Search Results

By Donna Merrill On that fabled New York City street named Broadway, sits a ribbon of greenery, a peaceful splash of nature running north from 60th Street through the Upper West Side, Harlem and Washington Heights. Known as The Broadway Mall, this 5-mile chain of median islands, each 240 feet long and 20 feet wide, has long provided a narrow oasis amidst the dust and din of the urban bustle. But move over English ivy!  It’s time to cede ground for golden rod, columbine, asters and sedges.    Thanks to Ian Olsen, Director of Horticulture with the non-profit Broadway Mall Conservancy,  this corridor of green, re-planted with a multitude of native plants,  has become a vibrant connected urban habitat for native bees, butterflies, birds and local denizens who seek a quiet refuge, if only briefly, from the density and drama of city life.     For more information about this vital habitat for urban wildlife, check out the  Broadway Mall website ,  which includes a database and map of all the native plants on the Malls.  Follow the Broadway Mall on  Instagram  and  Facebook . Pollinator Pathway Board members visited the Broadway Mall last summer and were truly inspired by the project. This short video clip  shows why!

Pictured left to right: Craig Toothman, Franklin County Pollinator Pathway; Susan King, Licking County Pollinator Pathway; Jana Hogan, Executive Director National Pollinator Pathway; Terry Hermsen, North Central Ohio Pollinator Pathway. This past January, more than 200 Pollinator Pathway members gathered in Ohio for a weekend dedicated to pollinators, native plants, and community action. The summit began Friday evening with a screening of The Little Things That Run the World , drawing a large and engaged audience. The film highlights both the urgency of insect decline and the hopeful solutions already taking root in communities like those across Ohio. It also features Pollinator Pathway co-founders, sharing how a message grounded in hope and practical action has inspired so many communities to get involved. On Saturday, leaders from North Central Ohio , Licking County , and Franklin County Pollinator Pathways met at Ohio Wesleyan University for a collaborative “Leaders Lab.” Through peer learning and facilitated discussions, organizers shared best practices and envisioned what success could look like five years from now — including connected habitat corridors across counties, updated municipal policies supporting native plants, and expanded outdoor classrooms in schools. Participants identified priorities such as shared mapping tools, model ordinances, resource hubs, microgrants, and continued network convenings. According to National Pollinator Pathway Executive Director Jana Hogan, who attended the meeting, “A clear theme has emerged from this summit: local pathways are thriving and innovative, but shared tools and coordinated support could help accelerate impact.” Following the Leaders Lab, the Third Annual Summit, (Re) Learning the Earth, convened in the afternoon, featuring diverse local perspectives on the pollinator and native landscape movement through pop-up talks and breakout sessions led by Patti Shipley (Leaves for Wildlife Native Plant Nursery), Michael Keeler (Ohio Native Plant Concepts), Dave Heithaus (Knox County Parks), Traci Cardinal (Dark Sky Ohio), Alison Meyer (art teacher and native plant designer), Susan King (Licking County Pollinator Pathway), and naturalists from Delaware City Schools and Preservation Parks of Delaware County. The broader conference also featured regional presentations, including highlights from the successful Meadows for Monarchs project, a replicable model that provides training, native seed mixes and access to tools to help land owners convert grassy areas into biodiverse pocket prairies. Terry Hermsen, organizer of the Summit and the North Central Ohio Pollinator Pathway, reflected on the weekend’s momentum: “What stood out most was the spirit of collaboration. Each community is doing impressive work on its own, but when we share ideas and resources across counties, our impact multiplies.” Pollinator Pathway groups in Ohio are demonstrating what’s possible when grassroots leadership connects across communities and organizations. Small plantings become corridors. Individual efforts become collective impact. The more we connect, the stronger the pathway becomes.

