Events

This is a joint tour with the North Oakland and Wayne County Wild Ones chapters. In addition to nurturing a beautiful butterfly/pollinator garden using native and non-native plants, John Blair has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore a prairie on a large portion of this once agricultural property. 

Enjoy Wonderful Photos of John Blair's Property 

2023 feature in Fine Gardening 

Prairie 2024, an album on flickr

John Blair on the Gardens, Prairie, and Savanna We Will Tour

I will provide a guided tour of the gardens, prairie, and savanna. There is about a half-mile trail system we can walk to view the prairie/savanna habitat. There are also three ponds that have been restored as well. You will find these teeming with life. Please be prepared for uneven ground on the trails. Hats are also recommended. The tour normally takes 1.5 hours. Folks are free to wander about and explore the property after the tour. 

For those who are not able to make the longer trail walk - You are welcome to enjoy the three very accessible pollinator gardens and relax on the provided benches. I had over 500 folks visit last summer from various Master Gardener groups, garden clubs, and nature organizations, but this will be my first visit from Wild Ones. I am looking forward to your visit!

More About the Property and Its History

After retiring and then moving to our nine-acre rural site outside Brooklyn in 2019, I got busy continuing my dream of creating large pollinator gardens and doing a restoration of a prairie and savanna area. 

We currently have three separate gardens which I like to call “Blended Gardens.” These are roughly 50% native and 50% non-native (and noninvasive) nectar sources. The purpose of these gardens is to demonstrate how folks can start their native plant journey by incorporating natives into their existing landscape alongside nectar plants they are already familiar with. The hope is that these demonstration gardens can be an inspirational gateway for those interested in learning about native plants and creating useful habitat in their own spaces. 

The prairie and savanna is a joint project through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. Basically, for landowners interested in returning their property back to native habitat, they will cover half the cost of the project. They will also partner you with an experienced biologist to guide the process and to access the necessary equipment and resources needed for the project. We entered the program in 2020, and after two years of site prep, seeded the five-acre prairie and savanna in June 2022. Since this is the third summer since it was seeded, we are expecting a spectacular year!