MONA MAHADEVAN PHOTO
Under the heavy summer sun, Allie Douma carefully snapped wilting blooms off a dense cluster of daisies — a pruning process called “deadheading” meant to encourage renewed blossoming.
Douma, a summer intern with Urban Resources Initiative (URI), was joining a Wednesday afternoon ritual among Dwight neighbors of tending to the city’s smallest public pocket park, and nurturing community in the process.
Just .05 acres large, Rainbow Park is tucked between Dwight and Howe Streets at 72 Edgewood Ave.
Rainbow Park, founded in the 1960s by the late Dwight Alder Helen Leber, eventually fell into disrepair. It was revitalized in the 1990s by a group of neighborhood moms who wanted a safe and clean place for their children to play.
With the efforts of URI and Dwight volunteers, Rainbow Park is now filled with perennial flowers, evergreen bushes, and shady maple trees, all surrounding a figure-eight path where kids can ride their bikes.
Jane Comins watered the plants generously on Wednesday, hoping to compensate for the summer’s dry heat. She later picked up litter, pruned overgrown trees, and weeded the front of the garden.
Pat Wallace, who has tended to Rainbow Park since the 1990s, said its maintenance requires an immense amount of effort and a group of committed volunteers.
“It’s a living organism,” said Wallace, who lives next door. “It requires love and attention.”
Comins has helped steward Rainbow Park for over 15 years. This year, she is particularly proud of the garden’s mullein plants (pictured), which have grown taller than her outstretched hand.
In addition to offering refuge from the fuss of urban life, the park is the center of a tight-knit community.
When Michael Tenney stopped showing up for Wednesday’s clean-up days, Wallace called to check in. He stopped by this Wednesday and said he plans to return the following week, when volunteers will once again work to weed and water their beloved shared space.