The weather has not been our friend for a while at Hurley Park. Some weeks it seems like it cannot get any worse and then, Mother Nature proves us wrong.

Lately, we have had to deal with more rain than we can handle. Because of the issues, we have had to push back plans numerous times. Pushing back tasks does not make anyone happy. In this article, I want to talk about how we were able to finally do a monumental task, and that was planting over 2,000 bulbs at Hurley Park.

On the last day of November, we finally had a few days of sunshine to dry out our garden area to plant. Most gardeners know you have to have a dry planting area for bulbs. If you plant in heavily saturated soil, you run the risk of losing the bulbs to rot.

What is interesting is that we have been trying to get bulbs planted for almost two months but with delivery delays, weather, and getting the bed ready, we seemed to have hit every obstacle in our way. I know our regulars were tired of seeing heaping piles of soil and a large bare area from tree removals, so I am sure they were excited that we were finally working in the Koontz-Walser Daffodil bed.

One thing that is so special about Hurley Park is that it is really a community park. We have had so many people volunteer and donate over the years, and that is what makes Hurley Park thrive.

On planting day, we had five volunteers contribute over five hours of their time to help plant the entire bed. When they first arrived and saw the enormous bed, they all voiced that they believed it was an impossible task to complete in one day. Thankfully, they had enough tenacity and drive that we got the entire bed planted.

For that, I wanted to thank each and every one of them, including another helper who was pulled from our maintenance division. So, thank you to Extension Master Gardeners Carolyn Glasgow, Eleanor Sandifer, Bethany Sinnott, Kay Ball, Kim Curlee and Billy Waller. Without your help, this spring would have a lot less blooms. I cannot wait to let you all know when they start blooming as a small way to show thanks for all of your hard work.

If you have questions on how to help Hurley Park or how to be a volunteer, please contact us by email, phone or through our social media. For more information on Hurley Park, please visit: https://salisburync.gov/Government/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks/Hurley-Park, like us on Facebook and Instagram @HurleyParkSalisbury, or call us at 704-638-4459.