Above: If you’d like to have flowers in your yard this year that support native pollinators, you have a second chance to sow the seeds this winter to make that happen. (image cropped from OSPC flyer)
If you missed taking part in the 3rd annual “Winter Sow” program earlier this month, you have a second shot. As Southborough’s Open Space Preservation Commission has encouraged:
You can have beautiful flowers while helping our most at risk pollinators.
OSPC is offering a “2nd round” of seeds. The free opportunity for the community to nurture flowering plants native to our region is part of their Native Pollinator • Native Plant initiative.
Recently, OSPC gave out seeds and held a virtual workshop on how to sow them in milk jug greenhouses. They taught volunteers how to prepare and sow seeds in the winter and foster them into seedlings ready for planting in the spring. A video of the event is available for those that missed it.
Though a few of the original choices are no longer available, organizers can still offer seeds for 34 varieties of flowering native plants determined to be beneficial to native pollinators.* Plants have varying bloom times shown as ranging from May – October. You can view that list here. To select which seeds you want, register here by this Friday, February 18th at 3:00 pm.
This Sunday, February 20th from 1:00 – 2:00 pm, participants will be able to pickup seeds at a drive-through event in the parking lot of Cordaville Hall (the Southborough Senior Center).
You don’t need to wait until then to start organizing materials for germinating seeds. To see what’s involved, check out the linked written instructions and workshop video.
To look for any updates on the program, check the Winter Sow page of the Town’s website here. (For other OSPC news and events, visit their page here. And for more native plant news/tips, check out the Native Plant Gardens Of Southborough Facebook Group.)
*Most of the listed Winter Sow plants are identified as helping the bumblebee species bombus fervidus and/or bombus vagans. (You can learn more about the OSPC’s Beecology partnership with a UMass professor to research and support those threatened species here.) Many of the plants also support other native bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, other birds, and/or native caterpillars. You can find out more about OSPC’s effort on the registration page.
