Someone's sick? Send flowers.

        Feeling blue? Send flowers.

Bev Kirk works on one of her three pots, Bluebirds of spring (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        “Flowers are a great way to cheer anybody up,” says Christy Bard of Bard Nursery and Landscaping in Amelia.

        Cincinnati's been ailing since last year's civil unrest, but next weekend, the city will be getting Cincinnati Blooms, a “get well” card and bouquet from people like Ms. Bard, who want to do something positive. They include 900 third-graders growing their first plants to artists, landscapers, the suit-and-tie set, inner-city activists and green thumbs.

        The four-part Cincinnati Blooms program, under the umbrella of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, includes projects dubbed Flower Power, Miracle Mile, Colors of the Earth and Beauty Marks.

        “Our attitude is that it's not our parents' city anymore, and we can't let it fail on our watch,” says Jay Korte of Flower Framers, the force behind the Miracle Mile project, which plans to add 2,500 feet to the 1,600 feet of window boxes planted last summer in Over-the-Rhine.

        “Our goal is short and long-term,” says John Angelo, in charge of the school project, Colors of the Earth. “We'll be creating a garden in Washington Park and at Fountain Square and planting the seeds of diversity and open-mindedness at the same time.”

        Flower Power, the most visible part of Cincinnati Blooms, will begin May 19 when the first 50 of more than 100 giant urns and pots painted by Greater Cincinnati artists will be delivered to downtown corners.

        “Miracle Mile, Flower Power and all the projects will help achieve the goal that when you are downtown and look to the left or the right, you'll see flowers,” Mr. Korte says. “That's the bottom line.”
       

Flower Power

        When the Cincinnati Horticultural Society looked around for a beautification and pride project, it had no qualms about piggybacking on the Big Pig Gig, the hugely successful public arts project of 2000.

        “We're taking an icon and adding another complementary element,” says Betsy Neyer, Cincinnati Blooms spokeswoman.

        “Many cities have done follow-up versions to animal mascots, but as far as we know, we are the first that marries art and horticulture on this grand a scale.”

        Like the Gig, sponsors (for $2,000 and up) are being sought for one of three pot shapes — a 52-by-43-inch urn, a 40-by-30-inch fluted pot or a 36-inch-square wooden cube. Artists within a 100-mile radius of Cincinnati were asked to submit design proposals and titles, such as “Some Like It Hosta,” based on flowers. Members of the Cincinnati Growers Association were recruited to do the plant design for each pot.

        The Big Pig Gig paved the way for artists such as Bev Kirk, who has a graphic design business in Sharonville and who created two pigs. She's doing three pots for Flower Power.

        “The Pig Gig was such an awesome project, bringing so many people together,” Ms. Kirk says. “The pigs were great caricatures. (The pots) are more of a canvas. You will have to walk around them to see the designs and interact with them. And there's a living quality to these.”

        Despite kidney surgeries, Ms. Kirk is rushing to finish her pots, all urns: “Queen City's Lace,” a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I with Cincinnati flowers and fauna in her skirt for Cinergy Foundation; “Bluebirds of Spring” for Scripps Howard, and “I Can't Ever Leaf Cincinnati” with leaves from around the city “painted like Rookwood” pottery for the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce ”

        Ms. Bard, whose family business is a member of the Growers Association, is raiding the greenhouse for snapdragons, lobelia, geraniums, cascading petunias and ornamental grasses to fill liners that will be dropped into two pots May 19.

        “I thought downtown could use some brightening up and a 4-foot pot full of color inside and out seemed a perfect way to do that,” she says.

        The pots will be placed in locations that crate an S-shaped trail from Lytle Place to Fountain Square, the Aronoff Center for the Arts, the public library and through Garfield Park. Covington and Newport tourist stops will get pots as more are finished. Seventy more pots will be delivered after May 19.

        “Our goal is to get 200” pots, Ms. Neyer says. “We anticipate more sponsorships once they are out.”

        To date, about 40 percent are fluted pots, 40 percent urns and 20 percent square boxes.

