At 11 a.m. on July 28, the John P. Holt Brentwood Library will officially unveil its new Pollinator Garden during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Reading Terrace.
The colorful plants currently blooming in this new garden will attract bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and birds.
“The garden was designed to host plants that bloom from early spring through fall, including phlox, dianthus, butterfly weed, bee balm, echinacea, tickseed, catmint, aster, and more,” Sarah Norris, library marketing coordinator, said. “The library Reading Terrace became an obvious location for such a project after the success of the Sensory Garden and the accidental promotion of several endangered caterpillars, thus prompting educational inquiry into the local pollinator population.”
The library partnered with Leadership Brentwood to develop the garden as a way of bringing attention to the global pollinator crisis. According to Penn State University, “Domestic honeybee hives are down by 59% compared to 60 years ago,” and last year, National Geographic reported that “more than 450 butterfly species have declined at an average rate of nearly 2 percent a year.”
“Pollinators are a vital yet often overlooked element in our ecosystem,” Norris said. “As local beekeeper Jay Williams once said, ‘One out of every three bites you take is thanks to a honeybee.’”
The project was sponsored by the Friends of the Brentwood Library, Martin & Zerfoss, RaganSmith, and the Tractor Supply Co., and that support helped purchase plants and signage for the garden.
The July 28 ribbon-cutting ceremony is free and open to the public. For more information about Brentwood’s library, visit https://www.brentwoodtn.gov/departments/library.
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