The Buzz about the JCC Pollinator Garden

In 2017, the Jacksonville Community Center began its physical transformation from a tiny one-room cottage to the beautiful facility it is today. At that time, I had the privilege of being on the JCC board. While we sat in board meetings looking at plans, trusses, and paint, I was busy dreaming about honeybees, butterflies, and songbirds. 

I set my sights on transforming the old grassy blank slate surrounding JCC into a community space that welcomed our entire community – including our pollinators. The JCC Pollinator Garden was created with the express purpose of sharing with our community how landscaping practices can be beneficial to our tiniest community members, our pollinators  – while being wildly beautiful and welcoming to the rest of us.

As with everything wonderful at JCC, this garden simply would not have become a reality without the generosity of our supporters and the big hearts and dirty hands of the volunteers that spent hours pulling weeds, digging trenches, planting, installing water features, and running water-wise irrigation systems.

Planning for the garden took into account traffic flow, our enormous trees, types of pollinators, a place to sit and enjoy it, and a water feature (so our pollinators could bathe, drink, and cool off in the hot summer months). Over the winter of 2017, there were many renditions of the landscaping plan – and in early Spring the plans were off to the city for approval. 

There are so many incredible people that helped this dream become a reality and there a few that really dug in (literally) and brought the JCC Pollinator Garden to life. I had the idea for the garden but I had no idea what to actually do! Bonni Criswell, local plant expert and designer, volunteered countless hours, meticulously designing the gardens – choosing each plant, tree, and shrub. She designed contours to the once all-flat space. She called for rocks and walkways, and we followed her instructions closely. Travis Grimes, local retired contractor (and my Pop!) built the beautiful trellises in the back – giving life to vertical gardens and privacy. Dade Barlow (my spouse) and myself (along with a lot of youtube mentoring) designed and installed the fountain – including a 40’ ditch to run water and electric. The Jacksonville Garden Club along with other friends and volunteers, showed up many times to plant, dig, weed, and water. The Jacksonville Boosters were outstanding in creating the base for the community bench and the walkways throughout the garden. Volunteers, led by local artist, Jeremy Criswell, created individual pieces of pollinator-inspired art to top off the Community Sitting Circle – a half-circle bench serves as the perfect spot for locals and tourists alike to sit, learn, chat, share, and simply be(e) among the buzz of the pollinators and the trickle of the fountain.

If you haven’t already – come, take a seat, and watch our garden grow. You’ll hear the buzz of  hummingbirds, honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, song birds, monarch butterflies, swallow-tail butterflies – a community coming to life. Welcome to the JCC Pollinator Garden!

About the Author: Tiffany Grimes, is the founder of Evolutionary Consulting and Empower Coaching and Training. She is also beekeeper, Jacksonville community member, and proud past JCC board member.