Members and friends of the Dayton Area Wild Ones are invited to help with projects in our community. Project work days are announced as needed; come as you are able to do so! Be sure to sign up to receive our newsletter and/or check our Facebook group for dates.
Here are some of the projects we do:
Beavercreek Station: In 2013 the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association established a Monarch Waystation along a busy bike path near Beavercreek Station and the adjacent Beavercreek 9/11 Memorial. Since then, this “wildscape” planting has received a lot of attention from people passing by, including City of Beavercreek employees who care for the landscaping at Beavercreek Station. In 2019, the City of Beavercreek contacted our chapter. They wanted to discuss the possibility of incorporating some of the native plants growing in the Monarch Waystation into the landscaping around Beavercreek Station.
In late winter of 2019, the Wild Ones Dayton Area chapter put together a landscape plan using all native plants for an area that had recently been cleared of overgrown shrubs. The City of Beavercreek purchased the plants, and chapter members and other volunteers installed them in July. The area is irrigated, so the young plants grew quickly. Two species of milkweed were included, and they hosted 18 monarch caterpillars their first summer, showing that a formal landscape can still provide habitat!
The planting includes coreopsis, spiderwort, butterfly weed, whorled milkweed, button blazing star, purple prairie clover, aromatic aster, New Jersey tea, meadowsweet, and little bluestem. Other native grasses—side oats grama, purple lovegrass, and prairie dropseed—were planted in groups to highlight their beauty and suitability for the home landscape. Each grouping of native plants has a small sign providing the botanical and common names of the plants.
While City of Beavercreek employees now care for the garden, Dayton Area chapter members and volunteers occasionally provide assistance with planned workdays.
Our hope is that this planting will inspire those passing by and that they incorporate native plants into their home gardens!
