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By Donna Merrill Not everyone irrigates their lawn, and many avoid using dangerous pesticides and fertilizers, but everyone mows. It’s a fact of life in suburbia. It’s noisy, pollutes our air and water and creates yard waste. Yet we want to keep our lawn, which we see as an extension of our home, neat and tidy. Besides, many of us don’t have the time, the money, or the inclination to replace our lawns with wildflower meadows or butterfly gardens. So US Forest Service Research Ecologist Susannah Lerman has a suggestion: Make your lawn “less bad” by mowing once every two weeks instead of every week. We learned from No Mow May that a lawn left alone becomes a patch of flowers. In these patches is a diversity of wildflowers that support wildlife, including our native bees responsible for pollinating 87% of our flowering plants. Dr. Lerman conducted a research experiment in New England over a 2-year period and found that a lawn mowed every 3 weeks has 70% more flowering plants than one mowed every one or two weeks, but that lawns mowed every two weeks had the most bees. This higher abundance of bees contradicts the reasoning that more flowers equals more bees so for now scientists can only hypothesize. One thought takes into consideration that many of our native bees are about the size of a grain of rice, so perhaps these smaller bees cannot navigate through the taller grass to forage on the flowers in a lawn mowed every three weeks. More research on this issue is needed. The Pollinator Pathway promotes rethinking your lawn to combat these monocultural deserts, useless to birds and bees. Mowing less frequently is one immediate step a homeowner can take to lessen the impact of their lawn. It also gives permission to the neighbors that they, too, don’t need to be so fussy. Just like NO MOW MAY, it’s OK to be lazy. Mow every two weeks for the rest of the summer. It’s economical, simple, saves time and pollutes less.

"What is a seed? Seeds are our past, our present, and our future. Seeds are our ancestors and our future generations. We are humbled by the seed." As Pollinator Pathway makers and native plant lovers, we understand the importance of native plant seeds. Locally, the Ecotype Project was founded as a way to capture and cultivate Connecticut’s own wild plant seeds for service in habitat restoration. From home gardeners to nursery growers, the collection, protection, and promotion of local ecotypes will be central to the success of pollinator habitat restoration projects moving forward. But Native Americans have been harvesting and saving seed for centuries. You can learn more about indigenous seeds and our evolving relationship with corn, one of our most important seed relatives, when you tune in for Seeds for Seven Generations with gardener and writer Diane Wilson. Diane, a Native American (Dakota) and award-winning author, will discuss exciting work being done today by Native organizations to reclaim indigenous seeds as food for our communities and she'll explore the relationship between seed and writing her recently published novel, The Seed Keeper. Thursday, June 17th 12 noon - 1:30 pm REGISTER HERE! One attendee will be randomly selected at the beginning of Diane's talk to receive a free copy of The Seed Keeper. So make sure to join us! Diane is the Executive Director for the The Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance (NAFSA), a national coalition of tribes and organizations working to create sovereign food systems for Native people. Wilson is a Mdewakanton descendent, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation. Seeds for Seven Generations is part of the Nature-Friendly Gardening Series of webinars sponsored by the Norwalk Public Library and the Norwalk River Watershed Association.

A Dutch group, The Pollinators, called on all Netherlanders to spring into action in the run-up to National Sowing Day on April 22nd to help protect pollinators by sowing the seeds for an epic bee food banquet. 1500 volunteers signed up this year to act as "Bee Food Banks", distribution points for free organic flower seeds. Anyone in the country could contact their local Bee Food Bank to request seeds and then pick them up before National Sowing Day, which this year coincided with Earth Day. Each seed packet contained 2 grams of seed representing 14 different flowers that are attractive to a wide range of pollinators. On April 22nd people across the country participated in what amounted to a massive seed sowing festival, with thousands of seeds scattered on balconies, roof terraces, in gardens - anywhere that the seeds might find a welcoming home. Six weeks later -round about now - the flowers are beginning to bloom. And the bees beginning to alight. The campaign was designed so anyone can participate, whether in city or country, living in an apartment or with access to a yard. Sound like the Pollinator Pathway? Says The Pollinators founder Tom van de Beek, "Bees are struggling everywhere and they can be fed everywhere. We started this program in the Netherlands but that doesn't mean it also ends in the Netherlands because the problem is global. If there are people anywhere in the world who want to start the same kind of initiative, then we Pollinators support them wholeheartedly." Food for thought? And not just for the bees? The Pollinators are a community and a platform in the Netherlands that mainly focuses on supporting and connecting people and initiatives that protect and stimulate the pollinators and biodiversity. Thanks to Shawnee Baldwin and Lisa Eldridge of Pollinator Pathway Glastonbury, CT for bringing this inspiring story to our attention.

