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06/09/2021 09:15 AMThe Pollinator Pathways project has been getting a lot of buzz lately all across the state—and not just from the bees. Last week, Madison took a big step as part of this eco-conscious grassroots effort, which seeks to connect essential pollinating insects with native plants and shrubs, as the E.C Scranton Library dedicated its own garden that will hopefully start linking up with more pollinator pathway sanctuaries all over the region.
With the library offering the space, the garden was bolstered and brought along through contributions from a wide variety of local civic organizations and businesses, including the Girl Scouts, the Madison Garden Club, Summer Hill Nursery, and the Connecticut Master Gardener Association.
While the scope and simplicity of Pollinator Pathways—simply growing small patches of native flowers and shrubs—might not seem to have a tremendous impact, the importance of this work cannot be overstated according to Kellie Brady, team leader for Madison’s chapter of the project.
“Native plants allow native pollinators, which are very important to agriculture and the ecosystem, which is very necessary to life as we know it,” said Brady.
The initiative started more than a decade ago in Seattle, according to its website www.pollinator-pathway.org, with the idea that fractured urban environments would greatly benefit from uninterrupted corridors of green flowering spaces, boosting biodiversity through a fully natural and native landscape—and with the added benefit of beautifying the area.
Brady said this garden is the first on public property in Madison, and the long-term plan is to have dozens of similar patches spread out half a mile or so apart, eventually connecting to a network that stretches all across New England.
According to Brady, this kind of natural infrastructure directly benefits farmers and people in the agriculture meeting, but also anyone who wants a sustainable ecosystem in their community.
“It’s kind of why the library is doing it, to educate the public,” Brady said.
Library Director Sunnie Scarpa said that both providing resources, in this case, a patch of land, as well as a platform for these types of educational, community initiatives continues to be the library’s most important mission.
“What this project did is it brought in different groups with different specialties to create something bigger and better than what we could have done individually,” she said. “In this way, we all pooled our resources and created something that now we can share with the entire community and perhaps even inspire them to create their own little Pollinator Pathway.”
Summer Hill Nursery donated plants to the garden, according to Brady, and both the Master Gardeners Association and the Madison Garden Club provided grants.
Girl Scouts Contribute
Part of the beautification side of the project was a contribution by Girl Scout Troop 61120, which, with the help of local carpenter Dave Hansen, manufactured a beautiful wood bench to augment the garden’s appeal and give passers-by a chance to sit, relax, and smell the (native) flowers.
Troop Co-Leader Alise Ferency said the bench was the girls’ long-planned Bronze Award project, which is a team-focused experience meant to contribute positively to the community, stretching back to last winter.
The troop spent months planning, researching, designing, and eventually constructing the bench, which Ferency said was meant to allow “ways to socialize safely” when COVID numbers were spiking. The library and the Pollinator Pathway garden was scouted as a great location, and Scarpa was happy to fit the two projects together, according to Ferency.
“Everything was a decision the girls had to make,” she added. “And they had to make it together.”
That included “hands-on” carpentry work with Hansen, using power tools and making something that was aesthetically pleasing, Ferency said.
As far as the future for Madison and the Pollinator Pathways project, Brady said that hopefully Madison follows the same track as the original designers of the initiative, which was an extensive public-private collaboration, with some gardens maintained by homeowners and others by cities or other public entities. .
She said the Post Office is another prime location for a garden, but that any residents who want to get involved in the project can contribute their own garden space in tandem with the broader network.
The library will host an informational talk on pollinator pathways on Wednesday, June 23. For more information, contact Kellie Brady via email at madforbees@gmail.com, or visit www.pollinator-pathway.org.