Garden 5 is the smallest of the numbered gardens, with only the Corner Garden being smaller. Though it is small, there has been a lot going on in the garden in the past few years.
The first Head Gardener was Jerri Bushey. She managed the garden mostly by herself and was able to add many colorful plants to attract butterflies. In May 2021, Dolores Damiano-Szafran took over as Head Gardener. Since then, Jerri has continued to be involved in the garden to help.
Many changes have occurred since Dolores started, including:
- Expanding to the South side of the sidewalk to begin a “native” garden. After removing unwanted vegetation, many native plants were added to the existing sweet acacia and Mrs. Schiller’s Delight, including railroad vine, salvias, coreopsis, gaillardia, goldenrod, muhly grass, and wild lime.
- Expanding to the West of the current garden. Native grasses were added as well as Bromeliads and several other colorful plants, all of which were drought tolerant.
- These two expansions do not have automatic watering systems installed so they must be hand watered on a regular basis.
In addition to expanding the garden, Dolores, and the occasional helpers, spent many hours weeding, relocating plants, and adding new plants. A view of the garden currently speaks to their hard work. The paths were consolidated and mulched, soil has been added to raise a section that was very wet, many invasive plants have been removed, and new native and non-native plants added. Some highlights in the garden now included the Golden Dew Drop Duranta, the large giant milkweeds, the large Hairy-Ball Milkweed, the display of Pagoda Flowers along the grass, the large Dutchman’s Pipe growing up the tree behind the bench, and many more.
As of May 2023, Mary Freeh was asked to take the role of Head Gardener. Working with her, to continue maintaining and improving the garden, includes Dolores Damiano-Szafran, Eileen McDonough, Anne Brownstone, and Jerri Bushey.
VillageWalk Garden Club of Bonita Springs 