Skip to content

Fosterscoachhousetavern

Consummate Home Connoisseurs

  • Real Estate
    • Garden
    • Home Design
  • Decoration Kitchen
  • Decoration Badroom
  • Decoration Living Room
  • Home Improvement
  • Toggle search form
  • Wellington Plans First Home Improvement Expo On Aug. 21 Home Improvement
  • Jimmy Fallon, Cara Delevingne’s Tonight Show Home-Decor Chat Home Design
  • Dining room wall ideas to set the mood Decoration Living Room
  • Agatha Christie exhibition at the Isokon flats Decoration Kitchen
  • White Oak Global Advisors Announces Launch of White Oak Real Estate Capital to Expand Its Credit Offerings Into the Commercial Real Estate Sector Real Estate
  • 11 Best Dog-Friendly Restaurant Patios and Beer Gardens Around DC Garden
  • Tour a Seemingly Traditional Houston Home Where High-Contrast Design Rules Home Design
  • How to Decorate Above Kitchen Cabinets: 8 Great Ideas Decoration Kitchen

Blight or a meadow? Bridgeport orders bulb company to mow garden

Posted on July 27, 2021 By admin

BRIDGEPORT — The Schipper family, owner of Colorblends wholesale bulbs, has been in the flower business since the early 20th Century and knows how to have a thriving garden.

This summer Colorblends’ display home on the West Side, purchased in 2013, has been in a clash over aesthetics that has owner Timothy Schipper suggesting City Hall revise its definition of blight so it is not “one size fits all.”

“In some people’s view a nice yard is a two inch cut lawn,” Schipper said in a interview. “For others, it’s tall grasses and a wildflower meadow. Whose version is right? Who decides ‘this is what it should be?’”

Last month a municipal blight inspector, responding to a complaint, issued a warning to Colorblends for “grass, bushes and trees which are severely overgrown” outside of the restored mansion at 1893 Clinton Ave. where the international bulb purveyor annually shows off tens of thousands of its colorful products and tests new ones.

Colorblends also has a distribution warehouse on the East Side.

“For six weeks of the year we open the garden and the house and the house becomes like a pop-up art gallery and then the garden is a living catalog of everything we offer on our website and paper catalog,” Schipper said.

And then Colorblends lets the area grow wild for a few weeks. As an upset Schipper in early July wrote in a Facebook post revealing the blight warning, cutting early “the foliage of daffodils or other spring bulbs damages the underlying plant (which) weakens the plant for the following springs and essentially will kill the plant off over time. … This is bad for our business as people eventually will not spend money for something that does not perform.”

But facing fines of $100-per-day, Colorblends, after receiving an extension, mowed most of the grass to five inches.

The resultant outcry on social media prompted a Facebook post from Mayor Joe Ganim’s office explaining, “Bridgeport and the mayor fondly support Colorblends along with the beauty and colors they provide our community and visitors. This ‘warning’ was initiated due to neighbors reporting the overgrowth. We encourage our residents to do this, and do our best to be responsive for the welfare of all.”

Schipper said the city suggested posting signage explaining to passersby why the property may sometimes look wild. Rowena White, Ganim’s communications director, confirmed, “Our hope is that if residents see fun colorful signage they will understand that this is a short-lived issue and the signs will also provide a horticulture lesson to visitors.”

Schipper said he understood the blight inspector was simply following a process and the city is in a “tough position” to try to accommodate him while also being responsive to residents.

He encouraged City Hall to rethink how it approaches such complaints and whether tall grass should be “lumped in” with garbage, abandoned vehicles, collapsing buildings, crumbling stone and Bridgeport’s other blight categories.

“What happens if I decide not to cut it all year?” Schipper said. “I want to be in a pollinator pathway and want a grassy meadow and crickets and bees and fireflies and that’s what they need to survive. …We’re in a more environmentally concerned world. There may need to be a little more definition on what a yard should and should not look like.”

The city did not say whether it would do so, but in a subsequent statement said, “Overgrowth can lead to health and environment hazards such as rodents, mosquitoes and ticks that may spread disease and illness.”

