Essential accessories debut in village window boxes

Enjoying the cheery window boxes in Bellport Village that saluted the area before Memorial Day?

Give a mental thanks to the Bellport Garden Club. Or thank them on the street as they tend the flowers. Better yet, make a donation.

(You can make a donation via www.bellportgardenclub.com; tap “Donations” on the upper-right corner.)

About 30 BGC volunteers pushed wheelbarrows filled with flowers to their destinations, or were about to, on Main Street, May 19 by 9 a.m., popping various plants into the boxes first, then securing them with dirt.

Beautifying costs funds. Decorating the 50 flower boxes in the village with a riot of colorful perennials and annuals isn’t cheap. Then, there’s the watering upkeep.

“It’s $2,500 for the flowers, and $2,500 to pay the young ladies from Friends of Bellport Bay who water them,” said Jane Roe Tierney, BGC co-president, who’s been heading up the effort.

“We’ve been doing this for about 40 years, but originally it was up to the store owners to maintain them,” Tierney explained.

Some forgot.

“I took it on just before COVID. I wouldn’t do it unless they got watered, too.”

Especially during COVID, stores were struggling and the BGC pitched in and paid for flowers for every store in the village. “We also raised money to hire kids to water them,” Tierney said. “First, it was a young man. Then we hired local kids last year. Tom Schultz’s FoBB crews do it and they do a fabulous job. Kathy Desmond is in charge of the girls and pruning.”

Rice Realty was the first one planted and there were several stores awaiting soil. Gathering first at the courtyard between Café Castello and Pamela Lerner Home & Design, members discussed details like where begonias and coleus were going, as well as coastal plants.

“We look for plants that look good for four to five months long blooming,” Tierney said. “So, it’s geraniums, SunPatiens (a hardier impatiens), coleus. Mickey Snead, a Bellport resident, supplies us with coleus starters. She nurses them all winter, and we use 500 of those. Also, dipladenia vines. Those are our four chief ingredients; then we use various fillers,” Tierney added.

Their main flower source is VanderZalm Greenhouses in Bellport. “He gives us a break on the price and holds them until planting day,” Tierney said. But other local suppliers are called on, too, including Bayport Flower Houses, Bloomin’ House, Home Depot. Main Street businesses receive their largesse, but you can find cheery window boxes down Bellport Lane and up Station Road.

Do people stop and say thank you?

“Yes, they say it to all the garden club members,” Tierney said. “A lot don’t know who plants them. We’re encouraging using native plants and trees, but window boxes are great places for annuals.”