Check Out Our Photo Albums

January 2012. Our photo albums show some of what we've been up to since winter 2011. Mostly we've been preparing the garden in ways that aren't especially evident if you go there, but are crucial to making a healthy home for our future plants.

Last spring, we installed irrigation. Yay!

We've been working on correcting some very serious drainage issues. Yes, it was a clay swamp, but it will be a healthy vibrant butterfly garden one day.

We planted a trial morning glory teepee. The kids took to it right away. It will be a really fun thing to repeat in future years. This year, the kids aren't permitted to play in the "garden" too much yet until things are a little more finished up.

We planted a Dutch White Clover lawn. Even though we will probably have to turn the clover under, this will add a lot of nitrogen to the soil. We will keep the clover lawn inside the teepee.

We solarized weeds with lots of plastic and sometimes cardboard. Battling the weeds while we wait to get plants has been a tough job.

We put in place some of the plants from our wonderful garden plan drawn for us by landscape designer Jenny Carpenter.

We planted moonflowers along the righthand chain link fence. They did very well and showed us that the fence will look great bedecked in flowers--hopefully thornless roses in addition to annual vines one day.

We prepared a bed of Highlands-Blue spring bulbs. There are many varieties to give a long show. We hope they will prosper and propagate for decades to come. Can't wait to see them this spring!

Aspen's not the only winter playground

View from the Butterfly Garden, February 2011

Photos of Butterfly Garden in progress

To view photos albums of Highlands Butterfly Garden in progress as well as our landscaping plan (donated by landscape designer Jenny Carpenter), go to:

https://picasaweb.google.com/HighlandsGardenCommittee

Fantastic News

We are thrilled that the Parents' Auxiliary has voted to go ahead with irrigation for the Butterfly Garden.  This is one of the most important steps in putting in place the hardscape and probably the most important step in ensuring the garden's long term sustainability.  Thank you, Highlands School PA!!

Living in Clover

To replace the annual rye--which will die out as soon as the mercury (and/or Light-Emitting-Diode digital number) rises above 80 degrees, we are thinking of planting a clover lawn this first year in the Butterfly Garden.
Clover fixes nitrogen in the soil and attracts beneficial insects, thus improving the soil's longterm health and fertility. It is also an important food for certain butterfly larvae. There are several forms of white clover (trifolium repens) that form beautiful, green, low-growing, carpet-like groundcovers.
Plus kids love to make clover chains.
Wow!  All that in one little plant.
Check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifolium_repens