The Wild Birds Unlimited Native Pollinator Meadow, a 2.5-acre native garden which visually connects the Lilly Terrace to the Lake in The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, is concluding its fourth season. Throughout the year, this garden features a variety of native blooms which support birds and beneficial insects, including native pollinators. The beauty of this garden lies not only in the colors, rhythms and movements that can be seen from the overhead view but also in the immersive experience it offers those who walk along its meandering paths.

For those walking through the Meadow this time of year, towering native blooms of spotted Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum) and prairie rosinweed (Silphium terebinthinaceum) arch over the walkways. Amber and blue waves of yellow bunchgrass (Sorghastrum nutans) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) overtake much of the garden structure, and the intense herbal smell of prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) announces the end of summer.

White doll’s daisy (Boltonia asteroides var. latisquama) in The Wild Birds Unlimited Native Pollinator Meadow at Newfields.

We look forward now to the finale of blooms for the season. Soon, as you look over the garden from Lilly Terrace, huge swaths of color in the six species each of aster and goldenrod will bloom throughout fall.

Early-blooming goldenrod species, such as stiff goldenrod (Solidagorigida subsp. rigida) and gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) are already in bloom, while later-blooming species such as giant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea) will bloom into November. The range of goldenrod species provides a rolling show of golden blooms, complemented throughout the fall season by the garden’s seven species of aster.

The first aster to bloom is New England aster (Symphyotrichumnovae-angliae). The purple blooms of this aggressively spreading species can be found throughout the meadow. Short’s aster (Symphyotrichumshortii) will create bright curtains of true blue on either side of the circular path through the center of the garden.

The Wild Birds Unlimited Native Pollinator Meadow at Newfields. Artwork Credit: Jeppe Hein (Danish, b. 1974), Bench Around the Lake, 2010, galvanized steel, yellow paint, various dimensions. The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at Newfields, Commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Jane Weldon Myers Acquisition Fund, Waller Fine Art Purchase Fund, Roger G. Wolcott Fund, Mrs. Pierre F. Goodrich Endowed Art Fund, Alice and Kirk McKinney Fund, 2014.103A-O © Jeppe Hein, Courtesy of Johann König, Berlin, and 303 Gallery, New York.

White heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides), which is the latest-blooming species in the garden, can be seen in huge clusters along the central path and features heath-like foliage littered with tiny, white flowers which bloom into mid-November. This aster can retain its blooms into the snowy season in some instances, providing food for pollinators when not much else is around.

Berries can also be found throughout the garden in the fall. Commonwinterberry (Ilex verticillata) and cucumber tree (Magnoliaacuminata) show clusters of bright red berries. Additionally, smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) features huge panicles of burgundy and silky dogwood (Cornus obliqua), and black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)shows clusters of dark blue berries.

The showy fall plants in the Wild Birds Unlimited Native Pollinator Meadow are more than displays of beautiful fall color. They also provide vital wildlife benefits. Fall-blooming native plants provide essential nectar and pollen for pollinating insects. The variety of insects in the meadow provides a critical food source for birds. These resources allow insects and birds to store up fat reserves for migration and over winter.

A Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) perches atop a fruiting Allegheny serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) in The Wild Birds Unlimited Native Pollinator Meadow at Newfields.

As winter approaches and color leaves the garden to be replaced by ambers and browns, migratory birds will find food sources in the seedheads of the remaining plants, and the remaining stems of plants will create essential habitat for native insects. The dense vegetation and leaf litter will provide cover for ground-nesters and the stems will provide structure on which to hang chrysalises.

This garden never truly goes to sleep but continues to offer food and shelter to wildlife in the cold winter months.

Join us on October 25, 2025 for a Pollinator Tour & Seed Collection in the meadow.

In the meantime, enjoy this meadowy moment of peace and take in the view from Lilly Terrace: