Plants Needed for Volunteer Eco Gardens at The Waldorf School of DuPage

Susan and Ronald Kopczynski have been working as volunteers with The Conservation Foundation and with The College of DuPage Horticulture Department to design and install native prairie and rain gardens at the Waldorf School of DuPage in Warrenville, IL since spring. This has been an all volunteer project. The labor, the plants and even the mushroom compost have all been donated!

The prairie garden. We removed all the nonnative plants except for the liriope on the south side and the Carl Forester grass on the north side. We hope to be able to replace those soon and fill in the blank areas with donated native plants.

A good reason to help this school is that they are growing gardeners! Most of the teachers are also gardeners. The students learn to start & grow veggie seeds in 2nd grade. The third graders plant those seeds and grow them in their raised veggie beds. They also start learning botany in third grade. All grades have outdoor classes where they learn to appreciate nature. They even raise chickens! These gardens will be used as teaching gardens. The students will learn to identify the native plants and help to care for them.

The rain garden. The lawn was smothered with cardboard and compost, then natives were planted through it.

The projects are nearly finished for this year but they do need more native plants. Can you help? If you have any of the following plants to donate please email Sue Kopczynski at [email protected] or call her at 630-881-6888.

Amorpha canescens – Leadplant
Anemone canadensis – Meadow Anemone
Antennaria plantaginfolia – Pussytoes
Asclepius incarnata – Swamp Milkweed
Asclepius tuberosa – Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepius verticillata – Whorled Milkweed
Boltonia decurrens – Dolls Daisy
Camassia scilloides – Wild Hyacinth
Chelone glabra – Turtlehead
Dalea purpurea – Purple Prairie Clover
Gentiana andrewsii – Bottle Gentian
Geum triflorum – Prairie Smoke
Hibiscus laevis – Rose Mallow
Hibiscus moscheutos – Swamp Rose Mallow
Liatris spicata – Marsh Blazingstar
Liatris pycnostachya – Prairie Blazingstar
Lilium michiganense – Michigan Lily
Lobelia siphilitica – Great Blue Lobelia
Monarda bradburiana – Eastern Bee Balm
Monarda fistulosa – Wild Bergamot
Silphium terebinthinaceum – Prairie Dock
Silphium integrifolium – Rosinweed
Symphyotrichum laeve – Smooth Blue Aster
Schizachyrium scoparium – Little Bluestem
Deschampsia cespitosa – Tufted hair grass
Ilex glabra – Inkberry
Thuja occidentalis – Arborvitae