Mario Bautista
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Steward of the Morton Civic Center Habitat Garden, Doug Macdonald, center, guides the garden tour. Credit: Joerg MetznerDoug Macdonald, steward of the Morton Civic Center Habitat Garden, led about 30 visitors on a tour of the garden on Sept. 26, a beautiful early fall afternoon.
The garden was festooned with a lively display of smooth blue asters filled with the activity of visiting bumblebees and several monarch butterflies. The occasion celebrated seven years of the growth of the natural area at the Civic Center at the corner of Ridge Avenue and Leonard Place, plus the creation of a map of the garden by Peter Laundy.
Visitors were treated to Macdonald’s broad knowledge of the plants and stories about their relationship with insect and bird life. The beautiful and unusual closed gentian, for example, cannot be pollinated unless visited by a very large bumblebee that is strong enough to pry open its tightly closed blue flower.
In the spring of 2017 in an area of weedy turf grass, Evanston city workers and volunteers planted the garden, installing Illinois native plants that can be grown in the home garden. Landscape architecture firm Living Habitats oversaw the planning and planting process, hired by the city to provide design and management advice and order the plants.
Today, 82 plant species form the assemblage that attracts a diverse range of birds and insects. Upkeep is provided by a group of dedicated volunteers who meet every Thursday afternoon during the growing season.
“Our great volunteers are the mainstay of the area,” Macdonald said. “Without them, the garden wouldn’t survive.”
Funds for the garden came from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as part of the North Shore Channel Habitat Project. The grant’s purpose was to demonstrate gardening with native plants for migratory bird habitat, using layers of vegetation, density and a diversity of species.
Wendy Pollock, a former Evanston Environment Board co-chair and volunteer steward at the Ladd Arboretum, added that another motivation for creating the garden “was to enhance public use of areas along the Channel and strengthen the capacity for stewardship of natural areas by residents and staff alike.”
For this particular garden, she said, “the idea was to establish a presence right in front of the Civic Center to demonstrate the possibilities of native plant gardening as part of the City of Evanston’s commitment to expanding natural habitat on public lands.”
This was the first tour of Evanston Natural Areas managed by volunteer stewards on Evanston public land. Other areas run by volunteers are the Jens Jensen Gardens, Clark Street Beach Bird Sanctuary, Ladd Arboretum, Harbert-Payne Park, The Evans at Canal Shores golf course and Lovelace Park.
Thursday’s visitors left inspired by the beauty and the variety of the garden, the map and the hope for additional similar gardens. Future tours will be scheduled to show off the benefits, successes and challenges of Evanston’s other natural areas.
Disclosure: Wendy Pollock leads the RoundTable’s Climate Watch column and writes articles about climate action and sustainability.
