Those who haven’t been to Phelps Grove Park in the last two years might not recognize the area to the east of the parking lot.
Where old gardens were once choked with weeds, there are now beautiful plants – natives like prairie pussy toes, goldenrod, coneflowers and groundsel and nonnative but stunning iris, johnny-jump-ups and clematis.
The 80-year-old gardens, which were once carefully tended and filled with roses and other flowers, had been neglected for years -- until a group of community volunteers stepped up to change that. The three who led the charge were Vicky Trippe, Connie Ryan and Fran Giglio.
"It's impressive what people can do just with a vision," said Giglio. "You know, starting a year ago, it was like, what do we do? It will be so difficult, but with wonderful people working hard, it was able to come together, and it's exciting this year to see a second year how the plants will be more mature and bloom."
New additions
The Giglio family has donated a pavilion that sits at the north end of the gardens, two benches, an irrigation system and a wider sidewalk for wheelchair users. They’ll also donate an arbor to frame the north entrance to what were once rose gardens. Now, they’re filled with native plants.
Trippe and Ryan, who works part-time for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board now caring for the gardens, spent much of the winter researching what would work best "so we'd have things blooming from early spring to late fall," said Trippe, "so that we'd have some plants for bees, butterfly hosts, butterfly foods, hummingbirds, regular birds just to try to make it, again, a home for the pollinators."
Many of the plants were purchased from Ozark Soul, a native plant business based in Theodosia. The project has received grant money from the Hatch Foundation and funds from the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.
A nearby neighbor donated bricks that were salvaged from an old farmstead. Those were used to line mulched paths through the native gardens.
Ryan said she and Andy Massoth, who volunteers in the gardens, worked during the winter to lay those paths "and just waiting for it to get warm enough. And here we are actually like seeing all this hard work coming to..."
"It got here before we knew it," said Massoth.
"It got here before we knew it," agreed Ryan, "and we were working really hard a couple of weeks before the plants got here, like, trying to finish the walkways."
On a recent Saturday, Ryan, Trippe, Massoth and several others were hard at work.
Sara Hollis sat before a pile of bricks, using special tools to break them apart. She says Trippe put out a call for volunteers, and she answered.
"It's been inspiring to see something so rundown and decrepit, I mean, that rose garden — you know, I can remember when there were actually roses there, but that (was) probably 20, 30 years ago," she said. "So it's about time that something went in, and also the good pieces — we're more educated now, I think, about the importance of native plants."
Volunteer Michael Paparella came with his daughter Isabel to help out.
"I came out to volunteer to just help the neighborhood and plant some native plants to, you know, help nature and for the next generation who's with me, so hopefully it will be here for them, and it's just a great way to help out," he said.
"He's the reason I came," said Isabel, referring to her dad, "but I also came because I like to help my community, and it's a good way to spend my free time instead of on screens and stuff."
Not too far from the Paparellas were Massoth and Ryan, working on their own tasks. As he chipped mortar off the old bricks, Massoth told me he got involved in the gardens when he’d visit Phelps Grove Park and see Trippe and Ryan hard at work.
"The first day these ladies had a lot of help," he said, "and the second day not so much and then the third day I decided to jump in."
"Andy has been a critical piece of what we're doing," said Ryan. "See, like this," she said, pointing to the bricks. "Andy shows me how to do — I got like where I could (Massoth shows her how to tap the brick to remove mortar). See? I mean he teaches me stuff all the time. I love it."
What do you hope this means for the community?
"Beauty," Massoth said, answering the reporter's question while continuing to work on removing mortar. "And also it gives the community a place to go and help."
The gardens are so far along that they’ll be part of an event, the Art in the Garden Tour, Sunday June 1 from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 will be available for purchase at the corner of Kings and Bennett.
As Giglio sits on the bench that bears her family’s name and looks across to the west at a park filled with more than 200 trees she’s planted, she feels happy, knowing that so many are enjoying this space.
She hopes the gardens will serve as a place for weddings once again. It's been years since this spot was used for that purpose.
Giglio also hopes people will stop there to de-stress as they go about their busy lives "because who doesn't feel better looking at flowers," she said. "You can watch the bees and the butterflies and get energy from them, so that's what I'm hoping is that people will find this as a place to feel better."
Massoth and Ryan said the project has created a sense of camaraderie and brought people together.
"Andy and I would not have met if we had not been here, and I consider us friends," said Ryan. "We've become friends over this year, sharing books, sharing ideas, sharing, you know, family lives, just all kinds of things that have come from just hanging out here together."
Volunteers are always needed at the Phelps Grove Gardens – and who knows? You just might make some new friends.
