[UrbanCropCircle] Native plants and pollinators

[Jean Darsie]

> Hi folks,
>
> Just thought I'd pass along these resources for native plants and creating
> bee habitat that I received from a friend. I was unable to forward the 
> poster she mentions because it was too big.
> If anyone would like to see it, let me know and I will forward to you 
> separately.
>
> I was prompted to inquire about this when I read this report:
> Plight of the humble bee
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5604401.ece
>
> Jean
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Martha Jackson" <mkjackson at zipcon.com>
> To: "Jean Darsie" <jdarsie at comcast.net>
> Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 3:47 PM
> Subject: Re: PS BPA list
>
>
>> Hi Jean,
>>
>> Folks can browse around on www.wnps.org, there is lots of info about
>> native plants. We recommend all of the hundreds of native plants, not
>> just the couple dozen natives generally carried by nurseries such as
>> Swansons and Sky---some of which are raised from east coast genetic
>> stock---for example, kinnikinnick is sometimes from Maine! Click on
>> Starflower Resources at the right side of the page for a list of 200
>> natives, and help selecting plants that will suit the microhabitat of
>> your particular yard.
>>
>> http://green.kingcounty.gov/GoNative/Index.aspx is another great
>> resource.
>>
>> And of course, folks can come to the WNPS native plant sale on May 6 (we
>> have spring and fall sales each year)---if not to buy, than to browse
>> hundreds of species, each with basic instructions. We also sell a lot of
>> reference books at the best prices anywhere. In case you're interested.
>> I've attached the poster I just made for our spring '09 sale. Other
>> resources for buying natives much cheaper than the commercial nurseries
>> are the sales put on in late winter by the Snohomish
>> (http://www.snohomishcd.org/plant-sale) and King
>> (http://www.kingcd.org/pdf/new_cal_bar_1-7-08.pdf) Conservation 
>> Districts.
>>
>> The Xerxes Society has lots of info on native (non-Apis) pollinators,
>> see http://www.xerces.org/ Also see
>> http://www.pollinator.com/alt_pollinators.htm for a list of resources.
>> We all have it within our power to make a bit of native bee habitat in
>> the yard, simply by eschewing herbicides and leaving a little patch of
>> wild ground in a corner somewhere.
>>
>> Martha
>>
>> Jean Darsie wrote:
>>> Thanks for the tip about the bee habitat. Is there a plant list that the
>>> Native Plant Society recommends? I'll pass it on to friends who are
>>> gardeners.
>>>
>>> Jean
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martha Jackson"
>>> <mkjackson at zipcon.com>
>>> To: "Jean Darsie" <jdarsie at comcast.net>
>>> Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 2:04 PM
>>> Subject: PS BPA list
>>>
>>>
>>>> Dear Jean,
>>>>
>>>> Most of my volunteer work these days is for the WA Native Plant
>>>> Society, which strives to maintain and build habitat for native bees,
>>>> which do a small portion of the pollination work, and could do
>>>> significantly more if their habitat were not being constantly
>>>> eradicated. Native bees need native plants, and vice versa. So you
>>>> know this is a keystone issue for me!
>>>>
>>>> Just FYI, I've sent inquiries to the past several subscribe-please
>>>> messages to BPA, and none of them have elicited a reply.
>>>>
>>>> best, Martha
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>