Austin Jamison of Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage uses a seed drill to sow native grasses and flowers on Cannon Hill on May 26. The seeds should take a few weeks to germinate, with the first sunflowers starting to bloom in late July. The effort is part of Mary Baldwin’s native plantings initiative, whose participants hope to eventually transform several acres of non-native fescue grass on campus to more sustainable and economical indigenous plants over the next few years. The project has been made possible with help from the United States Department of Agriculture.
