The edge of Coombes School

  You have been given a drawing of an area along the edge of Coombes School, located in Bell Garden, California. The school recently received a donation to build a pollinator garden to the south side of the school building at the secondary entrance beside the road. You have also been given a complete site plan so you can see how the pollinator garden will relate to the overall design of the schoolyard property. Your task is to design the pollinator garden in the area identified for either monarch butterflies or honeybees. You have been provided two sets of plant lists to help you create your garden. You may use plants that are not on the recommended list. Ensure your plants are appropriate for your species (butterfly or bee) and the location (Southern California). You have been given a handout with symbols which can be used in your drawing to communicate your design. You may use as many different plants as you like, but keep in mind the necessity to create sufficiently large groups that your garden can be seen by airborne pollinators. You may add boulders or other features in the garden if they are appropriate for your species. You may also add a walkway to assist with access to the plants for maintenance purposes. You may NOT add more lawn, large areas of pavement, or major features intended for human use. Draw your design on trace by hand or on the computer. Color is optional, but may help communicate your key ideas. Submit your design via a pdf using the link on this page. As a reminder, here are the design guidelines you are implementing in your changes to the design: 1/Identify the ecoregion/existing plant communities, preserve and supplement them, and preserve native trees and shrubs for nesting. 2/Preserve deadfall, snag trees, and woody debris for nesting sites. This includes not just trees, but also shrubs. Don’t “clean” up the site in an attempt to make it ”neat and orderly”. 3/Preserve not only areas with water, but damp areas where groundwater may leak or where standing water collects and gathers. 4/Preserve boulder piles, trees with cavities, and shrubs with hollow stems for nesting and over-wintering. 5/Preserve areas with diverse topography such as soil embankments or piles of rock. 6/Add foraging vegetation for your target species. Choose at least three different pollinator plants within each of the three blooming periods: spring, summer, and fall (total = 9 minimum). Provide both early and late blooming species for year-to-year sustainability of populations. 7/Plant flower groupings (rather than individual plants) of at least 3 feet (1 m) in diameter of an individual species. 8/Plant for all roles: host plants, food plants, and shelter/nesting plants. They will not necessarily be the same plants. 9/Improve habitat connectivity within the site and in surrounding areas. 10/Ensure that pollinator resources are available throughout the entire growing season You have been provided a plant list from Xerces, which is the premiere source of information on pollinators. The following is a supplemental list:   SEASON/CATEGORY COMMON NAME LATIN NAME Spring blooming herbaceous plants Silvery lupine Lupinus argenteus Summer blooming herbaceous plants Showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa Yellow beeplant Cleome lutea Firecracker penstemon Penstemon eatonii Wild buckwheat Eriogonum spp. Autumn blooming herbaceous plants Vinegarweed Trichostema spp. Nevada goldenrod Solidago spectabilis Eaton’s aster Symphotrichum eatonii Oregon gumweed Grindelia stricta Trees and shrubs Mule-fat Baccharis salicifolia Chamise Adenostoma fasciculatum Mexican locust Robinia neomexicana Rabbitbrush Chrysothamnus spp. Redbud Cercis spp.