In a pollinator garden, it is best to have some plants blooming as close to year-round as possible, so the adult pollinators will have pollen and nectar to eat throughout the year. Peak caterpillar season is usually in August and September. Peak bloom season is now!

Thomasville Pollinator Garden is full of color! The cheerful yellows of narrowleaf sunflower, four species of goldenrod, and silk grass, call for long pauses to absorb the joy. The purple of about a thousand blooms on one cluster of New England Aster elicits many wows and other gasps of wonder. The dark purple of the larger but less dense Georgia aster, endangered in the wild but easy to grow, is dramatic. Woodland asters have long spires of light purple blooms in the woods, pink thoroughwort shows large clusters of tiny pink purple flowers. Blue mistflower plants itself in many areas of the woods. It’s so named because from a distance large groups can appear as a blue mist. The tall white thoroughwort grace two areas in a moist area deep in the woods. The bright white bidens cover the edges of the hillside. Their long black seeds have tiny spikes that stick to your clothes and animal fir making them one of our most prolific wildflowers. A common name is Spanish bayonets! And the unusual purple red of the American beautyberry against their dark green leaves enriches the little woodland trail. When the gardeners requested this area no longer be mowed, these shrubs, plus elderberry, palmettos, black snakeroot, sugarberry, magnolia and wild cherry trees, and many other plants grew quickly, having waited for maybe decades to attain their true form.

The garden is managed by volunteers. Many new volunteers have shown their dedication in recent months. Edith Harrell was mentioning to a friend that more plant ID tags were needed. He suggested she do this for the community garden, and she made over 200 new signs made from repurposed window blinds. Bobbi Zagrocki volunteered to start a Facebook Group page, Thomasville Pollinator Garden. Anyone can post pictures and share reactions to the garden. There are many beautiful pictures of pollinators and plants there and numerous informative comments. Jonae Favors is the most dedicated gardener volunteer, helping with whatever garden tasks are needed every time there is a work day, assisting at the Great Georgia Pollinator Census, Georgia Botanical Society field trip, Butterfly Festival, HOTC Day, and also volunteering at the Birdsong Nature Center plant sales. 

Several other groups, families, and individuals come and go, making significant contributions. Cub Scouts, many dads, some moms, and a big sister helped accomplish years- long goals on HOTC Day.

Lead volunteers Beth Grant and Yvonne Stinson do this out of love for the natural world and concern with the recent sharp decline of all things native. They believe that the future of life for future generations of all living things, including human, is now dependent upon the interest, education, and commitment of the general public to protect and grow native plants and the remnants of natural ecosystems, the foundation of the webs of all other forms of life.

Beth, Yvonne, and Jonae will be at Birdsong Nature Center’s next plant sale November 5th and would be happy to help select plants that will support nature.