Kathleen Simon earns silver in Lake Charles

By: Phyllis Giffard

Kathleen Simon celebrates her silver-level certification in Lake Charles.

This property has many decades of gardens that are now shifting toward more of an emphasis on native plantings. Every person and habitat in SWLA has experienced extreme turmoil and change since 2020, and this is no exception. We aim to recognize the people and properties that take the devastation and use it as an opportunity to build native habitat and add a layer of resilience to local ecosystems.

Kathleen’s love of plants is linked to her interest in birdwatching, which grew when her daughter began banding birds after college. It was then that she realized how imperiled our bird populations are. This led to her signing up for the SWLA Master Naturalist course, where she began making the philosophical and human connections that often end up with an enthusiasm for native plants. She began seriously feeding birds and looking into ways to promote insects as a food source, including ceasing mosquito spraying contracts and planting host plants.

Kathleen’s house was heavily damaged in 2020, and after the passing of her father, she decided it would be a good time to move in with her mother. These are the gardens that she has spent the last year pushing toward a native plant oasis. Her mother mostly had planted exotics, but there were some natives such as spiderwort and American holly scattered throughout the front yard and expansive backyard. Kathleen’s mom is in full support of the changes to the gardens, and they’ve reached compromises that most people make when balancing native and non-native gardening. Kathleen has spent time gathering native plants from the ANPP greenhouse, Soggy Prairie, and local nurseries. She even requested more species of plants on my way to certify her property! She has started a new bed in the backyard wholly devoted to natives, has bolstered existing gardens with natives, and has added and marked new plants all over the property. This has led to a noticeable increase in lizards, frogs, and insects. In time, the birds should recover in the region, and they’re numbers will increase, too. The vegetables she grows will also benefit from the increased pollinator activity and the predators that native plantings attract.

From the June 2022 ANPP Newsletter