Day 226

With the vast majority of our land being wetland and wet (sometimes even underwater) for a sizable chunk of the year, planting a prairie that way I have done at my school simply would  not work. Sometimes, you have to play with the cards you are dealt and while a beautiful stretch of prairie bursting with wildflowers offering a rainbow of color throughout the year is something we would absolutely love, it's something Mother Nature simply won't allow in our backyard. While our wetland will continue to produce a more diverse bounty of flowers and grasses as the restoration process continues, I am still hopeful we can include more prairie wherever it is feasible. Having the ability to restore, create, and enhance these two different habitats in our own backyard is a dream come true.

At our old house, we had a much smaller yard to maintain and develop. However, a small yard doesn't mean pockets of prairie cannot be responsibly added. Termed “microprairies,” as awareness and information distribution about the importance of native plants is increasing, many people are adding small gardens of native prairie plants in their yard for their attractive qualities and their importance to the wildlife native to their particular area. At our old house, I planted a microprairie along our back fence line and a more manicured butterfly garden in the front yard.  While small in size, it was not small in importance. We had many native insects visit these flowers including a ton of monarchs. We collected the monarch eggs and caterpillars as we found them. We raised and released dozens of these important pollinators every summer in our “little” front yard. Our much “bigger” yard, though mostly wetland, has more areas which can be developed into prairie. Could we add a pocket of prairie in the open lawn space covering the land in front of our pole barn? Could we add prairie plants in or around the garden? Could we expand our butterfly garden? Could we plant native plants along our property lines? Could we focus on the upland area behind the house which is a transitional space from regular lawn to wetland?  

Could we do it all?

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