Yesterday's News--A Gardener's Scrapbook

Editor's Note: Historian Anne Dyni wrote a series of articles for the Left Hand Valley Courier. The series will be reprinted from time to time.

Left Hand MeAnother Niwot tradition quietly slipped away in November 1998, when, after sixty years, the Niwot Home and Garden Club disbanded. During those years, this remarkable group of ladies designed and maintained a beautiful community garden at the corner of Second Avenue and Murray Street.

From the time the club was organized in 1938, membership was limited to twenty-five so that meetings could be held in members' homes. Anyone absent for three consecutive meetings was dropped from the roll to make room for others on a long waiting list.

"We Sow, We Grow, We Show" was the theme for their 1953 flower show at the Left Hand Grange Hall. Ribbons were awarded by visiting judges for botanical categories similar to those at the county fair. Monthly programs ranged from studying new floral varieties and flower arranging to creating tray decorations for patients at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Denver. For years, the Niwot club belonged to the Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs and participated in their local as well as statewide activities.

Their most enduring project came in 1946, when creation of a community garden was proposed. By that time, Niwot had two hundred residents, and passenger traffic at the depot was brisk. Travelers arriving by train were greeted by a vacant lot across the tracks that had become a dumping ground for trash. Weeds had gained the upper hand, and the sun-baked soil was laced with cinders from years of passing steam locomotives.

Determined to beautify the entrance to their community, the ladies of the garden club launched a project that took them years to complete. The site presented a daunting challenge. The Colorado & Southern railroad did not permit planting within twenty feet of the track, and the telegraph company allowed no trees to be placed under their lines.

Working within those restrictions, a site plan was drawn up with paths outlined with river rock radiating outward from the center toward Murray Street and Second Avenue. A rose garden and annual and perennial flower beds were penciled in. Flowering trees and evergreens rounded out the sketch plan. Expenses would be funded by plant sales, bake sales, and donations.

Little was accomplished the first year except to remove loads of trash, burn off the tumbleweeds, and plow and level the ground.

The following spring, a well was dug. Only a post hole digger was needed to reach the high water table underlying the entire town. After a hydrant was installed, planting began. The derelict bandstand on the corner was dragged to the middle of the garden where it was transformed into a beautiful picnic shelter.

The garden was enjoyed by the entire community for many years. But by the time the railroad sold the land for commercial development in the 1970s, its original bloom had disappeared. Aging club members could no longer keep up with watering and cultivation chores. Yet for over its lifetime, the Niwot Community Garden had been a source of community pride.