Traffic Circles in Bloom

Do you ever wonder how some of the traffic circles around the city are planted and maintained? It isn’t SDOT who construct the traffic barriers, nor do the flowers that bloom come from fairies who powder seeds during the twilight hours. Instead, the efforts are from neighborhood volunteers who want to spruce up these areas. One such volunteer is Eva Carey who has maintained three circles on her 30th Ave. South street and the two major circles at 31st Ave. South and S. Judkins.

I met Eva and her husband Ron Dailey one day when they were weeding the traffic circle at S. Judkins. It was during the days of Covid and Eva told me they had taken on the gardens as something to do to get out of the house. Ron chuckled he was no gardener and was there in support of Eva’s vision. I offered my help and thus I became a part of the “Gardens of Eva” team.

Thanks to Eva’s donation and planting of daffodil and tulip bulbs each fall, all the little gardens are a blast of color to tell you Spring is on its way. The areas also are filled with drought tolerant, low maintenance plants to simplify the gardening efforts and add a continuous bloom. The 31st Ave. traffic circles are located on a blurry neighborhood boundary. Some would say these circles are in Mt. Baker neighborhood while others think of them within the Leschi. Maybe they are a part of Mt. Leschi, where neighbors come together to create little gardens for everyone to enjoy as they travel along 31st Ave., South from the Leschi to Mt. Baker neighborhood.

We need to say thank you and goodbye to Eva and Ron who will be moving soon to the East Coast to be closer to family. Hopefully some of the folks who have met Eva while she has been gardening will carry on maintaining these gardens. For me it was a pleasure to meet neighbors who live on the other side of the ridge and I always will remember them each time I pass these circles.

If you are interested in helping maintain these little traffic circles and hopefully meeting new neighbors, contact me at mccreech@gmail.com.

~Mary-Carter Creech