The United
States is blessed with wildflowers and North Carolina
probably has more than our fair share. To bring the
wildflowers more into easy public view, the North Carolina
Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Roadside Environment
Unit continually seeds many of the North Carolina highways
(especially the Interstate Highway medians and interchange
areas) with appropriate species of wildflowers. When the
blooms of a planting are gone, the NCDOT plants another and
allows us to have continual blooms (year round in most of
the state).
While many tourists and residents have noticed these plantings, few
realize that the principle source of funding for this
project comes from revenue realized through the sale of
personalized ('vanity') license plates. The rest comes from
direct contributions from individuals and corporations. If
you would like to help this program, please send your check
to:
Wildflower Program
Roadside Environment Unit
NCDOT
P.O.Box 29518
Raleigh NC 27626
By the way, you may be
happy to know that, on your request, they will mail you a 36
page (full color) booklet describing many of these flowers
(listed both by botanical and common names).
Many of the
seeds, from which these beautiful flowers grow, are
purchased from Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg TX. Texas
A&M, through an agreement with Wildseed Farms, has a website
displaying information about many species of wildflowers.
Because their website is copyrighted (as are most websites
including ours) we have provided links to the wildflowers
which are (or have been) purchased by NCDOT for the Roadside
Environment Program (see
column 2).
(continued
in column 2) |
