From CADL Stockbridge

Native plant garden coming to Stockbridge library

by Head Librarian Sherri McConnell

When you drive past the Stockbridge Library,  you will see a heap of straw where grass used to be. Believe it or not, this is my dream and folks from a group called Stewarding Stockbridge are helping me achieve it. I want to give a big shout-out to Kateri Fahey and Shelley Demerath-Shanti for helping me lay down the cardboard and spread the straw, and Laura Walsh for providing the straw.

We are establishing a native plant garden to highlight the beauty of Michigan plants and the ease of caring for native perennials once they are established. This will provide food and shelter to pollinators crucial to the health of crops and blooms alike.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, almost 80% of food and plant-based products worldwide require pollination. The Xerces Society, dedicated to conserving endangered pollinators, says that 28% of bumblebee species are in decline. Monarch butterfly populations east and west of the Rocky Mountains also have experienced a 74-80% decline. Monarchs, once a sign of summer, have become a rare sight in many gardens. With our new garden, the library will be doing its part to help these species, and many more.

This is not a quick process. All you’re going to see for months is straw. But this fall and next spring, we will be planting a variety of native flowers and grasses such as sky blue aster, nodding onion, purple coneflower, little bluestem and the delightfully named rattlesnake master. Once established, they will bloom and provide color throughout the growing season. Gradually other features will be added to the area such as steppingstones, mulch and educational signs.

In the meantime, enjoy the bright orange flowers of the tithonia or Mexican sunflower growing in the planter near the book drop. It will attract bees and butterflies until frost. We are gathering seeds from it, so if you would like some, come inside and ask at the service desk.

Capital Area District Libraries’ Stockbridge Branch is located at 200 Wood St. For more information, call 517-851-7810 or visit cadl.org.