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Native Gardens

There are two native gardens on the school property planted and maintained by the Green Team.

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Our goal is to increase native habitat on the school property to support pollinator diversity.  We have specifically targeted Monarch butterflies by planting milkweeds and a variety of nectar sources in our gardens, but these gardens also provide habitat for a great diversity of other native pollinators.

 

These gardens will serve as a place for hands-on education related to gardening, native habitats, native pollinators, and the importance of biodiversity. 

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Outdoor Classroom Garden

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In June 2022, the garden space in the outdoor classroom was expanded to create a native pollinator garden. Student and parent volunteers worked together to plant over 100 native plants into this new space.

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The plants and materials for the native garden addition were funded in part by a mini-grant from the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots USA, Monarch Watch's free milkweed for schools program and generous donations from Natural Garden Natives, Midwest Groundcovers and Midwest Trading.

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In April 2023, the garden was certified as an official Monarch Waystation through the non-profit Monarch Watch. This means that the garden provides everything necessary to support all stages of the Monarch life cycle. Green Team students officially named the garden HC Storm Pollination Station. HC Pollination Station is garden number 43117 on 

the Monarch Watch Waystation Registry.

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In July 2024, additional area was added the native garden and over 200 new plants were added to the space. This expansion project was funded in part by a mini-grant from the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots USA along with generous donations from Natural Garden Natives, Midwest Groundcovers and members of the Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners.

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In February 2025, the Green Team was awarded an Illinois Schoolyard Habitat Action Grant by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to fund the third expansion to the native garden. In addition to the student members of the Green Team, all 5th grade students and student members of the K-Kids worked to plant 275 new native plants in May.​​

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Kindergarten Garden

Each year, new native plants are added to the garden space outside of the Kindergarten classroom. These new additions are provided through generous donations from Natural Garden Natives, Midwest Groundcovers and Midwest Trading.

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Native Plant Species

Both gardens are home to a wide variety of native plant species. Below is the current list of species in each garden.

Outdoor Classroom Garden

  • Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

  • Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

  • Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)

  • Common Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata)

  • Common Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)

  • Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)

  • Cylindrical Blazing star (Liatris cylindracea)

  • Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

  • Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

  • False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)

  • Foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)

  • Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)

  • Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

  • New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

  • Nodding Wild Onion (Allium cernuum)

  • Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

  • Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

  • Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya)

  • Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

  • Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

  • Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

  • Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium)

  • Rough Blazingstar (Liatris aspera)

  • Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)

  • Side Oats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)

  • Sky Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense)

  • Spotted Bee Balm (Monarda punctata)

  • Stiff Goldenrod (Oligoneuron rigidum)

  • Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

  • Sweet Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa)

  • Thimbleweed (Anemone cylindrica)

  • Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

  • Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)

  • Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

  • Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

  • Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)

  • Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

Kindergarten Garden

  • Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

  • Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

  • False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)

  • Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)

  • Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)

  • Hairy Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

  • New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

  • Nodding Wild Onion (Allium cernuum)

  • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

  • Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis pectinacea)

  • Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium)

  • Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)

  • Sky Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense)

  • Sweet Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa)

HC Storm Elementary Green Team

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