Trees for Pollinators
The fire. Two words that meant something different before Sept 8. Now, they are The Fire. The incredible devastation wrought on the landscape from Ashland to Medford in less than 24 hours will be apparent for decades, as will the lasting impact on the people and families who live here, and the very structures of our communities.
Pollinators have communities as well, based on their food sources and habitat preferences. So as private and public gardens and landscapes are rebuilt, the trees, shrubs and other plants that are planted now are critical for these populations. Most pollinators need more than just flowers - they evolved to consume and/or overwinter on certain plant species. The monarch butterfly is the easy example, but many of our native butterflies, moths, and other beneficial insects depend on certain native plants to support their life cycle. For instance, our beautiful native bunch grasses, with no floral attractant, serve as host plants for many butterfly and moth species.
Dr. Doug Tallamy explains: “Without the plant lineages that support insect herbivores, there would be no insect herbivores. If there were no insect herbivores, all of the creatures that depend on insect herbivores for their nutrition – that is, the insectivores of the world – would also disappear. …. a world without all of these creatures would not only be a world without biological diversity, it would be a world in ecological collapse that is incapable of supporting humans.” Learn more in this excellent article by Dr. Tallamy, Giving Ecological Purpose to Your Landscape.
Trees are a critical component for any landscape, and of course, for pollinators, natives serve best while also supporting birds and other wildlife. Not to mention that trees help alleviate climate change by providing shade and sequestering carbon. The picture below is one of several recently-cut trees on Hwy. 99 in Talent…..what will be replanted there?
There are many resources to help locate native plants for our landscapes, even along streets and roadsides. We love this site by Friends of Trees that provides a list of natives that make great street trees - just check the ‘PNW Native’ box to sort on that criteria. Happy planting!
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Welcome, Advisory Committee Members!
Please help us welcome Patrice Hanlon and Dr. Ray Seidler to our Advisory Committee, joining Dolly Warden! We are very pleased to have such a high caliber of experts on our team!
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Seeds for the Future, Part 2!
As we reported in last month's newsletter, we planted seeds on Halloween -- and already, tiny seedlings are emerging!
And we are still planting seeds! Thank you, Deena Mulaskey, Meena Scott, and Claire Cross (not pictured) for your help in cleaning and planting pollinator plant seeds! See a few photos below.
Click here to follow along on our journey with the seeds - from plant to collection bag to soil - to see how they grow.
Our goal is to have these plants available to donate or sell at low-cost to people affected by the fire to help jumpstart their pollinator gardens.
To learn more about the native plants we are growing, visit Our Gardens to watch videos and find the plant list with both scientific and common names. Better yet, come by and take a self-guided tour!
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Build a Garden for the Birds - and the Pollinators!
Saturday, 12/5, at 10am
We are excited to bring you this presentation by Patrice Hanlon about gardens that serve pollinators - and also birds! Join us for a walk through some of the gardens that Patrice has managed over the years, filled with beautiful, mostly native, plants, and learn how and why these gardens are so important.
This will be our first Facebook Live presentation! It will be recorded, so we will share the link if you are unable to participate.
Click here to learn more.
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Videos for You
With winter temps incentivizing us to find things to do inside, here are some learning opportunities you might be interested in. Feel free to share with friends!
- Kristina Lefever's presentation Growing Pollinator Gardens for the Medford Library.
- Lynn Kunstman's presentation Growing Native Plants for the Medford Library.
- The Xerces Society offers an entire library of videos about a variety of subjects related to pollinators, pollinator plantings, and more.
- Deanna Mulaskey reads The Flowers Are Calling, a very lovely and inspiring children's book about flowers and the creatures that interact with them. For the young and young at heart! Thank you, Deanna!
Do you have some good videos to share? Let us know!
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David Lee Meyers Talks About Leaves
Kristina Lefever happened upon David Lee Myers cleaning up leaves from his driveway, and stopped in to chat, and find out about his cool tool - which is not a leaf blower! Kristina had her phone at the ready, so captured the conversation on video. David knows - he has been photographing butterflies for decades, and has even published a beautiful book of his work.
You can learn more about David here. Thank you, David!
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Got Pots?
We are looking for 4" square pots - preferably the long style - to do more seeding in of our native pollinator seeds. We'll take larger pots too. We will appreciate any extras you would like to share. Drop them off in the blue bin outside our side pollinator garden - easily accessible behind our building at 312 N. Main, off of 4th Street between 99N and N. Main/99S through Phoenix. See photo below.
Thank you very much!
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Pollinators' Pick
There is a huge world of tiny insects all around us! Enjoy this short video clip about The Billion-Bug Highway You Can't See published by NPR in 2010.
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Please Support Our Work!
We will continue our work to inspire, educate, and advocate for the pollinators
and beneficial insects who pollinate the nutritious food crops we enjoy every day, and the trees, shrubs, and flowers that beautify our Valley in so many ways.
We are grateful for your encouragement and support, and invite you to
make a financial contribution - $3 or $3,000, it helps us get the work done. Thank you!
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PPRV Seeks Volunteers!
Volunteer with us!
Come help us with all the good things we are doing! Help us spread the word
about pollinators, plants, gardens, (no) pesticides, and more!
We invite you to bee involved!
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Questions or Comments? Please contact us at
pollinator@pollinatorprojectroguevalley.org
Keep up to date with all things Pollinator on our Facebook page:
Pollinator Project Rogue Valley
Thank you, Beyond Toxics, for sharing your office with us!
Office Hours: noon - 5 pm, Tuesday - Friday
and by appointment
312 N. Main St., Suite B, Phoenix
Mail: PO Box 242, Phoenix, OR 97535
458-214-0508
Visit our website.
Click here for archived editions of The Pollinator Times.
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12/2/20
