MACON, Ga. — Earth Day is coming up this month. If you want to learn more about how to support the Earth in Macon, the Fringed Campion chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society has you covered.
Last summer, they began working on bringing a native plant garden to Amerson River Park, and now it's ready for people to visit. The garden is near the playground at the park.
President Carol Bokros said after a conversation with Macon-Bibb Parks and Beautification, they knew what should happen.
"It just made sense to put more natives in public spaces and Amerson is the place everybody uses, there is a great space here that would be perfect for what we had in mind and [parks and beautification] agreed, so I'm excited," Bokros said.
Society members hope the garden will soon be a warm spot for migrating monarch butterflies and a learning resource for people who visit the park. Native plants will also support the lives of native Georgia bees.
There are several different native plants in the garden from milkweeds to wild bergamot to Elliott's blueberry, and so much more. Many of the plants aren't flowering just yet, but will in a year or so.
Many of the plants in the garden are ones the society has rescued from construction sites through the Georgia Plant Rescue program.
Natives are important not only because they provide food for bugs and animals but they are also breeding grounds for many creatures.
Bokros says providing these spaces for reproduction is also important to saving certain species.
"One of the biggest lessons we want to teach in this garden is that bugs are natural. They're not our enemies, they're not monsters, they're part of the system and we probably couldn't survive on Earth without bugs," Bokros said.
She says if we want to help the planet, we could start with plants.
"Native plants are part of our natural ecosystem so if we expect to save pollinators and birds, because they're all connected right, if we expect to support the biodiversity in our own ecosystem we have to start with the native plants," Brokros said.
The Fringed Campion chapter is currently fundraising to make the native plant garden wheelchair accessible.
They're also going to have a few activities in the park during Macon-Bibb's Earth Day celebrations. For more information about it, you can follow their Facebook Page.