First daffodils, blooming, week of April 7-13, 2019. |
Last fall, generous donations from Maynard Community Gardeners
and the Assabet River Rail Trail organization made possible the purchase of 2,000
daffodil bulbs. Volunteers helped plant those in various locations. First
flowers began appearing the week of April 7, with expectations that a peak will
be achieved late April into mid-May. (A mix of early-mid-and late-blooming was
chosen to prolong the flowering period.)
A flower-viewing walk is planned for May 4 (rain date May 5).
The event will start at 10 AM on the trail behind the CVS parking lot, to go north one
mile to the Marble Farm historic site, where the largest number of daffodils
were planted. Light refreshments will be provided. Given young children are
expected to participate, please no dogs and no bicycles.
More in bloom, April 20, 2019 |
What meaneth “Trail of Flowers”? Naming was borrowed from
the Bridge of Flowers. This now-famous tourist attraction is a 400-foot long
footbridge spanning the Deerfield River, between the towns of Shelburne and
Buckland. Once a trolley bridge, its use for transportation ended in 1927. A few
years later, the Shelburne Woman’s Club sponsored a proposal to cover the
bridge with topsoil and plant flowers. Ever since, the bridge has been a free display
of flowering annuals and perennials, open April through October. The Bridge has
its own webpage, Facebook, non-profit status, donation program and cadre of
volunteers. Worth a visit if ever out in northwestern Massachusetts.
Sign at Marble Farm historic site (across from Christmas Motors) for trailofflowers.com |
The impetus for Trail of Flowers was the realization that
now that the north end of the Assabet River Rail Trail is completed, there is not
much scenery to see, especially traversing Maynard. From north to south, the Maynard
section starts across Route 27 from Christmas Motors, then wends southward between
backyards to Summer Street. En route, it passes the Marble Farm historic site,
and Cumberland Farms gas station. Beyond Summer Street: parking lot, bridge
over Assabet River, parking lot, Main Street, High Street, and then a
tree-bordered stretch to the Stow border.
When this project was first proposed to the Town of Maynard,
there were three questions: Will this cost the town anything? Will maintenance
by the town be needed? Will this interfere with the town’s intent to
periodically mow grass and weeds immediately adjacent to the rail trail? With
the answer being “No, No and No,” the Town replied “This is a great idea!”
Going forward, plans are for a planting of flowering annuals
later in May, plus suggestions made to homeowners with yards abutting the rail
trail that they consider planting annuals, perennials and flowering scrubs and
trees next to the trail. In the fall, another round of bulb planting, perhaps
extending into Acton. And so on, and so on.
More about the Assabet River Rail Trail can be found at a Wikipedia
article and at the organization’s website: www.arrtinc.org.
Current status is 3.4 miles paved in Acton and Maynard, 5.6 miles paged in Hudson
and Marlborough. The gap between can be negotiation trough Stwo on a combination
of dirt road and public roads. More on Trail of Flowers at www.trailofflowers.com.