“Our sense of enchantment is not triggered only by grand things; the sublime is not hiding in distant landscapes. The awe-inspiring, the numinous, is all around us, all the time. It is transformed by our deliberate attention..”
– Katherine May, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age
Much of humankind’s food, and even greater proportions of food for wildlife. depend on pollinators, pollinators that are being threatened by continued expansion of human development into the natural spaces they need. Pesticide use on lawns, in gardens, and in agriculture is destroying their habitat and contributing to their collapse.
Many people are becoming aware of the risks associated with pollinator collapse and are responding by planting organic native flowers, shrubs, and trees to provide food and habitat for pollinators and other creatures, as well as enhanced environment for humans.
What makes gardens good for pollinators?
* Adding native plants to the landscape
* Saying NO to pesticides and chemical fertilizers
* Rethinking lawn culture
We have begun a pollinator corridor along the MRG. With funding from the Robert F. Church Charitable Trust, we are planting a string of pesticide-free pollinator gardens, fruit trees, and berry bushes for bees, butterflies, birds, and even hungry humans.
Six pollinator plantings are already well-underway:
* Pollinator garden in the “Pocket Park” by Mascoma Falls and the tunnel behind Goss-Logan Insurance
- Small pollinator meadow on the Goss-Logan hillside
* Pollinator garden at the MRG access at the intersection of Mascoma/Mechanic/High streets (Here we are collaborating with nature: common milkweed, Queen Anne’s lace, clover, and goldenrod were already in place.)
Monarch Butterfly on Butterfly Milkweed
Silver Spotted Skipper Butterfly on Clover
Bee foraging on lupine
Monarch on Milkweed
Monarch caterpillar on milkweed – note how much leaf has been eaten!
* Pollinator garden in parking lot west of the underpass by APD Hospital.
Bloodroot
On September 21, 2019, more than 40 Upper Valley Apple Corps volunteers and friends of Mascoma River Greenway planted 2 organic Haralson apple trees and two organic elderberry shrubs in this parking lot area.
- On the western end of the MRG, in the moist area at the base of the Price Chopper access: dogwoods, aronia, button bush and high-bush cranberry.
- Three organic high-bush blueberries and an organic Golden Russet apple tree near the umbrella sculpture.
See more on Climate Strike Planting Day
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“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
– Rumi
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Resources for planting for pollinators
Organic flower seeds are available at many places where seeds are sold; pesticide-free plants are, unfortunately, not so easily available.
NH/VT sources of pesticide-free annuals and perennials:
- Heath’s Greenhouse Nursery Sugar Hill, NH Organic grower of Seedlings, Potted Plants, & Fruit Stock We pride ourselves in growing Organic from the Beginning. Heath’s uses NO chemical pesticides, NO herbicides, NO synthetic fertilizers and NO GMO’S.
* Bagley Pond Perennials Warner NH
All of our plants are organically grown and pesticide free.
“Our goal is to provide home gardeners with pollinator-safe native plants and shrubs that are
not only beautiful and garden worthy but also support wildlife, are well adapted to the local
environment, and are low maintenance. We follow organic practices, and our native perennials are
true natives and not cultivars.”
River Berry Farm, Fairfax, VT A certified organic Farm
http://www.riverberryfarm.com/pollinator-plants/
http://www.riverberryfarm.com/fruit-nursery/
* Walden Heights Nursery & Orchard: A certified organic farm specializing in cold-hardy, fruiting plants. West Danville, VT 05873 (802) 563-3012
Woodstock High School/Middle School Ag program has a plant sale in the month of May. They designate their pesticide-free plants with an asterisk on this link for May 2024.
NH List for Planting for Pollinators
VT List for Planting for Pollinators (Lots of well-presnted info – scroll down for chart)
Connecticut Pollinator Pathway article
Colburn Park, Lebanon, NH Pollinator Garden
Alicia Houk – Local VT Pollinator Garden Creator, and Wild Garden Alliance
Seed Starting – Cold Stratification
Gardening for Life – Doug Tallamy
NWF Keystone Native Plants – Northern Forest Zone 5
Planting for Pollinators: Establishing a wildflower meadow from seed
The Insect Apocalypse:”Our world will grind to a halt without them.”
Wild Bees of New England Very helpful publication of Rehan Lab at UNH
Plants that Attract Specific Pollinators
Good Choices for Blooms through the Season
Guides for Developing Habitats in the Northeast
Map of Pesticide Free Pollinator Pathway, Lebanon, NH
The Mascoma River Greenway 