Surprise Donation of Plants Helps Garden Grow

For many years, the garden area at looked neglected–it had a few raised container beds, and sporadically planted raised beds amid tall weeds.  To a passerby it was unclear whether the garden was degrading or whether it was being improved.

The school had raised some outside funding to improve the garden. But until recently community members generally were not allowed into the garden area.

That situation has changed markedly. The school is now in the process of turning the space into a garden classroom that will be co-maintained as a community garden. Nowadays the garden is open to pupils at Elysian Heights Elementary, and the community is invited to garden workdays on the last Saturday of every month.

Then, on Wednesday, April 27 came a surprise donation--$3,000 worth of daisies, poppies and marigolds. The plants had been used in a Prius commercial and were no longer needed.

So on Saturday a dozen adults and several small children shoveled mulch, planted daisies, watered and did other chores in dappled shade at the elementary school campus. Some of the volunteers were parents of children enrolled at the school. Others were community members who wanted to help develop the garden and hang out with neighbors, or whose toddlers could be Elysian pupils in the future.

First grade teacher Susana Villamarin, the garden coordinator for Elysian Heights Elementary, supervised, along with parent-volunteer Rachel Craven.

According to Craven, the truckload of plants simply appeared Wednesday. The gift was attributed to Craven’s friend Liz Ciganovich, who worked on the Prius commercial.

“It’s exciting here,” said Darren Hubert, a community activist whose toddler son is not yet old enough to attend the school. “What a great opportunity for the community to gather.”

Villamarin said the project is just getting started. “When I first started working here [at the school] I did try to work in the garden. But the space is very large, and we had water problems.” She had her students do some container gardening, she explained, because in containers they had a chance to keep the plants alive. Now, she noted, water issues have been addressed, the school and community members are raising funds to hire a garden coordinator, and the school has gotten serious about turning the space into what Villamarin calls “a real outdoor classroom.”

 A key change in the garden's accessibility involved the gate keys, Villamarin explained. Because the gate now has a combination lock, community members can enter the grounds without a paid Los Angeles Unified School District supervisor to let them in and hang around till closing time.