Woody Allen was right: “Eighty percent of success is just showing up.” When I relocated from the verdant East to the dry Colorado Front Range, I traded my tractor for a townhouse—and an HOA. We hear many stories about HOAs that do not welcome anything but turf grass and regimented landscape designs, but this was not the case in my new community. When I decided to show up at a Board meeting one night, I learned that an overgrown, weed-choked area around our entranceway was a cause of concern. I offered to transform the area if they would approve a small budget and give their consent to using native plants in the new design. My proposal was gladly accepted.
As luck would have it, my next-door neighbor had just launched her new business, The New Western Garden, and was eager to help plant natives right here in our community. We put our heads together to plan for preparing the site and choosing plants. Although still new to the state, thanks to my field trips with the Colorado Native Plant Society, I had a good foundation in native flora, and before long, we were gathering the plants we needed.”
We both saw this project as a perfect opportunity to engage with our neighbors, letting them know why we were using native plants and giving them a chance to be actively involved with planting and maintaining the new garden. We were thrilled when nearly thirty people participated in some way with the installment. We had sent out an email invitation, but the good turn-out was mostly due to Molly taking the time to talk with people one-on-one as she walked around the neighborhood!
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| We had some good strong shovelers, too! |
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| Participants young and old came out to help plant the new native garden! |
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| The new garden filling in after three weeks. |
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| We chose natives to support pollinators and attract interest from passers-by. This fritillary is nectaring on a Liatris punctata, a native species of blazing star. |
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| A pearl crescent on Coreopsis tinctoria, a native species of tickseed. |
So for once at least, a success story. If you are looking for more guidance on dealing with HOAs and city regulations, be sure to check out the upcoming webinar by author Benjamin Vogt who is an expert on the subject. Find a link to his webinar on the Homegrown National Park website, another great resource for all things native. Be brave, show up, and let's get growing!
Sue Dingwell
