I hope that one of the results of this project will be a new awareness of the beauty and benefits of native wildflowers. This project may stimulate interest in the possibility of restoring small parcels of land to native prairie habitat. Restoration of this type has many benefits, from purely aesthetic reasons to environmentally important ones like conserving the biodiversity of our native Iowa plant species. Prairie wildflowers attract people, birds, butterflies, and many other kinds of animals. Prairie plants provide food, cover, and nesting habitat for songbirds and game species all season long.
Prairie plants offers something for just about everyone.
Whenever you are in southwest Iowa, be sure to visit the prairie planting at the NRCS building in Atlantic. It may inspire you to reestablishment a large prairie or plant a small wildflower garden on your property. I am sure you will be pleased with the results. However, the project was only possible with support from many people. About the Author Sydney Everhart is a 2000 graduate of Atlantic High School, president of the Atlantic Chapter of the Iowa Student Environmental Coalition, an Earth Year 2000 Ambassador for Cass County, and an ISU Extension Master Gardener.