 | | | From left to right: Alicia, Nicole and Katheryn at Leigh Creekside Park. Photo provided | | | | | | By now, you've probably seen the black tarp around the oak tree at Leigh Creekside Park. This is where members of Lafayette Girl Scout troop 32787, Kathryn, Nicole, and Alicia (Girl Scouts of America have prohibited use of last names in press articles), have planted California native plants for their Silver Award Project. In this project, over a year in the making, the girls visited nurseries and picked out flowers to plant.
They were aided by Jennifer Russell and Susan Agnew at the Lafayette Community Center, who are part of the Parks and Recreation Committee, as well as being the girls' project advisors, They were also helped by Grace Dixon, who is running a community effort to help fix up the same park.
The girls raised money for their project by painting faces at the Lafayette Art and Wine Festival. They received a generous donation from Orchard Nursery as well.
On Dec. 11, the first plants were finally put in the ground, and on Dec.17, the seeds were scattered.
The species planted include California Poppies, California and Idaho fescue, Blue-eyed grass, Baby Blue eyes, Purple Bee Phacelia, Evening Primrose, Elk Blue Rush and Pacific Coast Hybrid Iris. The flowers are growing quickly, and will likely flower by spring, although they will not reach their full size for another two to three years.
When asked why she wanted to help this park for her project, Alicia said that she had come to this park for a picnic when she was younger, but had found it in such bad condition that she and her family had decided to leave. For their project, the girls decided to fix that. If you peek over the fence, you can see the results of their efforts just beginning to poke out of the ground.
Lafayette residents are urged not to let their dogs go inside the fenced off area.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA