City encourages pollinator gardens

By Sabra Girard

Texas Discovery Garden’s (TDG) highly anticipated two-day pollinator plant sale event is on April 7 and 8. Guests can explore and purchase more than 600 varieties of rare native and adapted pollinator-friendly plants; many of which cannot be found locally. The celebrated Director of Horticulture Roger Sanderson greenhouse staff and dozens of loyal TDG volunteers will be on hand to assist those possessing a black, budding or green thumb. Those who want to learn more about native plants can register for the ‘Plant Sale Safari,’ a pre-sale guided tour with Sanderson who will spotlight and detail native and adapted plants.   

A non-profit educational organization in Fair Park featuring a 7.5-acre year-round organic urban garden, the two-story Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium complete with a rainforest and hundreds of free flying butterflies, a new Hummingbird Garden and a soon to be unveiled ‘Eco Discovery Adventure and Playscape.’ TDG was the first public garden in the state of Texas to be certified 100 percent organic and includes spectacular native and adapted plants solely grown with sustainable and environmentally friendly methods. Their EarthKeepers Children’s Education Program offers year-round outdoor education. They are the destination where children and adults discover and learn to sustain the natural world.   

The Monarch population has declined drastically, and North Texas residents can play a big part in bringing them back. TDG, in collaboration with the City of Dallas, helped Mayor Rawlings build and dedicate the ‘Mayors Pollinator Garden’ at City Hall in 2017.

Attendees of the April 7-8 Pollinator Plant Sale Event can, like Mayor Rawlings, learn how to build their own pollinator gardens and how the City of Dallas and TDG have partnered to plant a dozen pollinator gardens across city-owned land in Dallas, thanks to a grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Sale event guests or anyone interested can also volunteer to help complete these citywide pollinator gardens, which are scheduled for completion by the end of 2018. Via a Mayoral example, gardening education, plant offerings and volunteer sign-up opportunities, the Pollinator Plant Sale Event aids TDG’s mission to help children and adults discover and learn to sustain the natural world. The Pollinator Plant Event is from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.