More flowers, less lawn, happy people, happy pollinators!
Would you like to add more flowers to your home? Would you like to learn more about gardening and nature? Would you like to help birds, butterflies, and pollinators? Join West Vincent’s new Pollinator Pitstop Program!
What’s a Pollinator Pitstop? Butterflies, hummingbirds, and other native pollinators don’t stay put – they move around. Monarchs and hummingbirds migrate large distances spring and fall, but they also move around during the summer. One garden full of flowers isn’t enough – they need flowers everywhere!
Pollinator Pitstops are small, easy-to-care-for gardens planted with native flowers chosen for their beauty and their ability to help our struggling species of native pollinators. Native pollinators are declining at an alarming rate. Eastern monarch butterfly populations have declined by more than 80% over the past two decades. While Monarchs are the face of the wildlife extinction crisis – where even once common species could now disappear – the fuzzy American bumblebee is also in trouble. It has disappeared completely from 8 states, including our New England states; in New York, bumblebee populations are down by over 90%.
But we can help! If enough people begin to plant native flowers while limiting pesticide use, we can reverse this negative trend.
West Vincent residents who sign up for the Pitstop Program will receive the following information by email:
instruction on the care of New England Aster plants for your Pollinator Pitstop garden – May 2023
Winter Sowing of New England Seeds Guide
instruction on how to sow New England Aster seeds in winter for your Pollinator Pitstop garden – Jan 2023
Winter Sowing of Milkweed Seeds Guide
instruction on how to sow milkweed seeds in winter for your summer butterfly bushes. – Jan 2022
Pollinator Pitstop Home Garden Design and Lasagna Garden Plan Descriptions
pamphlet containing plant picture, name and care information
Instructions for Growing Butterfly Milkweed Seedlings
step-by-step instructions for planting and caring for your seedlings.
Lasagna Method Step-by-Step Instructions
one-page instructions sheet on how to create pollinator pitstop using the lasagna method – Oct 2021
FREE Native Plants! New England Aster plants -held on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 (rain date May 25) to receive FREE New England Aster plants!
FREE New England Seed Event -held on Saturday, January 21, 2023 (rain date Jan 22) to receive FREE New England Aster seeds!
Lasagna Method demonstration – Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. (rain date Thur, Nov 3) at our Andrew Evans Park Pollinator Pitstop garden. Park in the parking lot off of Route 401.!
FREE Butterfly Milkweed Seed Event -held on Saturday, January 15, 2022 to receive FREE Butterfly Milkweed Seeds!
Article – “Lasagna Garden”Demonstration – Oct 2021 – success in first lasagna method demonstration held on Oct 23, 2021!
Sign up below to join the Pollinator Pitstop Program so we can start tending our Township together.
Questions about the Pollinator PitStop Program and other eco-responsible gardening needs? Contact EAC chair, Donna Delany at d.delany@comcast.net.
The Lasagna Method was used to create more space for fall blooming flowers in the Pollinator Pitstop in Andrew Evans Park. The flowers planted this past spring did so well! They bloomed all summer. To extend the bloom time and give butterflies and bees food for fall, extra planting......
Our West Vincent Pollinator Pitstop Demonstration Garden at Evans Park is doing well! The baby plants are growing and healthy. A few have attempted flowering! The 2’ leaf layer we placed last November has shrunk down to only a couple of inches thick, still nourishing the soil and acting as......