This Earth Day Celebration was a community effort to restore native plant species to the environment around Buddy Attick Park on Saturday, April 24. Twenty-five volunteers worked for three hours with Public Works staff to remove weeds and invasive species, install native plants and mulch around planting areas.
The volunteers planted 15 different species, said Greenbelt Environmental Coordinator Kevin Carpenter-Driscoll, who led the effort. The plants included swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), a host plant for the monarch butterfly that prefers moist soil conditions; blue false indigo (Baptisia australis), a shrub-like perennial with beautiful blue flowers that is sometimes called rattlebush due to the noise its seed pods make in the wind; and scarlet bee balm (Monarda didyma), a perennial with a showy red flower that attracts hummingbirds and other native pollinators.
“The goal of this event was to establish these native plants in an effort to support the native pollinator population with food sources and habitat, and to increase biodiversity overall. It will take continued efforts to keep the weeds at bay while these new plants establish themselves along with the native plants that were added last fall,” Carpenter-Driscoll said.
He added that he was able to give volunteers commemorative posters that were generously donated by local wildlife photographer Graeme Simpson (graemesimpsonimages.com) and designed by Greenbelter Jean Newcomb. The posters had been made for last year’s Earth Day event, but were not used because of Covid-19.
In addition, Carpenter-Driscoll provided swamp milkweed for the volunteers to take home and plant in their own yards.
The volunteers included the Dora Kennedy Green Club led by Martha Leighty, students from Eleanor Roosevelt High School and Greenbelt residents committed to improving their local environment.
Carpenter-Driscoll said that the plants are available for anyone to purchase at local nurseries. He used Chesapeake Natives and Patuxent Nursery. “I also have a native plant resource guide on the city website,” he said. See greenbeltmd.gov/government/departments-con-t/public-works/green-steps-sustainability/plant-native.
