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Operation
Wildflowers
Sponsored by the West Virginia Garden Club, Inc. in
cooperation with the
West Virginia Division of Highways and the Department of
Environmental Protection, REAP Program
Learn
more about Operation Wildflowers:
• How
to Participate
• Operation
Wildflowers FAQs
Our highways are a visitor’s introduction to West Virginia, and
first impressions can be lasting. Realizing the need for highway
beautification, the West Virginia Garden Clubs, Inc. and the
Divisions of Highways and Natural Resources joined forces in 1990 to
bring beauty and diversity to roadside landscapes by planting native
and naturalized wildflowers in areas which normally supported weeds
and dense brush. Their objective was also to encourage the
preservation of natural stands of native wildflowers that
traditionally had been mowed down and the planting of wildflowers on
private property. In the last few years highway landscapes have been
greatly improved as a result of this cooperative effort which
resulted in the creation of “West Virginia Operation
Wildflowers.”
In 1992, after a two year experimental period, West Virginia
Operation Wildflowers was opened to the public. Since then over 200
acres of roadside wildflowers have been planted throughout the
state. The program has proven to be one of the most popular
statewide efforts in many years. At least one cultivated wildflower
site has been planted in each of the following counties: Barbour,
Berkeley, Boone, Brooke, Cabell, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier,
Hampshire, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln,
Marion, Marshall, Mercer, Mineral, Monongalia, Nicholas, Ohio,
Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Summers, Tucker,
Upshur, Wayne, Wetzel, Wood and Wyoming. With continued public
support it is possible that cultivated wildflower beds will be
planted in all 55 counties within the near future.
Roadside beautification projects offer individuals, businesses,
civic groups and communities an excellent opportunity to unite
diverse groups of people and motivate then to work toward a common
goal. We have come to realize that highway beautification extends
beyond mowing, it is no longer a matter of removing unwanted plants,
but one of encouraging species to diversify and beautify roadsides.
In recent years wildflowers have become widely recognized and
appreciated as an economical and environmentally friendly way to
enhance our highways.
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