With A Flower Patch for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee: Creating Habitat Gardens for Native Pollinators in the Greater Toronto Area, Friends of the Earth Canada (FoE) has produced a booklet that is both informative and incredibly beautiful - an inspiration and a true pleasure to scroll through. Written by Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla, with gorgeous illustrations by Ann Sanderson, the booklet was created by FoE in support of Toronto’s Pollinator Protection Strategy. Why name the booklet after one particular native bee? "In 2012, the rusty-patched bumblebee had the unfortunate distinction of being the first native bee in Canada to be officially designated as endangered. One of the authors of this book, Sheila Colla, was the last person in Canada to identify this bee in the wild, in 2009, by the side of a road in Pinery Provincial Park. Sheila had spent every summer since 2005 searching for the rusty-patched bumblebee in places where they had previously been recorded. On that summer day in 2009, she had found none and was on her way out of the park when, from the passenger window of the car, she spotted the distinctive rusty patch of a lone specimen. This sighting was the last known for Canada." While the exact causes of this bee’s rapid decline have yet to be confirmed, the most likely culprits will sound familiar to Pollinator Pathway supporters: "loss and fragmentation of habitat, including nesting and foraging opportunities; disease and competition from non-native honeybees and managed bumblebees in greenhouse and field crops; pesticides; and climate change." "There is much that needs to be done to protect bees, but growing a flower patch is one action we can all take now to make a positive difference." A Flower Patch for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee provides insight into these destructive forces along with tools to help counteract them: advice on planning your pollinator patch, selecting and combining native plants, plant profiles and pictures, and other ways to take action to "support and protect native bees by creating habitat where we live, work and gather as communities". As the authors say, "There is much that needs to be done to protect bees, but growing a flower patch is one action we can all take now to make a positive difference." Note: There are a few plants listed here that are aggressive spreaders -False sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), for example - and one that is considered invasive in our area - Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) - so double check before planting. One good resource is the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group plant list, which includes both invasive and potentially invasive plants.

By Mary Wilson A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology by researchers at Royal Holloway University of London found that several RoundUp formulations are toxic to bumblebees. We generally associate the name RoundUp with the active ingredient, glyphosate, but there are a number of RoundUp formulations, with varying percentages of glyphosate, including at least one with no glyphosate. This study tested three RoundUp formulations and a competitor product called Weedol. Label recommended pesticide concentrations were applied to the bees using a spray bottle. Products were sprayed directly onto more than 50 bees of a bumblebee species common in Europe. The results of the study are tabulated as follows: Product % Glyphosate % Mortality RoundUp Ready to Use 41% 94% RoundUp ProActive 36% 30% RoundUp No Glyphosate 0% 96% Weedol 15% 0% Surprisingly, there was no correlation between percent glyphosate and toxicity. The toxicity then must be related to the balance of the formulation, one or more co-formulants, designed to make the product more effective. Manufacturers are not required to publish the names of these co-formulants. Thus testing results and warnings on product labels are not representative of real world conditions. Some co-formulants are compounds which help the sprayed herbicide to better adhere to the plant surface. Others are compounds which make the active ingredient even more toxic. But since no labeling of any additional components is required, the consumer has no idea what is being purchased and what the associated risks might be. Is Glyphosate by Itself OK? Since in this case, glyphosate is not the “bad guy”, some might think that glyphosate by itself is an acceptable herbicide for commercial and household use. However, glyphosate poses many risks including human health concerns, antibiotic effects on soil bacteria and human gut micobiota, degradation of the soil, and loss of habitat for pollinators. What Should Be Done? Test results demonstrate that co-formulants and formulations as well as active ingredients should be tested and regulated individually. We suggest that the necessity to properly test pesticide effects on wildlife outweighs company rights to withhold proprietary information. Testing protocols for gyphosate-based products should include testing on bees. This has never been required as herbicides have been viewed as not having an effect on things other than plant species. Newer studies have shown this is not necessarily true. Proper testing and labeling should be required on all glyphosate products. It is concerning that there are many glyphosate products on the U.S. market, none of which has labeling with information about any ingredients other than glyphosate. And since testing of the whole product has not been made available, it is impossible to tell which ones might contain chemicals harmful to pollinators. What we do know of course, is that any glyphosate product carries with it some risks to consumers and the environment at large. Government regulation which would provide for corporate transparency on behalf of consumers, pollinators and the environment is sorely needed. Mary Wilson 203-417-1109

