Building the case for native plants in our landscapes to establish pollinator-friendly habitats and food sources for bees, butterflies and birds…

In Easton, people seem to have a passion for nature. We strive to be good stewards of the land. We enjoy having a beautiful space for the kids to play and areas of privacy to unwind and breathe. More and more people in our community have shared the desire to learn more about creating gardens and outdoors spaces that support human health as well as nourish and foster pollinator health. Enter the Easton Garden Club and the Easton Pollinator Pathway project!

Here is the story… as human beings we depend on pollinators to pollinate our food crops and home gardens, and to also offer biodiversity in our larger connected healthy ecosystem. Our native pollinators depend on a very fragile food web to support their very existence. We can help our native pollinators to thrive by establishing pollinator-friendly habitats and food sources for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinating insects and wildlife that when functioning unison create a healthy environment for us all.

The Pollinator Pathway initiative provides free open-source resources to help you better understand the role native pollinators play in our landscapes and help you with what steps to take to establish pollinator-friendly habitats and food sources for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinating insects and wildlife free from pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.

The “pathway” is formed through the establishment of a pesticide-free, semi-contiguous corridor of public and private properties that provide native plant habitat and nutrition for pollinators. This corridor operates as a sanctuary for native pollinators, supplying them with a route to traverse our urban and suburban environments that are often otherwise hostile to them, desert-like and bereft of food and habitat, described by Dina Brewster of the Hickories in her article in the Edible Nutmeg entitled The Pollinator Pathway Project. In Easton, we made the decision to offer the Town as one Easton Pollinator Pathway.

In the meantime, start with understanding the role native plants play in our landscape by watching the YouTube video “Why natives?” by film maker Catherine Zimmerman and reading this article by Dina Brewster about the Pollinator Pathway https://ediblenutmeg.ediblecommunities.com/food-thought/pollinator-pathway-project.

Getting started. Start this season with a planter or window box, create a meadow, incorporate native straight species plants into your existing gardens. Consider planting to provide a succession of blooms from March to October that sustain our pollinators. Everyone can join by adding native pollinator-friendly plants, subtract a little lawn (cut high or reduce the size), and avoid the use of pesticides and lawn chemicals. Easton residents can add anywhere from one pollinator-friendly tree or planter, to a small pollinator garden, to a full meadow. Visit the Easton Garden Club Resource library to learning about northeast native pollinator plants, gardening with Natives, and so much more.

Learn about Native Ecotype plants (those plants which have co-evolved with the pollinators in our specific region here in Easton - ecoregion 59) and the role they play in your garden. What is remarkable about the native ecotype plants, aside from the important role they play in increasing biodiversity in support of a healthy food web, is their ability to thrive in our Easton ecoregion without much care, feeding or watering. Once established, they are not resource heavy. Click the button above to read more about eco type 59 plants.

Click here read a recent article in Natural History Magazine to learn about the Ecotype Project, Pollinator Pathway, and Aspetuck Land Trust Green Corridor initiatives and the many people partnering and learning together to build the case for native plants in our landscapes to establish pollinator-friendly habitats, food sources, and increased biodiversity in support of our pollinators and wildlife. It is clear that this conservation initiative is a truly collaborative effort with science guiding the way.

In addition to the many individuals, families, and local establishments taking the pledge, The Easton Pollinator Pathway is a community effort with many partnering organizations. These include but are not limited to the Easton Garden Club, Easton Energy & Environmental Task Force, Aspetuck Land Trust and the Green Corridor Initiative, H2H, The Easton Public Library, Easton Park & Recreation, NRWA, UCONN Master Gardeners, UCONN Master Composters, The Easton Agricultural Commission, CT NOFA, The Ecotype Project, Eco59 seed collective, and the global Pollinator Pathway Initiative. Again, everyone can join by adding native pollinator-friendly plants, subtract a little lawn (cut high or reduce the size), and avoid the use of pesticides and lawn chemicals. Easton residents can add anywhere from one pollinator-friendly tree or planter, to a small pollinator garden, to a full meadow. Join us as we learn and grow.

- Jean Stetz-Puchalski, Easton Garden Club Conservation Chair