Please save the date for the fifth annual Yarden Tour, an event that celebrates the outside spaces of our neighborhood, from the exquisite flora and fauna of our gardens and parks to the health and balance of our ecosystems and biodiversity. In 2024, we announced that 100% of ticket sales for the event would feed into our parks; thanks to ticket purchasers, we were able to raise $10,000 to do just that!
Want to help support our parks in 2025? Mark your calendar and attend the Yarden Tour on May 10, 2025. This event is traditionally hosted on Mother’s Day weekend (bring your mom or mom figure!) and showcases various styles of yards and gardens. Each property features a Master Gardener to answer any landscaping-related questions, as well as music, food, and
vendors scattered throughout the properties.
Below, learn more about how we used last year’s $10,000 to invest in our neighborhood’s beloved parks, and find inspiration for how you can be a part in 2025!
John Murray Forbes Park: $4,000
This riverfront destination at the base of King Street is a secret enclave and entry point to a pedestrian-friendly walkway with some of the best downtown views in Riverside. The public space, however, was used for staging construction equipment and other heavy machinery while improvements were made to Ascension St. Vincent’s next door. Meanwhile, local landscape architect Rick Pariani designed a clever layout to incorporate the history of John Murray Forbes, the northern railroad owner who purchased and platted the land that would become Riverside, to activate the public space after the hospital construction, now complete. JaxParks planted trees, created new sidewalks, and fabricated concrete seating in the park, and local private donor Charitable Playground Solutions paid for the new masonry planter. The RAP Parks Committee donated the lettering on the new planter and will continue the activation of the space in the near future with yoga and other mindful activities.
Riverside Park: $2,500
Riverside Park Steward Maggie Theoni (pictured third from right) has been hard at work improving the park’s entrance at Park and Post Streets. Elevating the canopy, removing moss, clearing unhealthy vegetation, working with COJ to repair irrigation, and hosting regular park cleanups are just a few of Maggie’s accomplishments. Once again, landscape architect Rick Pariani was recruited to help, creating a tiered design to enhance the entrance of the park for a short time until a more meaningful knee wall and signage can be installed by COJ. Funding by the RAP Parks Committee covered the cost of new shrubbery and installation by native plant experts from Wacca Pilatka.
Peace Memorial Rose Garden Park: $250
While we wait on the installation of a world-class Labyrinth (coming soon!), the Friends of the Labyrinth Committee decided to cultivate the park for roses to perk up the place in the interim! Instead of traditional roses, which require heavy fertilizer and daily maintenance, we chose the native Florida Cracker Rose for planting in Fall 2025.
James and Downing Park: $400
James and Downing Park Stewards are eager to see improvements in this treasured neighborhood oasis. Earlier this year, the RAP Parks Committee hosted a community meeting in the park to gather ideas from residents. The community’s vision is to maintain the area as a passive space, improve the existing amenities (benches and trash cans), incorporate a naturalized pathway bordered by small groundcover, and designate no-parking zones. While the remainder of this plan advances in 2025, Park Steward Brad Uztka has already incorporated a new border around the mosaic street marker.
Call for Artists!
Riverside Avondale Preservation is excited to announce an open call for artwork to represent the upcoming Yarden Tour, a celebration of the lush gardens in the historic Riverside Avondale neighborhood. This annual event attracts garden enthusiasts, plant lovers, and community members to explore the beauty of Riverside Avondale’s private gardens, and we are looking for an original, captivating piece of art to capture the essence of this vibrant event. Learn more here!