State Rep. Christopher Rosario, D-Bridgeport, oversaw the city’s anti-blight efforts under Ganim’s predecessor, former Mayor Bill Finch. He said that office encountered issues with overgrowth “all the time” and had to judge whether it was from neglect or for gardening purposes and, if the latter, “work with those folks (and) do a little manicuring.”

Rosario speculated the real estate boom may have some homeowners more sensitive about neighbors like Colorblends.

“A lot of folks are putting property on the market now,” Rosario said. “You’re trying to sell your home and make it look as nice as possible, along with your neighborhood.”

Eleanor Angerame sympathized with Colorblends. Angerame is executive director of Green Village Initiative, which for eight years has run a community farm in the North End off of Reservoir Avenue and has sometimes been at odds with community leaders who want the site put to other uses.

“We have all been raised with this conception that a clean lawn means you care about your community,” Angerame said. “But if you’re not living in a suburb or a city, spaces where plants grow are not called ‘blight.’ They’re called meadows.”

And those wild areas are important for the environment and the health of animals and insects, she said, noting the prominently located farm will sometimes be torn between the expected property maintenance and allowing dandelions and clover to thrive, attracting pollinators for the health of the vegetables grown there.

Angerame also lives near the Colorblends show mansion.

“They take good care of it,” she said. “I think there has to be nuance (in the blight rules). Otherwise we’re forcing this homogeneity, cookie cutter idea of lawns that is a huge amount of resources for homeowners and can be a really big weight and burden.”

Garden Tags:Blight, Bridgeport, bulb, company, Garden, meadow, mow, orders

Post navigation

Previous Post: What, Exactly, Is Being Disrupted In The Real Estate Community Right Now?
Next Post: SLC launches tiny home design competition to address housing shortage

Related Posts

  • stilt studios’ wooden treehouse C hovers above blooming garden in bali Garden
  • Innovate to pollinate: hi-tech ways to welcome insects into your garden Garden
  • 5 perfect rose varieties for a Pacific Northwest garden Garden
  • Plant These Fruiting Ground Covers in Your Forest Garden Garden
  • Spring rains had garden downsides. Watch for summer diseases Garden
  • Top tips for keeping your pond pristine | Gardening advice Garden

Recent Posts

  • Why you should order a wine cooler online
  • A robust example of small-space gardening is on Lakeside Garden Tour
  • School’s Out At Hundreds Of Closing College Campuses, But Real Estate Is In Session
  • 18 Cozy Living Room Decor Ideas and Designer Examples
  • Bear and Breakfast Prestige Guide
  • DIY whizz shares a cheap trick to make a stunning living room decoration with a 99p plate from Home Bargains
  • Home Design: Cheery Chateau – Tampa Magazine
  • Man Gives Chunk the Groundhog His Own Garden to Eat Crops

About Us

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise Here
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021

Categories

  • Decoration Badroom
  • Decoration Kitchen
  • Decoration Living Room
  • Garden
  • Home Design
  • Home Improvement
  • Real Estate

Amazon Architectural bedroom City Commercial Decor decorate Decorating Decoration design Dorm dream estate fall family Furniture Garden Gardens Home Homes house housing ideas Improvement interior Kitchen launches living Lowes market Money News Plant projects Real room Sales Show tips Top Tour trends Wall ways White

  • Partner links

  • Visit Now

    Automotive
    • 47 Best toys r us bean bag chairs in 2021: According to Experts. Decoration Badroom
    • Home Remodeling Spending Expected to Increase into 2022 Home Improvement
    • What $1.25 Million Buys you in North Carolina, Connecticut and California Real Estate
    • Stock market activity ‘indicator’ of what will happen in real estate market: Expert Real Estate
    • Tour a Midcentury Farmhouse Kitchen in Saskatchewan | Architectural Digest Decoration Kitchen
    • Dynamic Change Forecast as Industry Responds to Changing Consumer Demands with New Commercial Opportunities Home Improvement
    • Home is where the heart is Decoration Kitchen
    • Decorating and customising spaces with hightech ceramic: DYS Design Your Slabs Decoration Kitchen

    Copyright © 2022 Fosterscoachhousetavern.

    Powered by PressBook News WordPress theme

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
    Cookie settingsACCEPT
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT