Tag Archives: Pollinator Pathway Project

How Staples’ Garden Grows

Posted on June 24, 2021 | 3 comments

There’s a lot of space in front of Staples High School.

There’s room for dozens of buses. For hundreds of students to enter the building at once.

And room for a brand new garden.

The area in front of the art department — on the left side, facing the entrance — has been transformed into a beautiful, friendly and ecologically important space.

Members of the Science National Honor Society and Club Green spent a Saturday last month weeding, and planting native plants donated by Aspetuck Land Trust.

The garden is part of the Pollinator Pathways Project. Begun in 2017, the goal is to  establish pollinator-friendly habitat and food sources for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinating insects and wildlife along a series of continuous corridors.

The project was led by Teagan Smith — a recently graduated senior, and longtime super Wakeman Town Farm volunteer, with guidance from Alice Ely, WTF gardens chair and science teacher Cecilia Duffy.

The next time you’re at Staples, check it out. Then thank Teagan and fellow students Charlotte Barnes, Olivia Bernard, Tanvi Gorre, Christina Meehan and Ashley Sarelli.

Staples science teacher Cecilia Duffy spotted her first monarch caterpillar of the year, on a common milkweed. It was just a couple days old. (Photos/Cecilia Duffy)

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Posted in Environment, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Westport Garden Club Promotes Pollinator Project And Plant Sale

Posted on May 6, 2019 | 3 comments

At 95 years old, people start to slow down.

Even an organization nearing the century mark can lose a bit off its fastball.

But the Westport Garden Club — founded in 1924, the year Calvin Coolidge became the first president to deliver a radio address from the White House, “Rhapsody in Blue” was first performed publicly, and Ronald Reagan entered high school — is hardly doddering.

In fact, it’s dynamic.

The other day, Westport Garden Club members (from left) Andi Turner, Kathy Fassman, Pat Nave, Monica Buesser and Anne Haymon cleaned Grace Salmon Park.

In its 10th decade, the club has partnered with a couple of young whippersnappers — Earthplace and the Wakeman Town Farm Sustainability Center — to launch the Westport Pollinator Pathway Project.

The goals are to educate the public about the environmental benefits of native plant species, and encourage homeowners and businesses to make their properties pollinator-friendly.

It can be done on the smallest parcel. Just welcome birds, bees and butterflies with native plants as habitat and food sources. And minimize the use of harmful pesticides.

First Selectman Jim Marpe has declared this the “Year of the Pollinator.” A long list of organizations and businesses have joined the project.

Since 1924, Westport Garden Club members have valued native varieties. They’re the mainstay of the annual Plant Sale.

Folks at this year’s event — Friday, May 10, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Saugatuck Congregational Church — will find a full selection of catmint, bee balm, lobelia, woodland phlox and bleeding heart.

There’s also an information booth on the Pollinator Pathway Project.

In 2014 — when the Westport Garden Club was just 90 — members enjoyed the annual Plant Sale.

This year marks another Garden Club milestone. Fifty years ago, they received their first grant from the Grace K. Salmon Trust.

Members used the funds to turn 3 acres of landfill on Imperial Avenue into a public park.

It was not easy. But 8 years later — after a series of mishaps, disappointments and and much-needed soil remediation — the park opened.

Grace Salmon Park was pollinator-friendly.

It still is today.

(Hat tip: Topsy Siderowf)

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Posted in Environment, Organizations

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