Flower Rest Area

 

On our way back into Georgia on I-85, we stopped at the Georgia welcome center near West Point, GA. As we drove in, a bright sign highlighted an area with visible wildflowers so I walked over to see it.  According to the sign and this webpage, it was a collaboration in 2016 to produce a pollinator garden to showcase how we could “reimagine our highways in a way that’s more sustainable and healthier for all species.”

There is a good diversity of plants there. Ropes help define the area and the lawn-facing sides are kept in check with mowers, allowing visitors to walk right up to see the pollinators enjoying the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum), wild bergamot (Monarda), and tall goldenrod (Solidago altissimum). Without the maintenance on those edges, those spreading plants would go all the way to the parking lot.

Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum)

Gulf fritillary on butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

It was nice to see the succession of blooms and I look forward to stopping by during the year to see it again and again (with a new granddaughter in the Florida panhandle, we will be making more trips this way). The black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) were almost finished and the butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) was going to seed, but the downy sunflower (Helianthus mollis) was just starting. Also noted was fading Coreopsis, the occasional purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), and grasses. The sign at the front also indicates there might be rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) and New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).

Rudbeckia hirta ready to feed the birds!

I am not sure if there are more of these areas at rest stops but it is a nice way to showcase Georgia flora and fauna (i.e., insects). I felt much more refreshed after taking a few minutes to watch the butterflies, bees, and beetles enjoying the flowers. I’m sure that birds are using the area as well.