Looking back on midsummer, the weather gave us a welcome break for our tour on Sunday, July 24. At meeting time, the temperature was in the low 70’s – a great respite from the previous week’s highs in the upper 90’s, especially since there wasn’t a shade tree in sight!
We gathered – twelve Wild Ones and their friends – to hear the story of how Cherry Creek between Quebec and Iliff was transformed from a field of dead trees and waste dumps to a gently meandering stream channel with freshly planted meadows of native plants.
Our tour director, Jessica Anderson of Denver Parks and Recreation, assembled a group of two plant ecologists and a civil engineer from the design team to explain the whys and hows of what they had done. We saw more than a dozen species of blooming forbs and numerous native grasses starting to cover the bare ground. We also saw lots of weeds and learned how the City is actively controlling them now and plans to continue in the future.
We all left with an appreciation of the complexity of the project and were impressed by the City’s commitment to using native plants.
Curious to learn more about transforming your garden into a habitat with Colorado native wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees? Check out our native gardening toolkit, register for an upcoming event, subscribe to our newsletter, and/or become a member – if you’re not one already!