McInnes Garden

This magical round garden near the flagpole, behind the Special Exhibition Gallery, was a gift by the McInnes Family in 2010 in memory of Blanche and Milton McInnes, Don McInnes’ parents. Originally a long, narrow, arch shaped bed about 20’ behind where it currently is, it was re-located and redesigned by Horticulture Director Les Lutz in 2014 to become a focal point at the end of the brick walk that crosses the Parade Field. This garden demonstrates planting for biodiversity, and it showcases a range of flora and fauna.

Teeming with pollinators, color and life, this magical round garden behind the Special Exhibition Gallery was a gift by the McInnes Family in 2010, in memory of Don McInnes’ parents, Blanche and Milton McInnes. Redesigned with increasingly more native and pollinator plants, it’s evolved into a beautiful example of gardening with biodiversity in mind.

With more diverse species of life in a system, their interacting layers of relationships make the web of life strong, healthy, and adaptable to change.

When you visit, see how many species of life you can find around you – how many kinds of insects, birds or frogs? Observe if bees you see are generalist species like the honeybee and common Eastern bumblebee Bombus impatiens, or if you can find different shapes, sizes, and species of pollinators?

You can help pollinators by adding native plants to your garden, planting them in masses to make it easy for your pollinators to find, and using non-native plants as splashy accents. Here is a collection of resources to help you plant for pollinators, including recommended plants and where to buy them.

Adult butterflies and bees drink nectar from a wide variety of plants, but bees also need pollen to feed their young, and butterflies need specific host plants for their caterpillars. Seek to provide for the whole life cycle of pollinators, choose flowers that provide for small and larger mouthparts, and some with platforms for butterflies to land on. Hummingbirds like tubular flowers and the color red.

May this garden inspire you to turn your garden into a kaleidoscope of interacting life!