Native Pollinator Garden Presentation
Paul Goldman gave a presentation on native pollinators at the 18-May 2022 assembly meeting.
Here are a few key take-a-ways:
1. Purchase plants by their Latin names, otherwise you might be getting a cultivar. They often have additional words at the end, ex. Echinacea Daydream, would be a cultivar because of the word "Daydream".
2. Avoid plants treated with pesticides or herbicides, like neonicotinoides
3. Try to plant at least a 3 ft. x 3 ft. area of each plant, or leave space for the plant to spread that much
A very useful resource is the Native Pollinator Task Force website
https://www.svtweb.org/mca-native-pollinator-task-force
On this page, see the Pollinator Preservation Garden Tool Kit
https://www.svtweb.org/mca-pollinator-preservation-garden-toolkit
Here you will find Dr. Gegear's list of Native Pollinator Plants that focus on supporting native pollinators with at-risk populations.
https://gegearlab.weebly.com/plant-list.html
Based on Dr. Gegear's list, this page is helpful in selecting plants and knowing where to purchase them.
https://www.svtweb.org/sites/default/files/imce/547/plant_sources_by_plant.pdf
Local sources of plants are Garden in the Woods, also called Native Plant Trust in Framingham, Russel's Garden Center in Wayland and Bigelow Nurseries in Northborough. Russel's was very organized, knowledgeable and helpful during my purchase. The best availability for local pollinators is June. Call ahead if you have specific plants in mind, an emphasize no cultivars.
If you have any other questions for Paul, reach out to goldmap@verizon.net