Bartram’s Garden, home to America’s first great native botanist John Bartram and the largest public green space in Philadelphia, is celebrating spring with several exciting events and openings.

Next weekend, May 4-6, visitors of all ages are invited to enjoy a plant sale, hands-on gardening activities and guided tours of the historic site, including a new educational Green Room, native plant nursery and community farm. The Green Room will open in Bartram’s historic stable. Visitors will be able to borrow binoculars for bird watching and watercolors for painting. An educator will be on hand to answer questions and provide tours, and guest feedback will directly influence how the Green Room evolves.

The garden will be open to all on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entrance is free. Day passes, which include a guided house and garden tour, and access to seasonal activities in the Green Room, are $8 to $12 (free for members).

Also on hand Saturday and Sunday: spring planting tips, children’s activities and plant sale. Most of the plants were grown on site in a new nursery, located next to the Garden Shop. While in the garden, also make sure to check out a new orchard, with more than 40 heirloom fruit trees. The orchard is adjacent to Bartram’s new community garden. Last year, workers cleared shrubs and removed unused tennis courts and baseball fields from the southern end of the property to make way for a 1.5-acre community garden.

Finally, this summer a one-mile portion of the Schuylkill River Trail will be completed and connect to the 58th Street Greenway, the Cobbs Creek Parkway and eventually lead to Valley Forge and points beyond.

“This trail, which will wind through Bartram’s beautiful meadow and show off views of the Philadelphia skyline, will not only be a great addition to Bartram’s Garden but to the City of Philadelphia,” says interim director Stephanie Phillips. Stay tuned for information on bike-related events and workshops coming to the garden.

Bartram’s Garden is located at 54th St. & Lindbergh Blvd. For more information, visit: www.bartramsgarden.org. or call 215-729-5281.

This Sunday you could be part of something big and unforgettable. Clark Park is hosting the “Picnic for the Planet” – an Earth Day celebration and an attempt to set a Guinness record for the world’s largest picnic. Clark Park folks will be recording the number of participants and completing required paperwork. This is a nationwide record attempt – simultaneously, picnics like this one will be held in various locations in North America.

Sounds cool, right? So come to Clark Park from Noon until 4 p.m. (record attempt begins at 12:30). Don’t forget to bring your family, blanket and favorite picnic food and enjoy your day in the park. Elevation Burger will provide food for the first 100 participants.

Data Garden, a group of artists that brought The Switched-On Garden, a bio-interactive art and live outdoor musical festival to Bartram’s Garden in October 2011, is working on putting together another outdoor event this year. Over 700 people of all ages and backgrounds got to enjoy The Switched-On Garden, which, according to Data Garden co-founder Joe Patitucci, was a truly transformative day and the biggest event ever to take place at Bartram’s Garden (check out the video here).

For 2012 Data Garden wants to expand the event and increase the ways people can engage with the environment and history of Bartram’s. Same as last year, Data Garden wants the event to be free of charge and accessible to everyone. To get funding to make this event possible for a second year, they launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign. Additional funds will also allow them to attract and compensate some amazing artists from the US and beyond.

“One thing that we proved last year was that people really enjoy the type of events we produce and find it really refreshing,” Patitucci says. The event was covered by Inhabitat, MTV Brasil, the Philadelphia Inquirer and even Vice Magazine’s music blog among others.

Unfortunately, Data Garden hasn’t reached its funding goal yet and there are only five days left in this campaign. This project will only be funded if at least $7,000 is pledged by Tuesday, April 24 (11:59 p.m.). Click here to donate and help this project.

A group of community members helped clean up and beautify Barkan Park at 50th and Spruce on Saturday. Mark Mendenhall of Garden Court Community Association sends word that the next clean up and Spring Planting at Barkan Park will be held on Saturday, May 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, call (215) 476-2983.

West Philly Runners are sponsoring and participating in the annual Cobbs Creek Park race on Saturday, April 21 (see flyer below). This is the official West Philly Runners race, but everyone is invited to join them. This event will also feature a 1 mile walk – a great opportunity for families to get out and explore the park. Click here to register.

Registration fee is $20 and all funds raised from this event will go to benefit kids’ recreational activities in the Cobbs Creek Park. But there’s more to it. Alon Abramson, who organizes West Philly Runners, sent us this information:

“Philly Parks and Rec, the Fairmount Park Conservancy and PA Environmental Council are putting on the ‘Run for the Kids of Cobbs 5K’ race for the 2nd year. The goal of the race is first and foremost to bring people back to the park and encourage some ownership of this shared space. Cobbs Creek sat forgotten and abandoned for years and the city is making a concerted effort to reverse this trend. If you’ve been to the park recently, you will be pleasantly surprised to find it well utilized by the community with picnic areas, and paved and unpaved recreational trails (it is absolutely beautiful). Proceeds from the race go towards outdoor recreational programs for kids in the area. Get people to come to the park and support kids programming…win-win, right?

I am the organizer for West Philly Runners, a local running group, now in our 2nd year. We have been growing alongside this initiative and we have been heavily involved in planning the event from the start. In fact, I created the race website this year (www.cobbscreek5k.com), I am working on promotion and I have been involved in trail work in preparation for the race, which is mostly a trail run. For us, it is THE race of West Philly and thus THE race of the West Philly Runners. I’d love to get the word out to the West Philly community so that runners (and walkers) take advantage of this opportunity to (re)discover this amazing park in our back yards.”

If you have questions about the race or West Philly Runners, you can email Alon at alon.abramson [at] gmail.com

West Philly resident Michael Froehlich and his 2-year-old daughter Zora love playgrounds. No wait, they really love playgrounds.

What began as the occasional bicycle excursion from their home on 48th Street to nearby playgrounds like Malcolm X. Park has turned into a full-on quest to document a bunch of playgrounds in this part of the city – 31 playgrounds in all.

“We went a little overboard,” said Froehlich, a legal aid attorney.

The result, the website zoraplays, is an invaluable guide to playgrounds that includes photos of equipment, sketches of the playground’s layout and a map showing the location. Each playground was within a mile of their home.

Froehlich said he and Zora’s goal is to help convince people that there is fun beyond the usual spots like Clark Park and Cedar Park.

“I hope that this project will show people that there are a lot of great playgrounds in our community so they should get on their bicycles and ride out and explore them,” he said.

The big question, of course, is which is Zora’s fav?

“I’d like to say that Zora has developed a discerning eye for quality playgrounds,” said Froehlich. “But the truth is that she loves all playgrounds. Tall slides, wide slides, single slides, double slides: she digs them all with the same gusto.”

As for Froehlich himself? “Malcolm X. Park,” he said. “There’s so much there.”

 
– Emma Eisenberg contributed to this story