Snapshots from a butterfly gardening workshop that I recently participated in at Philips Andover Children’s Campus. This wonderful program was coordinated with the Andover Gardening Club and Andover Memorial Hall Library. Many thanks to SHED educator Julie for inviting me to participate and for taking such great care of Charlotte while I worked with the kids!
Our alphabet garden at the Children’s Campus at Phillips Andover is coming along beautifully. In its second year, I’ll post photos later in the season as the garden begins to fill out and come into full bloom.
Thanks to Pam and her wonderful staff at Wolf Hill for locating our letter Q plant, the towering ‘Queen of the Prairie.’ She is a gorgeous beauty for the back of the border, growing 5 to 7 feet tall, with panicles of deep pink and purple streaked lacy foliage. Can’t wait to see this native bee and butterfly attracting beauty in bloom!
P is for Peachleaf Bellflower
Native Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) for the Hummingbirds
This week I, along with a wonderful group of volunteers, am installing the new butterfly and hummingbird garden that I designed for the Children’s Campus at Philips Academy Andover. We also got lots of help with planting from children and chickens. Chickens in the garden are lots of fun for the kids and I especially love them for the always excellent chicken poop fertilizer provided. The chicks were running freely around the new garden however, we were all watching out for them because the hungry mama hawk hovering in a neighboring tree was also very interested in the chickens.
Linda Shottes-Bouchard, the director of the children’s program, and I met this past spring at one of the lectures I gave in Andover. Linda is a true dynamo and wonderfully hands-on director–she practically hired me on the spot, and then organized the planting to coincide with this particular week, when 100 volunteers from Liberty Mutual are arriving throughout the week to lend a hand with campus improvements. More from the new gardens, including a Fairy Garden, coming soon!
