Our Blog

Guest post by Nic Cormier, Education Intern

Until last week the garden bordering the lawn had not been worked in almost five years. A few previously planted perennials managed to keep a foothold among the abundant “weeds”.  Additional native flowers, sometimes considered weeds, were also uncovered. We plan to open it back up and bring some order to the garden once more. The goal is to make a garden that attracts birds and butterflies, using primarily native plants. We want this to be an educational tool for visitors as well, who will see what we have done/are doing and hopefully feel inspired and empowered to do something similar in their backyard.

Last week we took some time and cleaned out plants that we didn’t want in a ten foot by five foot section. We left the plants we liked and knew were beneficial to wildlife. Interspersed within these we planted Marigolds, Astilbe, Bleeding Heart, Foxglove, Snapdragons, Cosmos, Dwarf Spirea, Salvia spp. and Black-eyed Susan. We also released a Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, Sweet William, Mystery Plant (see picture) and Hemp Nettle. The plants that we put in (minus the Black-eyed Susan) were all donated from Pleasant Mount Farm. (Thank you Heidi!)

We also drew up plans for future gardens, and now we are looking for some plants that may be donated or sold at discount.  (The Museum is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, for contact info see www.birdsofvermont.org)

Here is a list of what were looking for:

Chokeberry- Aronia ssp.

Spicebush- Lindera benzoin

Columbine- Aquilegia ssp.

Butterfly Bush- Buddleia ssp.

Swamp Milkweed- Asclepias incarnata

Turtlehead- Chelone glabra

Fireweed- Epilobium angustifolium

Cardinal Flower- Lobelia cardinalis

Bee Balm – Monarda ssp.

We would greatly appreciate any and all donations and/or inquiries into places where we could get them. As stated before we are trying to make the garden as native as we can but we will not say no to non-native species, unless they are invasive.

Below is our mystery plant. Do you know what it is?

Guest Post by Nic Cormier, Education Intern

Last weekend, Erin and I took a walk around the gardens talking about what should be done with what and where. While we were in the more open section we noticed some interesting flowers that neither of us had seen before. They are round and some of them are multicolored, red, red/pink or pink/white. The unopened blossoms look very much like green Sea Anemone’s (spiky and round). There are also 2 other flowers we don’t quite know what they are, both are growing in mostly shaded areas and are about 2 to 3 feet in height. The first has leaves that resemble the Rosaceae family, like Sumac or Mountain-ash and at the top of the stem is a cluster of small pink/white flowers. The second is about the same size but has small pinkish flowers all up the stalk, the flower petals are pulled back like a Lilly and the anthers are long and black.

So far things we know we have are Bladder Campion, Snapdragons, Petunias, Thistles, White-Cedar, Christmas Fern, Sensitive Fern, either Ladies Fern or something like it, Wild Geraniums, Spotted Jewelweed, Blu Flag Iris, Yellow Iris, Bleeding Hearts, Forget-me-nots, Wild Bergamot and cultivated Bee-balm, Lasy’s Mantle, Lilacs, an ornamental Willow, Raspberries, Sedums, Dame’s Rocket, Lupines, Goldenrod, Milkweed, Oxeye Daisy, Chives, Wild Strawberris, Skunk Currant, Tall Buttercup, Creeping Buttercup, Self-heal, Ground Ivy, and of course Dandelions.

There are plenty more that we have not I.D.’d yet but were working on it. Our main goal is to have a Bird and Butterfly Garden of Native New England/Vermont plants and through this blog we can instruct people of the species benefited by the plants and hopefully get some feedback on what others have learned so please, we encourage all voices and opinions on this subject!