Pollinator Pathway

A Native Pollinator Garden was created in 2022 on the grounds of the Town of Huntington’s Kubecka Community Garden on Dunlop Road in the Town of Huntington, NY with donated plants from community members, ReWild, Long Island, and LI Native Plant Initiative. It was created and is maintained by a group of CCE Master Gardener Volunteers. More than 25 different native plant are included with the goal of having continuous bloom throughout the season and offering different host plants for a variety of bees, moths and butterflies.

In the summer of 2017, Greenlawn Civic Association and Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI) worked with the Town of Huntington to transform an 850 square foot strip of overgrown junipers full of litter into a native garden, our hamlet's "High Line".  With dogwood trees, shrubs such as chokeberry and blueberry,  and 400 perennials including butterfly weed, bluestem grasses, baptisia australis (false blue indigo), chelone glabra (turtlehead) , monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot) and solidago speciosa (showy goldenrod) there is four season interest and wildlife activity for pedestrians and commuters to enjoy.  In 2023, an environmental sign was installed by Nelson Pope listing the plants and the pollinators they attract.  Volunteers from the Greenlawn Civic (greenlawncivic.org) and Centerport Garden Club (centerportgardenclub.org) help maintain it through the year.

The Scudder Park Native Garden was established to beautify a corner of Scudder Park in Northport. The garden was designed, planted, and is maintained by Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in cooperation with the Village of Northport Parks Department. Perennial, drought tolerant plants were selected based on the site’s condition, which is dry, sandy, sunny, and windy. The plants are also salt tolerant, which is important as this area suffered major flooding in 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy.  

Many of the plants are native to the area and once established require minimal care. These plants provide nesting sites and nectar for bees, butterflies and other insects and help sustain beneficial pollinators.  Included are Northern Bayberry, Red Bud Tree, Switchgrass, Little Blue Stem, Indian Grass, Yarrow, Common Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, different types of asters and goldenrods, and many more. Many of the plants were purchased from Long Island Native Plant Initiative and funded with a generous donation from an anonymous donor.

Gateway Park Community Garden is on the ground of Gateway Park in the Village of Huntington and was created in 2016 as an Earth Day project donated and installed by National Grid  volunteers, Town of Huntington personnel, and Garden volunteers. The initial plantings included native grasses, mountain mint and iron weed, chokeberry.   

Common milkweed popped up in the garden that year as well courtesy of a neighbor who was growing some in a yard near the garden. Some wood asters moved in as well. A local group gave Gateway a small grant and it was used to purchase goldenrods, asters, Joe Pye Weed, hyssop leaved mountain mint and flat topped goldenrod from LINPI. 

At the south end of the garden there is a wonderful Black Oak (Quercus velutina) and a Prunus serontina. Squirrels are planting black walnut trees (Juglan nigra) all over the garden. There is at least one Northern Catalpa in the park. 

In 2019 in another Earth Day project, PSEG donated and planted a number of Oaks, one or two Liriodendrons (Tulip Trees) and an Amelanchier (Service Berry) on the Teich House museum property which is part of Gateway Park.

Visitors to South Huntington Public Library are being welcomed by more than books this season. Three new native pollinator garden beds now grace the library's front entrance thanks to a partnership with the Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI), bringing beauty, biodiversity, and environmental education to the community.

South Huntington Public Library was one of just ten organizations selected to participate in LINPI's 2025 Native Plant Pollinator Garden Program, funded through the Suffolk County Soil and Water Conservation District's Community Assistance Program. The library's 200-square-foot garden features nine species of native plants grown from ethically collected Long Island wild seed.

The project supports the library's mission to provide educational opportunities beyond its walls while reinforcing its commitment as a Certified Sustainable Library.

"The library's sustainability initiative and being certified as a sustainable library really shows its commitment to work that supports the environment within the community," said Mary Pigliacelli, Executive Director of the Long Island Native Plant Initiative. "Gardens also need to be maintained, and we met with the wonderful grounds team who clearly would be taking good care of the garden."

LINPI selected organizations whose gardens would have a lasting public impact and whose staff demonstrated a commitment to maintaining them. The library's highly visible location and strong community engagement made it an ideal site for the project.

Designed by LINPI Co-President Colleen Doyle, the garden features native flowering plants selected to thrive in the site's sunny conditions while providing habitat and food sources for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Native plants also help improve water quality, reduce erosion, and support Long Island's unique ecosystems.

The garden serves as a living educational resource for visitors. Inside the library, patrons can explore a garden flip chart located at the Propagation Station in the Adult Services Department, where they can identify each plant species and learn about its role in the local environment. Visitors are also encouraged to take home free seed packets from the library's Seed Library to begin their own native gardens.

In addition to the new landscape, South Huntington Public Library offers books, programs, and other resources to help residents learn more about sustainable gardening and environmental stewardship.

The Long Island Native Plant Initiative, founded in 2011, is a volunteer-led nonprofit dedicated to preserving Long Island's biodiversity by increasing the availability of native plants throughout the region. The organization welcomes volunteers at its nursery in Brentwood and provides educational resources for homeowners interested in creating native landscapes.

Community members are invited to stop by South Huntington Public Library to experience the new gardens and learn how small changes at home can help support local pollinators and protect Long Island's natural environment.