Wildflower Meadow Returns to 123 and Parade Hill Road

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After facing a few difficult years, the wildflower meadow over on Route 123 has graced the town with one of its most spectacular blooms in years.

The wildflower meadow at Route 123 and Parade Hill Road in the summer of 2023. Credit: Connor Markey

Mose Saccary, highway superintendent in the Department of Public Works, and his team are the green-thumbed masterminds behind the gorgeous display at the Parade Hill Road intersection, going out and planting new annuals each year to bring a little bit more color to New Canaanites’ morning commutes. 

Saccary described his original thought process for planting the meadow, saying “it was an area that was looking unsightly, and maintenance, you know, it had to be mowed and stuff, and the way it’s set up, it just looked like a good place to put a wildflower field in.”

The wildflower meadow at Route 123 and Parade Hill Road in the summer of 2023. Credit: Connor Markey

While the DPW effort has been going on since 2014, it hasn’t always fetched the desired result. In 2016, Saccary and his team were puzzled as to the lack of flowers blooming despite their work. 

It’s not just luck that this year’s bloom is notably more impressive than past years. Saccary attributes part of its success to the suggestion of one of his employees, Jeff Mannella, to double the amount of seed in the field. 

“It came back very nice,” Saccary said. 

Although it may have been his idea, maintaining the meadow is far from a one-man job. 

“It’s a group effort,” Saccary said. “We actually do everything together here.”

The wildflower meadow at Route 123 and Parade Hill Road in the summer of 2023. Credit: Connor Markey

Those with a keen eye will have noticed that the flowers present in the meadow are different every year. (The New Canaan Garden Club took inspiration from the “Mose Meadow” to plant a similarly beautiful one in Irwin Park.) While his team plants annual flowers every year, they also planted several species of perennials, which Saccary said will take two years to come up. 

“This year we’ll only get annuals,” he said. “Next year we should get a completely different show, and during this fall we’re going to reseed with annuals.”

After tending to the meadow for so many years, Saccary has noticed some interesting patterns in the flower blooms. 

“What happens normally is one of the species of flower will dominate,” he said. “We’ll get all daisies, or brown eyed Susie’s, or something like that.”

One of the species most prominent in this year’s bloom is milkweed. 

“It doesn’t give you a lot of color, but it’s great for the monarchs,” Saccary said. “It’s a key source for them.”