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Montana Garden
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Montana Garden |
Native Plant Garden
Gets a Make-over from Native Plant Society Members
By Sandy King
ZooMontana Volunteer
Every plant has a story to tell.
It is our objective at the Native Plant display
to encourage people to ‘read’ the stories
of the plants that surround them. But
first, like any bookstore and publisher
knows, you have to get the person to come
into the store and pick up the book. And
that is what we are currently working on.
First there is the storefront. Huge boulders
expertly placed in the slope now entice further
exploration and a beautiful path encourages
stepping into the garden. The
ground has been cleared, cleaned up and
kept weed free. Areas are being defined
for different ‘subjects’ such as: rimrock
plants, shrubs of the sagebrush, prairie
grasses, prairie
forbes, aquatic and
riparian plants, currants
and other fruit
bearing plants, and
short-lived, shortstature,
and seedling
plants. We still have
work to do such as irrigation
lines, sign
posts and more clearing,
but enough is
done to start ‘loading
the shelves’.
Now come the plants.
We have moved, removed,
and added many, many plants and still
have more to add! We hope the location of each
group of plants pleases and stimulates
interest. But what is a book without
a title? So now we have labels for
most of the plants currently in the display.
And what about publishing
those stories? We intend to install an
outdoor ‘book’ with seasonal sheets
containing plant biographies in a fun,
easy to read fashion.
You may have noticed a lot of ‘we’ in
this article. That stands for some very
dedicated volunteers and staff of
ZooMontana and the Montana Native
Plant Society as well as some great
occasional helpers. ‘We’ hope that
your interest is peaked and you come
and join us.
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