On Sunday, NCBG staff led the planting of a native pollinator garden with teens and their chaperones at the Museum of Life and Science as part of their Youth Climate Summit kickoff. This service project was made possible through our partnership with Budburst, a community science project out of the Chicago Botanic Garden focused on understanding the impacts of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions.
We’re one of four botanic gardens serving as a hub garden to extend Budburst’s reach by partnering with local community organizations. Each student who joined us Sunday went home with a giveaway bag with info on how to participate in Budburst and identify pollinators plus an Appalachian mountain mint plant (Pycnathemum flexuosum).
Together, the group on Sunday planted around 400 individual plants. Some of the pollinator-friendly native species they planted include short-toothed mountain mint, New England aster, blue-stemmed goldenrod, scarlet beebalm, common sneezeweed, and foxglove beardtongue. We’re excited to see this garden grow!
