STUDENTS USE GARDEN TO GARNISH HARDIE CHECKERBOARD

Any passers-by on Essex Street might notice some new greenery in front of the Hardie Building! The flowers that now keep Hardie’s cherry trees company come courtesy of Montserrat students Madison Gerace (‘23) and Ben Kingston (’24).

The pair opted to re-do the flower beds as part of a final project. The goal for the project was to ensure that the plants would be “low maintenance, cost effective, and colorful.” The team’s selected plants were all either native (like coreopsis) or otherwise amenable to Massachusetts’ temperamental climate (like daylilies).

Says Gerace, “I just didn’t believe the garden beds before really represented Montserrat, and with a past in professional gardening, I was determined to make them more colorful and beautiful, since we’re such a colorful school!”

The once-empty concrete beds now house perennials for all seasons along with some extra adornment courtesy of Gerace and Kingston. Check below to see a before, during, and after photo gallery of Hardie’s new floral arrangement.