Submitted by: Dave Benn
Many of our members have told me how much they enjoy Marge Pasch’s Butterfly/Pizza garden, and I’ve witnessed many folks viewing this garden before and after Sunday services. On Saturday, May 6, when Marge was working on the UU Kid’s pizza garden, she had the help of Tyler, one of the Medievals, who dug holes for basil and parsley plants and watered them. The next day when the Medievals planted a dogwood tree behind the Church and toured the RE gardens, Tyler was able to tell the other children about the basil, thyme, peppers, Roma tomatoes, oregano, and chives planted there and how these plants are used in pizza sauce.
In addition to the Pizza Garden, Marge’s plantings include a Butterfly/Bee zone with species chosen to attract and feed pollinators. Be sure to tour the gardens through the summer to see the great variety of pollinators coming to drink nectar from the flowers. There are many kinds of bees and other flying insects that pollinate, and we even see some “crawlies” doing their thing in her gardens. Last summer the kids spotted a box turtle in the back yard, and last Sunday a rat snake made a brief appearance.
I’ve heard some comments about the “weedy” slope on the left side of the entry drive (across from the Memorial Garden) to the effect that it looks “messy.” Yes, it does look messy, mainly because we were not able to burn it last winter due to the drought’s fire restrictions. A prairie habitat is being developed on this very dry, steep slope, and prairie needs to be burned every couple of years to discourage invasive species (mimosa, trumpet vine, etc). Several wild prairie flowers have appeared for the first time this summer. In April there were bunches of bright yellow flowers (coreopsis), and now there are tall plants with narrow yellow petals (yellow cone flower), bunches of pale purple flowers (wild bergamont—bee balm), lots of tickseed (tiny white flower), a tall thistle, yellowish-orange flowers with dark brown centers (black-eyed susan), and maturing blackberries. At the south end of the prairie near the steps a sumac is thriving. Stay tuned as other prairie flowers appear into the fall and watch for an announcement of the prairie burn this winter (weather pending of course).