Don’t be surprised if you see Gretchen Cudak stop on a stroll through downtown St. Paul’s Rice Park to pull a weed or pick some trash out of a flowerbed.
Cudak, who was named the Saint Paul Parks Conservancy’s 2023 Rice Park Volunteer of the Year, has been planning, planting – and occasionally tending – Rice Park’s fine foliage since she joined the Saint Paul Garden Club in 2017. The club is one of the partners that helped raise $1.35 million for the redesign of Rice Park, which took place between 2014 and 2018. Cudak chaired the Garden Club’s Rice Park committee.
Since the park reopened in 2019, the Garden Club takes care of 10 massive urns and the south garden at Rice Park. The plantings in the urns are changed with the seasons, four times a year. Pine boughs and winter wonders will replace the fall flowers and vines on Nov. 9 and will be in place until April. The Garden Club adds annuals to the south garden’s array of perennials each spring.
On a brisk fall day in the park, Cudak talked about her love of gardening, how it feels to keep Rice Park a special showplace for downtown and a focus on the environment and useful plantings.
A special place
Rice Park requires a different level of maintenance than many other St. Paul parks, Cudak says. It’s a little more formal, a spot in the shadows of Landmark Center for lunches and meetings and community gatherings that spill out from the nearby Ordway Center for the Performing Arts or draw crowds to the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
“It’s different from what you see at other parks,” Cudak says. “We really want to keep Rice Park special.”
Cudak has created the floral designs for the park’s urns since the revitalization added seating and a more plaza-like vibe to the space. She sketches and colors her plans for the plants.
When the Garden Club puts out a call for volunteers to help with the seasonal plantings, there’s never a shortage of help, Cudak says. Twenty to 30 people show up to work every time.
Though she’s “rolling off her role” as the urn planting designer to focus on programs for the Garden Club in 2024-25, she’s not abandoning the blossoms.
“Everytime we did a planting, it was like a program,” Cudak says. “You can’t not learn from what we do.”
The neighborhood
Rice Park’s bright blooms and greenery are coordinated with the formal gardens in front of the nearby Saint Paul Hotel, the hanging baskets the city places throughout downtown and the park space near Landmark Center. Cudak is excited to see more park and plantings when nearby Hamm Plaza outside Ecolab is refurbished in the future.
Other Garden Club members keep an eye on the park and will report to Cudak if plants need watering (which is done by the city) or if there’s been vandalism.
There are some problems with a park in the heart of downtown, but “in general, people are so respectful,” Cudak says. “They love Rice Park.”
Cudak’s neighborhood
It’s not surprising that Cudak loves gardening at her St. Paul home, but says when the family first moved into the house, there was a bit of a power struggle – should space go to gardens or to a backyard hockey rink? Cudak and her husband, Chris, who works for Wells Fargo, have three grown sons – Austin, 31, is a hospitalist; Evan, 22, works in IT at Fraser and Elliott, 27, works at the Center for Energy and Environment; (and there’s Peaches, the family Golden Retriever).
Cudak says her mother was a gardener, so her own passion for plants sprouted early. She’ll often test plants for Rice Park in her home garden before working up the park designs.
The home garden creates community, Cudak says. “We garden with neighborhood kids,” she says, “which is special.”
And gardening is good therapy, she adds.
“It’s therapy: working with others and chatting as you’re doing it – instead of going to lunch, you’re weeding.”
The Garden Club
The Saint Paul Garden Club has also worked with projects throughout the city, including Swede Hollow, the Como Conservatory, Rondo Gardens and the Monarch Joint Venture (a group based in Minnesota that works to protect Monarch butterflies and their habitat along the butterflies’ migration path in the United States).
The Club focuses on the beauty of public places and looks at “what we can do in public places so everyone has access to beauty,” Cudak says.
“I want the Garden Club to continue to do that for St. Paul.”
Going native
The Garden Club is encouraging the use of native plants and works closely with the University of Minnesota, Cudak says.
She recently completed a waterfront restoration project at her family’s cabin in northern Minnesota. A barrier created with woven willow branches protects the shoreline from erosion. The “willow wattle” fence was staked into place and planted with sedges and native vegetation.
Waterfront restoration funds were available to help with the project, Cudak says, and she found people wanted to help with the work to get the word out. “Education is such a big part of it.”
Not only plants
Cudak is busy with other organizations, as well as the Garden Club. She’s on the board of directors for Fraser, an organization that provides autism, disability and mental health services.
“I’m really lucky to have found passions that sustain me,” she says.
Why volunteer?
“It’s so satisfying,” Cudak says. “You definitely get more than you give.
“Giving time to our parks is huge. How many gifts can we give where you get to see the results?”
Cudak challenges people to look for a park that’s special to them and get involved. Do some weeding. Pick up some trash.
“The city does the best it can, but they need our help.”
Volunteer in Saint Paul parks! From Wildlife Monitors to Park and Garden Stewards, there are ways to make a difference that connect you to nature. Learn more
Article written by Kathy Berdan. Urn Photos by Gretchen Cudak.