By Anne W. Semmes
For nearly four decades the Town of Greenwich has been graced with eye-catching hanging baskets of flowers along its main street, with that grace now found on the Post Road from Greenwich Library to Mason Street, and in the center stretch of Cos Cob. Those especially bountiful baskets are filled with Dragon Wing Begonia flowers of a brilliant coral-pink color with trailing ivy. Thank Greenwich Green & Clean (GG&C) and Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses!
But those hanging baskets have a deeper history. Yes, they were prevalent in English villages from the 1800’s, and one can even stretch back to those B.C. hanging gardens of Babylon! But we can trace ours to 1987 when a prominent couple in town, Peter and Isabel Malkin, took a trip to Cooperstown, N.Y. “to view historic sights,” tells Peter Malkin. Yes, that visit included the Baseball Hall of Fame, “but the most exciting part of the visit,” he says, “was seeing the beautiful hanging floral baskets along the main street.”
The Malkins brought that excitement home to Greenwich, and so, today there are 112 hanging baskets gracing our streets. The Malkins, it is told, have long supported the Athenian Oath that includes a vow to leave “their great city not less, but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.”“The history of the hanging baskets goes back to 1987,” confirms Sally Davies, GG&C board member – a year after the Malkins founded GG&C, when “the Town Horticulturalist [Michael Kinghorn] was commissioned to grow flowers for the baskets in the old greenhouses at the Montgomery Pinetum.” And working away from the get-go on those baskets were those talented Japanese female floral arrangers. “The first display numbered only 18 baskets on Greenwich Avenue and four on the Post Road,” continues Davies.
“With Town participation it was possible to expand the program,” Davies says, “and in 1988 winter baskets were added and became a shared project working with the Town Parks &Trees. However, when in 2007 the Town was unable to continue funding the program, an arrangement was negotiated between Sam Bridge and Greenwich Green & Clean which continues today.”
“When we do the spring baskets, it’s our people that are planting them,” shares Sam Bridge II. “So, they usually work in groups of four and put the baskets together. We start the plants in four-inch pots, and we grow them on for a while.” In that first year, petunias and potato vine were chosen. “Petunias are great because they get lots of colors, but late in the summer, they get this worm that destroys all the flowers,” tells Bridge, “Then the potato vine dries out quickly.” To the rescue came Isabel Malkin. “She suggested Dragon Wing Begonias and we’ve been using that ever since. It’s a tough plant. It’ll take the sun, the shade – it’ll take dry, it’ll take wet, and it’s performed well over the years, so it stays nice right up until the fall.”
But with the winter baskets it’s primarily those Japanese artisan volunteers from GG&C who are at work in the Sam Bridge greenhouses, crafting those baskets. “We do have a constant number of volunteers involved for the project,” tells GG&C Executive Director Kanako MacLennan, “between 25 to 30 people per day. And I would say 90 percent of the participants are Japanese volunteers. So many who come here temporarily or permanently feel so welcomed – there are so many opportunities for Japanese ladies to get into the community – this is a way to give back to the community through Greenwich Green and Clean.”
But those flowers don’t come cheap for those 112 hanging baskets across town. MacLennan shares that yearly cost. “The cost is $25,000 for the summer hanging baskets, and an additional $4,000 for the winter baskets.” She adds, “I think that’s very important for people to understand so they value them even more. We’ve appreciated the contributions we’ve had in the past and appreciate those who would support us now in the future.”
And count on Sam Bridge for his Nursery support. “Greenwich Green and Clean does pay us for the summer baskets,” says Bridge. “But we do it at a discounted rate. We give them all the greens (with reused ivy) at Christmastime at cost. It’s not a moneymaker for us. We do it just because we enjoy doing it. We’re glad to do it and glad to help. And when I go downtown, which I don’t go to very often, I do enjoy seeing the baskets hanging up.”
“The biggest thing is keeping the baskets watered,” Bridge adds. “And GG&C pays for the guys that do the watering. They do a great job. They’re out there like five o’clock in the morning doing the watering on the baskets.”
But back to the Malkin’s who keep a close eye on Greenwich Avenue. There was an added initiative of theirs that came with the hanging baskets idea shares Peter Malkin. “We decided that Greenwich should afford the same beauty and tied the basket idea together with attractive litter receptacles and uniform muti-news boxes to permit removal of what were than ugly plastic boxes for the several print media of that time.” But today, “with the reduction in print media and unable to fill them, we (GG&C) arranged for the removal of the uniform multi-new boxes earlier this year.” So, less is more. And thus, that Malkin Athenian oath continues!
