Gardening for Pollinators – What are the alterNATIVES? Preferential planting of native plants to support local pollinators and ecosystems has been heavily promoted. Is it all hype or is there compelling evidence that native butterflies, bees, and birds prefer, and benefit more, from native versus non-native landscape plants? Inspired in part by Doug Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home, this presentation will set forth in an easy-to-understand manner, multiple lines of published scientific evidence documenting the significant impact our landscape choices have on local ecosystem health, especially on butterfly and bird populations.

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Vince Ste. Marie and his family own Windy Rock Farm and Nursery in Manchester, MI, and were chemical-free beekeepers for ten years. In 2016 they opened an on-farm retail specialty nursery offering primarily Michigan native flowering trees, flowering shrubs, and perennial wildflowers of benefit to pollinators. They are open to the public, helping homeowners and small-scale landscapers readily access native plants for pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and other small-scale native landscape projects. They have hosted numerous Michigan Master Gardener and Michigan Garden Club meetings, field trips, tours, and educational days at their farm-nursery. Vince has been an invited speaker on pollinators and pollinator gardening at many gardening and beekeeping related conferences, club meetings, and community educational events.