Wild About Gardens!

During our November meeting, three members of the Warrenton Garden Club gave a presentation on the importance of gardens. While touring our school gardens with the Master Gardeners, students took notes and illustrated the different types of plants, especially those growing in our courtyard.  Our members learned how eco friendly gardens can be!

Gardens can attract wildlife.  Trees, flowers, bushes and even weeds can provide food for songbirds, bees, butterflies, frogs and other interesting wildlife. Our water garden and the plants in the surrounding gardens have become a sanctuary for wildlife, offering food and shelter to all creatures who visit!  We also learned about the importance of maintaining our gardens.

The Master Gardeners posed the following question to our ecology club: what would happen to our gardens if no one took care of them? We learned about invasive plants and how they can destroy native vegetation thereby impacting the ecological unit.  Not only did students identify invasive plants or "invaders," they learned how to get rid of them.

This wonderful presentation provided many hands-on experiences for our club.  We are very appreciative to the Garden Club for taking the time to visit our school. We are wild about gardens! Read our student comments...

Lambs Ears

Have you ever felt a lamb's ear?  Not the lamb, the plant!  Well, they are  actually weeds.  We learned from that these plants grow hair-like fuzz and can infest your garden in less than a week.  Even thought they are  fuzzy and cute, these plants can be very deadly to your garden. - Connnor and Lilliane

A plant called Lambs Ear smells like apples! - Allie

I found a fuzzy leaf and then a patch of it!- Mary

Zen Gardens

We learned about Zen Gardens .  They are made of sand.  The Japanese use sand for meditating and drawing.- Jacob

Mexican Sage

We learned about a  plant called the Mexican Sage.  The flowers smell horrible!- Emily

Bees like Mexican Sage.- August

Cork in our Gardens?

The "cork" plant in our garden isn't real, it's fake!  This plant was brought to America from another country.- David

Cool Maple Leaves

Did you know that maple leaves flip upside down before it rains?

- Lucas and Jason

For more information visit the following websites:

www.nwf.org/backyard/

http://www.wildlifegardens.net/

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/wildlifegarden/

http://www.invasive.org/eastern/