Children's Learning Garden (C.B. Smith Elementary School, Pekin)

The Children's Learning Garden is a project of Beth Wegner and Ginger Ross's Junior Master Gardener Club of Tazewell County, under the leadership of Tazewell County Master Gardeners, with contributions from C.B. Smith Elementary School staff and students as well as volunteers from the community. Every C.B. Smith class, or roughly 330 students in total, assisted in supplying materials and planting the garden.

The Children's Learning Garden is a large flower garden in the shape of the Orange and Purple Butterfly (Marpesia marcella) from Peru, along with two large, flower-shaped gardens nearby. It is located on C.B. Smith property in Pekin, Illinois. The garden does contain plants to attract butterflies, but also much more. "Although the garden is shaped like a swallowtail butterfly, it is not a traditional butterfly garden," Beth Wegner explains. "Instead, we have incorporated all types of plant materials to provide a working model of a whole ecosystem." The garden includes a diverse array of plants to support a variety of insects and other animals, making it an innovative tool for teaching children about horticulture, ecology, and other subjects.

The project has been a great inspiration for the Pekin community. Local residents and students' family members enjoy visiting the garden for walks or bike rides throughout the growing season. C.B. Smith students and Junior Master Gardeners were very excited and engaged during the creation of the garden and continue to be active in maintaining and expanding it. The Children's Learning Garden has also been featured in the Pekin Marigold Festival in 2005 and 2006. Pekin is the "Marigold Capitol of the World" and so the project team made a point of incorporating a significant number of this flower in the design, to show civic pride. In 2007, the project received the prestigious Master Gardener Teamwork Award.

View the photo gallery to watch the project unfold.

2005

Planning for the Children's Learning Garden began in Winter 2005, when Beth and Ginger made arrangements with Principal A.J. Schroff to develop the project on the C.B. Smith Elementary School premises, near the playground. The Junior Master Gardener Club selected the Marpesia marcella as the design for the garden and worked with Beth and Ginger to plan out which plants would be used in each section to create the correct color scheme. Junior Master Gardeners crafted and sold "Butterfly Bouquets" to raise funds for the project.

Planting began in May 2005, but first the team had to complete the arduous task of removing sod and existing plant material from the site, rototilling the soil with peat moss, and sectioning off the ground plot for the butterfly design. After preparation was finished, the Junior Master Gardeners, Master Gardeners, and volunteers from the community worked with every student in the school to plant the garden. Each class was assigned a specific plant to bring and each student planted his or her own. Beth and Ginger believe that this kind of direct, personalized involvement is essential to fostering "a sense of ownership of the garden."

Beth and Ginger purchased stepping stones to make a pathway around and through the garden. The stone pathway is a valuable addition, as it allows students and visitors to engage in close observation of plant and animal life.

Unfortunately, outside contractors removed the majority of the garden in Fall 2005 due to a misunderstanding. Beth states, "All the school and our team were devastated, but we vowed to do it again in the Spring of 2006 and make it better than before."

2006

In spite of the major setback in 2005, the project team and C.B. Smith school made good on their commitment to resurrect the Children's Learning Garden. In May 2006, planting commenced as before but with a few fresh twists: a shade garden; two flower-shaped gardens to complement the "butterfly"; a corner garden featuring tropical bulbs, butterfly bush, and a variety of other plants; and an arbor with black-eyed susan vine in the center of the plot.

In addition to hosting the cooperative planting sessions, Beth and Ginger offered lessons to C.B. Smith classes in the garden. These lessons addressed a number of topics, such as the vital role of pollinators like bees and butterflies in food production or the characteristics of different plant types (annuals, biennials, perennials, bulbs, rhizones, tubers, vines, etc.). The garden serves as a model for teaching about the lifecycle of the butterfly because it includes a host garden for the larvae, a puddling pool, resting stones, and--of course--a large quantity and variety of flowers to support adult butterflies.

2007

In 2007, the project team worked with C.B. Smith students and staff to replant annuals in the garden. New additions include a vegetable garden, ornamental grasses, and a perennial border. Beth and Ginger offered lessons in the garden on the topic of nutrition, using MyPyramid and drawing connections to horticulture and the importance of insect pollinators to crop production.

The Children's Learning Garden was selected to receive a 2007 Master Gardener Teamwork Award.

Participants

Master Gardeners
Ginger Ross
Beth Wegner

John Abts
Phyllis Harlan
Michelene Koch
Gay Kyle
Pete Kyle
Patti Volmer
Bob Witkowski
Jean Witkowski

Junior Master Gardeners
Noah Brooks
Marygrace Hendrix
Joshua Hochstetler
Sarah Hochstetler
Emily Hoerr
Molly Hoerr
Belle Janssen
Emily Johnson
Gavin Lohnes
Allie Runyon
Autumn Runyon
Sierra Runyon
Joe Wegner
Tom Wegner
Jacob Wood
Aileen Young
Gabriel Young
Savannah Young
Logan Zimmerman

C.B. Smith Elementary School
A.J. Schroff, principal
Students and staff -- Too many to name here, but we value your contributions and continuing support!

Other Volunteers
Meredith Brooks
John Croft
Marissa Fandel
Lisa Hochstetler
Randy Hochstetler
Cindy Janssen
John Janssen
Linda Miller
Ed Wegner
Sam Wegner

Author: Sam Wegner, Extension Summer Intern
June 28, 2007

Last modified August 23, 2007.