By the Brookline Pollinator Pathway  When we started the Brookline Pollinator Pathway a few years ago, our goal was simple: plant more native flowers and help pollinators thrive. But as we dug in, we discovered something deeper. Each garden we planted became a place where people came together, stood in awe at the beauty of nature, shared stories, asked questions, and imagined what they could create for their community. Brookline’s pathway of gardens has grown as we have grown together as a group. We began by establishing a handful of gardens on public land in collaboration with the Town of Brookline, and we committed to tending our public gardens together as small groups of neighbors who came together to care for nature. Over time, our garden workdays   turned into friendships, ideas, and shared dreams for how our parks, libraries, and schools could be more alive with native plants and community life.   Now, our group includes more than a hundred people, volunteers, gardeners, and supporters, who keep ten public and many more private gardens blooming. Within our gardens, everyone can find a place to belong, and we are eager to share ideas for how we can work together to help our community. Some of us love getting our hands dirty doing winter sowing, transplanting, or giving away seedlings. Some of us love the opportunities to connect with Above: Brookline Public Library planting. others through education or art, such as at seed collection workshops, garden tours, or exhibits about pollinators and native plants. Some of us love writing letters encouraging restored natural habitats and green infrastructure that support clean water, reduced stormwater flooding, healthy trees, and cooler neighborhoods.  We have found that ecological restoration isn’t just about landscapes, it’s about relationships. When people feel invited to shape the world around them, they show up with creativity and care. Our gardens are living proof that small acts: watering, planting, sharing seeds, can build a culture of stewardship.   What we Have Learned: As we grow and nurture our gardens, our community grows and thrives!   Planting our native plant pollinator gardens helps restore the natural world and builds community around  nature and hope. Visitors to our gardens often take pictures of the plant labels because they are so inspired to  plant their own small patch of natural habitat in their lawn, on a driveway border, or tree lawn.  Some things we’ve learned along the way:  Start with enthusiasm, not perfection. One well-tended garden can inspire a movement. Giving away a seedling at an event can be the beginning of a new garden.  Celebrate small choices that make a difference. Each planting day, each volunteer, each seed, and each new flower adds up to real change.   Collaborate early and often. Town departments, local nonprofits, and schools are natural allies.  Connect your efforts to bigger goals. Framing pollinator gardens as green infrastructure can open new funding and policy doors.   Nurture community as much as plants. Garden tours, workshops, art, and shared projects create new connections, lasting bonds, and a vibrant sense of belonging.   Cultivate and celebrate volunteers. Honor all the ways people can contribute.  Create one invitation after another to connect people together and bring them into the conversation about native plants, biodiversity, and ecological restoration.  Brookline’s story is still unfolding, but we’ve seen firsthand how planting for pollinators grows something much larger: a community of people who care for the land, the water, and each other.  And we are especially eager to strengthen our connection to the national Pollinator Pathway community as we work together to connect pollinator health to climate resilience, biodiversity, and the well-being of our communities. “Brookline pollinator gardens have beautifully exemplified what the Town can create when we build true partnerships with our community volunteers.   While the Town works to design these gardens, purchase the necessary materials, prepare the sites for establishment, and educate residents about the importance of our pollinator gardens, the ongoing maintenance and care   would not be possible without our dedicated group of volunteers who   regularly water and weed these gardens on public property. It has been such a rewarding initiative to be a part of and truly demonstrates what is possible when municipalities and community members work together towards important shared goals.” – Alexandra Vecchio, Sustainability & Natural   Resources Director – Department of Public Works   For more about our work, visit https://brooklinepp.wixsite.com/brooklinepp .  Art by group co-leader Chen Nir, which was featured in a library exhibit we created on pollinator gardens in  October 2024.

