SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES and PUBLIC PLACES
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The Berwyn Public Library, Berwyn, Illinois was gifted by the Berwyn Kiwanis Club to have Art and Linda's Wildflowers establish a prairie garden on the library's campus. |
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The area encompassing the three flagpoles in the front of the building was chosen to locate the garden. Easy access to the flagpoles is available for various civic and patriotic events such as Fourth of July and Memorial Day observances. |
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Notice that the garden is planted relatively sparsely. The Prairie Blazing Star, Liatris pycnostachya, planted to the right of the Kiwanis sign started in a small two and one half inch pot. Look at it now. It is about four feet tall with about a dozen flowering stems. |
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The tall Compass Plant, Silphium laciniatum, fits right in between the two of the three flagpoles and can reach a height of ten to twelve feet. Its name is derived from the habit of its leaves aligning in a north-south direction, like its cousin Prairie Dock, Silphium terebinthinaceum. The Compass Plant has flowers and leaves all the way up its magnificient stem. The smaller Lead Plant, Amorpha canescens, (to its right) is actually a scrub. There are not many short prairie plants. The Lead Plant fills the bill for something one to three feet tall. |
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The bright yellow flowers of the Sand Coreopsis, Coreopsis lanceolata, brightens up any garden and forms a nice clump. It is easy to grow and is not very invasive. |
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The Kiwanis Club of Berwyn, who graciously funded this project, also installed this beautiful informative sign. |
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Native prairie plants look great in the Winter, especially the grasses. To the left is Side-oats Grama, Boutelousa curtipendula. Note how its seeds all originate and hang down on one side of the stem. The mysterious-looking seed heads of the Illinois Bundle Flower, Desmanthus illinoensis, somewhat resemble a Gordian Knot. |
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Native plants can be identified by their unique seed heads even in the Winter. By Spring, all the seeds are usually dispersed or eaten by birds or rodents. |
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This is what I mean by grasses looking good in the Winter! The Canada Wild Rye, Elymus canadensis, arches over the smaller Prairie Dropseed, Sporobolus heterolepis. |
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Art was recognized at a nice luncheon for his outstanding work of planting the prairie garden. On the left is Reverent John Clark, President of the Kiwanis Club, and Minister of the First Congregational Church of Berwyn. In the middle is William Hensley, former director of the Berwyn Public Library, who has since retired. To the right is Good Old Art. |
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