“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ” - Margaret Atwood
ABOUT THE GARDEN . . .
The Emerald Wildflower Garden is a woodland-type garden on a site where 19th century rowhouses were abandoned and demolished decades ago, in the East Kensington section of Philadelphia, a few blocks away from Fishtown and from Norris Square.
The garden is maintained and protected by volunteers, and all who come are encouraged to help create beauty and good memories. The garden is a space for reflection, creation, good conversation, and special gatherings. It is equally a place for learning and observing plants, shrubs, trees, bees, birds, butterflies...the web of wildlife that often struggles to find a home in our City.
Life everywhere depends on that web.
Each year, volunteers add new native plant and shrub selections to the garden — now over 75 species, creating the largest concentration of trees, birds, herbaceous plants and wildlife habitat in this section of the City.
The Kensington neighborhood, like all of what would later be called "Philadelphia", is part of Lenapehoking, the lush woodland landscape stewarded by the matrilineal Turtle Clan of the Lenape people for thousands of years. For history and current initiatives of the Lenape community, visit delawaretribe.org and lenape-nation.org.
The European arrivals of the 1600’s brought vast suffering to the people and environment here. The injury to the landscape through cash-crop farming and timbering was deepened by the encampments of 15,000 British troops from 1777-1778 who clear-cut the land for miles, and filled in the ancient streams and tributaries. The land was further injured with the explosion of development and heavy industry here in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
The landscape ecology across many sections of Philadelphia remains heavily damaged, but repair work is underway right here and in communities across the region, from thousand acre preserves to tiny rowhouse yards.
The mural, Forest Green, is the work of legacy muralist and activist Ras Malik (1935-2007), whose work across the City impacted many lives, and played an important role in the creation of Philadelphia’s now famed Mural Arts organization. The garden offers volunteer opportunities as well as resources for the public to learn about native plants, ecosystem function, and strategies for repair and design.
The journey of ecological landscape repair is joyful and long, with many trials and unexpected turns. Our philosophy is to treat both problems and progress as opportunities to learn, experiment, then share as case-studies with those looking to heal spaces - wherever you are now, and wherever you go in life. Consultations are available if you’d like to transform your yard or a community space into a living habitat. Plant lists, wildflower seeds, nursery info, equipment, soil and other resources are available to the public for free. Books on ecological gardening as part of the solution to our environmental crisis are available for a discount.
EWG volunteers are extended additional benefits including scholarships for classes through the Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware, Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in Bucks County, and New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL.org). Free passes to botanic gardens and preserves across the region are available, and we organize yearly field trips to inspire gardeners old and new.
The garden hosts an annual music series, poetry reading, art, yoga, picnics and potlucks, workshops and meetings, baby and wedding showers, and many chats - some between friends, others in the company of birds, wind and leaves. If you have an idea for a gathering or want to volunteer, please be in touch.
emeraldwildflowergarden@gmail.com or -here-
• GARDEN PRESERVATION HEROES •
The Garden is immensely grateful for the Samschick Family, and the Matozzo and Shearman Family. Celebrated in Philadelphia for their numerous preservation feats, and inspiring adaptive re-use of century old spaces, Michael Samschick (Core Realty) and Mark Shearman with wife Regina Matozzo (Shearman Group Development) both declined profitable opportunities to develop (and destroy) the Emerald Wildflower Garden. As few would do, they put preserving a slice of nature and a sense of sacred space, ahead of profit.
Already local development trademarks for them - their care for neighbors and for preserving materials, embedded energy, stories, and the fabric of history, found a new expression in the story of the garden. This time, their heart for preservation extended to protecting the web of life in a landscape.
On behalf of all the gardeners, poets, children, elders, musicians, birdwatchers, and leaves-in-the-breeze watchers at the Garden, we say thank **YOU** for choosing nature over dollars. We hope your businesses are rewarded and we hope your families are treated to bird songs, dappled shade, breezy moments, and butterfly visits wherever you go in life (on the best of days, and on tough days too) just as you’ve allowed those gifts to remain here in Kensington for coming generations.
Countless birds, fireflies, and trees are cheering for your good turn.
Michael Samschick, Founder of Core Realty, a Philadelphia leader in historic re-use, and a preservation hero for the Wildflower Garden. On a first visit to the garden Michael said, “I’m a neighborhood guy, don’t worry, I’ll be *in front* of the bulldozers with you”.
The Shearman Family
Mark Shearman has preserved dozens of century-old buildings around the City of Philadelphia, many against great odds after fire or severe neglect. This local family’s huge heart for preserving a special space (and mother nature) was a key moment in protecting the Garden.
More About the Garden Elements
PLANT LISTS | LITTLE HOUSES | STOOPS | FENCE | RAS MALIK (1935-2007) MURAL