        Most sponsors are opting to keep their pots, so there probably will not be an auction like at the end of the Big Pig Gig.

        A “Green Squad” of teen-agers, mostly city residents, will learn how to prune, deadhead and water the containers through September. They will be supervised by a professional grower.

        “We're offering (the teens) a job for the summer in an industry where they can get jobs in the future,” Ms. Neyer says. “Hopefully, we're building the future of the industry at the same time.”
       

Colors of the Earth

        Building a future of diversity and open-mindedness is the long-term goal of Colors of the Earth, the project involving 900 third-graders from 15 schools being directed by 10 members of Leadership Cincinnati's Class XXV.

        Participating schools range from Corryville Catholic, with about 35 third-graders, to Indian Hill Elementary, with about 170.

        During classroom visits, “the first half hour we talked about diversity and race relations, to get them started talking and thinking about how it feels to be different. Then we made an analogy to diversity in the garden,” Mr. Angelo says.

        Each school was given one type of flower to plant. Children got one to keep and one to grow, then turn over to the garden project.

        “We told them their one kind of plant was dependent on the other schools to make a whole garden design,” Mr. Angelo says. “A community is a collaborative effort. That's our lesson.”

        Friday, four children from each school will represent their classmates in the planting at Washington Park. During a ceremony, Mayor Charlie Luken will proclaim it ""Colors of the Earth Day.” The 900 children's plants will be supplemented by more grown by greenhouse volunteers. Later, more of the students' plants will be used at Fountain Square.
       

Miracle Mile

        Last year, after the riots, Cincinnati City Councilman Jim Tarbell wanted to do something noticeable to boost pride in Over-the-Rhine. He and Mr. Korte of Flower Framers (fiberglass, self-watering, custom-cut flower boxes) came up with the idea of planting a mile of flower boxes. Waves of petunias and ivy snaked out of building windows within months.

        This year Mr. Korte wants to see all those boxes replanted — and another 2,500 feet added in Over-the-Rhine, downtown, Covington and Newport.

        But he needs the weather's cooperation and building owners' help.

        “The weather has been so poor, the flowers are behind because of the lack of heat and sunny days . . . ,” Mr. Korte says. “That's going to make our job more difficult.”

        The project uses individual donations and matching funds to finance the plantings.

        “The Over-the-Rhine Foundation has really helped in putting funding opportunities in place,” Mr. Korte says. “And a lot of building owners are willing to pay for their replanting costs.”

        The total cost of the boxes is $75-$85 per foot, including planting and watering attachments. Replanting is $20-$25 per foot, including soil replacement and labor.

        “The good thing is the building owner doesn't have to do anything,” Mr. Korte says. “We've gotten calls from people who want to thank someone for the flowers downtown. That's nice.”
       

Beauty Marks

        Fifty planters owned by Downtown Cincinnati Inc. will be planted with colorful flowers in pocket gardens in Over-the-Rhine.

        “It's taking the Miracle Mile,” and putting it on the streets” Ms. Neyer says. Partners with the Cincinnati Horticultural Society on Beauty Marks are Keep Cincinnati Beautiful (KCB) and IMPACT Over-the-Rhine.

        “We've talked with IMPACT about maybe hiring some kids to take care of the flowers,” says Mary Margaret Rochford, president of the horticultural society.

        The society is hoping Over-the-Rhine residents will “adopt” a planter and help take care of it, Mrs. Rochford says. In addition, donations of plants and the time to help maintain the planters are welcomed.

        Keep Cincinnati Beautiful plans to plant low-growing ground cover on vacant lots in Over-the-Rhine and the West End, says KCB executive director Linda Holterhoff.

        “It will make the lot look great, and it will contain the lead in the soil,” she says.

        Working with KCB are Natorp's and Clear Corps, a lead-abatement company. Volunteers will plant the ground cover.

        Money for the vacant lot project is being raised now. Ms. Holterhoff hopes to have a couple lots planted this spring, starting in the Liberty and Vine streets area, and adding more in the fall.

        Flower Power information: 872-5195.

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