Thinking about pollinators
We have a visionary neighbor, who as a bee-keeper, bumbled quite intentionally into creating what's now a nationwide initiative - Bee City USA - which is now incorporated into Xerces Society's outreach initiatives.
Yay for her efforts and all of the supporters along the way. There are now over 100 Bee Cities along with additional college campuses that participate, too, as part of their offshoot program. This isn't an initiative just about bees; it's about supporting pollinators of all sorts.
I was at a meeting this afternoon which gathered together folks who are helping a local non-profit, Asheville GreenWorks take on the local outreach activities that Bee City USA initiated: the June Pollination Celebration and associated events.
I just wish I was going to be here in June to help out. In the past, I've done a regular class at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville about planting native plants for pollinators.
But, I'll be doing a presentation on the same topic at the Spartanburg Regional Library in early April this year, under the aegis of the local Master Gardeners, with the addition of two pocket meadow presentations in March (one in Tryon and the other at the NC Arboretum), which are quite similar in focus and plant recommendations.
And my Spring Gardening "Tasks" program this week for the Arboretum's Eco-Gardeners Certificate program; well, I'm devoting about 7 slide images towards sustaining native bee habitat, by waiting to clean up dead perennial stalks (or at least keeping them on site), leaving bare areas of soil, and not mulching too soon.
Yay for her efforts and all of the supporters along the way. There are now over 100 Bee Cities along with additional college campuses that participate, too, as part of their offshoot program. This isn't an initiative just about bees; it's about supporting pollinators of all sorts.
 |
| the pocket meadow several summers ago (in August) |
I was at a meeting this afternoon which gathered together folks who are helping a local non-profit, Asheville GreenWorks take on the local outreach activities that Bee City USA initiated: the June Pollination Celebration and associated events.
I just wish I was going to be here in June to help out. In the past, I've done a regular class at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville about planting native plants for pollinators.
But, I'll be doing a presentation on the same topic at the Spartanburg Regional Library in early April this year, under the aegis of the local Master Gardeners, with the addition of two pocket meadow presentations in March (one in Tryon and the other at the NC Arboretum), which are quite similar in focus and plant recommendations.
And my Spring Gardening "Tasks" program this week for the Arboretum's Eco-Gardeners Certificate program; well, I'm devoting about 7 slide images towards sustaining native bee habitat, by waiting to clean up dead perennial stalks (or at least keeping them on site), leaving bare areas of soil, and not mulching too soon.
Missing out on those sorts of activities is one of the downsides of doing a lot of travel, or having a second home. But sounds like you are making a substantial contribution even on a part-time basis.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to do what I can, for sure. It's definitely one of the downsides of traveling or being away. As I learn more French, that'll give me more scope up in Quebec!
Delete