Bloomhouse is inspired by the idea of being able to gather together in an inspiring place to relax, create or celebrate. At the end of Jess's street there is a park called, Holt Park, that is just a taste of that.
We visit there often and always admired the pretty yet over grown garden area that was designated to the "Garden Club" that no longer exist. We reached out to Parks and Rec to see if we could adopt the garden area as it was the perfect balance of nature and a place to bring people together. We ended up joining the Overlea/Fullerton Parks and Rec council and revamped the program into, Garden and Events. We are so excited to have the opportunity to share all Holt Park has to offer with everyone! This is what we have done so far at Holt Park and we cannot wait to run wild and make it our own!
We started in June (2019), by mapping out what was still useful in a sea full of weeds... While newbies ourselves it was tough to know what to pull and what to keep.
We loved the existing pathways in the garden so we cleared those and the center bed first. We love that the pathways give the feeling that we were apart of the garden and allowed to be in it, so we added a walkway through the center bed as well.
We cleared all of the beds as much as possible and planted some of our cut flowers in the center bed. We mixed in Celosia, Zinnias and Marigolds. By August we had a dreamy flower oasis that was home to butterflies and bees for the rest of the summer.
In order to keep the project going we held a picnic fundraiser and raised money to go directly to the Garden and Events program. Guests came with blankets, games and lunch to hangout in the park. We had a table filled with our very own cut flowers for you to choose your own stems and have them wrapped for you. We also had a raffle for an All About Me Salon and Spa gift card and a Basket donated by Looney's Pub Perry Hall.
We hosted a Holiday Toy Drive in the winter as a great way to introduce people to the beautiful house at Holt Park and give back to the local community. We collected toys that were given to a local Elementary school, Hawthorne Elementary, for children who would otherwise not receive gifts. We had Christmas karaoke, a hot chocolate bar, delicious food, Bloomhouse goodies for sale and and the Grinch himself!
We are so grateful to have this opportunity right down the street from us! We are planning to use this space as a bit of a learning experience until we find Bloomhouse a piece of land of it's own. Until then, we will see you at Holt Park for all the fun events and flowers we have planned for 2020!