Make Way for Pollinators, January 2024
Happy 2024!
We and our plant sale partners are gearing up for the 4th annual GSWA Pollinator Plant Sale, April 1-19 online with local pickups on May 3 or 4. We’ll have 25000 native plant plugs for your gardens.
Please tell your friends! You can forward them this link to Subscribe to our Native Plant Email List.
2024 GSWA Plants for Pollinators Offerings
Our 2024 Catalog will not be online until March. Download a printable complete preview of all six kits and all 37 species in the follow links.
Overview
We are excited to release this year’s plant for pollinators collection – welcoming both old and new species. Some newcomers to the program include spotted beebalm, fire pink, whorled milkweed, while still keeping the pollinator favorites like foxglove beardtongue, swamp milkweed and narrowleaf mountain mint. We also are welcoming plants back from the 2022 and 2021 program, including smooth blue aster, golden ragwort and, in case you missed out in years prior!
We have 6 kits this year total this year, 25 plugs each, that cover a wide range of conditions that will fit in almost any garden. Dry conditions? Wet Conditions? Too much sun? Not enough sun? We have you covered!
Dry Shade: Grows well in part-shade to shade, but not deep shade, and dry to average soils. Contains 5 plugs of: blue wood aster, curly wood sedge, fire pink, longsepal beardtongue, and tall anemone.
Dry Sun: Good for container gardens and hell strips, this kit thrives in full sun and dry to moist conditions. Contains 5 plugs of: brooms sedge, columbine, dense blazing star, parasol whitetop, and seaside goldenrod.
Wet Shade: Great for a low-lying area or partly shaded rain garden basin, this kit grows well in moist to wet soils and part-sun to shade, but not deep shade. Contains 5 plugs of: blue flag iris, cardinal flower, river oats, marsh marigold, and white turtlehead.
Wet Sun: Working as a rain garden basin or other wet area of your garden, plants in this kit tolerate moist to very wet soils and full sun. Contains 5 plugs of: golden Alexander, NY ironweed, scarlet beebalm, swamp milkweed and swamp sunflower.
Best-Behaved: Here is a kit full of (like the name suggests) well-behaved plants that prefer dry to moist soils and full to part sun. Contains 5 plugs of: butterfly milkweed, coralbells, rattlesnake master, spotted beebalm, and smooth blue aster.
Deer Resistant: In this kit, we have assembled some of these unpalatable plants to make a more deer resistant kit; however, if hungry enough, deer may still browse on these plants. Contains 5 plugs of: anise hyssop, foxglove beardtongue, narrowleaf mountain mint, obedient plant, and stiff goldenrod.
Sample Garden Layouts and Planting Guides Coming Soon!
All kit species, with the exception of broom sedge, will be available as individual species as well. Along with this, we have an additional 7 species that are only available individually. These species are foamflower, golden ragwort, great blue lobelia, lanceleaf coreopsis, monkey flower, prairie dropseed and whorled milkweed.
(Note: If the grower has unexpected problems growing any of these species, there may need to be substitutions)
Start getting ready NOW for your new plants! Add or expand– it’s EASY!
Sheet mulch new areas in winter to be ready for May planting.
Steps:
- Outline your new or expanded planting bed. A garden hose is useful for curving edges.
- Mow the weeds/grass short if possible.
- Cover the area with overlapping, clean, plain cardboard, or a 4-6 sheet thick layer of non-color newspaper.
- Layer on 3-4 inches of mulch, wood chips or leaf mold (partially decomposed leaves).
That’s it! When you have your plugs in May, simply move a bit of mulch aside, dig a small hole and plant right through the decomposing cardboard layer into the soil (the plant should be level with the soil), then move the mulch back into place. You’ll have a ready mulched, mostly weed free garden for summer.
Sheet mulch works to your advantage because it avoids disturbing soil which invites weed seeds to germinate and remember that native plants, when chosen to suit your site conditions, do not need amended soil.
Lastly, you can supercharge sheet mulch If you are suppressing aggressive/hard to kill plants; double the cardboard/paper layer and leave the sheet mulch in place for an entire growing season or entire year.
Get Planting Guidance
Visit our Native Garden Resources pages, designed to assist you in making informed decisions about planning and cultivating your garden.
Plants for Pollinators Webinar Series
Building a “Jersey-friendly yard” creates a healthy foundation of soil, conserves water, attracts and supports wildlife, and adds beauty and interest to your home landscape. Leading up to our 4th annual online Native Pollinator Plant Sale on April 1, we have secured three nationally recognized and diverse speakers to present at monthly webinars. Scroll to the very bottom and register to attend all 4 programs at once at the click of a button. This streamlined registration not only guarantees timely reminder emails with the Zoom link for each of the four talks, but also ensures that you receive recording links for all four webinars within 48 hours of each talk’s conclusion. For those interested in specific talks, individual sign-ups are available below. | Register HERE
Register for individual programs below:
January 18, 7-8 PM: Creating a Woodland Garden with Indigenous Plants & Vertical Structure. Speaker: Jean Epiphan, agricultural resources agent and assistant professor with Rutgers Cooperative Extension in Morris County | Register HERE
February 15, 7-8 PM: Plug in to Native Groundcovers. Speaker: John Courtney, owner of Kind Earth Nursery | Register HERE
March 13, 7-8PM: Pollinator Conservation: Creating and Protecting Habitat for NJ’s Bees, Butterflies, and Biodiversity. Speaker: Kelly Gill, Pollinator Conservation Specialist from Xerces Society | Register HERE
Apr 1, 12-1 PM: GSWA Native Pollinator Plant Sale Overview. Speaker: Hazel England, GSWA Director of Education, Outreach, and Land Stewardship (GSWA online Native Pollinator Plant Sale opens directly following this webinar) | Register HERE
While this speaker program series is free for all participants, a suggested donation of $5-$10 is appreciated to help offset the cost of bringing you these nationally recognized speakers.
Add All Four Events to Your Calendar: FIRST, register for the Plants for Pollinators Webinar Series. THEN, add the four event dates to your calendar by importing the following custom ICS file. Right-click the link to save the file/download: PLANT WEBINAR SERIES ICS FILE. Once downloaded, navigate to your calendar app’s settings and/or choose ‘Import,’ then select the file from your computer. You can visit the scheduled dates to confirm they have been added correctly. Please be aware that Zoom links for each talk will be sent separately via email. The ICS file format is recognized by popular calendar apps like Google, Outlook, and Apple.
Mark Your Calendar: Apr 1, 1:30 PM – Native Plants for Pollinators online sale opens Apr 1 @ 1:30 PM and runs through Apr 19 @ 5 PM. Learn more about native pollinator plants, gardening, and GSWA’s online plant sale HERE.
Save the Date for Our First Ever “Ask Our Experts” in April!
Friendly, local native plant enthusiasts with years of experience will be available in an interactive webinar to help answer your questions and share advice about choosing, planting, growing, and sustaining native plants. You will be able to email questions in advance or ask them during the webinar.
Join the conversation on April 11th at 7 PM !
