Niverville Communities in Bloom keeps busy despite cold, snowy weather

Though there is little to no sign of green in the southeast, Niverville Communities in Bloom is still busy.  

Town Councilor Meghan Beasant, recently some spent time with members of the Niverville Communities in Bloom (NCIB) committee and says,  

“They're always thinking about plants of course, but now is absolutely time to be thinking about it, and what a lot of people don't realize is that this is actually the time of year when municipalities will pick their garden company for the next year.” 

Beasant continues, “The committee starts ordering all of the plants and trees that they're going to want next year. So, there is a lot of conversation about what types of flowers would look great in the big planters that line Main Street and really all-around town. They are also talking about what types of trees they might want to put in. So, yeah, this definitely is the time to think about plants, because as much as the winters are long, spring always seems to come up quickly and the more preparation, obviously the better.” 

Beasant says they also talk about what worked this year and what they want to do that’s different than this year, they are always planning.  

She describes the group. Beasant notes,

"NCIB is volunteer based whose purpose is to encourage residents to do their part to keep Niverville beautiful by handing out Niverville Communities in Bloom awards to homeowners and businesses throughout the summer, specifically to individuals who have taken extra steps to beautify their yards."

She notes that NCIB is also focused on showcasing the heritage of Niverville, “Where we come from, where we're going, and what the journey has looked like along the way.” 

Beasant says, though there may not be a lot of heritage buildings left in Niverville, Communities in Bloom have done a lot of work in preserving the heritage of the town by creating special plaques and placing them along Main Street as well as designing a space for the ox cart near the CRRC and High School.  

She notes recently Niverville Town Council approved the purchase of 20 self-watering baskets. Beasant notes the reasoning for the new flower baskets is to help with water conservation and she gives the reason why these be baskets are necessary.

“So that plants aren't being unnecessarily watered, over watered, but also in the same sense, it's towards ensuring that these plants are being properly watered.”

The new flower baskets will be placed along Niverville Main Street in the spring of 2024.

Beasant notes another NCIB project is the Memorial Forest at Hespeler Park by the wetlands. They have also planted more trees along Main Street after the sidewalks were redone, and instead of placing dirt or rock around the base of the tree, she says,  

"They are putting down some micro-clover to see if that might work, which would just add that much more greenery to the main strip.”

Beasant says, NCIB volunteers also work to beautify the town by taking care of the natural prairie garden, and the pollinator garden at Hespeler Park. She notes NCIB is intentional about making sure all of the plants and flowers are geared towards attracting pollinators.

Meghan Beasant (middle) with 2 volunteers, working on Opa's Park (photo credit: Facebook) 

Though Beasant doesn’t represent Niverville Town Council on an official level with NCIB, through her time with the groups' members she has come to realize that it’s important that residents know how much work goes into their Communities in Bloom program.  

“All the thought that goes into picking the correct trees for our environment, how to take care of them properly, and all that type of stuff, I think it's really important that we do have this group in town, this community group, that focuses their attention on, just basically, the beauty of things. So, I'm really excited to see what other things they're going to do and how I might be able to help them down the road.” 

Concerned about the future of NCIB, Beasant asks,

“How can we make sure that the people of Niverville really know about Communities in Bloom, and really, what all they do. I think a lot of people see the group as the ones that make town look pretty. Sure, they give out awards for pretty gardens and encourage people to read the heritage plaques they've put up, but I'm not too sure people really understand how involved they are in all of the gardens and the greenery and heritage preservation through all of town.”

Perhaps now they will.  

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