From: Eric Riddle
Columbus
Happy National Pollinator Week, June 19-25! I want to thank St. Bartholomew Catholic Church for inviting local landscaper, Kim Rayburn, and me to speak on June 19 at the first of a series of community presentations inspired by Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si” encyclical on the environment.
The subtitle of the pope’s writing is “On Care for Our Common Home.” I’m not sure if there are many more important things in life than being stewards for the great ecological gifts we have inherited from our ancestors. Caring for this creation and ensuring an abundance is shared with our descendants is the responsibility of the present generation. Using ecologically beneficial plants is one of the best ways to participate in stewardship efforts.
At the presentation, we shared the importance of using native perennial plants in our public and private landscapes, making sure there is a diversity of plants that feed the local bee and butterfly populations. We discussed a number of resources, including the Indiana Native Plant Society, Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, and Missouri Botanical Garden websites. I shared my favorite phone app that I have found to identify plants, iNaturalist, developed as a joint initiative with the National Geographic Society.
If you are interested in learning more about native plants, I encourage you to visit Blackwell Park, northwest of Parkside Elementary School. It is easily accessible by the People Trail. This year, a volunteer group, led by the Sierra Club Winding Waters Group, planted 14 new native plant beds along the People Trail between Blackwell Park and the new one-acre meadow next to the Columbus Community Gardens. This “AirPark Pollinator Path” has recently been designated as an Indiana Sustainable Trail by the Indiana Wildlife Federation.
The Sierra Club is planning an event this September to walk and bike the Pollinator Path to enjoy the landscape enhancements and highlight the pollinator-friendly plants that were chosen for the trail.
Caring for our common home is a joyful experience. Being inspired by spiritual, ecological, or aesthetic motivations are all reasons to get serious about caring for the environment. Our common home is the natural world and we have many fellow inhabitants to love. While some of your neighbors may need time to appreciate native plant landscapes, I assure you that all of the non-human life that benefit from your stewardship will buzz with gratitude.
