Flowers and neighborhoods are a metaphor for life, says East Third Avenue resident Emily Lloyd. People have to love and nurture them, or they fade away.
And Lloyd would know.
Those who have walked past Lloyd’s home at 3160 East Third Ave. in northern Durango will have seen the sprawling garden she has poured years of effort into.
Recently, however, she has decided to share her love for nature and her garden by building a “Pass the Plant” plant exchange in front of her home.
The positive impact has been anything but metaphorical.
Lloyd said she got the idea to create a plant exchange last fall because her garden grew so abundantly she composted a good chunk of plants that she didn’t know what to do with.
“It’s really expensive to buy plants at the nursery. And I’m sure a lot of people don’t even try to garden because they don’t want to spend the money,” she said. “I figured there’s enough gardeners in my situation just throwing away plants. But if they stick it in a pot and stick it out there, it’s like gold to somebody else.”
Lloyd said she was inspired by the take-one, leave-one Little Free Libraries that have popped up in so many residential neighborhoods across the country over the past few years, including in Durango. However, she is quick to point out that at her plant stand, there is no expectation to leave a plant in return – although the gesture is appreciated.
“I’ve kept a rough count, and I’m sure it’s low because friends have told me they’ve dropped off stuff and I’ve never seen it. It’s been gone before I even catch it,” she said. “But we’ve exchanged over 250 plants already.”
Lloyd said her plant stand has become a hub in the neighborhood: People she’s never met come to drop off plants, and passersby stop to chat next to it while on a walk. During the course of an interview with The Durango Herald, three drivers stopped by and rolled down their windows to ask how the stand was doing.
“I’ve met just a ton of people and especially some gardeners that I’ve secretly been admiring all their yards,” she said. “It’s kind of heartwarming. It connects me back to the community more and it makes me love and appreciate my home because so many nice people live here.”
Her neighbors agree.
Jules Harris, who lives next door to Lloyd, said: “I’ve seen a lot of people stopping over there and chatting and, you know, walking across and taking pictures. I think it’s added a lot to our corner.”
More than that, Harris said she thinks Lloyd’s project will inspire others to become more active in the community.
“I really feel like when one neighbor does something for the neighborhood, it makes people around them want to be better neighbors and not think, ‘the city should do this or the city should do that,’ and more like ‘let’s do it ourselves,’” she said.
Lloyd’s inspiration stretches back to the story of how her love for gardening began.
In her Michigan hometown, where the Great Lakes provide abundant rainfall, one summer Lloyd’s mother gave her a stretch of garden to plant for herself. The teenage Lloyd haphazardly planted the seeds, not thinking much about them, until the end of the summer when, to her amazement, the neglected but rain-watered seeds sprouted into beautiful flowers.
She eventually came to appreciate the work that goes into that amazing transformation. And good thing, too, because in Durango’s dry, dusty soil, plants require a lot more love and care than in the fertile Midwest.
“I’ll plant things this year, they won’t flower, and I’ll forget I even planted them,” Lloyd said. “So next year there’ll be thriving flowers, and it’s kind of like a magical surprise. Gardening is a long game – there’s no instant gratification – but there’s something very nurturing about anticipation.”
That principle, Lloyd said, doesn’t just apply to flowers.
Since having the idea for a plant stand last fall, Lloyd has been busy with “the beautification committee that I self-appointed.”
When she’s not beautifying her neighborhood, Lloyd is the owner of Violet Mae Upholstery, and for the past year she’s been training an apprentice in her craft. As sewing practice, Lloyd gave her apprentice the assignment to craft a cushion for the trolley stop bench near her house.
The intricately patterned cushion has been well-received by neighbors, Lloyd said, and she’s satisfied because it makes the neighborhood more “cute.”
Another of her projects was addressing a patch of weeds along a section of the Animas River Trail that looked ugly and overgrown. She began clearing the area herself last fall because “she was tired of looking at weeds,” and when passersby on the trail asked what she was doing, at the end of her explanation she would suggest the neighborhood should plant their own flowers there because “the city waters here anyway.”
Come this summer, the old patch of weeds is gone and is now a thriving flower bed.
Lloyd has no idea who planted them.
For one of her next projects, Lloyd said she hopes to coordinate with other Durango residents to help them build plant exchanges in their own neighborhoods.
Even though she’s not making any money on the projects, Lloyd said they still paid off because she’s come to know more of her neighbors.
nmetcalf@durangoherald.com
