Happy Easter everyone! Today was filled with shared meals, family and friends, a sense of peace, prayer, hours in the park playing and flowers gracing table tops and forest paths. And speaking of flowers, my thoughts drift naturally to  Project Bloeiende Boomspiegel.  One of the featured eco-friendly organizations that will be at The Hague Earth Day event this coming Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014 at the American Book Center (Lange Poten 23) from 17:00-20:00.

I spoke with Antoon Moonen, the founder of this wonderful organization, and asked him for a summary of his project.

Project Bloeiende Boomspiegel is a  Hague-based organisation that transforms empty dirt patches beneath city trees into blooming colourful oasis’ for bees, butterflies and insects, bringing pockets of nature into the city that can be appreciated by all.

If you are American, you may be wondering why Mr. Moonen misspelled colourful and organisation. That’s because he heralds from New Zealand, where they learn the Queen’s English (that British Queen).

I am lucky enough to live in the neighborhood where Mr. Moonen launched this brilliant project, which means the trees gracing our neighborhood sidewalks are surrounded by leafy plants that will shoot forth long stocks laden with beautiful flowers over the next few months. These flowers aren’t meant to be clipped for that vase on the center of your table, but to stay around the bases of the trees to decorate our neighborhoods.

What I love about this grass roots project is that it brings neighbors together at specific times each season, whether it is preparing the ground and sowing the seeds in the Spring, tying the long flower stocks back in the Summer, or harvesting seeds in the Fall.

In addition to all of that comradery is the richness of nature brought right into our city streets. And I must say, beautiful, blooming flowers are a vast improvement to dirty patches of earth. You would think a flower is just a flower, but they seem to make a big difference in our lives when they are grouped together and in such great contrast to cement, brick and buildings. The large city trees rise like beacons to the city dwellers, and the “bloeiende boomspiegels” at their bases ask us to take pause, smile and enjoy their beauty.

Meet members of the Project Bloeiende Boomspiegel at Earth Day at ABC Bookstore between 17:00-20:00 on Tuesday April 22nd, contact them on their website http://www.stokrozen.nl or consider attending their project information evening just after the Earth Day event:

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014
19:45-21:30
Wijkcentrum Bezuidenhout
Johannes Camphuijsstraat 25
2593 CH

For more information on Earth Day The Hague 2014, see my April 10th post here on Author Kristin Anderson.