Pollinator Conversation

Pollinator Conversation at Lakeview Library

Free and open to the public

Endorsed by the Sherman Neighborhood Association

A group of Northside neighbors is interested in the topic of pollinators and would like to hold a bigger conversation. We want to come together to hear what some close observers have to say. “The link between plants and animals is dusted with pollen. Without insects to begin fruit and seed growth by fertilizing flowers with pollen, humans would starve. Vegetable gardens and orchards would be bare except for corn, grapes and a handful of other wind-pollinated plants. Flowerbeds wouldn’t exist.” Gaia’s Garden, Toby Hemenway.

Thursday, January 28 • 6:30-7:30 pm: January’s focus is information about pollinator habitat at Troy Gardens, pollinators in general, and resources available to the general public. The presenter is Mary Pelzer, a lifelong gardener who likes to provide wildlife habitat. She is a neighbor to Troy Gardens and a 20-year observer of that landscape, a natural areas steward, and someone who is keenly interested in a sustainable and balanced urban ecosystem.

Thursday, February 25 • 6:30-7:30 pm: The February talk will deal with the topic of domestic honeybees. Jeanne Hansen is a founding member of the Dane County Beekeepers Association and currently secretary. A former chemist, she is a long time beekeeper with six backyard bee hives at her eastside residence. Jeanne teaches beginning beekeeping classes from January to May and welcomes inquiries at 244-5094.

Thursday, March 31 • 6:30-7:30 pm: March’s presenter is Ginny Nelson, who started her native plantings twenty-five years ago with one bed for growing the wildflowers she loved from her grandparent's farm. The plantings slowly expanded until now there are only mowed paths between the native wildflower gardens that fill her yard. For many years she has been a member of Wild Ones, a group that promotes native plantings in residential yards, and she spends much of her time in the fall collecting prairie seeds for Dane County Parks. She has a very patient husband who helped her to pull up a lot of sod and who thinks it is normal to have seeds stratifying in the refrigerator.