A garden oasis, left, at the intersection of Sabin, Francis and Dorrance streets, and hanging flower baskets along Burnside Park.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer The Providence Joournal / Tom Meade

PROVIDENCE –– Beauty is contagious, says Frank LaTorre, director of public space for the Downtown Improvement District

LaTorre’s workers, wearing the familiar yellow jackets, have planted flowers, herbs and vines in seven large open gardens and 60 concrete or steel planters throughout the downtown business district. They also have installed 248 hanging flower baskets throughout the downtown.

The planters were designed and built in Rhode Island, LaTorre said. The flowers, herbs and other plants were planted and grown by the Jacavone family of the Jacavone Garden Center in Johnston.

The horticulturists have visited each of the sites that have been planted to recommend plants that would be best for each area, says Frank Zammarelli, in charge of the beautification project.

One of the most dramatic gardens is in a median where Memorial Boulevard becomes Dyer Street, near Capriccio restaurant. It contains only petunias and lantana, and two, young white birches that echo other birches nearby.

The soil in the median had been starved of nutrients and overgrown with weeds, Zammarelli says. It took four days for a team of yellow-jacket workers to remove the old soil, replace it with new soil, and plant and mulch it. When the weather is sunny, the garden requires 400 gallons of water daily. Zammarelli designed a 550-gallon water tank on a trailer to water the gardens.

The tank also works to fill a new bird bath in a circular garden at the intersection of Sabin Street, Fountain Street and Exchange Terrace –– between Biltmore Park and The Providence Journal building. That garden includes several varieties of flowers and herbs.

The Downtown Improvement District (www.providencedowntown.com) has been working with the Greater Kennedy Plaza Working Group and the city’s parks department to refresh the trees and perennial gardens in Biltmore and Burnside parks.

“These parks are at the heart of our downtown experience,” says LaTorre. “To help beautify these areas and continue to develop them into world-class public spaces is a deeply rewarding project.”

DID has planted more flowers in corners of Kennedy Plaza that have been ignored. The group’s beautification team has planted young trees in sidewalks where older trees have died. Many sidewalk trees have received flowers around them. Workers also have mulched all the trees for a uniform appearance downtown.

Beautification is catching on, LaTorre says. Many business owners have noticed the work, and several have been inspired to install flower boxes of their own. Other businesses and building owners have sponsored DID flower containers. A new steel flower box, built by The Steel Yard, an artists’ cooperative, costs a sponsor about $1,800 the first time it is installed with flowers, says LaTorre. In subsequent years, the sponsor pays for flowers and soil only. The yellow jacket folks maintain all the plantings.

A shade garden on Matthewson Street appears to be part of the Hotel Providence, but it is actually a city-owned space, planted by DID. Unlike the bustling Biltmore and Burnside parks, the Robert E. Freeman Memorial Park next to the hotel has few visitors, even at lunchtime on sunny weekdays. Evening illumination makes it an enchanting space after dark. It is open to the public from 10 a.m. to dusk.

Other cities, including Nashville, Newark and Pittsburgh, have sent representatives to Providence to learn about how DID’s greening and beautification program works.

“This project is more than just about flowers,” LaTorre says. “It is a reflection of the renaissance of the downtown. It speaks to the renewal of spirit and pride happening in the downtown community. The life and vitality of the flowers reflect the vibrancy that now exists in downtown Providence. The flowers are a way of welcoming people into our downtown, to come and be a part of this exciting urban experience.”