After year of planning, Colrain Pollinator Garden complete

Volunteers Elizabeth Erickson and Jon Rehmus plant native shrubs and flowers on Sept. 21 at a new pollinator garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain.

Volunteers Elizabeth Erickson and Jon Rehmus plant native shrubs and flowers on Sept. 21 at a new pollinator garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

Volunteers Elizabeth Erickson, Jade Mortimer and Jon Rehmus plant native shrubs and flowers on Sept. 21 at a new pollinator garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain.

Volunteers Elizabeth Erickson, Jade Mortimer and Jon Rehmus plant native shrubs and flowers on Sept. 21 at a new pollinator garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

Volunteers plant native shrubs and flowers on Sept. 21 at a new pollinator garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain.

Volunteers plant native shrubs and flowers on Sept. 21 at a new pollinator garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

A pollinator hard at work in the new Colrain Pollinator Garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain.

A pollinator hard at work in the new Colrain Pollinator Garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

The new Colrain Pollinator Garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain.

The new Colrain Pollinator Garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

The new Colrain Pollinator Garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain.

The new Colrain Pollinator Garden on Jacksonville Road in Colrain. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Staff Writer

Published: 09-27-2024 11:37 AM

Modified: 09-27-2024 3:50 PM


COLRAIN — Native shrubs and flowers have been planted in the town center, encouraging native insects to make Colrain their home.

Elizabeth Erickson, an organizer behind the Colrain Pollinator Garden, said the project has been a work in progress for a while now, but after nearly a year of planning, the garden was planted last weekend. The space on Jacksonville Road can now begin providing homes for native species such as bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, wasps and hummingbirds.

“We’re hoping to have lots of different species of insects embrace the space,” Erickson explained.

The plants were funded through a grant from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, with organizational assistance from the Franklin Conservation District and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG).

FRCOG’s planning staff worked with the Franklin Conservation District to develop a Regional Pollinator Action Plan and find ways to help declining populations of native insect species survive climate change, urbanization and other challenges they have faced in recent decades.

“Pollinators are vital to plant reproduction and plant diversity, and pollinators support many benefits that humans receive from healthy ecosystems — most notably, food system security and climate-resilient landscapes. Pollinators are threatened by habitat loss, invasive species, pesticides, disease and parasites,” the plan reads.

The plan originally included just eight of the county’s towns, but additional funding allowed the Franklin Conservation District to incorporate other towns into the plan, including Colrain.

Erickson said work began last fall, with the conservation district, FRCOG, and other local volunteers and partners mapping out areas that would be ideal locations for pollinator gardens and coming up with a list of plants that would help native insects thrive.

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A few ideas were floated, but eventually the district and the town of Colrain came to an agreement that the garden would be planted at 4 Jacksonville Road, just down hill from Veterans Memorial Park.

Erickson said the spot is ideal for the garden due to its proximity to the North River, serving as a pit stop for insects traveling the pollinator corridor. According to the Regional Pollinator Action Plan, a pollinator corridor is a “continuous area in which pollinators can meet their needs with minimal exposure to predators or hostile landscapes.”

Erickson said the planting was scheduled for September because the month is typically fairly rainy, so volunteers would not need to come water the garden as often while the plants settle into the space.

A group of about 15 volunteers spent the morning of Sept. 21 edging the area of the garden; removing grass, rocks and debris; and planting shrubs and flowers.

The group planted numerous native shrubs, including sweet pepperbush, red twig and yellow twig dogwood, bush honeysuckle, winterberry holly, elderberry and cranberry bush virburnum. There are also numerous varieties of perennial flowers, including yarrow, blue star, milkweed, blue wood aster, false indigo, tickseed, coneflower, Joe Pye weed, swamp mallow, bergamot and beardtongue.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.