‘Secret garden’ planted at Wilmington day care in time for spring blooms

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Joyful screams and chatter filled an outdoor classroom as children hopped from log to log, trying not to fall into the imaginary scorching lava on the ground below them.

The “Secret Garden” at the Learning Center at Madison Street in Wilmington, Delaware is one of the first nature classrooms in the city.

“It will definitely stretch their imagination, and it’s a better learning experience,” said Vanetta Tull, the day care’s director. “The little secret garden — they can do so much stuff in there. Girls can have little tea parties, or like they are right now, playing on the little obstacle course.”

The new outdoor classroom, along with a new pollinator and vegetable garden, in West Center City are among more than two dozen similar projects led by the Delaware Nature Society that aim to enhance communities and alleviate the effects of climate change.

The environmental group received federal dollars from the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund in 2023 to support the projects.

“This may be one of the only spaces that [the kids] have access to to actually be immersed in nature. And so, just being able to help provide that access for the community and to introduce some more elements of play,” said Kerry Wilson, the organization’s habitat outreach manager.

The vision was initiated by “Ms.” Caren Turner, who died in November after a battle with glioblastoma. Turner, a community leader with Interfaith Community Housing of Delaware, wanted to expand healthy food options among educational settings in food insecure neighborhoods such as West Center City, as well as plant pollinator gardens.

Before the project began, the playground at the Learning Center was unsafe, and a hole cut into the chain link fence allowed trespassers to enter and use drugs at night. The concrete area was barren, and barely used by the children.

Turner’s son, former Wilmington City Councilman Vash Turner, said his mother would be ecstatic to see the recently finished gardens, planted just in time for the spring blooms.

“This was a project that was near and dear to my mom’s heart, and she wanted to see it through,” Turner said. “Unfortunately, she won’t be able to see it, but we’re here in her honor and spirit to keep it moving.”

In addition to the nature classroom, the kids can enjoy a new pollinator garden. Pollinator gardens provide several environmental benefits, including heat absorption. It’s estimated that temperatures in urban areas can be as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in vegetated areas. Community gardens also can filter and mitigate stormwater, which climate scientists say is becoming more crucial as rainfall events are predicted to intensify.

“Spring and summer, it should really bloom,” said Kevin Winn, a landscaper who planted the pollinator garden at the Learning Center. “You should see a lot of butterflies, a lot of native bugs and things for kids to see and actually touch and feel. I really think it’s something these kids will really enjoy. When I grew up, we didn’t have nothing like this, nothing but concrete.”

The Delaware Nature Society’s Kerry Wilson said her organization hopes to continue to expand access to nature in West Center City.

“Enabling now the children to be able to go into these spaces in a safe way and explore and have their own self-discovery in nature I think can really lead to powerful benefits down the line, because they are gonna be our next stewards,” she said.