April 11, 2014: Please note, this display is temporarily closed for repairs.

Native Garden

Members of the Environmental Committee, with the help of an Americorps volunteer, have created a native garden/rain barrel educational exhibit at the annex building on the Solitude Museum property.  Thank you to Toadshade Farm for donating all the native plants for our project.

We encourage you to try some plants that are native to our area. There are some terrific advantages to planting native wildflowers.

First, native plants often require less care. They have adapted over thousands of years to the conditions in their native range. They require little if any supplemental water or fertilizer when placed in locations appropriate to them.  Remember to take both sunlight requirements and moisture requirements into account when planning the placement of any plants including native species.

Second, native plants often have fewer pest problems. By and large, native plants are adapted to insects and diseases that occur naturally in the area where they grow.

And third, native plants provide food for wildlife. Many birds and butterflies depend heavily on native plants.

Rain Barrels

A rain barrel provides two important environmental functions:

• Harvesting rain water provides an alternative to utilizing the drinking water supply for gardening and other uses, and
• The overflow from the barrel can be directed to a pervious area to help replenish groundwater supplies.

Rain barrels can easily be home made or you can purchase pre-made barrels.  Information can be found online.