Putting the pieces together

Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
 
The Bicentennial Trout Sculpture in front of the Marlinton Depot is covered with bright yellow daffodils, which is quite fitting as, behind it, there is a pollinator garden filled with spring and summer annuals.

The flower beds were established as part of the Prevention Coalition Environmental Strategies grant which is in its second phase – creating mosaics to be incorporated into the flower beds. The mosaics are a community project and the Pocahontas County Arts Council and Pocahontas County Artisans Co-op welcome those interested in creating a panel to join in the project. 

Local artisan Cris Bartlett will be at the garden each Friday in July, at 5 p.m., with supplies for those who want to make colorful mosaics for the project.

“What I tell people is that there is a river pattern on it,” she said of the main flower bed. “The plates and the bits of pottery from local potters, and all the material that we have is up for grabs. Whatever you want to do, but what we’d like to see is the river in the middle be just a different color scheme.”

The other beds are open to any color scheme the community chooses to use.

Once the project is complete, Bartlett said it will be a beautiful community art project that will also attract butterflies and bees, which will help with the pollination of plants in the area. 

“Anne Walker made sure that each kind of flower in here blooms at different periods,” Bartlett said. “There are early spring daffodils in here and early spring crocus. There are alliums that just finished blooming. So, this starts early, early spring and keeps going.”

There are also flowers that specifically attract bumblebees which help with the pollination of apple trees.

“Bumblebees are pretty important, especially for apples, because they buzz and the vibration of the bumblebee buzzing helps to loosen the pollen in the apple trees,” Bartlett said. “A lot of people think honeybees are the ones that pollinate them, but it’s really the bumblebees who pollinate apple trees.” 

With the flowers planted and the materials ready for the mosaics, Bartlett said she hopes to have all the panels ready to be installed by the beginning of August. 

During the July First Friday event, Bartlett had a vacationing couple create a mosaic featuring brightly colored flowers around a river with a fish swimming downstream. She said they are looking forward to coming back next year to see how the project came together. 

“We’re having a really good time getting this done,” she said.

The mosaic project will continue Friday, July 22, and Friday, July 29, at 5 p.m. at the pollinator garden. Bartlett will have all the supplies you need to make a one-of-a-kind mosaic panel.