by Nick Dorian, Ph.D. - Pollinator Pathway Advisory Board Member Finally: sweater weather. In the early October sun, bumble bees nuzzle into a blanket of wood-asters. A patchwork leaf-cutter bee hurries up a wand of goldenrod, her belly held high in the air. Green sweat bees glimmer like flecks of light, and others, smaller and darker, dance across the garden like shadows. For several weeks this fall, I spent mornings with the bees in my backyard, coffee in hand, watching as they sipped nectar and made arrangements for the long winter ahead. By the time cold had settled on the city, the bees had vanished with the flowers, but I knew they’d both be back next year. As an ecologist, I have spent a decade unraveling the mysteries of bee life cycles, with particular interest in what bees are up to when they are away from flowers. So, what were the bees up to? Bees have two main strategies for surviving winter. Strategy 1: Fatten up The first strategy is to fatten up. Sweet nectar from fall-blooming flowers is converted into internal lipid and carbohydrate stores, much like how other animals fatten up before lean times. Having feasted on nectar and found a mate, females tuck into overwintering sites known as hibernacula . Males, having already mated, die with the onset of cold. Females typically return to their natal nest for winter, whether an underground burrow, a hollowed-out stem, or a rotting log. Bumble bee queens take a slightly different approach, excavating new hibernacula just inches below the surface. How bees select wintering sites is still somewhat of a mystery, but our understanding has been aided greatly by observant gardeners who report their discoveries to citizen science programs like iNaturalist and Queen Quest. Female pure green sweat bees (Augochlora pura) spend winter in rotting logs, emerging in spring to construct nests of their own. PC: Nick Dorian This strategy is adopted by a minority of the nearly 500 bee species in New England, mainly social bees like bumble bees ( Bombus spp .) and some solitary sweat bees like bicolored striped sweat bees ( Agapostemon virescens ) and pure green sweat bees ( Augochlora pura ). Since only females survive the winter, these species exhibit two distinct activity periods the following year: an early-season window when mated females emerge to nest and a second late-season period when both males and females—the offspring of spring nests—emerge to mate. Strategy 2: Leave behind a legacy Not all bees fuel up on flowers before winter. Instead, a second strategy exhibited by many solitary bees is to leave behind a legacy—to reproduce before winter and leave offspring to survive in the nest. Take aster mining bees ( Andrena asteris ). Males and females are common fall visitors to gardens across the eastern US, but the adults you see will die before Thanksgiving. Only their offspring pass the winter underground, resume development in spring on food provisions within the nest, and emerge in fall to repeat the cycle. Diapause: not just life on pause Regardless of strategy, all overwintering bees enter a physiological state of dormancy known as diapause during which they slow how fast they live. Metabolism drops by over 95% to help conserve energy, enabling survival over long periods without the need to dip too much into fat stores. However, diapause is not just life on pause. Critical regulatory and physiological pathways are still at work under the surface that, among other things, allow a bee to successfully cue seasonal activity after winter.  Diapause is necessary for bees to emerge in the same way that cold stratification is necessary for native seeds to germinate. In other words, bees in temperate climates have evolved to not simply tolerate winter—rather, they require it. Aster mining bee (Andrena asteris) is a common fall-active solitary bee. Offspring pass the winter in nests underground, resume development in spring, and emerge in fall to repeat the cycle. PC: Nick Dorian Stewardship Guidelines Bees in winter may be out of sight, but they can’t be out of mind. When we steward our garden according to some simple guidelines, we can ensure the survival of bees from one year to the next: Plant fall-blooming native plants : Asters and goldenrods produce energy-rich nectar that is the lifeline for fall-active bees, regardless of overwintering strategy. Leave the leaves : A light layer of leaves over garden beds provides safe wintering homes for bumble bees and some ground-nesting species without smothering next year’s plants. Leave stems standing to benefit adults of leaf-cutter, resin, masked, and small carpenter bees by creating habitat structure. (A simple sign can reveal to neighbors your good intentions!) Leave soils intact (i.e. no tillage) in spring to avoid disturbing overwintering bees. And, finally, having taken these actions, remember the enduring value of spending time with the bees in your garden. Move slowly and pay close attention. Which bees are drinking nectar, and which bees are collecting pollen? Are certain flowers visited more often than others? How might these observations offer clues about the strategies that bees use to survive winter? Often the answers to our questions about the natural world are hiding in plain sight. Nick Dorian, Ph.D. ( nicholasdorian.com ) is a New England-based ecologist, speaker, and consultant. Nick studies and publishes on the ecology and conservation of wild bees and native plants, and he develops awardwinning strategies to enhance biodiversity within the built environment. He is a cherished public speaker, coauthor and photographer of watchingbees.com, and teaches an annual course at Eagle Hill Institute.

