Menomonee Valley in Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Menomonee Valley Native Plants
Photographed by Devon Polzar, 2019
1. Menomonee Valley Native Plants Marker
Inscription.
Native plants are those species that were growing here before humans brought in plants from distant places. Native plants provide food and shelter to support birds, insects, fish, and animals. They provided food and medicine for Native Americans and also supplied materials for shelter, ropes, clothing, and containers.
Invasive, non-native plants displace native plants and disrupt ecosystems. In Milwaukee we have many invasive, non-native plants, including buckthorn, Japanese honeysuckle, purple loosestrife, and garlic mustard. These plants are so aggressive that they crowd out native plants, reducing the habitat for insects, birds, fish, and mammals. As many as thirty different bugs, birds, and animals disappear when a single plant species is pushed out by an invasion of purple loosestrife. Invasive plants must be controlled or removed to protect habitat.
"Try to heal the earth by using native plants - plants that have already adjusted over hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, to the soil and climate of our region."
Our yards should be so interesting that when children get out of bed in the morning they run
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to the window to look out to see what's happening, and the last thing at night they stand there for a while, to see what's happening, at dusk." - Lorie Otto
Learn more, Do More...Plant native plants to provide habitat and decrease the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Volunteer for a "Weed-Out" with the Park People to help remove invasive species from our parks.
Milwaukee has been a national leader in promoting natural landscaping. Lorie Otto helped found Wild Ones (advocating native plants in natural landscapes) in 1977. Lorrie, a member of the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame, has inspired many lively, environmentally sound, regionally appropriate natural landscapes, in Milwaukee and across the land.
Erected by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Menomonee Valley Partners, Inc., Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act, Grant #NA03NOS4190106.
Location. 43° 1.482′ N, 87° 57.771′ W. Marker is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in Milwaukee County. It is in Menomonee Valley. It is on Hank Aaron State Trail, on the right when traveling east. The marker is along the Hank Aaron State Trail just west of an Menomonee River observation deck. The marker is along the trail near the intersections of Fredrick Miller Way, Selig Dr., & W. Canal St. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Milwaukee WI 53214, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Wisconsin. It is also in the American Midwest and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, on the Great Lakes, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Northwest Territory.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 27, 2019, by Devon Polzar of Port Washington, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 490 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on October 27, 2019, by Devon Polzar of Port Washington, Wisconsin. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.
