Yellow is the color of the day, from Potentilla, a small shrub, to Black-eyed Susan, a tall native perennial, to coreopsis, a low-growing and profuse bloomer. These plants are tough and pretty.

 

Yellow is the color of the day, from Potentilla, a small shrub, to Black-eyed Susan, a tall native perennial, to coreopsis, a low-growing and profuse bloomer. These plants are tough and pretty. They can handle being ignored, little water, and hot sunshine. In return, they will reward you with loads of fall flowers enjoyed by all passersby, as well as pollinators. 

 

These plants were all photographed in a public parking lot. Car bumpers slap the plants around daily. They are surrounded by a sea of hot unforgiving asphalt in summer, and snow and salt are dumped right on top of them in winter. Wow, if a group of plants were ever entitled to file a class action suit, it would be them.

 

We should plant them in all of our public parking lots — the train station, downtown, the Boat Basin — even at Rye Beach Pharmacy, Playland Market. 

 

Why not a unified planting plan? One that will thrive, provide beauty, and require minimal care. This project would take only a few days to install. The Rye Record is prepared to lend a hand from providing plant lists, a plan, and even some labor. 

 

What a great beautification project. Anyone game?