Cossey Park Arboretum: Tags Now in Place to Educate Visitors

I am very pleased to announce that we have donated the remaining Plants Map tags to Cossey Botanical Park Arboretum.

I believe every landscape is an opportunity to share information with others by telling the stories of the plants from our own experiences with them.

In January 2014 when we launched Plants Map at Startup Weekend Fredericksburg, Cossey Park Botanical Arboretum was the first profile and plant collection created.

During the event 15 of our interactive tags were purchased and donated by various individuals to the arboretum. A seed had been planted and a seedling emerged in just one weekend.

I was already involved with Cossey Botanical Park Arboretum as a Master Gardener with the Virginia Cooperative Extension.  I fell in love with this small open arboretum the first time I visited. I instantly understood the vision for the park: beautify and educate through plants. These were not your typical plantings. There were some very unusual and interesting specimens. I instantly felt a connection.

It actually took me awhile to find the arboretum because it had no website, no address, and no way to find it other than local knowledge. I finally discovered it when I attended a volunteer workday. I had driven past it so many times.

Now Cossey Botanical Park Arboretum has a very special place on the Plants Map community map and the story of the arboretum and its plant collections can be shared with others everywhere.

I will continue to inventory and update the plants and add more stories, details and photographs. We are using the profile to share information among the Master Gardener volunteers as well as an education outreach effort for those that visit the online plant collection or visit the park and scan the tags.

I have been involved with many ‘hidden gems’ over the years like Cossey. These are special places that I feel need to be discovered, enjoyed and supported by more people. It is my goal that Plants Map can increase awareness of plant collections of all sizes and types and the mission of the individuals or the organizations behind them through their plant stories. The end result I hope is to educate people about plants and connect them to these places and their people, organizations and causes.

That is what ‘Connecting People With Plants’ means to me.

I invite you to discover and explore Cossey Botanical Park Arboretum both on Plants Map and in person at the corner of Littlepage St. and Grove Avenue in Fredericksburg, VA. And scan a tag, Like a plant!

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