Last week, Bethpage State Park hosted volunteers from Leviton Manufacturing for a massive planting event! A large group of forty-five participants arrived ready to work and help with our park's Right Of Way Restoration Project. This beautification project, in collaboration with PSEG, aims to remove
invasive flora species to purposefully plant native wildflowers in its place. This not only revitalizes the green space under our telephone wires but more importantly, provides better
forage and habitat for pollinators and wildlife.However, this is not a task that can be done overnight! Bethpage
State Park Horticulture Staff Victor Azzaretto and Alexa Roldos spent weeks working with their weekend gardening
group prepping the site before Leviton's arrival. This included clearing large patches of invasive plants, throwing down grass seed
and amending the soil. Not to mention, the native plants used for this project were not bought from a nursery but propagated from seed and grown in our park's greenhouse (a process that takes a couple of seasons).
The morning of the volunteer day, plants were moved and properly arranged at the project site. This process took a few hours. I was personally curious and decided to count just how many plugs we had on the ground. Turns out, we had a total of 2855 individual plants out in trays for the event!
To get a better understanding of the space this occupied, each tray covered about 6 feet and was arranged in two rows (approximately 1000 feet long by 2 feet wide). As you can see in the photos below, this was a very long stretch of land!
As soon as the volunteers got to the site, they broke off into groups.
Some were on digging patrol, while others planted plugs and raked.
In just under 2 hours, our participants managed to plant over 60 species of native wildflowers! It was incredible to watch this dedicated group in action and better yet, it seemed as if everyone had lots of fun while doing it!
In
addition to our enormous group of volunteers, we had the pleasure
of Connetquot State Park staff George Keisel and his assistant Mike (bottom left) in
attendance, helping us along the way.
As you can see, this event was a great success! It also turned out to be Bethpage State Park's biggest volunteer event yet. Just check out this group photo that was taken at the end of the day.
It is moments like this, at Bethpage State Park, that make our staff the most proud. This is not just because our environmental projects are completed and our goals are met...but more so the ability to teach people about plants, share our passion for gardening and work alongside devoted and environmentally conscious members of the local community. At the conclusion of this type of event, we also know that we created something bigger than ourselves and a green space that will continue to grow season after season. This is the most rewarding part of it all!
We would like to extend a huge thank you to Leviton Manufacturing and everyone who was a part of this memorable day!
If interested, please see the list below, for the different native species that were planted:
Yarrow Achillea millefolium
Yellow Giant Hyssop Agastache nepetoides
Purple Hyssop Agastache scrophulariifolia
Snakeroot Ageratina altissima
Nodding Onion Allium cernuum
Bluestar Amsonia tabernaemontana
Columbine Auilegia canadensis
Ovateleaf Calcalia Arnoglossum ovatum
Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata
Blue Wild Indigo Baptisia australis
Blue Mistflower Conoclinium ceolestinum
Lanceleaf Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata
Stiff Coreopsis Coreopsis palmata
Tall Tickseed Coreopsis tripteris
Pale Purple Coneflower Echinacea pallida
Daisy Fleabane Erigeron anuus
Rattlesnack Master Eryngium yuccifolium
Justiceweed Eupatorium leucolepsis
Common Boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum
Late Boneset Eupatorium serotinum
Big Leaf Aster Eurybia macrophylla
Joe Pye Weed Eutrochium spp.
Indian Physic Gillenia stipulata
Autumn Sneezeweed Helenium autumnale
Downy Sunflower Helianthus mollis
Oxeye Sunflower Heliopsis helianthoides
Swamp Rose Mallow Hibiscus moscheutos
Shrubby St. John's Wort Hypericum prolificum
Northern Blue Flag Iris versicolor
Rough Blazing Star Liatris ligulistylis
Dense Blazing Star Liatris spicata
Blue Lobelia Lobelia siphilitica
Sundial Lupine Lupinus perennis
Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa
Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis
Wild Quinine Parthenium intergrifolium
Foxglove Beardtongue Penstemon digitalis
Hairy Beardtongue Penstemon hirsutus
Perennial Phlox Phlox paniculata
Meadow Phlox Phlox maculata
Obedient Plant Phystostegia virginica
Hairy Mountain Mint Pycanthemum pilosum
Mountain Mint Pycanthemum spp.
Prairie Coneflower Ratibida pinnata
Cabbage Leaf Rudbekia Rudbeckia maxima
Sweet Black Eyed Susan Rudbeckia subtomentosa
Brown Eyed Susan Rudbeckia triloba
Maryland Figwort Scrophularia marilandica
Starry Campion Silene stellata
Stiff Goldenrod Solidago rigida
Heart Leaf Aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium
Smooth Blue Aster Symphyotrichum laeve
New England Aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
New York Aster Symphyotrichum novi-belgii
Aromatic Aster Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
Sky Blue Aster Symphyotrichum oolentangiense
Carolina Buckbean Thermopsis villosa
Virginia Spiderwort Tradescantia virginiana
Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica
Culver's Root Veronicastrumm virginicum
Golden Alexanders Zizia aurea
Post photography and writing by Yael Weiss.
As soon as the volunteers got to the site, they broke off into groups.
Some were on digging patrol, while others planted plugs and raked. 
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