If you take a walk around our beautiful library grounds, you will notice a variety of colorful native plants. Native plants provide so many benefits to our world. Once they are established, native plants require much less water, pruning and fertilizer, which saves time and money. They offer important food and shelter for native insects,
by Steve Sass and Amanda Smith In April 2025, we detailed the history of the new Carlisle Olive Township Library's naturalized meadow and the efforts to maintain it (https://ncpl.lib.in.us/2025/04/08/beyond-the-books-biodiversity-in-action-at-the-new-carlisle-olive-township-library/). In the article, we discussed the original planting, the problems that ensued, and our efforts to correct them. In 2025, we began implementing a standardized method
by Steve Sass and Amanda Smith With autumn upon us and the daylight hours shortening, as tree leaves transition from green to shades of yellows, oranges, and reds, our native asters represent some of the final, vibrant gasps of nature's floristic glory. The word "aster" is Latin with origins borrowed from the ancient Greek word for
