The Wildflower Association of Michigan (WAM) offers a grant every year with the goal of increasing the awareness of native plants for schools or communities. These grants can be used for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to: restoring native plant areas, educating about native plants with signage or constructing new native plant gardens for communities to enjoy.
Each project is evaluated on its feasibility and the impact it will make on Michiganders for growing their understanding and love for native plants. Native plants are the foundational support for the food web in Michigan as they developed alongside native wildlife and they support our local pollinators who rely on them for survival.
This year the Missaukee Conservation District (MCD) applied for and was awarded this grant with the goal of establishing a native plant garden in downtown Lake City for all citizens to enjoy.
The Lake City Legacy Garden was constructed this June at the First Presbyterian Church located at 110 S. Houghton St, Lake City, MI 49651. The area chosen to be transformed into this garden was a plot of underutilized turf grass.
With the help of a few hardworking volunteers alongside MCD staff, the grass area was scalped and three beautiful raised garden beds were established. Each garden bed is designed to highlight specific native plants. The Pollinator Garden Bed showcases species that specifically attract and support local pollinators including: Wild Bergamot, Black-Eyed Susan, Purple Coneflower, New England Aster and Little Bluestem Grass. Each plant was sourced from Birdsfoot Nursery which is a dedicated wholesale native plant nursery located in Northwest Michigan that specializes in providing native species from Michigan genotypes.
There is also a Butterfly & Bird Garden Bed with species chosen to attract these highly desirable creatures that add whimsy and beauty to any garden. The species included are: Butterfly Milkweed, Joe Pye Weed, Golden Alexander, Common Milkweed and Switchgrass.
The last garden bed is a Season Interest Garden Bed with species chosen so that there is almost always something beautiful to look at during most seasons of the year. The species for this bed include: Wild Columbine, Ohio Spiderwort, Stiff Goldenrod, Blazing Star and Prairie Dropseed.
Each and every one of these plants was planted by local homeschool students after the garden beds were established. The local Grove church youth group also came out during the summer to help with weeding and watering the garden. The most help provided was by Barb Iverson, leading member of the Native Plant Posse group in Lake City, who supported filling and establishing each garden bed and continues to help MCD maintain the garden throughout the summer.
This community garden took a community to construct it. In addition to all of our volunteers and partners, Ray Vassar and Lake City employees helped with consultations and even installed the educational signage at the garden. Morgan’s Composting (Dairy Doo) donated half of the soil to this project in their unwavering support of beautifying small Michigan towns. The governing members of the First Presbyterian Church were supportive of every effort to make this garden a reality.
The Missaukee Conservation District would like to invite you to visit this newly beautified community space. On Saturday, September 5th from 9am to 10am, we will be hosting our annual Monarch Tagging Workshop at the Lake City Legacy Garden. We will be teaching all about monarch butterflies and modeling how to raise or catch these wonderful creatures with the goal of tagging for data collection. This no cost event is a great way to visit this new community garden and participate in some beautiful citizen science.
• Missaukee Conservation District — Lake City Ripple Effect Festival
Date: Saturday, August 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Downtown Lake City, next to Forest Area Federal Credit Union
No cost, fun-filled family festival with games and giveaways. Come learn about water science and have a blast.
Contact our office with questions at 231-839-7193 or email missaukeecd@gmail.com
• Missaukee Conservation District — Monarch Tagging Workshop
Date: Saturday, September 6
Time: 9 to 10 a.m.
Location: Lake City Legacy Garden, 110 S. Houghton St., Lake City
No cost event.
RSVP: Registration is not required but very much appreciated. Please register by visiting https://www.missaukeecd.org/events, or contact our office at 231-839-7193 or email missaukeecd@gmail.com
• Missaukee Conservation District — Fellowship of the Forest
Date: Saturday, October 3
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Location: Missaukee Mountain, 6500 W. Walker Road, Lake City
Cost:$15 per person
RSVP: Registration is required. Please register by visiting https://www.missaukeecd.org/events, or contact our office at 231-839-7193 or email missaukeecd@gmail.com
Erin Horton is the Conservation Outreach Coordinator for the Missaukee Conservation District. For more information and to schedule educational opportunities, contact Erin at 231-434-5328, erin.horton@macd.org, or stop by the Missaukee Conservation District office, 101 S. Main St., Lake City, MI 49651.
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