Vision

The action project that has been chosen by Argyle students is building a butterfly garden on the empty space on the side of our building. They were inspired by looking at the patch of milkweed located by the front doors to the building and decided that we needed a larger garden space to support the butterflies and the bees. We will work on attracting butterflies to the garden by planting a variety of native Manitoba flowering perennial plants to help sustain plant diversity as well as attract other beneficial insects to the garden. Our butterfly garden will act as a monarch waystation in the downtown urban area where our school is located. It will provide habitat and food for insects like bees and butterflies, which are important pollinators that the planet needs to sustain plant life and our food sources. Our project allows students to learn about the importance of pollinators in our local environment. Our school has a school vegetable garden as well as multiple fruit trees, and our students have been learning about where our food comes from. Adding a pollinator garden on our school grounds will help our garden by providing a source of pollen and nectar to local pollinators. This is an important issue in our community because we are surrounded by urban infrastructure, and we want to ensure that our children remain curious and connected with the natural, outside world.

Action

The major tasks to complete for our project were to build large planter boxes and fill them with soil as well as use the compost that we have collected over the past few years to supplement the soil. We then planted small milkweed plants and filled the rest of the spaces with other Manitoba native flower seeds and grasses (for example, purple clover, black eyed susan’s and wild bergamot). Students constructed the boxes over the course of a couple of days.

Reflection & Celebration

This project provided students with the opportunity to learn about and develop several green skills. Overall, the students who participated in the planting experience had an enjoyable experience. This project supports our community by decreasing the disconnection from wildlife in the school community.