Show #22/3609
Connecting People With Plants

Plants, Wildlife and People - All Can Work Together

PK and Eric have a lot to see so they get started. PK suggests they start in the Secret Earth Garden. It is the 1st of a complex of gardens that showcase native plants of the Rocky Mountain region and the Great Plains. It has great significance, he believes, because it shows that people have been connecting with plants in this area for a very long time. All the plants selected for this half acre garden are plants that had some sort of use for the native people, the people of the four corners. To Eric it feels like they're stepping back in time. One of the things he likes about this garden is the way it brings in wildlife. As one walks up the finches are eating seeds and bees are buzzing around flowers. PK discusses how the different elements came together. As mentioned, the plants in here were utilized by the native people. The sage brush was utilized by many. Indians utilized them for medicinal purposes, bees pollinate them. The rabbit brush was another extremely important pollinator for bees. There are edible plants - the gourds, maze, corn. Many of the most important food crops that we utilize in the world today were developed by native Americans in Mexico and the southwest.