one step forward, one step back:  it's the KC way. 

Dag gum! here goes:
This afternoon I received some erroneous information about the fate of a native plant garden on the corner of 51st Street and Troost. Therefore, the information I posited in my previous post was also incorrect and my hostility about the issue unfounded. I was assured by our campus horticulturalist that our plants were "safe with them" and that that corner of Troost would just receive some sprucing up with a mortared stonewall in place of the amateurly constructed one that currently receives a considerable amount of abuse.

Still no news on whether UMKC will participate in the tulip initiative then.

The idea behind this plan is really good. Is it a major fix? No.  But nor is it a major investment.  The fact of the matter is that there are about 90% of the people in this city who would never even DREAM of driving down Troost BLVD because of the connotations associated with it and it being a historical racial "deviding line".  If you could have this beautiful street, even for a couple of weeks, that could attract people to see some of the great buildings in the area and some of the revitalization going on there, it could potentially inspire even a few more people to see the potential and get involved...it's a stair-step process.

Troost Avenue is a wonderful street.
There is nothing to be afraid of driving down it - i consistently drive up and down it from 39th street to 75th with my windows down in the spring - day or night.

the street that people should be a little frightened of, if they need to be frightened of anything (which they don't!) is Prospect Ave.  Troost is about as hostile as main or broadway.

I work for a flower bulb wholesaler, we just sold 50,000 tulips to Southtown Foundation for this project. We sold them as mixed but there will be certain beds that are all one color. It's going to be simply gorgeous, I can't wait to see it!!

I still wish it was "Native Plants on Troost" instead, but that doesn't alliterate, so, of course, it cannot be done....wha?

UMKC will be planting 4,000 tulip bulbs along its front of Troost on November 11th.

There are several groups getting together on November 4th and November 11th for major plantings.  While Tulips are a short-lived thing, it'll be nice to see how gorgeous they all are along Troost and hopefully get some good press and get some people who'd never dream of going down Troost to actually do it and realize that it's no big deal

Mayoral candidate Henry Kline made an appearance to greet volunteers planting tulips on UMKC's front of Troost this past Saturday morning and commented that he hopes to focus more attention on this corridor of the city.

Henry has been pretty active in this -- he was out and about 2 weeks ago on this.

Troost is showing small signs of recovery.  The blocks north of Linwood have been showing improvement. New sidewalks.  The Shankman Building has been cleaned up nicely.  The area north of 27th Street near the Beacon Hill entrance has been cleaned up and the land along Troost there mostly cleared.

The City should concentrate on building new housing on the east side of Troost north of 27th. It would do a lot to improve that section of Troost and hopefully the effect would begin to trickle southward. Those two or three blocks could be easily turned into a parkway since there isn't really any barrier to adding that type of landscaping.  The most rundown stretch of Troost is south of Linwood to Brush Creek -- about 13-blocks.  Then it's not too bad until one gets south of 63rd Street and starts getting into used car lot land.

There is a lot more than this going on on this stretch too.  Habitat for Humanity has put in probably 8-10 new homes (bungalow style that are affordable for the neighborhood and fit into the "feel" of the area) along Tracey and Forest (the two streets East of Troost) at around 33rd/34th streets.  Also, there are several of the 2nd floor-level apartments (above the abandoned retail) that are having lights on in the evenings and being lived in (a very new development) on the 3300 block of Troost.  I really hope the Tulip project will get some people who havent been on Troost in a while to see what is going on there and be interested in the area...can't wait until spring.

Yes, I've noticed the new bungalow houses on Forest and Tracy. For some reason, the front porches look weird and out of scale to me. Has anyone else had that reaction?  It's like the porch roof sits too low--sort of like someone who has pulled their hat down over their forehead.

So...any tulips?

Yes.  I saw something on the Sunday morning news about it. It looked incredible. I need to get over there and see them in person before they are gone.

Copious amounts! I’ve been meaning to post about it. They are in full bloom from 47th Street on southward- a very evident presence. Too bad they'll only be blooming for a little while longer.

I hope to have time this week to ride the length of Troost to see where else and how many tulips have been planted as a whole.

...I might go cut a few before the freeze kills them all.  (Shhh).

Tulips are cold hardy and can easily withstand to 25.

Tosspot-get out there with your camera.

-Please

I'll try to make an attempt. 

I am just curious. How do you plant and care for tulips. Can they be planted on the north side of a building? I am wanting to plant some around the hitch portion of my trailer.