The January Cross Pollination Newsletter, Edibles, can be accessed here.

The December Cross Pollination Newsletter, Seeds of Joy, Hope and Friendship, can be access here.

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Upcoming Events 

Landscaping with Native Plants and Shrubs:  Easy AND Beautiful Combinations for Your Yard! Wednesday, January 8, 2025, 7:30 pm via Zoom

Get an update on Kathy Ever’s ‘‘rewilding’ efforts and hear about great native plant/shrub combinations that work well in Westchester!  Specific and useful advice for landscaping with natives will be provided.  It doesn’t have to be complicated - everyone can do something to support pollinators and birds. Click here to register.

Creating Your Pollinator Garden Workshop Series. Successfully planning, implementing and maintaining a new or expanded pollinator garden  

Saturdays, January 18, February 15, and March 15, 10 am - 12 pm

Join us for three free workshops to help you start or expand a garden to attract and support pollinators and birds. These workshops will get you ready to plant your gardens in spring of 2025. We will provide tips, tricks, lessons learned and expert advice to successfully create a garden pollinators, birds and you will love.  Each workshop will have its own registration:  join for all three or just one. An added bonus is building a community with like-minded people who want to bring more beauty, joy and sustainability into their yards. Each workshop is limited to 25 participants. This is an action oriented workshop series. We ask that participants commit to create or expand a garden for pollinators, no matter how small.  This program is a partnership between the Ardsley Pollinator Pathway, Greenburgh Public Library, and the Tarrytown Pollinator Pathway.

January Workshop: Designing Your New or Expanded Garden 

Saturday, January 18 | 10 am - 12 pm, Greenburgh Public Library Multipurpose Room

Plan your dream garden with the expert assistance of local Pollinator Pathway members, who will share design tips, tricks, and advice to bring your ideas to life! The focus will be on using native plants. Registration required and limited to 25 participants.  Click here to register.

Selecting and Procuring Your Plants

Saturday, February 15 | 10 am - 12 pm, Greenburgh Public Library Multipurpose Room

Learn how to select and procure native plants, including how and where to purchase plants, create plants from your own or other people’s plants and seeds, and ways to procure them from local pollinator pathways. Registration required and limited to 25 participants. Click here to register.

Preparation for Planting and Maintaining the Garden

Saturday, March 15 | 10 am - 12 pm, Greenburgh Public Library Multipurpose Room

You've designed your garden with the perfect plants! Now learn how to easily prepare and maintain your garden with the expert advice and assistance of local Pollinator Pathway members.  Registration required and limited to 25 participants. Click here to register.

Native Plant Species & Cultivars, Wednesday, February 12, 7:30 pm via Zoom

Are straight species of native plants always the best choice for home gardens? Can cultivars of native plants (nativars) provide adequate support for wildlife? To answer these questions, Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills has conducted research on past and on-going studies comparing native plants and their cultivars from the standpoint of garden performance, visits by pollinators, and use as larval host plants, and she summarizes her findings in this presentation. Click here to register.

  News:

• The recording and reference material for December's webinar, Beauty for the Bees, can be accessed by clicking here 

• The recording of November's webinar, Lessons Learned from 100 Garden Consultations, can be accessed by clicking here 

• The recording of our recent presentation, "Selecting and Caring for Native Tree and Shrub Saplings," is now available. Whether you missed the live session or wish to revisit the valuable insights shared by our experts, you can access the recording at https://vimeo.com/channels/greenburghlibrary/941297555. 

• Keystone Species of Native Plants. Thanks to everyone who attended the webinar on April 10. The presentation and other documents can be accessed here.

• Ardsley Spring Gardening Festival Presentations and Other Documents. Thanks to everyone who attended the Spring Gardening Festival on March 10. The presentations can be accessed below for your reference. Click  here   to enter the folder of presentations.

• Going Wild With Hedgerows, Meadows and Plants with Kathy Evers. The video recording can be found here. The audio recording can be found here. Kathy's reference sheet of the plants she used in her various beds can be accessed here.

• Ardsley again achieves Leadership Circle Achievement from National Wildlife Federations (NWF) Mayors' Monarch Pledge  

Ardsley is one of a few municipalities in North America in 2024, 2023 and 2022 that earned the Leadership Circle Achievement for the National Wildlife Federation's Mayors Monarch Pledge.  Cities and municipalities in the program commit each year to support endangered monarch butterflies by creating habitat and educating residents on how to make a difference at home or in their community. 

Ardsley is proud to support our beloved monarch butterflies and to have again earned the Leadership Circle honor. Ardsley is now part of an expanding North American network of cities working to create habitat in public parks, public landscaping, vacant lots, roadsides, medians, green roofs, backyard gardens and open spaces throughout the entire community.

For easy steps you can take to help monarch butterflies in your yard see the November Cross Pollination News - The Monarch Edition.

• Pollinate Now! Bioregional Strategy for Habitat Restoration in the Hudson River Estuary Watershed with Evan Abramson, Principal of Landscape Interactions.  The recording of the presentation can be accessed here. The audio of the presentation can be accessed here. Evan has kindly offered the online version of his book, Pollinate Now! on his website and it can be downloaded here.  

• Sustaining Wildlife in Fall and Winter with Deb Ellis.  The video recording can be accessed here; The audio recording can be accessed here; The chat can be accessed here. Deb's slides can be accessed here, and her list of favorite fall plants can be found here.. 

• Garden Visit: Kathy Ever's Rewilded Yard. Click here to see Kathy's diagrams and plant lists for her garden beds.

• The recording for Mushrooms in Your Yard with Taro Ietaka can be accessed here.

• This documentary is a feast for the eyes and soul. Check out A Ghost in the Making: Searching for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee. This award winning short documentary inspires us to protect and provide habitat for all creatures and to prevent the extinction of the most vulnerable. Plant away!! We make the difference.

Introducing Our New Mailbox Gardens How-To Guides

You asked for it and we created it - a step- by- step guide to create a pollinator garden. We give you the design, the materials and quantities you'll need, and the list of plants. Four different garden sizes in each guide. You buy the plants, dig them in, and watch them grow. Check them out - it's easy!

Full-Part Sun Pollinator Wildflower Mailbox Gardens

Full to Part Sun Pollinator Grass and Sedge Mailbox Gardens

Part Shade Pollinator Mailbox Gardens

Full to Part Sun Monarch Butterfly Mailbox Garden 

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Resources:

• Previous Get Together Presentations and Reference materials available here.

• View the new DEC documentary on invasive plants, Uninvited: The Spread of Invasive Species

• Join the Ardsley Pollinator Pathway

We're making substantial change, one yard at a time. Join our distribution list.

Contact us for more information

Visit the Ardsley CAN by 2030! website to learn more about how you can easily reduce your carbon footprint and make small changes to act sustainably.