Sustainability

^{Acadia students, Ted Morris and Katherine Waterbury, after an afternoon of planting for pollinators.}
Staff and students from the Acadia Community Farm, the Acadia Sustainability Office and the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens joined forces in August to establish a new pollinator garden at DeWolfe House on University Avenue.

The special summer project was inspired by the visit to Acadia University by Jane Goodall in April 2019 and is Acadia's first Roots and Shoots project. Roots and Shoots is a youth program inspired by Jane Goodall's message of hope and is focused on actions that make a positive difference for communities, the environment and wildlife.

DeWolfe House is home to staff from the Acadia Sustainability Office, the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens, the Acadia Community Farm and the Acadia Environmental and Sustainability Studies Society (ESST). The overgrown gardens were in need of much attention; many of the plants were non-native species and several others were damaged so it was a perfect candidate for an upgrade. It now features native species, such as Swamp Milkweed and Blue Vervain that attract pollinators.  

Pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are vital for agricultural production and for creating animal habitat and healthy ecosystems.  See below for the full list of beneficial species planted that can also be grown in home gardens.

Many thanks to the Friends of the Acadian Forest Society for donating all the native plants for the project. Stop by DeWolfe House to see the garden and our many pollinators enjoying their new native plants.

Native Plant List:

• Anemone canadensis, Canada anemone
• Asclepias incarnata, Swamp milkweed
• Eurybia macrophylla, Large-leaved aster
• Eutrochium maculatum, Joe-pye weed
• Lobelia siphilitica, Blue lobelia
• Penstemon hirsutus, Hairy beardtongue
• Rudbeckia laciniata, Cutleaf coneflower
• Verbena hastata, Blue vervain
• Zizia aurea, Golden alexander

For more information about these or other native plants contact Samuel Jean, Horticulture & Education Assistant, Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens.  

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