It’s still summer until September 22nd, and it is still summer most days, but this morning it was 68°, with only a high of 76° predicted. Lower humidity and a nice wind held the bugs back. That’s dreamy hiking weather in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
We decided to go to Morgan’s Grove Park and check out the (mostly) finished new pollinator Garden they have been building on one side of the loop hiking trail. On Sunday, they held an opening, with mocktails and appetizers. I’d have gone, but it was 85/felt like 94, and it felt gross outside. So I missed the fun, but hey, the weather was so much nicer today!
Shepherdstown Bee City has been putting in pollinator gardens all over town, which complements Town Run (the creek). Town Run starts in Morgan’s Grove Park, from the spring that bursts out through the ground. Shepherdstown Community Club, a non-profit, owns and manages the park. The park is free to park in and use, offers a hard-packed loop trail around the park, a playground, picnic tables, and includes a historic spring house; it was also where the Bee Line March came together to start its earnest march to meet George Washington in 1775.
Location:
Morgan’s Grove Park Pollinator Garden
4198 Kearneysville Pike, Shepherdstown, WV 25443
*IN PROGRESS* Shepherdstown Bee City is hard at work preparing for the future Morgan’s Grove Park pollinator garden. Come see the progress right off the walking trail. We prepped the site and created a dead hedge that will provide shelter for birds and other small animals and act as a nesting and overwintering site for beneficial insects.
The pollinator garden is on the far right side of the park.
The entry poles are so pretty.
Very cheery.
The garden sits under electrical lines, which is a perfect thing to have under them. Use of a space that normally isn’t used.
Late summer=still lots of blooms.
I noticed quite a bit of Boneset planted, which is native here. I have one in my personal medicinal herbal garden; it is around 4 feet high and covered in pollinators every day!
Last time I walked at Morgan’s Grove, I had notieced they were building a “dead hedge” (or a wattle fence). It is done now.
Where the fence ends, there is a bonus!
A trail into the forest? Why thank you.
The path is cut, with pink flagging.
A downed tree, slowly decomposing.
The trail meets the main trail in the park between two park benches. I had not noticed it when we walked by from this entrance.
We headed back and walked the side trail again before joining back to the main loop.
Last year, when the garden was being started, I had wondered what the vision was. They did a lovely job. It will be great for helping teach – both children and adults – why it matters, but it also helps restore abused land under the electric lines.
~Sarah