New Blooms on Environmental Parkway

By Bill Blair

September 18, 2019

You may have noticed on Environmental Parkway, the wildflower bed in the traffic median is in full bloom with Zinnia Elegans with a color mixture of Cherry Queen, Purple Prince and a Dahlia mix in the center. In addition to their ornamental display, these wildflower meadows provide great pollinator habitat and erosion mitigation.

As part of the NIEHS Landscape Master plan, these areas were identified in April 2001, as areas to reintroduce native grasses and wild-flowers that would require minimal maintenance after original seeding. This was in effort to become better environmental stewards by reducing the amount of day to day grounds maintenance activities while remaining aesthetically pleasing. As a result of this initiative, we currently have approximately 40 acres of native grasses and 2 acres of wildflowers between the main campus and building 110.