The Museum is not only taking fossils, skeletons and other specimens to its new location in the Biological Sciences Building (BSB). We’re also moving the majority of the plants from our Butterfly and Pollinator Garden to our new home.

The construction activity near the Ruthven Museums Building has already encroached on the garden. However, Master Gardener Mary Duff-Silverman, who has managed the Museum’s garden since its inception in 2004, has found a safe haven for the plants at Washtenaw County’s County Farm Park.

Early in April, Mary, Museum staff and volunteers, and a U-M Grounds crew headedby U-M Horticulturist Denise Schroeder, “deconstructed the garden” and hauled three truckloads of plants over to the Park wherethey were planted in a beautiful plot near Project Grow’s community gardens.

“We will have great neighbors,” said Mary. “The Park staff and Project Grow gardeners have a genuine interest in native plants and are taking on the cause of promoting pollinator gardens. They are truly partners in this project."

To expand the Museum’s science outreach, the garden will have informational signs explaining the importance of having native plants that attract pollinators. Mary also plans to hold periodic nature walks.

The Park staff will create a border with annuals to help make the garden stand out and signal that something special is planted in that area. The Park is holding a public Work Day on Saturday, June 3, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. to make a path through the garden which will enable visitors to get close to the plants. 

“I am going to have fun for two years keeping the plants happy until their reappearance by the BSB,” said Mary.