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Garden Club of Youngstown rededicates Daffodil Meadow
YOUNGSTOWN
Daffodil Meadow in Mill Creek Park first bloomed with the yellow and white buds that give it its name thanks to a donation by the Garden Club of Youngstown.
Nearly 80 years later, the group mirrored its original donation (some 8,000 bulbs, records indicate) by helping Mill Creek MetroParks restore the meadow to a better condition. City, park and garden club officials gathered there Friday to rededicate the blooming stretch of greenery next to Lake Newport.
“Last July 15th, our garden club celebrated its 100th anniversary. We wanted to do something special for that 100th anniversary,” said club president Janice Ferry in a dedication speech.
“It was one of our very first projects, and it’s a favorite spot of so many people,” said Ferry.
She said that the original members of the garden club met with park founder Volney Rogers, and the group has been involved with the park ever since.
To restore the meadow, the garden club donated $7,500.
MetroParks planning and natural resources director Steve Avery detailed some of the improvement efforts, which included: addition of a facility sign, flower ID signs, paths through the meadow, new flowering trees and shrubs, a Daffodil Meadow web page on the MetroParks website, and 500 daffodil bulbs.
The project also included removal of overgrown vegetation to provide a better view of the daffodils.
“I do thank the Garden Club of Youngstown for what you see here today,” he said.
The group also heard remarks from Brent Heath, bulb expert and owner of a Virginia-based bulb supplier. He noted that Mill Creek Park’s Daffodil Meadow is, in his opinion, one of the best daffodil collections in the country. Heath will present a program about daffodils at Fellows Riverside Gardens from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. today as part of the programming for the gardens’ Daffodil Weekend.
The gardens will host events such as guided walks and a daffodil show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sunday.
For more information, call 330-740-7116.