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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…
Upcoming Events
Join us at upcoming volunteer opportunities, educational events, fundraisers, and plant sales. We look forward to seeing you!
Make An Impact with Metro Blooms
Metro Blooms partners with communities to nurture and support thriving ecosystems, land, and water. We believe that caring for our shared environment also strengthens our connections with one another. We work alongside community to co-create rain gardens, pollinator plantings, healthier tree canopy, and opportunities for youth leadership. Together, we’ve helped thousands of Minnesotans restore habitat,…
Dulce Monterrubio
Jacob Liptow
Margaret Milligan
Native Plantings Take Root at Face to Face Academy
When Metro Blooms Environmental & Social Justice Manager Manny Vazquez called out, “Who wants to help me plant the tree?” two students immediately shouted “Me!” and ran over without hesitation. That moment captured the spirit of the afternoon at Face to Face Academy: students taking ownership, working side-by-side withvolunteers, and helping shape a space they…
Low Maintenance Landscapes with Metro Blooms Design+Build
“Low maintenance” is one of the most common requests our Metro Blooms Design+Build team hears. Many of us want a landscape that is friendlier for the environment while being easier to care for—but what that looks like can vary widely. Does it mean no mowing? Less weeding? Fewer seasonal chores? When it comes to landscaping…
Who We Are
Metro Blooms envisions a just future of thriving communities where all people connect with and care for the land, water, and diverse life around them.
A Healthier Tree Canopy, One Tree at a Time
Metro Blooms is working with residents in and near North Minneapolis to replace condemned ash trees and plant new ones that will strengthen the future canopy. These projects are about more than trees—they’re about community, care, and resilience. Metro Blooms is well-known for rain gardens and native plantings for pollinators, but trees are just as…
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.
Our Commitments
Metro Blooms Land and Labor Acknowledgement: We are on the stolen homelands and treaty territory of the Dakota Oyate [oy-yah-tay]. Minnesota, the US Government, and European white colonizers carried out genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced removal of the Dakota to acquire land and wealth. The Ioway [eye-oh-way], Hocąk [ho-chunk], Anishinaabe [Ah-Nee-shin-AH-bay] and other Indigenous Nations…
Peony Hildreth
Turf to Pollinator Gardens
Creating Native Plant Pollinator Havens Do you want to attract more pollinators in your yard? We’ll show you how, through Turf to Pollinator Gardens. In partnership with Wilderness in the City and others, we planted six native plant pollinator gardens in Twin Cities regional parks. The gardens replaced turf grass lawn, which offers little food…
Sustainable Landcare Training 2024
Edwin, a member of our Design+Build landcare crew, likes discussing plants. Our crew maintains rain gardens, native plantings and other green infrastructure practices in the Twin Cities Metro. When residents stop by with questions about plants, Edwin points out different species, especially potential weeds that may spread quickly. “Just to be able to identify…
Mikaela Ayim
Brook Gardens Redesign With Community
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…
Our Work
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…
Autumn Ridge Redesign
Graciela Knoll
Blue Thumb Workshops
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 →
Sponsorship
We invite you to sponsor our work, supporting people, water, and pollinators.
Rachael Sterling
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.
Home
Disability Justice Co-Learning Session At Metro Blooms, we believe that our mission to nurture thriving ecosystems, land, and water with community means making our work welcoming and accessible to everyone. Join us on Zoom for a conversation to learn about disability justice and how it shows up in Metro Blooms’ work. We’ll also share some accessible gardening…
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…
Jennifer Moeller
Low-Cost and Accessible Gardening Resources
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.
Learning and Job Resources
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.