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Supporting Native Pollinators: A New Garden Takes Root at Skyfields

Posted Thursday, June 5, 2025
News

This summer, Mount Grace is embarking on a project to install a pollinator garden outside of our newly constructed conservation barn. The garden will host numerous native plant species that support local pollinators. Located at Skyfields Arboretum, the pollinator garden will provide additional habitat to complement previously completed pollinator work in the adjacent 7.5-acre meadow.

Across the globe, insect populations are on the decline. One major contribution to this phenomenon is the loss of habitat from human activity. Many insects are highly specialized and depend on specific native plants for parts of their life cycle. Non-native plants contribute to the loss in habitat for local pollinators. When creating a garden, it is important to select native plants that can support native pollinators.

Mount Grace’s pollinator garden will feature a variety of native shrubs and forbs that play a key role in the life cycle of native pollinators. The plants were chosen to include bloom times across the entire growing season. This will ensure that there is available nectar and pollen for as long as possible.

The garden will feature plants such as wild geranium, blue wood aster, and golden alexander. Each of these plants support specific local pollinators. Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) is a larval host plant for the white-marked tussock moth (Orgyia leucostigma). Wild geranium also acts as a food source for a specialist mining bee, the cranesbill miner (Andrena distans).

Additionally, blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) is a host plant for the Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phycoides tharos). Meanwhile, Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) hosts the Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes).

On May 31, we invited community members to begin planting our garden and will continue planting throughout the summer. The garden will hopefully provide inspiration to local community members that are interested in adopting native plants in their own garden. For more information on creating your own pollinator garden, the Massachusetts Pollinator Network and the Pollinator Partnership are great resources. The Native Plant Trust also provides excellent information on native plants.

MA pollinator network: https://masspollinatornetwork.org/

Pollinator Partnership: https://www.pollinator.org/

The Native Plant Trust: https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/

 

Full Plant List:

                             Common Name

Scientific Name

White wood aster

Eurybia divaricate

Common mountain mint

Pycnanthemum virginianum

Broad leaf mountain mint

Pycnanthemum muticum

Narrow leaf mountain mint

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium

Mountain laurel

Kalmia latifolia

American spikenard

Aralia racemosa

Golden Alexander

Zizia aurea

Coastal Joe-Pye weed

Eutrochium dubium

Spotted Joe-Pye weed

Eutrochium maculatum

Spicebush

Lindera benzoin

Flowering raspberry

Rubus odoratus

Red elderberry

Sambucus racemosa

Steeplebush

Spiraea tomentosa

High bush blueberry

Vaccinium corymbosum

White baneberry

Actaea pachypoda

Butterfly milkweed

Asclepias tuberosa

Blue cohosh

Caulophyllum thalictroides

Showy tick trefoil

Desmodium canadense

Woodland sunflower

Helianthus divaricatus

Wild senna

Senna hebecarpa

Tall meadow rue

Thalictrum pubescens

New York ironweed

Vernonia noveboracensis

Blue wood aster

Symphyotrichum cordifolium

White snakeroot

Ageratina altissima

Wild geranium

Gernaium maculatum

Feathery false Solomon’s seal

Maianthemum racemosum

Solidago flexicaulis

Solidago flexicaulis

New Jersey tea

Ceanothus americanus

Wild bergamot

Monarda fistulosa