Six Elmhurst gardens to be featured at Native Garden Tour July 24 Three public and three private native gardens will be featured on the Native Garden Tour on Saturday, July 24, in Elmhurst. Courtesy of Barbara Lonergan
Updated 7/9/2021 10:49 PM
Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition is hosting a Native Garden Tour on Saturday, July 24, to encourage homeowners to re-wild and restore their own property with native plants, shrubs and trees.
Native plants help: increase biodiversity and ecosystems; beautify landscapes; provide stormwater solutions; reduce overall maintenance; and more.
Take a self-guided free tour featuring three public and three private gardens in Elmhurst between 9 a.m. and noon.
What difference can one homeowner make to help animals who greatly need some assistance?
Quite a lot, it turns out. Yards can become a collective force for good. Critter cancel culture can be halted just outside your backdoor.
“Especially in urban areas, small yards add up to large areas of land that can support animals, like birds and pollinators, or those yards can add up to areas in which it is really tough for animals to survive,” said Jennifer Phillips-Vanderberg, biologist and science director of the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory in Port Washington.
Phillips-Vanderberg said via email that it’s important for everyone to understand the impact that their landscaping decisions have on animals. For example, the rusty patched bumble bee may represent the consummate case of a globally imperiled animal that could benefit immensely from homeowner help in southeastern Wisconsin.