Rosebud is blooming

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Thanks to grants from Wheatland County and to committed volunteers, the Hamlet of Rosebud is in bloom all summer.
When Rosebud resident Charlotte Riegel and her husband Stan moved to the hamlet in 2012, she looked around and said, “where are all the flowers?”
Rosebud School of the Arts has some attractive and well-tended flowers, she said, but she felt more of the hamlet’s public spaces needed flowers.
So in 2013, through the Rosebud Community Enhancement Society (RCES), she applied to Wheatland County for a grant. She used the grant funding to order self-watering planters and purchase flowers.
Then Riegel and fellow Rosebud residents Helen Zachariassen and Sue Miller arranged flowers in 19 planters in various sizes, and displayed them at key points around the village – the east and north entrances to town, the Akokiniskway Gallery, the fire hall, the community hall, the BMO Studio Stage, along 1st Street and at the corners of the four-way stop.
This year, Riegel, Zachariassen and Miller welcomed more volunteers to the flower-planting team. Val Speer, Travis Friesen, Mert Martin, Lauren Hamm and her young daughter Bria joined them in assembling and caring for the flowers. John Miller keeps the planters watered.
They practice companion planting, Riegel said. For instance, they plant alyssum, mint and chives, both for their beauty, and to deter deer from eating the plants. As an added benefit, the mint and chives can be harvested.
From what Riegel is hearing, their efforts are having the impact they were looking for.
“People are always commenting about how much the flowers brighten the community, and how much they love them,” she said. “People have stopped me and commented how it cheers them up when they drive into town and see the beautiful flowers.”
She received further affirmation from an unexpected source, when a farming specialist from South Africa visited Rosebud.
“[He] commented that the tremendous variety of flowers that we have in the community are a great help to the bee community,” Riegel said. “Many of the bees [around the world] are stressed, because they need variety in their diet and they have to fly so far to get the kind of variety that they need.”
Having a wider variety of flowers within the village makes it easier for local bees to get the pollen variety they need within short flying distances. Riegel said it’s an encouragement to know they’re supporting the bee culture while beautifying the community.
Through RCES, Riegel received community floral enhancement grants from Wheatland County in 2013 and 2015, and again in 2016. In 2014, when they didn’t receive the requested grant, local organizations, individuals and businesses covered the costs by adopting planters around the village.
“We’re incredibly grateful [to Wheatland County] for the funding so that we can enhance the community with flowers,” Riegel said.
The floral enhancement grants and team of volunteers are keeping the hamlet of Rosebud abloom.