By Sam Rohe Hi reader, I’m Sam from the Frank St Bee & Butterfly Garden located on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation, which encompasses the Ottawa River Valley and surrounding area. I am a white, non-binary settler and I have recently stepped down after serving on the Frank St Garden organizing team for five years. If you want to learn more about the garden, you can read our previous article in The Buzz! At the Frank St Bee & Butterfly Garden, we shape our programs and outreach with the unique demographics of our neighbourhood in mind. When the garden was two years old and began attracting a lot of new volunteers, we were concerned that our volunteer population was over 90% white. Our mission statement was “to provide a beautiful space to build friendships and community while learning how to support local pollinators and ecosystems.” If our volunteer demographic was overwhelmingly made up of white people, then we were not fulfilling our mission of building community, and our work would have been contributing to structural inequalities. We have participation guidelines that new volunteers sign, including statements condemning bigotry and discrimination, but we recognized that this alone was not enough to ensure racialized individuals feel safe in a Two garden organizers leading attendees on an educational walk around the garden during our annual Pride event. predominantly white space. To better support the racialized gardeners in our community, we created the Microgrant for Racialized Gardeners program, which distributed small grants during peak gardening season. If you are not familiar with the term “racialized”, it is a sociological concept related to racism. We like to share this definition: “People seen as belonging to racialized minorities are people who could be perceived as being socially different from, for example, the racial or ethnic majority. In Canada, the term “racialized minority” usually refers to [non-white people]. The word “racialized” stresses the fact that race is neither biological nor objective but is a concept which is societal in origin.” (from Racialized Minority | The Canadian Encyclopedia ) We like this definition for our community initiative because it is a relative term that frames racialization as societally created from an ideology that erodes personal and cultural identity to create divisive racial hierarchies. In this article, we will also use the term “BIPOC,” which stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour. Because language evolves over time, terms like “racialized” and “BIPOC” may shift in meaning or fall out of use by the time you read this. We welcome your feedback on any ideas related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The ways people are racialized in the area surrounding our garden are unique to this community, and community gardens in other areas should reflect on their own local contexts when creating programming. In the lands surrounding the Frank St Garden, the larger picture of land stewardship and cultural practices of connecting to the land have been disrupted or systematically made inaccessible to Indigenous and racialized individuals in Canada. This is the legacy of settler colonialism, namely the forced displacement of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people from their unceded lands, the prioritization of white settlers in land ownership, and the consequences of those and other racist practices in the present day. The impact of the resulting interlocking systems of oppression vary in each individual experience and contribute to an individual’s likelihood of participating in the garden. We recognize that running a program solely within our garden does not effectively support racialized gardeners, because our demographics indicate existing barriers for BIPOC community members. Instead, we decided to offer a program external to the garden that would take a small step towards building the world that we want to live in; where the “Canadian” outdoors is not viewed as a predominantly white space, systematic barriers of all kinds are lowered and reparations address the enduring impacts of settler-colonialism and racism. The garden organizing team in 2025. When we conceived of the microgrant program, we also happened to be the lucky recipients of a grant that gave us more money than we needed to run the garden. We decided to share these extra resources with local gardeners who are systematically denied access to land and resources because of historical and ongoing racism. We created the Microgrant for Racialized Gardeners, which ran for two years and distributed one or more grants of CAN$50-100 per month during peak gardening season (April to September). Microgrant recipients were chosen by random draw every month to ensure fairness. Microgrant recipients were chosen by random draw every month to ensure fairness. After two years of grant distribution, we were unable to secure enough funding for basic garden operations and unfortunately, had to end the grant program. A group of white volunteers working on a program for the BIPOC community without collaboration are likely to miss crucial details at best, and at worst, increase marginalization and reinforce systemic racism. To help avoid the worst case, we consulted with BIPOC community members including members of other gardens, members of local anti-racism groups, and students in social justice domains. In return we showed appreciation to our newfound