Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) Working hard on a Goldenrod

It’s April, and it’s time to get back out in the garden here in Southern New England, and I don’t just mean we humans. Over the past few weeks, birds, bees, and other insects have been returning or awakening from their winter holidays. It’s not so easy for our pollinating friends to make a go of it in the early season, and of course, we continue to make things harder for them as we turn their wild and diverse habitat into new housing developments and paved surfaces. But despite the urban sprawl and unending swaths of lawn, there is something you can do to help. And that brings us to the first ever give away here on Garden Sketches.

Fauna needs flora (sounds like a Franki Valli song from the 60’s…) to survive, just as we need food and water. Providing our birds, bees, butterflies, and our other pollinating friends is the first step. So, for April, we’re giving away a pollinator garden! That’s right, enough plants to add to your garden (or create a new one if you like), that are beneficial to pollinators. It’s a nice mix of 50 native perennials and grasses that provide sustenance and/or shelter to the working class of our ecosystem throughout the season. The plants will arrive at your doorstep as plugs (see photo), and all you’ll need to do is plant them and give them a little love. Pretty cool, right??

A plug of Panicum ‘Shenendoah’

Here are the details:

First, the swag!

(Clicking on a plant name will take you to more information)

• 5       Amsonia ‘Grande’  (Bluestar)
• 5       Aster ‘Raydons Favorite’  (Aromatic Aster)
• 10     Deschampsia ‘Goldtau’  (Golden Dew Tufted Hair Grass)
• 3       Heliopsis ‘Summer Nights’  (Ox Eye Sunflower)
• 3       Monarda bradburiana  (Eastern Bee Balm)
• 10     Panicum ‘Cape Breeze’  (Cape Breeze Switch Grass)
• 7       Panicum ‘Shenendoah’  (Shenendoah Switch Grass)
• 7       Tiarella cordifolia  (Foam Flower)

And now for the rules…

• Winner will be chosen from among those that have commented on this post on April 22, 2015 (Earth Day). I’ll use the Random Number Generator to pick a comment by post date, with the first comment being one and so on.
• You must subscribe to the Blue Heron Newsletter ( see button in right sidebar), and don’t worry, you can unsubscribe later if you like.
• Only entries from the Northeast United States (New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, etc…) will be considered. Because they are plants and shipping will be costly.
• You must leave a comment below. Any comment, really. Tell us how excited you will be to have pollinators visit your garden, or just say Hi, I want plants! It doesn’t really matter what you say, but it’s the comments that we will choose the winner from.
• Family and employees of Blue Heron Landscape Design are ineligible for our giveaways, but don’t worry, I’ve got swag for them too…

And that’s it!

If you already have a garden full of pollinator-friendly plants, then these will be a nice addition. Or give them to a friend and spread the love. Either way you’ll be helping the environment. And tell your friends to stop by and enter too!

Good luck, and I’ll see you in the garden!