More Details
This pollinator garden will occupy an open viewshed from the Lilly House on the Newfield Grounds at the Indianapolis Museum of art. The viewshed opens to the large lake on the property. This planting will compliment other pollinator planting already established within the Nature Park, creating an urban pollinator oasis.
The garden contains both beds of a single species and mixed beds of several wildflower species accompanied by native grasses and sedges. The species in the mixed beds were selected so that only a single species in any mix is in flower at any one time, thereby having the visual impact of a monoculture from the Lilly House. Each bed will have a spring-early summer flowering species, followed by a mid-summer species and finally a late summer-early autumn flowering species. This will create an every-changing pallet when viewed from the Lilly House. A somewhat moister swale contains tall native wildflowers of moist meadows, while soil mounds will create topographic interest and provide habitat for wildflower species that prefer sharp drainage. Species that tolerate partial shade will be utilized along the woodland edges on the periphery of the garden.
A variety of native shrubs are also incorporated into the garden, primarily along the edges and near the lake. These shrubs will provide additional springtime nectar sources before most of the prairie plants are in flower.
Site preparation was underway throughout 2020 with installation of the plant material schedules for the summer of 2021. Most of the herbaceous material is expected to mature and flower for the 2022 growing season.
