Welcome to The Waystation
Welcome! Right now things are just beginning to wake up at the Waystation so here is a little bit about your gardener.
My name is Anna and I've been a plant person my entire life. I was raised on a produce farm, a little over an hour west, where my parents still farm to this day (since 1997!). While I don't have a formal degree in plants and bugs, I have a lifetime of experience and a passion for conservation.
This lovely flower patch (and the rest of my gardens) is a registered Monarch Waystation and is comprised mostly of native plants, but a few other plants support our pollinators as well. I look forward to sharing those with you as they come into bloom!
Last summer, the garden was planted with:
- Four varieties of milkweed
- Three Blanket Flowers
- Two Goldenrods
- Two Pasque Flowers
- Three Bee Balm/Wild Bergamot
- Three Tickseed
- One Baptisia
- Two Obedient plants
- One Liastris
- One Aster
- One Hardy Geranium
- One Coneflower
- One Rudbeckia
- One Little Bluestem grass
- And Two Sedums
That's a lot of plants! Now, not everything has begun to emerge and I expect we lost a few over the dry winter. However, the Pasque Flowers, Bee Balm, and Goldenrods are off to a promising start! As for the milkweeds, we likely won't see them until mid-May.
You may notice I don't tidy things up right away; many beneficial critters make their winter homes in the piles of leaves and even in hollow stems, so I leave much of that until things are consistently warm in the spring. Well, as consistent as Nebraska weather can be!
In the waystation, there are two fountains that provide a regular water source for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife (and the occasional neighborhood dog). I often sit and watch the birds enjoy a morning splash!
I look forward to sharing more with you this growing season 🦋
All the best,
Anna
