Despite the usual chance of a summer shower, the Eugenia Chapter’s July 18, 2024 yard tour at the home of Peggy Perkins proceeded as scheduled. 22 attendees enjoyed seeing the transformation Peggy has achieved in her yard since her retirement 3 years ago.
Peggy removed a large section of turfgrass in front of her home. Following a basic plant bed design technique, she created large and curving beds that are easy on the eye and inviting to foot traffic. Prominent among the plantings are wild lime, coonties, necklace pod, firebush, tea bush, river sage, as well as native grasses, and false indigo.
In her backyard, just beside the pool, she has a lovely bed with another wild lime, and other plants that attract and offer shelter to birds. In the winter, they put out a number of bird feeders and attract many birds, especially the painted buntings.
The tour ended with a lively auction, with the “star” being a rayless sunflower, Helianthus radula. Don’t be taken aback from the photo of the flower, pictured above. Pollinators still flock to it despite the absence of showy petals. When grown in a group, the long flower stalks are very mobile and eye-catching. Furthermore, the round, flat disc-shaped leaves (pictured below) form a nice mat that helps keep out other plants. Reading more about this great plant by clicking here will make you want to get it established in your native plant beds!
Much thanks to Peggy for hosting the yard tour and to everyone who brought plants for the auction.
ircnativeplants.org 