes in North Minneapolis to plan and create a mini-park for the community. Starting in 2022, we met residents at community events… Read More →
Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA Starting at age 70-1/2, you can make a qualified charitable distribution from your traditional IRA. This may reduce the taxable portion of your annual required minimum distribution. To qualify: You must be 70½ or older at the time of gift. Distributions must be made directly from a traditional IRA…
Companion Planting with Four Sisters Urban Farm Thursday, July 9
A nonexistent raingarden is how Rich Harrison connected with Metro Blooms. He was the caretaker of the apartment building where he lived, and the yard there was a mess: a couple of trees had been taken down, stormwater was collecting, and nothing was growing. Harrison decided to put in a raingarden. He knew of Metro…
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Do you know there are many resources available for free or at low cost? Some of them may be right in your neighborhood. Have a look below to find out where you can get trees, compost, mulch, and seeds — and to learn more about gardening. We’ll also add upcoming events occasionally.
Whether you are looking to hire an organization to support equitable engagement or you are seeking resources to begin or expand this work on your own, here are some resources and organizations we are learning from and want to share.
