By Reporter Steven Smalley
With a bucket of flowers and a good friend, Jennifer Carlson of Haven Illustrated, a landscape design company, brings her tools, work clothes, and big heart to clean and maintain the traffic median at 34th Avenue West and West McGraw Street.?Magnolia Voice caught her in the act and stopped by to chat. With an official adoption from the city, and few restrictions, Carlson, today with her friend, master gardner Sue Olson, gets down to the task of raking leaves and planting flowers so everyone can enjoy a little nature between strips of asphalt.
?It?s very satisfying to see it full of beauty,?? answers Carlson when asked about personal motivation. There is no money for her effort. Everything is donated, including the plants. If you drive past Szmania?s restaurant and wonder who does such a fine job of maintaining the median, now you know. Carlson lives in Magnolia and thoroughly enjoys her mission of improving the neighborhood in which she has a stake. The ?Triangle Median? near Bartell Drugs also has a beauty benefactor in the owners and employees of Magnolia Garden Center.
Thank you Jennifer and Sue?for your awesome contribution to beautifying our Magnolia Village!?
Thank you for your hard work! ?It is appreciated!
Thank you to Jennifer and Chuck and Margaret at the Garden Center for all of their work. The neighborhood needs more folks to support the community this way. Our open space is precious! I’d enjoy seeing a few native plants in these public space habitats… camas and olsynium rather than daffodils, fritillaries rather than tulips, lupine rather than hebe… they or others would work and add as much beauty, and more habitat value for native bees and butterflies that are losing habitat to our lawns and driveways. Bottom line though is many kudos to these folks and others who act on their community spirit!
Many, many huzzas for this wonderful volunteer work, all to make our Magnolia such a marvelous place to in which to live.
Every year I enjoy all of those pretty pretty flowers. THANK YOU very much.