2013 School Butterfly Garden Project

The God-Given (Landscaping) Task

"What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. "(Ecclesiastes 3:9-15, ESV)

BEFORE

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to landscape a small area adjacent to the entrance to a school. I made a rough design of what we could do with the area, after creating a plant list with early spring and fall bloomers. The majority of the plants were purchased from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. Some other larger pots were from Finke Gardens, Early May, and one of my local favorites for natives, B&B Nursery.  My generous husband woke early before church one Sunday and loaded up a truckload of LinGro compost, then tilled it into our garden area a few days before planting. On a perfectly cool and cloudy planting day, my niece and I planted 50+ seedlings. She did a fantastic job, and was a much needed helper. We were blessed with rain the next day, which is wonderful for 'baby' plants. We are also thankful for the helpers who spread mulch around the garden. This garden is meant to be not only pretty, but a valuable educational opportunity for the children to learn the importance of native plants in our environment. 

50+Native 'Babies'

Laying it all out

Junior Gardener

'Hosary Garden' laid out hose for marking rosary path

 PLANT LIST

Perennials 

Smooth Aster (Aster laevis 'bluebird')

Heath Aster (Aster ericoides)

Aromatic Aster (symphyotrichum oblongifolius)

Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)

Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia speciosa sullivantii)

Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Wild Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa)

Helen's Flower (Helenium autumnale)

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'prairie splendor')

Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago rigida)

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Fragrant False Indigo (Amorpha nana)

Wichita Mountains Goldenrod (Solidago 'wichita mtns)

Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

Shrubs

Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)

New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)

Blue False Indigo (Baptisia var. minor)

Grasses

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)

We would like to raise money for a really neat bird feeding station to be the focal point of the garden and a way for the students to learn about and admire many different wild birds especially throughout the winter. I am a huge fan of the Wild Bird Habitat Store and the feeder they recommend for this garden is squirrel proof and also has a seed tray so seed doesn't go all over the ground. I am hoping we can get some teachers on board to help with the cost of this feeder to get it in soon so the children can enjoy birding!

Pricing Feeders

Welcome to UrbanPrairie!

Thanks for stopping by my new blog. I'd like to use this blog to raise awareness of native landscapes around our capital city and elsewhere on the plains that inspire me and bring back what God put here in the first place! I'll be sharing some of the projects I'm currently working on and some tips for you to get started with prairie plants. I'm still learning about landscaping but am committed to using native, drought-tolerant plants and have a special sweet spot for native grasses. If you were to put a name on my favorite landscape style, it would be "Colorado Casual." I'm especially interested in how our public spaces are landscaped. I believe that when visitors come to Nebraska, they should see the native species that belong here and feel a sense of place, much like we feel when we visit the mountains. Prairie is a very special environment that used to cover these lands, and as our knowledge of it increases, our appreciation for the vast ecosystem that prairie provides will grow.

“As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of winestains, or of certain seaweeds when they are first washed up. And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.”
― Willa Cather, My Antonia 

A view to the North of the "Weber Pasture" in our family. Imagine what it would have looked like 100 years ago, full of wildflowers.