Care of Creation Grounds Committee – September 2017
Last fall, as part of a StormWater Wise matching grant from Arlington County, we dug up the turf along the steep hillside on either side of the front entrance of the church and installed a rock garden. We planted a variety of native plants, which were designed to be low maintenance, require no fertilizers or pesticides, require little or no watering once established, and most importantly, intercept storm water runoff and increase habitat value. Plants were chosen to be adapted to the difficult conditions on a sunny slope and to span a range of flowering times to have something in bloom throughout the spring, summer and fall.
The pink phlox (Phlox subulata), blue violets (Viola sororia), and purple creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) provided some early spring color; the bright red beebalm (Monarda didyma), Monarch-friendly orange butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), and yellow of the threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) finished up their mid-summer blossoms; and we’re still enjoying the black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida), fragrant goldenrod (Solidago odora), tiny white flowers of mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), and the bright blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum). The late purple asters (Symphyotrichum patens) are just beginning to bloom. We also included a wood sedge (Carex sp.) and little blue-stem (Schizachyrium scoparium) to provide some continued winter interest.
In just the first year, many of the plants have become well established and well adapted to their new home. Native plants provide the living landscape of food and shelter for native insects, butterflies, birds and other animal species. Please take a moment to observe a native insect, butterfly or bird making use of the native plant garden!
Caroline Haynes