Circle this Date: June 13rd
You Don’t Want to Miss This All Day Event
Presented by the Stratford Historical Society
Presenters:
Victor DeMasi “Pollinators in my backyard”
Join entomologist Victor DeMasi for a tour of his meadow in Redding Connecticut. Pollinator especially butterfly biology will be reviewed. Various issues facing our pollinators will be discussed.
- How citizen scientists are helping understand our pollinators.
- Enhancing meadow quality by and nurturing native wildflowers especially milkweeds are topics. The Monarch butterfly and its fascinating life history are touched on.
- The dangers of new pesticides are discussed.
Presentation includes display of 2 drawers of museum quality butterfly specimens and wild bee pollinators.
Victor is an extremely active member of The Pollinator Pathway. He was a wetland conservation officer in his hometown of Redding for 20 years and is presently a curatorial affiliate at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven. He busies himself with preserving open space in town and preserving butterflies in the museum. His field work with butterflies contributed almost a thousand citations to the recently published Connecticut Butterfly Atlas. He has contributed articles to scientific publications and his mark-recapture studies with Swallowtail butterflies was recently cited in the book Swallowtails of the Americas.
Recent butterfly study trips with his spouse Roanna , a photographer have been several times to Amazon forest in Guyana, Nicaragua, and yearly studies in montane California assessing the impact of climate change on that fauna.. His work in south America was recently featured in The Yale Environmental News.
Jackie Alton Pollinator Pathway
NativeGardening for Pollinators and Songbirds at Home and in the Community
Planting with native plants, not using pesticides or insecticides and rethinking your lawn are the three tenets of the Pollinator Pathway. We’ll explore why these are important to our wildlife and to our environment, and how each of us can make a difference to the ecosystem by adopting and implementing these principles in our gardens at home and in the community. We’ll also discuss how our New Best Practices – including Leaving the Leaves, Slow-Mow May, Cleaning up in Spring rather than in Fall, No Till gardening and several other different ways of approaching our gardens to support bees, butterflies, moths, and the many other animals that assist in pollinating our plants – can succeed with your support and commitment. And their success is our success.
Jackie Algon became an Advanced Master Gardener and former Coordinator of the Master Gardener Program in Bethel after retiring from 40+ years in Corporate America, when she relocated to CT. She is a co-founder and Board member of the Pollinator Pathway, and recently completed a 10-year term on the Wilton Conservation Commission with several years as Chair. Jackie is an active member of the Wilton Garden Club’s Conservation Committee and was its co-Chair for six years. She teaches adult classes at Norwalk Community College and enjoys regularly sharing information about the Pollinator Pathway with organizations and communities throughout our area.
Kat Calhoun Xerces Society
Side show “Bring Back the Pollinators” excellent handouts as well and references to show on a table display. Details and bio coming soon
Nancy Zychek UConnMaster Gardener in Stratford
Talk about some native shrubs and small trees that benefit birds and insects as well as providing food for people and beauty for the landscape. These are plants that people can use to replace some of the invasive shrubs we have, some of which are still being sold in nurseries and are recommended by some landscapers. With all the interest in removing invasive species and planting native plants, These natives include Amelanchier, Aronia, Blueberry, and Elderberry.
Handouts people can take with information about each plant.
Vendors:
POTTED
Kelly Hull
Handmade cement pottery and decor.
Little Red Schoolhouse
Artist Carolyn West
Painting a flower portrait to give away, offering space for visitors to paint as well.
Sol Plants
Cut flower arrangements.
And… The Melting Truck food truck
