FAIRFIELD, Ill. – Illinois is home to a variety of native plants and bee species. When paired, they’re perfect for pollination—an essential process within the environment. Illinois Extension invites community members to learn how to support native pollinators on August 11 at the program: Attracting Native Bees to Your Own Backyard Pollinator Garden.
Extension Horticulture Educator Kim Rohling will kick off the program by examining Illinois’ native bee species and sharing how to incorporate native Illinois plants into home gardening. Following, Rohling will team up with Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator Katie Bell for a tour of the Wayne County pollinator garden and a discussion of the garden's successes and challenges.
Located on the grounds of Frontier Community College, the pollinator garden is a collaborative effort between Illinois Extension and Wayne County Farm Bureau and features numerous native Illinois plants. Participants are encouraged to download the iNaturalist app on their device prior to the tour to practice identifying native plants in the pollinator garden.
The program will begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11, at the Wayne County Extension Office, located at 2B Frontier Drive in Fairfield. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes and to dress for the weather. Registration is available online at go.illinois.edu/AttractingPollinators.
For additional questions, to register via phone, or if you need a reasonable accommodation to participate, please contact the Wayne County Extension Office at 618-842-3702. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet access needs.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 500 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through five program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, health and community wellness, and natural resources, environment, and energy.