This fall Blackburn College will begin breaking ground on a new project – a Natives Garden. Spearheaded by the biology department, the garden will consist of a variety of plants that are native to the Carlinville area. Blackburn biology professors Dr. Jonathan Micancin and Dr. James Bray had initially brainstormed the idea, and Micancin is now in the process of developing plans for the project.
Micancin reported that there are a number of reasons for planting the Natives Garden, the most crucial being “a decline in pollinators in the Carlinville area.” He explained that the bee population and native plant species have decreased significantly. This is supported by research conducted by former Blackburn professor of biology Dr. Charles Robertson. According to the Illinois News Bureau, Robertson recorded detailed accounts of the interactions between wild bees and the plants they pollinate in the Carlinville area between 1884 and 1916 while employed at Blackburn College. His work was revisited 75 years later by John Marlin, a researcher for the Illinois Natural Resource Survey at the University of Illinois. Marlin’s research could only account for 82 percent of the plants that Robertson recorded as harboring the most bee species, which marked an 18 percent decline. In 2013, Marlin and other researchers from Washington University in St. Louis recorded a significant decline in the bee population and native plant species in the Carlinville area. Micancin stated that because of Robertson’s research, “We know very well that the pollen-producing native plants…and the animals that visit them have declined in this immediate area.”
Micancin reported that the Natives Garden would enhance the Blackburn campus aesthetically, as well as serve an educational purpose for students who will learn about these topics. He also stated that local members of the Illinois Master Gardeners Program are working on potential designs for the Natives Garden. Micancin added that the garden is receiving a great deal of support from the Blackburn administration and students, along with members of the community.
The initial work begins this fall and Micancin believes that once the garden has had time to flourish, “It’s going to be something spectacular.”