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Students build a special garden
Photo
Seventh- and eighth-grade students from Youngstown city schools’ summer gifted program help plant a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies at the Purple Cat on U.S. Route 422 in Coitsville. They worked Wednesday morning, and the garden was done before noon.
By JEANNE STARMACK
COITSVILLE
The Purple Cat is now even more colorful, thanks to volunteers and a $500 state grant.
A garden, designed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, now graces the property of the nonprofit, private agency that offers day programs and work opportunities for people with disabilities.
The garden was built Wednesday at the agency’s U.S. Route 422 acreage by seven gifted seventh- and eighth-graders from the Youngstown School District’s summer-school program.
Helping them was Hands-On Volunteer Network of the Valley, a local organization that finds volunteers to help nonprofit groups.
Holly Burnett-Hanley, a liasion to the city schools from Youngstown State University’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies, was on hand to see the idea bloom. Burnett-Hanley wrote for the grant.
Mahoning County Soil and Water Conservation District representatives got their hands dirty, too.
Kathi Vrable-Bryan, the conservation district’s administrator, surveyed their work.
Perennials and annuals that are native to the area are taking root in the L-shaped garden next to the pavilion on the Purple Cat’s farmlike property.
Even though it’s along the road, a berm protects it from the highway and the wind, Vrable-Bryan said. Its flowers and herbs include bee balm, cheddar pinks, purple cone flowers, beardtongue, butterfly bushes, black-eyed Susans, lavender, little rocket, lilies, delphinium aurora blue, sage, basil and oregano.
The plants represent host species, plants with leaves broad enough for butterflies to lay their larvae on, and nectar species, plants that provide food and nutrients, Vrable-Bryan said.
Rocks and a source of water are important in a butterfly garden as well, she said. The Purple Cat’s has a fountain.
Monarch butterflies, which are losing their habitats, like to travel and will find the rocks a handy resting place, she added.
Also helping out with the project was Petitti Garden Center on South Avenue in Boardman. The nursery donated soil, compost and manure, she said.
The garden isn’t just for Purple Cat clients. The public can enjoy it, too, she said, and schools are welcome.
For the students who built the garden, it was a learning experience.
“It was really cool, and I feel good about what I did,” said Taryn Briggs, 13.