Above: OSPC is offering another opportunity to learn more about gardens that support pollinators and how you can help — including buying plants to start your own project at home. (images of banner from flyer and photo by Beth Melo)
[Note: As of Thursday morning, this is planned to be rain or shine.*]
The Open Space Preservation Commission is again inviting the public to enjoy a guided tour of the Native Pollination Preservation Garden at Beals Preserve.
At the tour, visitors can buy similar plants to encourage pollinators in their own yards. Plus, they can pitch in harvesting seeds to keep native plants thriving in town next year.
The event will take place from 10:00 – 12:00 pm at Beals Preserve on Saturday, September 23rd.
To join them, park at the Main Street entrance for the preserve. (See map right. If the lot fills up, there is additional parking on the street or across the way on Northboro Road.)
OSPC Chair Freddie Gillespie will lead two tours and explain OSPC’s work with Dr. Robert Gegear’ who has been studying at-risk bumblebees.
Those will take place at 10:00 and 11:00 am. The volunteer work to collect seeds will follow each tour at 10:30 and 11:30 am.
The plant sale will take place throughout the event.
Below is the invitation from OSPC with more details:
GARDEN TOUR
The Southborough Open Space Preservation Commission (OSPC) invites you to visit the Native Pollination Preservation Garden at the Beals Preserve on the first day of fall.View the late season flowers and visiting pollinators, enjoy the garden beauty as it transitions to fall foliage and seed heads.
Freddie Gillespie, Chair of the OSPC, will lead the tour and discussion about the Native Pollination Preservation Garden.
The tour will be of value to anyone interested in how to create beautiful gardens that preserve biodiversity.
Learn about sustainable garden practices, and how you can help create healthy ecosystems in your own yard.
This tour will also be of value to anyone interested in the challenges and benefits of pollination preservation activities and garden installations in public spaces, on conservation land and old meadows.
NATIVE POLLINATION PRESERVATION GARDEN
The Garden was planted last August with plants from Dr. Robert Gegear’s plant list for At-Risk Pollinators. The plant list was developed after years of research, much if it done in Southborough as Dr. Gegear adopted Breakneck Hill Conservation Land as his first survey site in 2015.Located on the Southborough Open Land Foundation’s (SOLF) 58.5-acre Beals Preserve, the garden was carved out of an old agriculture field.
The garden is a partnership project of the OSPC and SOLF.SUCCESS!
Bombus vagans, an at-risk bumblebee and one of the target species the garden was planted hoping to help sustain, has been documented at the garden by Dr. Robert Gegear throughout the spring and summer.SEED COLLECTION
Partake in our Hands on Seed collection for our Winter Sow Program.Learn what supplies are needed and best practices. Then help collect seeds for our Winter Sow program.
PLANT SALE
3 vendors will be selling plants from Dr. Gegear’s list. Early Fall is a great time to plant, and you can bring home many of the plants you’ll see in the garden.
Updated (9/18/23 8:17 am): I received a list of the plants that will be for sale at the event. See flyer above right.
*Updated (9/21/23 9:50 am): Organizers updated that they are currently planning to hold the event rain or shine. (Apparently, their June event attracted 65 attendees in the rain.) That may change if there are torrential/dangerous downpours. Right now they are keeping an eye on the storm forecast.
