Adding New plants and seeds to the Pollinator gardens at Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge
Three Friends board members, Katelyn Cadoret, Glenn Davis, and MaryKay Fox, worked together following CDC’s social distancing and utilizing facemasks to spruce up the pollinator gardens at Jehu Pond and Pickerel Cove. New plants were purchased from Cape Cod Extension Service spring plant sale and shrubs from Cold Stream Farms as bare root stock. These plants will provide additional early to late flowerings options for our native pollinators and the flowering bushes will produce fall fruit for migrating wildlife species. Something for everyone!
The plant list includes perennials of Blue Vervain, New England Aster, Solomon Seal, White Wood Asters and daisy mums. Bush species planted included two Viburnums: arrowwood (dentatum) and Nannyberry (lentago).
We also sowed several species of native and annual seeds we had collected last fall and some we purchased, both perennials and annuals. These included are butterfly weed, oxeye daisy, Lance-leafed Coreopsis, Cosmos, Zinnia, and None-so-pretty. Also sowed were several host plants for our butterfly species: Parsley and Fennel (Black Swallowtail), Perennial Lupine (Silvery Blue and Karner Blue), and Hollyhock for several butterfly species (Painted Lady & American Lady, Grey Hairstreak & Common Hairstreak)
In May, we plan to do another day of planting. This planting will include established plants we started in the greenhouse which will include butterfly weed, Rose milkweed, verbena, balloon flower, and Calico aster. Additionally, other bushes will be planted: Ninebark (P. opulifolius), and two beautiful dogwoods: Gray and Silky (Cornus racemosa & C. amomum).
