A new group — the Friends of Peck Slip Park — has taken responsibility for the plaza on Peck Slip at the Seaport, greening what was a largely blank canvas of stone. They have created a non-profit, are holding planting days, and will have their first event — a music performance with Church Street School — on Sept. 14.

The plaza — the friends call it Peck Slip Park, but the city designates it as a triangle or plaza called simply Peck Slip — was created in 2018, converting what was 0.2 acres of asphalt stretching from Front to South streets into a stone expanse with planting beds and benches. “At first it looked like a prairie,” said Mary Decker, a Friends member who toured me around. “It was just so sad.”

And not much changed until about four years ago, when longtime Seaport residents Caroline Miller and Eric Himmel gathered a few neighbors and starting digging. The goal was to create a pollinator garden, and the beds are now lush and tall with greens and blooms, especially after this damp summer.

“It’s hard to believe now, but we felt we needed to prove that it could be a garden, that native plants and shrubs could thrive there, that people in the neighborhood would enjoy it and show the park some love,” Caroline said. “And they have! When we’re over there weeding and watering people are very enthusiastic and supportive.”

The core group — about 10 — has put a few thousand dollars of their own money into the park so far — “we felt we needed to show that this could be an effort worth supporting before we started asking for donations.” Most of the plants and shrubs planted to date came from the Parks Department through the plaza’s assigned gardener, Nathan Urry. But it’s been a broader group of several dozen volunteers who have planted and weeded and, most important, filled out the watering crew especially while new plants get established.

The friends hope to add more events, to make it, as Caroline said, “a livelier center for the neighborhood.” Partnership for Parks helped them get things rolling, the non-profit was incorporated in 2022, and they just received their first donations this month. But they have yet to create a budget or a fundraising goal — they figure that will come in time.

And of course, they are looking to grow their numbers.

“We want to build a group that’s sustainable,” Caroline said, “by inviting new members and finding ways for them to be involved. There will be more opportunities as we get more established.”