Welcome to the Carole Highlands Pollinator Gardens
The plants in our gardens are all native to this region. What this means is that the plants evolved together with local insects and birds, providing them with food (nectar, pollen, and seeds) and shelter (for insects that hibernate or lay their eggs in plant stems). In return, birds and insects carry pollen and seeds to other places, helping plants propagate. This is the Web of Life.
And guess what! We are part of it. Gardens like ours are in a network of pollinator “feeding stations”. Your garden, the garden down the street, and wilder places like the powerline meadow are all connected by birds and insects. Gardening with native plants is one of the most important things people can do to address climate change. This is especially true in urban and suburban communities like ours, where fields and forests have been replaced by roads, buildings, and parking lots.
There is other good stuff about native plants, too. They are perennial, meaning they come back year after year. They need no fertilizer and little water, because they evolved right here, in our climate and soil types. And they are beautiful! Even in the winter, the old stems are interesting to look at and remind us that spring is coming!
What plants are growing here?
Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa): 18 to 24 inches tall, orange flowers June-September. It is a host plant for Monarch butterfly larvae and a food source for native bees.
Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata): 6 inches tall, pink flowers in April-May. Attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, skippers, bees, and rabbits!
Bushy Asters (Symphyotrichum dumosum): 12 to 30 inches tall, dark purple flowers June-July-August. Attracts butterflies and native bees.
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida): 12 to 36 inches tall, bright yellow flowers July-August. Attracts bees for pollen and birds for seeds
Purple Cone Flower (Echinaceae purpurea): 24 to 48 inches tall, dark pink flowers June – August. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds love them; finches eat the seeds
Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium): 12 to 48 inches, blue-green stem grass that turns reddish-tan in the fall and looks beautiful all winter. Attracts birds and butterflies, and is a larval host to many skippers
Are there other native plants you would like to see in our gardens? Send an email to CHNAgreen@gmail.com