Lark Cowart of St. Charles and her daughter Meredith Peterson, 8, decided to get their hands dirty Saturday morning during a planting project not far from the Fox River in the city.
They were part of an army of volunteers led by the River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles on a mission known as Project Daffodil – a mass bulb-planting effort – that took place at the entrance of Mt. St. Mary Park in St. Charles.
“This is the first time we’ve done this,” Cowart said. “They’ve given us specific planting instructions on which direction to plant the bulbs and how deep and how many so that they actually grow in the spring.”
Beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, volunteers assembled at the south end of the park where a total of 5,000 mixed daffodil bulbs were scheduled to be planted.
According to John Rabchuk, president of the River Corridor Foundation, the daffodil project was begun back “during COVID with the original intent to find an activity that people could do outdoors that would bring smiles to the community in the spring.”
To date, a total of 25,000 bulbs have been planted along with 150 Virginia blue bells at the park, event organizers said.
Rabchuk said the annual planting event has been popular with volunteers.
“It’s always weather dependent and I think we have about 70 or 80 volunteers this year, and we’ve been as high as 150,” he said. “People keep coming out because people really wanted to contribute and this is the kind of project that’s going to last forever. There’s going to be these bulbs coming up 50 years from now and there’s not that many opportunities for something like this.”
Bulbs have been donated throughout the project by Heinz Brothers Garden Center in St. Charles. Manager Christa Bormann of St. Charles said the center “wants to support our community because our community helps support us.”
“We appreciate what the River Corridor Foundation is doing to help beautify our parks and land,” she said. “I don’t know that we thought there would be 30,000 bulbs, but the more, the merrier.”
Heinz owner Jay Shrock was on hand Saturday and confirmed that the project’s size is something he has enjoyed experiencing.
“It’s good to give back to the community and I’m not surprised by the volunteers. It’s good to help support the community and help beautiful the city of St. Charles,” he said. “It’s gratifying to have that long-lasting legacy of seeing the bulbs come up year after year and seeing new life.”
Cowart’s daughter Meredith said she was all-in regarding the project, admitting that when her mother woke her up and told her where they were going, she let out with a “Yeah!”
“When mom said it was time to go plant, I got right out of bed,” she said.
Tim Stopka of St. Charles was a first-time planter at the event on Saturday and said he had a vested interest in the project “as I live just two blocks down the street.”
“My great-grandparents’ house is right across the street so we’re beautifying the neighborhood – 100%,” he said. “We come right by here. I’m surprised how big this has gotten but you can see it every year. The plot grows and continues to expand.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.