PHOTOS: Rapid City Parks Dept. prepares 25,000 seedlings for spring planting
The smell of wet earth and brilliant green dancing leaves greet Rapid City's parks employees each morning in the greenhouse, where 25,000 seedlings sit ready to be planted in May.
City Greenhouse Specialist John Berglund waters trays of bonanza marigold seedlings at the Rapid City greenhouse on Canyon Lake Drive. "I keep track of my flowers from year to year. So I try to change it up...maybe order something that's a little different," he said. "Of course, they're always coming out with hybrid flowers, and so we try to get some different colors in and also see how the flowers go from year to year."
A greenhouse worker transplants tiny, tightly packed seedlings into larger trays so they can continue to grow bigger before planting in mid- to late-May.
Rows and rows of seedlings sit ready to be replanted into bigger trays where they'll grow for another month before being planted about a week before Memorial Day.
"I just like to go with a variety of colors," said City Greenhouse Specialist John Berglund. "Something that gives you that curb appeal. When somebody is driving by the parks and they look over at our flower gardens and see the color...like lots of color...I just go with bright colors, you know purples yellows, blues, reds..."
The City also plants ornamental grasses, like this one with a furry top.
Seasonals spent much of Friday taking the small trays of seedlings and transferring them into larger plugs for later planting. About 8,000 of the seedlings are grown in the greenhouse, while the other 17,000 are sourced from growers from as far away as Michigan and Wisconsin.
City Greenhouse Specialist John Berglund gives his bonanza marigold seedlings a healthy drink.
A greenhouse worker transplants seedlings as stacks and stacks of soil-filled trays rest on the table next to him.
While it might be too early now for most color, there was more than just green in the City's greenhouse Friday.
These trays of coleus have been replanted from their tiny, tightly packed trays into ones with more space.
Garden hoses of all colors and sizes hang around Rapid City's greenhouse.
Each tray of seedlings is marked to keep any confusion at bay. It's especially important early on when there's no flowers to help differentiate trays.
These tiny seedlings — no more than an inch or two tall — will grow into mighty colorful flowers for all of Rapid City to enjoy.
They might just be green now, but these snapdragons will grow into tall and colorfully tipped flowers.
These thick, tightly packed trays of seedlings arrived Thursday from different growers nationwide. Berglund and the City Parks crew will spend time unpacking each tiny plug and replanting them in larger, more spacious trays. Berglund said once they're unpacked, the trays will be enough to fill the 30 ft. by 120 ft. greenhouse.
Rapid City's greenhouse, about 30 ft. by 120 ft., sits off of Canyon Lake Drive. Plans are in the works for a new greenhouse in the coming year.
Bags of planting mix sit stacked outside Rapid City's greenhouse.
Darsha Dodge
City Editor, Staff Photographer
"When America is weak, the bad guys rejoice."
Improvements to the memorial are nearly complete, and city officials are excited to partner with the local nonprofit to maintain the monument and legacy of local contributions to America's freedoms.
Only a week after winter weather brought more than a foot of snow to the area, Rapid City topped 80 degrees for the first time in 174 days.
“I can only stand here and pray that the machines stop.”
According to the National Weather Service, Rapid City received 77.2 inches of snow as of Tuesday — 25 inches above normal. It's now the second-highest snowfall to date on record.
The Rapid City Common Council voted eight-to-one in favor of implementing a new city logo nearly two months after tabling the discussion.
