Habitat

Due to changes in the environment, we have 50% fewer birds than 40 years ago. Monarchs, honeybees, and bats are all in precipitous decline. In our own (micro) way, the showcase is attempting to demonstrate things we can do to help the ‘4 B’s: birds, bees, butterflies, bats.

Dr. Tallamy, a professor and chairman of the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware explains, “We have to raise the bar on our landscapes…in the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”(NYT)

But it’s not just for the critters we should plant trees and native plants. In a New Yorker article ‘What is a Tree Worth‘, after controlling for income, education, and age, a study showed “an additional ten trees on a given block corresponded to a one-per-cent increase in how healthy nearby residents felt. To get an equivalent increase with money, you’d have to give each household in that neighborhood ten thousand dollars—or make people seven years younger…”

We’re taking the following steps:

1. Fifteen+ trees planted at the Micro Showcase (seems everyone is feeling a decade younger!)

2. Wildlife habitat certification

The lot recently become a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation (Feb 2015). Certified habitats provide specific food+water+cover elements for wildlife.

3. Butterfly habitat certification

The Micro Showcase is now a monarch way station approved by MonarchWatch.org. Here on site the following monarch-friendly species are planted and marked, the most important being the milkweeds (only milkweeds can serve as host plants, while the remaining species are all considered nectar plants):

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Salvia (Salvia spp.)
Bee Balm (Monarda spp.)
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Blazingstar/Gayfeather (Liatris spp.)
Catmint/Catnip (Nepeta spp.)
Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Phlox (Phlox spp.)
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

In the spring of 2015, a ‘micro meadow’ was planted with the following plants (sourced from American Meadows ‘native NE wildflower’ mix):

Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
Lance-Leaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)
Spotted Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium fistulosum)
Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella)
Ox-Eye Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)
Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis)
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Evening Primrose (Oenothera lamarckiana)
Beard Tongue (Penstemon digitalis)
Sweet Coneflower (Rudbeckia submentosa)
Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)
Rigid Goldenrod (Solidago rigida)

4. Honeybee hive

A honeybee hive was installed May 2015 to assist in honeybee conservation as well as educate visitors. Eventually there will be approximately 20,000+ bees in the hive. Additional flowers to those listed above help out the bees throughout the season: wisteria vine and Carolina creeper vine, zinnias, sunflowers, hollyhock, speedwell, verbena, anise hyssop, beard tongue, coreopsis, borage, and tulip bulbs. The small shaded flower garden includes asters, bleeding heart, geraniums, and a peony.

5. Bat and Bird habitat

The lot contains an OBC (Organization for Bat Conservation) certified bat house. Still waiting on the bats to find the house, though happily there are many that fly over the lot from the adjacent graveyard each night. The property also has several birdhouses on site and a hummingbird feeder.