Inspiration Gallery
Our Inspiration gallery is where we feature some of our projects, outdoor classroms, our favorite places and customer photos. If you have some you'd like to send e-mail leslie@seedsource.com
Outdoor Classrooms
Decades of Hands on Learning with Gililland Elementary School
Gilillnd Elementary School is located in the community of Blue Mound, Texas, just west of Fort Worth. Many of the parents work at nearby Composite Technologies, Inc. - a construction materials manufacturing plant. Adjacent to the plant and also owned by the company was a 28-acre parcel of land with a creek running through it, which had been used for years as an unofficial dumping ground.
Neiman Environments, Inc. was hired in 1991 to clean up the land and restore it with native wildflowers, grasses and trees. Right from the beginning, we saw the opportunities for the restored site to become a centerpiece of community activity and environmental education. Bill Neiman of NEI and Bob Deskin of Composite talked to teachers and administrators at the school, which is just a few minutes' walk away, and invited them to participate and use the facility as an outdoor learning center.
Years later, with the ongoing support of Composite Technologies and a grant from the Rainwater Foundation in Fort Worth, the "Prairie Project" as it is known, continues to be a model of how outdoor spaces can be used to teach children not just about botany and biology, but everything from mathmatics to literature to history and more. Click through for more from Gililland Elementary Prairie Project through the years.
"It makes my heart sing to know you have discovered the pleasure of planting and watching native plants, grasses and trees grow… I wish every school child could have your 'outdoor classroom' experience."
Lady Bird Johnson
to students and teachers at Gililland Elementary School
Junction Middle School's Opal B. Roberts Landscape of Hopes and Dreams
A memorial native plant rain garden that serves as an outdoor classroom and a source of beauty year around. It started with Scott Richardson and other friends and collegues' wish to memorialize a life long educator, Opal B. Roberts, in the form of a native plant landscape and rain garden at the school. We donated seed, our time and labor to help plant 40 species of grasses and wildflowers to support wildlife, absorb stormwater and provide a learning enviornment for the students.
Want to see a native planting in person?
Check out this great tool from Native Plant Society of Texas
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center uses native plants to restore and create sustainable, beautiful landscapes. We carry out our mission to inspire the conservation of native plants through our gardens, research, education, and outreach programs. In doing so, we improve water quality, provide habitat for wildlife, and enhance human health and happiness.
Constellation of Living Memorials Program:
Friends of the Warren Ferris Cemetery & Native Plant Society of Texas Partnership
Urban Gardens with Native Plants
Michael McDowell blogs and takes photos of his native plant garden at his home in Plano, Texas to educate and inspire everyone who walks by