Get your orders in soon. May 1 is the last day for plant sale orders.
The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources is now accepting applications for the Lawns to Legumes program, through Blue Thumb. Full details are on their site.
Many of us are itching to get out in the garden as this long winter is coming to an end. Read this article from the Xerces Society before you begin your garden cleanup: article
MPR News reports that researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified more than 500 bees that are native to Minnesota. It’s fascinating to learn how varied the bee population is and the amount of work required to collect and sort data to develop a definitive bee list. Who knew there’s a bee that is a trout lily specialist?
Read the article which also has some amazing photos.
Wild Ones writes:
We hope you are as excited as we are about the new designs for the ecoregions of Columbia River Basin, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Lafayette, Las Cruces, Philadelphia, Portland, Princeton, Tucson and Washington, DC!
The designs were created with the premise that using native plants in landscaping can be beautiful, beneficial, and achievable for people of all skill levels and budgets.
We hope these plans will encourage, inspire, and motivate you to talk to others about how they can adopt sustainable landscaping practices that will help heal the Earth!
On February 3, 2023, the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources announced the selection of 2,000 Minnesota residents to receive Individual Support grants through the Lawns to Legumes program.
The House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee on January 17 approved $80 million in spending on 85 projects across the state from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Pollinator-related projects are: Assessing Restorations for Rusty-Patched and Other Bumblebee Habitat, Developing Conservation Priorities for Rare and Specialist Bees, Minnesota Bee and Beneficial Species Habitat Enhancement II, Karner Blue Butterfly Insurance Population Establishment in Minnesota, Pollinator Central III: Habitat Improvement with Community Monitoring, Pollinator Enhancement and Mississippi River Shoreline Restoration, Pollinator Habitat Creation at Minnesota Closed Landfills. These projects will be funded for $3.8 million. Check the complete list to see all the projects, as there are many others that will benefit pollinators. This bill (HF172) has not yet been approved by the full House.
The Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee approved a bill (HF207) that would appropriate $4 million from the general fund for the Lawns to Legumes program. This would make the funding more permanent, as it was originally funded through Legacy Amendment funds. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. More information can be found on the House’s website.
These last two months have been a busy time for collecting and packaging native plant seeds. Pam has recently added 347 packets of native seed packets to the seed library!!
There are over 70 different varieties of native plant seeds in the seed library now!
For information, visit the Seed Library.