OAKLAND — When the work of the Oakland Flower Volunteers is done, everyone in town knows it.

Twice a year, three dozen volunteers plot and plan how they will fill the various flower beds in public spaces around Oakland — at the police and fire departments, at the Town Office, at intersections on Main Street, near the “Welcome to Oakland” signs and planters throughout town — to bring joy to those who drive or walk past them.

Volunteers can choose their flowers and design their beds as they wish, drawing from garden standards like chrysanthemums, petunias, sweet potato vines, marigolds, geraniums and zinnias. The group purchases flowers, with the town’s support, from Pierce’s Greenhouse on Belgrade Road.

It’s not just planting pretty flowers. Some of the volunteers’ responsibilities include scraping off the beds after winter, replenishing soil when needed, weeding, deadheading, planting and fertilizing the flowers, as well as watering on the weekends and holidays. Unless it is raining, Prudy Marcoux can be seen Monday through Friday driving around town watering the flowers on her Kawasaki MULE side-by-side.

Jean Ponitz, the assistant director, said the town and community have been very supportive of the group’s effort. 

“Be sure to be on the lookout for the tulips on the islands, which we will plant this month and should bloom in March or April,” Ponitz said.