New Smyrna Beach Garden Club Partners with Asclepias Acres for STEAM Station Community Project

By New Smyrna Beach Garden Club

Owner of Asclepias Acres, Damien Rockwood, with distinguished members of the New Smyrna Beach Garden Club breaking ground at STEAM Station/Liberty Oaks Academy in Oakhill for a native plant community project.

On Friday, September 26th the NSBGC joined the Fun Coast AT&T Pioneers, Damien Rockwood (Owner of Asclepias Acres), parents, students and teachers at STEAM Station/Liberty Oaks Academy in Oak Hill. On a beautiful morning we came together to plant approximately (70) Florida native plants to celebrate the success of a community project that started in April as a simple request from Erica Garris (Operations Manager). The school had a 30’x30’ designated space for a butterfly sanctuary garden, yet needed the guidance and expertise of the NSBGC to help get the project done.

After several months of planning, preparing the garden soil, performing organic weed elimination, clearing the surrounding landscape of invasive plants and shrubs, designing the garden, and then finalizing plant selection; the initial phase of planting was completed. (The attached photos help tell the story.)

September 26th was a special day for the students (Pre-School through Grade 5) as they actively participated in the planting process. It was such a joy to watch them plant the flowers and then take pride in what they had accomplished to create such a beautiful butterfly sanctuary at their school.

There is much more to be done. The NSBGC wants to continue to play a role in developing the next generation of Florida gardeners. The Butterfly Gardening Certification Committee and Damien Rockwood will do additional planting in the Spring. Also, committee members will collaborate with Ms. Garris to develop butterfly life cycle and gardening educational programs for the parents and students; utilizing the butterfly sanctuary as a hands-on teaching medium. There will be future posts on our progress.

Special Thanks to Tim Syverson and the AT&T Volunteers for awarding STEAM Station/Liberty Oaks Academy with a $500 grant to help fund this butterfly garden.

Special Thanks to Damien Rockwood for his time, expertise and ongoing dedication to this project. He has been an inspiration to all of us.

Thanks to the following NSBGC members who gave of their time to make this project a success - Sue Schwulst, Mary Heasley, Hope Jenkins, Shannon Scipioni, Andrea Swetnam, JoAnne Anderson, Marty Sibley, and Phyllis Skiffington. Thanks to Todd Jenkins who is always there to help us no matter what the project is.