New at Noroton Heights Railroad Station: A Garden of Native Plants

Nature is alive at the Noroton Heights train station. There are fresh new plantings of native shrubs and plants with fragrant blossoms attracting bees, butterflies and birds.

— an announcement from The Commuter Action Group

The new plantings are the work of Darien’s Beautification Commission and a grant from The Commuter Action Group, a rider advocacy group founded by Darien’s Jim Cameron.

“Commuters deserve a break,” Cameron said. “I’m so glad we can bring a little beauty into their time at the train station. The area around the station is blighted from years of abandoned buildings awaiting demolition. Anything we can do to improve the appearance is a plus.”

“We were very happy when Jim approached us,” said Beautification Commission Chair Juliet Cain. “We worked with our team and planned a beautiful native garden to include Anise Hyssop, Pink and White Coneflower, Pink Silene, Butterfly Weed and Chokeberry.

“There is still a lot to do to remove invasive plants, weeds and overgrown ornamentals. It will be a work in progress for some time but the end result will be a haven for pollinators in the most urban of settings.”

Despite the heat and drought, the plantings to date are thriving and their pollen is attracting monarch butterflies, native bees, honey bees and small birds.

If any commuters are interested in helping to tend the gardens under the Beautification Commission’s guidance, contact CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com.

The Commuter Action Group is a rider advocacy group founded in 2015 by Jim Cameron, member of the Darien RTM and Program Director of Darien TV79.

The Beautification Commission is a town body tasked with “maintaining and improving the physical appearance of Darien.” They are responsible for plantings on 30-plus traffic islands in town as well as 244 flower hanging baskets in downtown.