Kleiner Park Pollinator Garden Project

06/08/2026

So many colors. The pollinators are happy.

05/21/2026

Today with the help of labor detail, we installed 135 new plants into the garden at Heroes Park( most perennials but a few annuals as well). These plants were generously donated by Borah High School, Canyon County Extension Master Gardeners, Alene Bell Horton, and our Meridian Co-Op Gardeners. We added in a lovely variety of Agastache, black-eyed Susan’s, blanket flower, cardinal flower, coreopsis, daisies, dianthus, echinacea, foxglove, liatris, Maltese cross, swamp milkweed, verbena, and zinnias.

The garden is blooming and it was buzzing with lots of bumblebees today.

05/16/2026

The garden is coming to life…the salvia and yellow yarrow have started blooming.

05/12/2026

The California poppy’s are popping!
Eschscholzia californica is a vibrant, golden-yellow /orange, drought-tolerant annual or short-lived perennial, native to the western US.

05/11/2026

Morning in the garden. The pasque flowers in the foreground and the creeping thyme in the background are dreamy. Photo by Ryan Nielson

05/05/2026

Green shield bugs mating on balsam root up near Military Reserve. They are sap sucking insects that damage vegetables, fruit, and ornamental plants.

05/03/2026

Delosperma, fire spinner ice plant is one of my favorites. It has started blooming.

05/02/2026

The blooms are starting to show up.

04/22/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CbmM4DG6d/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Eau Claire stopped mowing 93 acres of park turf and started growing bee sanctuaries instead.
That's it. That's the whole story. They stopped mowing. They planted wild bergamot and little bluestem. They put up signs explaining why the grass looks tall. And they created 93 acres of pollinator habitat in the middle of Wisconsin where people can actually visit and see how their own lawns could feed bees instead of staying green deserts.
The city didn't buy new land. They didn't spend millions on acquisition. They changed maintenance protocols on existing parkland. The "No Mowing - Pollinator Habitat" sign in this photo represents the cheapest conservation strategy available: stop doing the destructive thing.
The impact is immediate. Bumblebees nest in the undisturbed grass. Monarchs nectar on the wild bergamot. Goldfinches eat seeds in autumn. The city saves money on fuel and labor. The parks department becomes an ecological agency by simply doing less.
This is replicable in every city in America. Every park maintenance budget could include "stop mowing" as a line item. Every green desert could become a sanctuary by simply letting it grow.

04/16/2026

The calendula has started blooming at Heroes Park. It is also called pot marigold and is easy-to-grow. It has daisy-like flowers with yellow or orange blooms, known for its medicinal, edible, and ornamental uses. It reseeds in the fall and fills in nicely in the garden.