News and Stories

You may be familiar with the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s renowned Zoo Blooms, but did you know about Community Blooms? When we planted our spring-flowering bulbs on Zoo grounds this past fall, we first set aside over 10,000 tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils for several of our community garden partners!

In the final weeks of fall, we hopped over to the Hamilton County Youth Center, Xavier Jesuit Academy (XJA), Rockdale Urban Learning Garden, and O’Dell Owens Center for Learning. Students, residents, and faculty planted alongside Zoo staff while exchanging stories and excitement to see the blooms when they arrive in the spring. In the meantime, we created informational handouts about the tulips for them to enjoy, with a picture list of all the varieties we had planted together.

Our community partners kept in contact with us about the progress of the bulbs as they began emerging in the last weeks of winter, and we shared in their anticipation. This April, we were able to visit the blooms ourselves. Many of the varieties were the same across the sites, but each location has its own unique beauty!

It was an honor to once again meet with the students, residents, and faculty as they walked us through their gardens. Each individual had their own connection to the space that they were eager to share.

One student at XJA approached a Zoo staff member and asked, “Can I show you my favorite plant in the garden?” After a short walk across the space, they stopped at a small tree with cascading branches and bright green spring leaves. “It’s that Japanese Maple!”

This is why the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden continuously seeks opportunities to donate time and resources back into the Greater Cincinnati area. While we pride ourselves on bringing people close enough to care to the plants and animals in our care, guests might not have to opportunity to visit the Zoo every day. But everyone should get to have an everyday connection with the natural world around them, wherever they live.

We’re looking forward to visiting our community partners again in May. This time, we’ll be pulling the faded perennial bulbs for each site to share with their larger community, as well as planting summer annuals to bring continued color and connection!