collective of community consultants for their expertise and lived experiences by offering payment to compensate their labour. The community consultants identified a few places in the program where we had increased barriers to obtaining the grant instead of lowering them. For example, a member of our team suggested that we screen applicants by asking them to submit photos of themselves in the application form because without screening, the microgrant could be “scammed” by white applicants. However, further consultations with community members broke down the many reasons why it is both impossible and racist to attempt to guess someone’s race using a picture. These discussions revealed how adding a photo requirement could stop many deserving applicants from applying. We further lowered barriers to obtaining the microgrant by: Working in partnership with other community organizations that serve BIPOC populations to promote the microgrant. Having minimal requirements for application. To apply, individuals only need to self-identify as racialized and as gardeners or land stewards. They are asked to provide just enough contact information to receive the grant and to share their postal code. Applicants could remain semi-anonymous. Distributing grants to both individuals and to organizations that served initiatives for BIPOC gardeners. Added broad definitions of “gardeners” and “land stewards” to avoid restricting application access to colonial gardening practices. Not requiring applicants to participate in any other Frank Garden programming. Not requiring the grant money to be spent in a certain way. Examples of what "gardening and land stewardship" mean for grant applicants from a Frank Garden Instagram post. We had an optional field on the form where applicants could share information about their personal connection with gardening, or any other gardening groups they worked with. This way, we could promote the efforts of our applicants consensually and without pressure to share. While many applicants chose not to share, we were excited to learn about applicants who were part of gardening groups that were created to welcome newcomers. These groups facilitated familiar gardening practices, provided a small form of food security, and cultivated a safe place to share both familiar and new language. Additionally, many of our applicants shared stories of gardening in challenging places, like high rise apartment balconies. These stories highlight the difficulty of finding access to land in urban settings and the importance of accessible community land-sharing and stewarding programs. Confronting issues of demographic disparity in a community group is challenging, especially when the community group does not have many volunteers of diverse cultural backgrounds to drive the direction of internal improvements. It’s also unfair to expect volunteers of a marginalized demographic to represent that entire demographic and give organizational-level guidance, though when this does happen, these efforts should be respected and followed. Volunteers smiling around the Garden's tall vegetable bed after narrowly avoiding rain. We did not think that a small microgrant program would solve systemic issues. We also did not expect that the microgrant program would “fix” our group’s demographic disparity. We, however, did think that this small program contributed to the mosaic of community efforts dedicated to addressing systematic inequalities. Resources should be shared until no one is underresourced. Community organizations best serve their communities, and by extension their other goals, by taking small but sustainable steps towards building a future that is grounded in fairness, justice and belonging. Is your outdoorsy group working on this mosaic too? Do you have thoughts or feedback about the microgrant program? We would love to hear from you! Please email Sam or contact the Frank St Garden directly via Instagram ( @frankstbbg ) or email ( fbgardener@proton.me ). Edited by Athourina David and Nkosinothando Mhlanga

By Nancy Farwell Before (left): Lawn dominated the front of our headquarters. After (right): The Lawn has been replaced by hundreds of pollinator plants grown primarily from seed. The first phase of our pollinator garden installation involved removing sod and laying gravel paths. Because the garden is an educational space and open to the public, safe access was a concern and focus. The decision to construct smooth, gravel pathways drove the installation process which involved hiring a contractor to remove unwanted shrubs and sod and build the paths. We did not amend the topsoil. Once the plants were installed, 34” of wood chips were spread to suppress weeds, hold moisture and give the garden beds a tidy appearance while the plants grew. The garden was designed by me – I have a degree in landscape architecture. As part of an ecological landscape design class, the students were challenged to design a native plant garden. I presented the idea of taking up the whole lawn to my former director who loved the idea and the project took off from there. The garden was installed and planted in summer 2024. I did most of the planting with help from Northern Woodlands staff, my daughters, kids of other staff members, and a volunteer or two. Plant selection was based on having a long bloom period from early spring to late autumn. I wanted lots of color, varying heights, textures, and plant shapes. I incorporated big swathes of the same plants