Journeywork

Rebecca McMackin (Rebecca McMackin) gave a talk filled with humor, hope, and fascinating nature facts last night at Haverford College.

She urged us to consider how restoring the ecology of a landscape not only makes it more beautiful but also more meaningful.

In her work at Brooklyn Bridge Park, her team's main design strategy was to pick an animal they wanted to have, research the animal's life cycle, and figure out how to provide that animal's resources. Their planting areas were then not beds, but systems they were setting in motion.

I enjoyed seeing an example of something Rebecca mentioned right outside Haverford College Arboretum: a magnificent swamp white oak with a "soft landing" underneath of sedges and Canada anemone. I saw this tree two years ago right after the groundcovers were planted, and it is a beautiful, dense carpet now, a living mulch.

Thanks, Willistown Conservation Trust, chanticleer, Haverford College Arboretum, and GreenWeaver Landscapes for bringing Rebecca.

Thank you to our volunteers who took in a few cool breezes while they w**ded in the meadow at Plymouth Meeting Friends School.

We checked out some of the native grasses and sedges that have flourished since we stopped mowing around the plugs we planted three years ago. We also noticed that the yarrow we planted has provided many seedlings. The mountain mint was buzzing, and we enjoyed the pollinator company as we chatted.

You can join us to w**d this evening, July 16, from 7:00-8:30 in the burial ground at Gwynedd Friends Meeting. To sign up: https://www.givepulse.com/event/893062

See what is blooming in the meadow we planted at Plymouth Meeting Friends School, do some w**ding, meet other volunteers, and eat a popsicle!

To sign up: https://givepul.se/7zat6u

One sloping Mt. Airy yard with less lawn to mow, thanks to the terrific team of volunteers that came together today to plant a dense array of native pollinator plants and a wild strawberry (Fragraria virginiana) groundcover!

Plants include: mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum and Pycnanthemum incanum), showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa), aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongfolium), butterfly w**d (Asclepias tuberosa), spotted bee balm (Monarda punctata), and Eastern bee balm (Monarda bradburiana).

Many thanks to all who planted and to the yard owner who provided the perfect snack--peaches!