Our project is grand yet simple: put sunflowers all over the place! Mammoth Sun Movers’ mission is to create grassroots flower interventions in urban neglected spaces in Baltimore. We will grow each one in its own container and move them around to different locations in the city, erupting in small and massive flower installations. We are particularly interested in sites where light rail passengers and pedestrians are frequently passing, yet not noticing. This is the focus of our botanical oasis.

MSM is a mobile operation, where plants are grown in containers and are moved to spontaneous locations to create site-specific installations. All plants are adoptable, and can be taken home by visitors. Signs attached to the containers provide plant care information, a project description, and recruitment details encouraging individuals to get involved. The containers will be assigned individual numbers in an effort to track the movement and involvement of the community. Adopters can also post pictures, register their sunflower, or post comments to our website. Other guerilla gardeners can also post pictures of their own Baltimore city adventures.

Our flower of choice for this project is the Mammoth Sunflower which towers up to 15’ tall. Through our own experience as gardeners, this plant routinely commands attention in the garden because of its grand scale and “feel good” quality. They are the perfect symbol for this project because: they stand tall and proud, thrive in a variety of environments, are drought tolerant, attract pollinators, and are a food source for people and birds.

At times the city’s problems and complexities can seem daunting, but the sunflower is a straight-forward symbol of hope and light. In the crevices of the places you least expect to see flowers, along the undefined boundaries of neighborhoods, in the zones that seem to separate and distance people from one another, those are the places MSM want to infiltrate with Mammoth Sunflowers.