Hawthorne School Idaho Native Plants Learning Landscape & Teaching Gardens

Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) grow in our Fibonacci spiral (and other volunteer locations) in our garden each fall. These sunflowers can be seen throughout the foothills and even roadside locations. Wild sunflowers often have more than one flower head per plant, compared to the domesticated version often planted in gardens. The pollinators and birds in our garden love them and students reseed the spiral each fall. Swipe to see our Fibonacci spiral planter, which is also a fun talking point and math lesson tool!🌻

Hoping for some helping hands tomorrow morning to get the garden ready for school!

Although Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is native to the Mediterranean not Idaho, it’s drought tolerant and thrives in our dry environment. Lavender has low flammability and is recommended as a plant to install near buildings in areas at risk for wildfires. Lavender can be used to flavor drinks such as teas or lemonade, and oils made from it are often used for aromatherapy. It’s also a favorite of pollinators and anyone with a nose, so stop by and take a sniff!

Evening Primrose (Oenothera cespitosa) often has extra descriptors added to its name such as: fragrant, tufted, desert, or rock rose. It is normally night blooming and grows in rocky or sandy areas. Thankfully they thrive on little to no extra water so do very well in our garden!

We are battling some irrigation problems and the heatwave but with extra watering from our amazing volunteers, we have blooms on our new plants!!!

Idaho Fescue (Festuca idahoensis) appreciation post! We love our field of Fescue. It doesn’t require any maintenance, it covers large areas and keeps them green, it requires little water and hold moisture in the soil. The final photo shows the cheatgrass trying to move in, but the Fescue has kept it from spreading! Also known as Blue Bunchgrass, it’s tasty eating for foraging wildlife such as the bunnies seen sampling them in the garden. We’ve got plans to relocate many bunches to cover some bare spots and reduce crowding. Come wade through our sea of Fescue and check out the tiny little blooms happening right now!

Come play with us in the garden this summer!

Come take a sniff of our Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata) which is part of the daisy family and is also called Chocolate Daisy and Lyreleaf Greeneyes. Students love the chocolate scent, and many have observed how the flowers open to the sun and follow it throughout the day.

Our native garden was gifted 400 pollinator plants from the Treasure Valley Pollinator Posse and at the end of the year so we worked hard at recesses to get them installed before school got out! We are excited to watch them grow and attract more pollinators to our garden!

6th graders posing in the garden with the Excellence Bell, donated to Hawthorne by BSU and dedicated to the 6th grade class of 2020. We have the tradition of 6th graders ringing the bell at the end of the school year, and encourage all students to ring the bell after school anytime they feel they’ve achieved something excellent that day.

Tomorrow is Hawthorne School Idaho Native Plants Learning Landscape first garden club social meetup! We will be happy to give a tours of the garden, including history, what’s currently blooming, important pollinators and animal visitors, and future plans. 9am at the front entrance. Bring gloves if you want to help w**d or just come as you are to meet neighbors and check it out! Will meet most Sunday mornings and some times during the week throughout the summer to keep our neighborhoods beautiful and healthy.

Prairie Smoke (geum triflorum) is a spring blooming perennial with fern like leaves and is known for its long, feather plumes which help the seeds to spread. Other nicknames include: old man’s whiskers, torch flower, three sisters, and lion’s beard. Natives brewed the roots to wash the body of aches and pains. The tea tastes like a weak sassafras and can ease soar throats and upset stomachs. (Please don’t dig up our plants to test this!). You can find our Prairie Smoke on the top of the amphitheater! 💫

Butterfly release in the garden by Pre-K! So much joy and wonder!

Garden art during the school carnival!

Hawthorne’s “Earth Nerds” hosted the 3rd annual Hawthorne Unplugged outside day. Students enjoyed the day learning and working outside in the garden, and we were able to pull out many invasive w**ds and transplant some native grasses. We are so proud of the amazing students at Hawthorne who take pride in their school garden!

Terraforming Thursdays are back and the kids are happy to be getting their hands dirty in the garden again! We removed some crabgrass and installed native grasses in its place.

Good morning first snow!

More progress on pulling out invasive species from our garden. Thank you to the staff, students and parents who work each week to keep our garden native!

6th grade buddies too kindergartners on a walk to look for signs of fall. Most of them checked off their lists before they even left the garden!

Thank you “Earth Nerds” for your work on removing the Rush Skeleton Weeds in our garden!

Kindergarteners and their 6th grade buddies explored the garden Friday. 6th graders coached their buddies to make “I notice” and “I wonder” statements as they observed the wildlife.

Nothing is more fun than finding bugs in the garden!

6th graders collected plant specimens from the garden to observe, sketch and identify in their naturalist notebooks.

Our garden looks wild, by design! We are proud of our native garden, w**ds and all. Native plants use less water, and encourage more local wildlife!

While construction is going on at the school, the playground and yard is closed for a few days. Come play in the garden instead! 🌻🌱🐝🪲

Thank you to all the students who came out to pull w**ds in the garden today!!!

The garden needs you! Our wet winter has created the perfect conditions for a super bloom of WEEDS! Especially the big bad three invasive species (swipe to see photos). Gloves and tools are at the office if you have time, come help us pull them!

It may be tempting, but let it “bee” for now!

All tucked in and ready for winter. Thank you Hawthorne students and teachers for the fall clean up this afternoon!

The garden is a great place to explore citizen science apps like