Courtyard Habitat

Garden Areas

 

Berry Patch
Native fruits and berries are an important food source for wildlife. They are nutritious and ripen when animals need them most.  Kwanzan Cherry, blueberry, American Cranberry and wild strawberry are among the plants in this garden enjoyed by birds, as well as chipmunks, rabbits, and other mammals.

Other berry-producing shrubs, such as native inkberry, viburnum, sumac, and winterberry are scattered throughout the habitat, making the Ironia Courtyard Habitat a year-round haven for wildlife.

**Not all berries are healthy for humans.  Please don’t pick the berries!

Hummingbird & Butterfly Garden
The sunny garden is the perfect location to attract Ruby-throated

Hummingbirds and butterflies.



Flower nectar is a hummingbird’s chief food source.  Because of the shape of its needle-like bill and long sticky tongue, hummingbirds prefer tubular flowers such as bee balm, phlox and Cardinal Flower. They also enjoy tiny insects and spiders for protein.

Butterflies feed on nectar plants, as well. They are attracted to large bright flowers, such as the Purple Coneflower, or smaller clustered blossoms like those of the butterfly bush. Butterflies require specific host plants on which to lay their eggs.  The host plants provide food for larvae (caterpillars) after hatching.  American Hollies, shrubs and butterfly houses provide shade and shelter. Many butterflies use mud puddles to sip salt and minerals from the soil. Dark flat surfaces are preferred for basking in the sun while watching for potential mates and reenergizing themselves.

Monarch Butterfly Garden
Plant and animal partnerships abound in nature.  The garden demonstrates the interdependence of two species: monarch

butterflies and milkweed plants.

Monarch butterflies arrive in New Jersey in late spring.  Females lay hundreds of eggs only on the leaves of milkweed plants

that later provide food for hungry monarch caterpillars (larvae). The caterpillars grow and shed their skin five

times until they produce beautiful green chrysalids. Two weeks later adult butterflies emerge.

                                                By fall, monarch butterflies no longer reproduce.  Instead, they concentrate on drinking enough nectar from milkweed and other fall                                                 flowering plants to sustain a 2,000-mile migration to Mexico. As the monarchs drink the milkweed nectar, they help pollinate the                                                 plants which in turn benefits future generations of milkweed and monarchs.
                                   

 

Monarch butterflies winter in the mountains of Mexico.  By early spring, they journey north in search of milkweed.  The cycle of monarch migration and growth is fascinating to observe in the Ironia Courtyard Habitat.

**In the fall, Ironia students assist with scientific research by tagging the monarchs to track their migration.

 

 

Shade Garden & Student Art Gallery
Nature has inspired art from the beginning of human existence. Patterns, colors, symmetry and

even materials found in nature have been sources of creativity for painters, writers, architects, sculptors, musicians, dancers and other imaginative thinkers.

The garden showcases student artwork in a setting that both encourages and complements artistic expression while also benefiting wildlife. Shade-loving plants, such as Virginia Bluebell, ferns and hostas bloom from spring to fall. Trees provide shelter and nesting opportunities for wildlife, while natural tree stump pedestals display student creations.

“I would like to paint the way a bird sings.”
~ CLAUDE MONET

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”
~ FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

“Earth laughs in flowers.”
~ RALPH WALDO EMERSON

**Notice how these artists were influenced by nature…Now use your imagination to design an artistic creation!


Songbird Garden
What is a songbird?

These melodic birds generally have a longer and more complex song that is musical to the human ear.  This garden was designed to encourage songbirds to feed and nest in our courtyard habitat.

New Jersey is an important state for migrating birds because it is situated on the Atlantic Flyway.  It is the flight path that many migratory birds follow each spring and fall.

Did you know that a songbird’s favorite food is insects?  The garden offers a variety of plants that provide the right foods for both migrating and resident songbirds.  Violets and dill attract insects during spring and summer. Grasses and sumac provide seeds and American Holly offers shelter and berries during fall and winter months when insects are scarce.

**Did you know that the American Goldfinch is New Jersey’s State Bird? Watch for its changing plumage in the fall.

Native Wildflower/Woodland Garden
Native plants are those that have grown in this area since before the Pilgrims arrived. They are

well-suited to our local climate and to changes in temperature and rainfall, thriving with little maintenance.

Native plants and animals are part of a region’s web of life. They provide food, nectar, cover and nesting areas for birds, butterflies and other animals. But did you know that plants also need animals for their survival?

As insects drink the sticky nectar, they carry pollen from flower to flower, helping the plants to reproduce. Birds and mammals eat fruits and seeds which are scattered in droppings to start

new plants.

Plants have adapted many ways of attracting animals to help them reproduce. Color, shape,

and size of flower, fruits and seeds all play a role in which plant a creature may visit. Even the

time of day and year that flowers, fruits and seeds mature corresponds to the needs of animals.

**Many wildflowers bloom while trees are budding, turning sunlight into energy before a canopy of leaves shades them.  These flowers are called ephemerals.