Search Results

Searched for: about us
Man holding award

Rich Harrison on Landscape Design, People, Pollinators and Joy

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…

More Ways to Give

The work to protect Minnesota’s lakes and rivers, to support pollinators, and to create resilient landscapes in all of our communities starts with each of us. We are planting the seeds for a more sustainable future. Thank you for supporting our work with a gift.

Volunteer!

Volunteers make a huge difference in what we do at Metro Blooms. As a mission-based organization dedicated to resilient landscapes, we are always looking for people to give their time to make an impactful change in their communities. You could help with planting, take part in maintenance (weeds, those weeds!), and give gardening guidance to others…

poster board with with a design and sticky note comments on the board

Equitable Engagement Resources

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.

two people looking inside overed containers with leaves inside

Learning and Job Resources

The green economy is growing, providing well-paying jobs and education opportunities to people interested in beautifying and protecting the environment. Below you’ll find a variety of career and learning resources, many of them for youth and young adults, to help you get started researching opportunities.

The back of a person at computer looking at the screen

Grant Resources

Over the years Metro Blooms has benefited from numerous public and private grants. Our knowledge is not comprehensive, but we’re happy to share what we know with others doing community work. In particular we’ve had success with local government grants for clean water and pollinator habitat projects that include community engagement and management.

Jordan Area Community Council Garden

We worked with the Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) and Rusty and the Crew to add pollinator-friendly plantings in the JACC community garden in North Minneapolis. In spring 2022, volunteers…  Read More

Group of people planting a corner garden in parking lot

Minneapolis Blooming Boulevards 2023

We partnered with environmental justice communities in Minneapolis to create pollinator-friendly boulevard rain gardens. Thirty projects were installed at residential and community sites, including six rain gardens near the former…  Read More

sculptural wall planter with new plants

38th Street: Goodridge Building Green Wall

During the six years that Becca Cerra has had a studio at Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (CAFAC), she never noticed the Goodridge Building, one of CAFAC’s neighbors at George Floyd Square. With a non-descript brick front, it looked like just another quiet office space among a string of local businesses that make up the…

View looking up at tree and top corner of building

Renter Resources

  The list below offers many helpful sources of information for renters.

Laying out plants in a raingarden

Managing Stormwater With Neighborhood of Raingardens

This past summer, we teamed up with neighborhoods, cities, and the Conservation Corps of Minnesota & Iowa (CCM) to install raingardens in residents’ yards and teach them about sustainable landscaping practices along the way. These efforts were part of our Neighborhood of Raingardens program, which aims to make clean-water planting projects easier and more affordable…

bee in plant stem

Help Tuck Pollinators into Bed for the Winter

“Leaving the leaves” is how we can help pollinators get ready for cold weather. Last autumn, Jessica Miller took some of her neighbors’ raked-up leaves and spread them out in her yard. She put layers in her garden beds and small piles around her trees and shrubs. In a society that prizes the pristine lawn…

front lawn with clover

Trio Landscaping: Designing Yards for Now and Tomorrow

How do you live in your outdoor space? Do kids play in the yard? Do you like to gather with friends? Are you a gardener? How will all of this change over time? Diana Grundeen of Trio Landscaping asks a lot of questions the first time she meets a potential client. She’s gathering the information…

rusty patched bumble bee on plant

Why Do We Care About Pollinators?

Pollinators play an essential role in Minnesota’s ecosystems. They help plants reproduce; healthy plant populations provide food and habitat to other wildlife and help to clean air and water. Pollinators sustain a healthy, diverse, functioning ecosystem. Without biodiversity, our ecosystem would fail. This is happening today. Increased human activity, pollutants, homogenization of landscapes, and other…

orange flowers in field, building in back

Sponsor Spotlight: Minnesota Native Landscapes

From restoring native plant communities in a floodplain to managing vegetation at a solar farm to deploying goat herds for buckthorn removal, Minnesota Native Landscapes Corp. (MNL) takes on many large-scale projects as part of its mission to “Heal the Earth.” But this Otsego, MN-based ecological restoration business also supports individuals to take action in…

A New Logo, After 15 Years

Introducing our new logo! It features a black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) in keeping with our work to promote native planting. And the stem and leaf are like little water droplets — reminding us of the importance of earth-friendly actions we can take to protect our water. Our previous logo served us well for more than 15…