sweet auburn | 2024 volume i
Violet Path Improvements
By Andrew Gambardella , Associate Director of Grants & Communications
O ver the past 25 years , our centrally located Consecration Dell has undergone careful restoration and extensive care . The area now features native New England trees , shrubs , perennials , and groundcovers that provide year-round horticultural interest as well as food and shelter for resident and migratory wildlife . As part of our ongoing enhancement of the Dell area , the Mount Auburn horticulture team is now focused on the surrounding Violet Path and its impact on visitors and wildlife . The aim is to augment the infrastructure of the walking path while incorporating new native plantings in the neighboring shady slopes .
Last October , contractor R . P . Marzilli began work on Violet Path to address erosion control issues related to the path itself by reinforcing the walking surface with timber . Having this new structure in place enabled the landscape contractors to complete the final piece of this project in June 2024 . On the slope above Violet Path , workers installed plants such as native shrubs and perennial ferns , which were chosen not only for their slope-stabilizing qualities but also to support wildlife . The layered vegetation augments habitat for many species of amphibians , mammals , and insects . For example , among the featured plants is Common Sassafras ( Sassafras albidum ), which acts as a host plant for the caterpillars of the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly ( Papilio troilus ) that have been found nearby .
Due to the naturalistic environment at Consecration Dell , the new plantings will require time and maintenance to reach their full size and to fit together cohesively as designed . Thanks to grants from the A . J . & M . D . Ruggiero Memorial Trust , the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust , and the generosity of our loyal donors , we are able to complete this project with the utmost attention to quality .
As a vital update in one of the most trafficked areas of Mount Auburn , and as an extension of our ongoing efforts to incorporate native plantings for their countless benefits , this significant work on Violet Path is key to our mission and will greatly enrich our treasured grounds . The path is more than just a key artery that takes you from the historic core of the Cemetery up toward Washington Tower . It brings visitors into a landscape of solace among the “ sheltered valley … silent grove … lofty oak … rustling pine … and the wildflower creeping along the narrow path ,” as Cemetery President Joseph Story put it in his 1831 Consecration Address at the Dell . In doing so , it embodies Mount Auburn ’ s groundbreaking past , its industrious present , and its encouraging future . greater Service
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