By Shawn O'Sullivan “I didn’t see a monarch every day, but every day, for eight and a half months, I saw the people who could save them.” -Sara Dykman Sara Dykman is on a mission. A mission to bring the natural world up close to students through her organization Beyond a Book - educational adventures in Nature. She wears many hats; explorer, conservationist, educator, biologist, author, and, oh yes, cyclist. This modern day John Muir on a bicycle has traveled via bus, boat, and bike through 49 states, South and Central America, and Canada - to raise awareness of conservation and biodiversity issues. She and her team of teachers, biologists, and naturalists even apply common core standards to their events (but don’t tell the kids that, they just think it’s fun.) Sara’s latest project, ButterBike, saw her cycling alongside monarch butterflies as they migrated from Mexico to Canada and back again. During a 10,201 mile, 17 month journey, which spanned 5 generations of monarchs, she documented the plight of the this threatened species in blogs, videos, photos and through presentations to schools and community groups. This connection to people has made her ambassador extraordinaire to these majestic creatures. After reading her article in Orion magazine I too desperately wanted to be one of those people who could save the monarch. That article has since morphed into a book, Biking with Butterflies, which given her delightful prose promises to be an exciting read. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger for Peace, notes “They share an epic journey and encounter hardships, but they do not give up. The book is a lament for our thoughtless destruction of nature and at the same time a celebration of the beauty that remains. The migration of the monarch butterflies is one of the wonders of the world - we must save it for future generations.” Want to take part in the saving of one of the wonders of the world? You don’t have to travel 10,000 miles. Join Journey North to check out where they are headed, and join Monarch Watch to tag them as they fly through the gardens in your town… Just make sure there is some milkweed planted for them! Link to the Orion article . If you would like to see more of ButterBike or Beyond a Book the adventures start here.

“We’ve got a really robust agenda that we’re really excited about,” said Pam Roman, a member of the town’s Sustainable Team. “Starting April 18, we have at least one event each day, and it all culminates in the annual Tidy Up Trumbull with Trumbull Community Women.” Events include guided hikes and a series of webinars including wildlife sketching, creating a pollinator pathway, vegetable gardening, and a talk by Mary Hogue of Pollinator Pathway Fairfield on composting on April 21st. To sign up for any of the events, and for a full schedule, visit the Sustainable Trumbull website. And read more about Trumbull's Earth Week here. Image: Poster vector created by brgfx - www.freepik.com

Two Old Lyme organizations teamed up recently to present The ABCs of Pollinator Plants, and you are invited to tune into their talk - available now! Pollinate Old Lyme's Suzanne Thompson and Joe Attwater of the CT Audubon Society's Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center offer an introduction to the native trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers that provide the supportive ecosystem our pollinators need. “We know that pollinators depend on native plants, but it’s much more interesting when you can piece together the interdependent relationships,” says Thompson. Nature lovers can learn more about identifying native plants, birds and insects and where they are mostly likely to be found. Home gardeners can get ideas of what to plant. Watch this engaging webinar now.

While the rusty patched bumble bee is the only bee in the continental US currently listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), its plight is likely to be repeated by more of our 4,000 native bee species... unless more people take action. If you're on the Pollinator Pathway, you're already making a difference. And on a broader scale, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and its partners are taking action on behalf of the rusty patched to protect its endangered grassland habitat. This is the NRDC's fourth legal action to provide the rusty patched bumble bee with the legal protection it needs. Read more about the NRDC's lawsuit here.

"A grass-roots movement is transforming traditional landscapes into pollinator way stations", writes Susan Shea in the April issue of Natural History. "Amidst the historic homes, posh estates, and manicured lawns of southwestern Connecticut, a new, almost radical, movement is gaining strength." Read the full article here.

By Cathy Smith After listening to a few episodes recently of the WPKN Radio Show Digging in the Dirt with host Kevin Gallagher , I kept asking myself - how did I, an avid gardener and nature lover, not know about this amazing show before? Digging in the Dirt is devoted to digging a little deeper into issues related to the environment, gardening, farming and food. In fact, Kevin considers himself an environmental information activist with a mission to help people reconnect with nature. Kevin has worked at WPKN, a listener-supported radio station in Bridgeport, CT, for over 20 years. Several years ago he says " I decided that what I really wanted to do was to start talking about what interests me most – which is gardening and farming and how to improve and how to get better at it." So he started Digging in the Dirt, and at last count he's logged over 120 programs. "I try to do big picture stuff – the serious issues that are facing our planet," says Kevin, "along with the little stuff that we’re doing in our own backyards, and I think it’s all intertwined." A long-time environmentalist – he traces it back to visiting Sequoia National Forest with his father as a child – he believes that we have become disconnected from nature at our personal and global peril. Through his show he’s aiming to nudge people to reconnect with the natural world . And he hopes they’ll encourage their kids to dig in the dirt too – starting young is the best way to ingrain a sense of respect, awe and ultimately empathy for the natural world. You can listen to my interview with Kevin now. And then make sure to check out the Digging in the Dirt archive to hear lively conversations with environmentalists, climate change activists, organic gardeners and more. Recent guests include Doug Tallamy, author of Nature's Best Hope and Bringing Nature Home, Seed Huntress Sefra Alexander and Pollinator Pathway's own Louise Washer. Kevin also invites you to become more Earth-aware with his weekly feature Gaiagram, "environmental headlines from around a planet in crisis". So tune in! It just might be the smartest thing you do today.