The Pollinator Garden was created in 2022 by church member Linda Blum and a group of volunteers who recognized the need to provide sufficient food (nectar and pollen) to reverse the decline of pollinating insects, bees in particular; to provide habitat (milkweed) for monarch butterflies whose populations have been declining; and to help the pollination process of flowering plants, including many food crops, that rely on pollinators for fertilization and seed and fruit production. They took a little swatch of unused land and turned it into something amazing!
Creating the Pollinator Garden, April 30, 2022
The Pollinator Garden is now in its third year. Stop by at the back of the meeting house by the cemetery wall to see what is going on in the pollinator garden! Although designed for pollinators, it’s a place where humans can enjoy the fragrant and peaceful beauty as well!
New native plants have been added. If you would like these new plants for your own yard, they were purchased at Tri-County Greenhouses at 290 Middle Turnpike (Rte. 44) Mansfield. Tri-County is a non-profit agency providing paid training and work experience to the intellectually disabled community. They raise all of their own plants from seed and carry plants year round.
Native Plants: What’s the matter with plants that are not native? Non-native plants here and there can provide pollinators with energy, however if they spread to large patches (like purple loose-strife), spread seeds (like butterfly bush), or wrap their vines on other plants (like English ivy and wisteria), they displace native vegetation. By competing with native plants they reduce potential host plants and decrease plants that are part of the life cycle for that region.
The new plants are known by the common names: False aster, swamp milkweed, narrow leaf mountain mint, New England aster and bee balm or wild bergamot.
