09/04/2026
This lovely little pollinator garden outside Lu Lu Ice Cream was installed by Daily Chocolate (& family) about 5 years ago, with support from Crafted Landscapes, LLC and the Vermont Nursery & Landscape Association. It’s a wacky little garden, different from the others in the city—a little wild, and full of native species. Someone recently added a small statue of two people embracing, we’ve acquired a way-finding sign, and right now, remarkably, we’re growing a pumpkin. It is not a showplace for award-winning blooms, but a home for our tiniest city workers—the bees, butterflies, & critters that keep things blooming.
The garden has been maintained by Kelly S, who, if you know her, is an absolute beast of a landscaper. She maintains nearly every garden in Vergennes, with a little help from friends, businesses and the Vergennes Partnership volunteers.
This month, our proactive pollinator Kelly planted new flowers in our garden that would bloom this Fall. Today, we discovered that they had all been stolen. Dug up.
To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. These plants were lovingly cultivated at someone’s home and generously donated to our city.
Since reaching out to the City, I’ve learned:
* One donated 50 # bag of mulch stolen from the MALABAR gardens on Main/Maple St.
* Two hoses stolen.
* Three plants in full bloom cut to the ground at Linda's Apparel .
* Two grasses stolen from the new Vergennes Opera House garden.
* A 6’ hydrangea tree uprooted from St. Paul’s adjacent to the new opera house garden. (Dude, you stole from a church!)
To the thief: Stealing plants from community gardens is a pretty spectacular level of lame.
To the rest of our community, who I assume are just as upset as I am: please consider turning this ugly act into something positive. If you’d like to support the gardens we all enjoy, consider making a donation to the Vergennes Partnership Flower Fund. It is a 100% volunteer operation.
This link will get you there:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PENF32Y5U4AJN
Select “Downtown Flower Fund.” …of course, a like and share will also help. Thank you.
…and if you see something. Say something. (Especially if you see a new 6 foot hydrangea tree pop-up in your neighbors yard.) The VPD is aware of the thefts.
