One year later, as spring approaches once again, we are heading towards a re-bloom at a few of last year’s Wildflowering L.A. sites, some of which were selected by Fritz Haeg to maintain their signs for public purpose. Among these, Westridge School is continuing to pursue a curriculum involving students in Wildflowering L.A. and the wildflowers are in the first stages of bloom after a hopeful amount of rain in December 2014.

As part of the school’s continuing 7th Grade Service Learning Program,  students took part in activities coordinated by Leigh Adams, making seed balls out of seeds harvested from last year’s Wildflowering L.A. Site 13 and the Arboretum (supplemented by seed purchased from Stover Seed Company) to plant in a habitat garden at Westridge.  Over one hundred seed balls were made by students on a rainy afternoon.  In mid-February, English teacher John Cross also brought students on class forays to the Wildflowering L.A. site to have students do “listening and witnessing” at the garden while keeping in mind works by poets Emily Dickinson, Akahito, and Mary Oliver. 

When I went out
In the Spring meadows
To gather violets,
I enjoyed myself
So much that I stayed all night.
-Akahito, Nara poet, 8th Century Japan

Check out the photos below, and stay tuned for more updates from the sites.

Westridge Site #13 Baseline Growth Mid-January 2015

Westridge Site #13 Baseline Growth of White Yarrow in Mid-January 2015

Westridge Site #13 Baseline Growth of White Yarrow in Mid-January 2015

Seedball Making On A Rainy Afternoon Indoors at Westridge School

Seedball Making On A Rainy Afternoon Indoors at Westridge School

John Cross’s Middle School English Class Took Poetry Outdoors as Students Used the Garden to Practice Writing and Observation on February 17 at Westridge School