Kneeling down beneath the shade of an old cottonwood tree at the corner of Niblack Boulevard and Washington Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, natural resources specialist Will Drews pointed out some of the perennial species growing in the small patch of mulch.
“This is one of my favorites, the Illinois bundleflower,” he said, carefully reaching down to cradle the delicate plant. “It has these finely divided leaves with almost a fern-like appearance. It's a cool native plant for our area that's very drought-tolerant.”
The Illinois bundleflower is one of several species native to the Hoosier state that are taking root in the Knox County Cooperative Weed Management Area's new native flowers and grasses garden at Gregg Park.
Tenants in the garden are grouped in threes, Drews explained, and include flowers as well as hardy prairie grasses that love the sun.
Peeking out of the ground are young plants including radiant black-eyed Susans, fragrant Virginia mountain mint, native sunflowers that have not yet flowered, and milkweeds, a favorite of the monarch butterfly.
Some of the native plants dotting the space, Drews noted, will be up for sale at Nature Days, set for July 29 at the Ouabache Trails Nature Center, 3500 N. Lower Fort Knox Road.
The garden was planted by the cooperative, with support from the Vincennes Parks and Recreation Department, to show the community that native species are not only beneficial to the environment, but they have a certain aesthetic quality as well.
“There are all kinds of bad, harmful things you can do for plants, but our group thought that we needed to do better at actually having things we can promote, like our native plants that have been here since before the arrival of European settlers,” Drews said. “We want to have these types of plants available so people can use them and not worry that they'll be problematic. We want people to see how attractive some of these plants can be so they might be able to visualize it in a garden setting versus in the wild.”
The cooperative looks after the garden for now, Drews said, though it will eventually be able to maintain itself.
And while the garden is still young and shows some signs of insect damage, it's actually progressing quite well.
“We see that actually as a good sign,” Drews said. “For the most part, a little bit of insect damage doesn't affect the plant too much.”
At some point down the road, the cooperative will install signage to identify the garden and each plant growing within it. Drews believes the site would be a great place for educational programs about nature and native plants sometime in the future, too.
Until then, he hopes that passersby will stop by and take a peek as the garden flourishes.
“It's really cool that we actually made this happen,” Drews said.