A friend from Takoma Park came to a recent Garden Club event in DC bearing a big box of pale-purple crocuses in baggies. He said they came from a vacant lot in Takoma Park that was soon to be built on -- that the owner didn't mind if they were rescued. There are still thousands there, more than enough to beautify other areas as well as Takoma Park -- and here is a confirming story. My friend says it's the vacant lot behind the CVS near the Takoma Park metro station -- sorry I can't give you better directions -- but I understand we are all welcome to go rescue these lavender orphans. As the letter below says, just don't leave trip hazards, eh?

Lynn

Begin forwarded message:

Have you seen the field of crocuses blooming on the large vacant lot [in Takoma Park] behind CVS? I call it Tucker's field. Tucker is our dog who died five years ago.

On Tucker's field, every March, the crocuses bloom - thousands upon thousands of them, and they are glorious! When my kids were really tiny we would go over to Tucker's field everyday during the crocus bloom and pick fists full of crocuses. Now that they are bigger kids, we still always make a point to go pick crocuses on Tucker's field.

I wrote a letter to Douglas Jemal, who owns Tucker's field and who, as you probably know, intends to build town houses there in the coming year or so. I asked Mr. Jemal if he wouldn't mind if we dug up some to the crocus bulbs on Tucker's field and planted them in other places. Since he's just going to dig it all up and cover it with concrete and buildings, we figured he might not mind. He responded, and indeed he does not mind at all.

So we have been going over a couple times a week and filling our wagon with crocuses and transplanting them, mostly along Aspen Street between Laurel and Willow. We are being careful, of course, not to leave big holes in the field where pedestrians or frolickers may stumble.

I think it would be nice if - after the townhouses are built and Tucker's field is no longer - if there was still a huge glorious crocus bloom in our neighborhood. I just thought some of you might be interested in helping out.

Ann Beman