throughout the garden, and it now includes about 50 different species. Most of the plants were started from seed and that turned out to be a fun, successful, and very cost-effective process. The seeds were started in March and April for July planting. Some of our favorite plants: Spotted bee balm - I love the unique stacked flower stalk and how the bracts change from green to white to pink. Very lovely overall. Upland white goldenrod - a nice low, mounding plant with small daisy-like white flowers. I highly recommend it. Rattlesnake master - Besides having a great name, this interesting species looks like narrow-leaved yucca with tall branching flower stems and spiky, round, dull green/white flower pods. Beardtongues - I planted the hairy and foxglove beardtongues. They started blooming in late May and produced flowers for at least a month. The tubular blossoms, white on foxglove and lavender on hairy, attract bees who wiggle their way in where you can’t see them, but you can hear them! Given that the garden is very prominent and visible to the public, we wanted to show intention with “Cues to Care.” Well-defined, gravel pathways are edged with 4-5” stones and wood chips in the planting beds create a tidy appearance. A few stepping stones in some larger beds indicate where one can walk to reach the inner portion of the bed. The transition back to lawn is a defined edge. There are large sweeps of the same species indicating intentional planting as do labels naming each plant species. Benches (photo left, below) were placed around the garden to invite one to stop and watch for pollinators and appreciate the beauty of the space. The garden has minimal weeds, and the path is kept clear of debris, demonstrating to our neighbors and community that the garden is a proud achievement and we intend for it to be beautiful in all seasons. We have attracted so many interesting pollinators including hummingbird pairs and monarch butterflies. The hummingbirds were battling over the cardinal flower. Monarch butterflies were numerous and a neighbor reported it was the first summer she’d seen a monarch since moving in 10 years ago! We had a visiting tree frog, a crab spider defending its prey from interested flies, and an enormous fly that looked like a wasp. It has been so rewarding to see such variety and quantity in the pollinators attracted to the garden, as well as the positive reactions of passersby. All this beauty and activity and no lawn to mow anymore! Nancy Farwell is the Circulation and Ad Sales Coordinator for Northern Woodlands Magazine. Nancy’s background in design, library science, and education lends well to her role as advertising ace, information curator, and community outreach champion. Nancy is an avid knitter and side gig crafter who enjoys downtime outdoors to walk, hike, or XC ski. Photo credits: Northern Woodlands magazine staff.

By Margaret Fisher The unfortunate fact is that people create invasive plant problems. The closer you get to an urban center, the worse they are, and Northern Virginia is a very populous area. The most visible of these problems is the invasive vines blanketing the trees, especially English Ivy and Wintercreeper in residential areas and Porcelain Berry, Oriental Bittersweet, Asian Wisteria, and Japanese Honeysuckle along roadsides and in the parks. The Plant NOVA Trees campaign decided to join the existing efforts to control invasives by quantifying and increasing public awareness of the threat to trees. Volunteers for the Tree Rescuers project of Plant NOVA Trees do two things. One is to walk or drive around, counting the number of trees that are at serious risk from invasive vines in a given area. In residential areas, they also drop off door hangers (photos left and above) that alert the owners to the problem and show them how to address it. The results have been both alarming and highly encouraging. Hundreds of people stepped forward and together have counted 85,000 trees. Extrapolating that data to all of Northern Virginia results in an estimate of 3 million trees at risk. The encouraging part is that the idea of rescuing trees has really grabbed the attention of the public and our elected officials. New people are helping at existing volunteer events, but more importantly, new initiatives have sprung up to address the problem on a global scale, increasing the outreach to the public exponentially, making improvements to public policy, identifying and addressing barriers, and seeking new funding sources. The problem is massive and extends beyond just the invasive vines, of course, but we have confidence that if enough people step forward, we can at a minimum stop the tree loss from the vines and get a handle on at least the worst of the other invasive plant infestations. If you are interested in learning more about these initiatives, you can find some of them here. Plant NOVA Trees Tree Rescuers educational program Fairfax County Park Authority Tree Rescuers volunteer program Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance Fairfax Invasive Removal Alliance The Plant NOVA Natives website has an extensive library of attractive campaign materials which can be downloaded for outreach purposes. Margaret Fisher is one of the coordinators of the Plant NOVA Natives/Plant NOVA Trees campaign and the new Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM. She also volunteers on wildlife surveys and as a Virginia Master Naturalist and a Fairfax Invasives Management Area site leader.

