If you want to know what milkweed looks like, head to Peabody Park on the northwest end of campus at UNCG. It takes milkweed a couple of years to bloom and when we visited this park a couple of weeks ago, the plants were full of blooms. Peabody Park is a 34-acre tract of land and part of the Piedmont Prairie habitat. There are many different plantings there, for the purpose of attracting pollinators.

According to UNCG’s website, the original pathway networked of Peabody Park was designed by landscape architect Warren H. Manning who was an advocate of “wild garden” designs. Manning came to work at UNCG in 1909, when the school was known as the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial School. Manning worked with the landscape designer of Central Park in NYC (Frederick Law Olmstead) and Manning went on to design at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.  The Internet is truly an amazing resource, where one can start out snapping a simple photo of milkweed, and wind up learning of a Central Park and Biltmore estate connecting to Greensboro. Check out Peabody Park this weekend and don’t forget to head downtown to First Friday tonight. 

Happy Friday!