Thank You MATC for Juneau Park Plantings!

By jan schultz on Oct 10, 2010

MATC biology students plant recently donated prairie and woodland wildflowers at our growing Juneau Park Native Plant & Pollinator Garden - and - the official partnership sign is installed.

On a sunny fall afternoon, students from Jill Crowder's Environmental Science class at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) lent a considerable hand to the Juneau Park Native Plant & Pollinator Garden. The students weeded and also planted many prairie wildflower plugs that were recently donated by the Prairie Nursery of Westfield, WI. And as they planted, Monarch butterflies - important garden "customers" - took time out on their migration southward to park on the prairie plants and feed. The winged travelers seemed to favor the striking purple to lavender New England aster (Aster novae-angliae) that day, which had been planted in the garden the previous year.

Professor Crowder explained that through her class she tries to involve her students in activities that help them to see how important their actions can be in relation to nature. She also wants them to understand that people often feel that a project is overwhelming and beyond reach at first, but eventually the project becomes manageable. When Jill discussed the project with her students they were interested but had not seen the site. When they arrived, along with a truck full of thousands of plant plugs and numerous weeds to remove, the student response was "wow - a lot of work here". However, they finished for the day they felt that they had accomplished a task of great value through teamwork. Indeed they had; thank you so much MATC!

In addition to these activities, an interpretive sign discussing pollinators and their importance was installed at the site that day. The design for the sign was developed by the Huron Manistee National Forest in Michigan. It's lovely. Come take a look!