The CT General Assembly passed SB9 May 28, 2025 which bans the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on lawns and all turf grass. Congratulations to Connecticut! More than 500,000 acres of grass will soon be free of pollinator-killing neonics. This is a good step forward, but there is more to do. A last-minute weakening of the bill exempts trees and shrubs from the law unfortunately. More work is needed to better protect birds and pollinators as well as reduce the harmful levels of this pesticide in rivers in Connecticut and across the country. Advocates are seeing steady victories, though, and this is one. Thank you to everyone who supported this effort and those going on across the country. Check HERE to see what is happening in your state.

Who's on your gift-giving list this year? Why not give a gift to the earth? Make a plan for one thing you'll do in 2025 that helps our planet.  Perhaps you'll reduce your lawn, add native plants to your garden or a container, or turn off exterior lighting to protect pollinating moths. Or maybe you'll team up with friends or neighbors to do something on a larger scale.   One of the most important gifts you can give the earth is to learn more about its stunning complexity and the intricate, interdependent web of its flora and fauna. Dig into (no pun intended) a great book and be inspired to act on behalf of the environment! And keep spreading the word about what you know so well- that we must all work together to protect the pollinators that make life on Earth possible. With that in mind, today we're sharing  a few of our favorite gifts for spreading seeds and spreading the word. And stay tuned for Part 2! Later this week, we'll share  Doug Tallamy's book recommendations and some of our own! Read more...

Looking for a last-minute gift? Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants  (a must-read book) and founder of Homegrown National Park , has clued us in on some of his favorite books. In case that's not enough, we've also added some of our own favorites! ( Read more... )

If you’ve never tried winter sowing in a DIY mini-greenhouse or would like to experiment with a different container option, you’ve come to the right place. A “newbie” to winter sowing? We’ll tell you where to find all the information you need to get started. If you’ve tried it before but you’re looking for a change, we’ll direct you to alternatives to the tried-and-true milk jug mini- greenhouse that so many sites recommend. (Read more. .. ) Almost any plastic container can become a mini-greenhouse for winter sowing. #wintersowing,#gregwolgast,#perennialseeds

The journal Science reports  on a new study showing drastic declines in butterflies. The abstract states: " Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in geographic scale or rely on data from a single monitoring program. Using records of 12.6 million individual butterflies from >76,000 surveys across 35 monitoring programs, we characterized overall and species-specific butterfly abundance trends across the contiguous United States. Between 2000 and 2020, total butterfly abundance fell by 22% across the 554 recorded species. Species-level declines were widespread, with 13 times as many species declining as increasing. The prevalence of declines throughout all regions in the United States highlights an urgent need to protect butterflies from further losses." You are part of the solution though! Our iNaturalist community science project is helping with data collection and the pesticide-free plants we are all planting are helping the butterflies directly. Another thing we can do is buy organic food. Many of the pesticides used to grow our food are those devastating pollinator populations, like neonicotinoids and diamides. Go organic in your yard and in your kitchen!