Pollinator Pathway
Lamoille County
MISSION STATEMENT – POLLINATOR PATHWAY OF LAMOILLE COUNTY (PPLC)
Lamoille County is experiencing rapid population growth and property development of land that once fed birds, bees, butterflies, bats, and other “pollinators.” Pollinator Pathway of Lamoille County (PPLC) partners with like-minded groups and individuals to support their plummeting numbers, because their survival is essential to ours. PPLC members are collaborating with schools, municipalities, homeowners, renters, nonprofits, and business owners on planting projects. We offer knowledge, tools, and technical help for the public. While all flowers feed wildlife, the key is choosing native species that our native pollinators evolved to feed on. From a minimum of two potted native plants to acres of native plants, we can close the gap between feeding way stations for our pollinators in Lamoille County and beyond.
PPLC embraces the towns of Cambridge, Eden, Hyde Park, Johnson, Morristown, and Stowe. Formed in 2022, we were sponsored by the Lamoille County Conservation District (LCCD) in 2023 and meet the third Monday of every month from 5:30 to 6:30 PM to hear speakers and to plan and review projects. PPLC meeting dates/times, locations, agendas and minutes are posted on the LCCD calendar at https://www.lcnrcd.com/calendar. Most meetings are hybrid in person and on zoom to make it easier for members across the county to attend. Students are welcome! We want everyone to feel that they can make an impact – and to have a ton of fun in the meantime.
PROJECT Review and updates
In 2022 and 2023 PPLC helped to: revitalize the Copley Rock Garden at Oxbow Park in Morrisville and created the educational garden at the Rail Trail Kiosk. Maintained a plot at the Oxbow’s Community Garden for overflow plantings of keystone perennials through 2024, weathering the second of two floods.
Tabling events in 2023 were Morrisville’s Roctoberfest (October) and the VT Pumpkin Chucking Festival (September)in Stowe.
In 2024 we helped the LCCD plant riparian buffer zones along the Lamoille River at10 Bends community in Hyde Park, Valley Dream Farm in Cambridge, Lake Eden, and at Morrisville’s Oxbow Park. Additionally, native plant garden tours were conducted in Waterbury and Hyde Park.
An ongoing speaker and workshop series open to the public has covered themes such as:
· Neonicotinoids and the Pollinator Protection Bill H. 706.
· Springtime natives and ephemerals.
· Plants for rain garden bioretention.
· Pollinator Garden Preparation: Solarizing demonstration.
· Converting lawn to Wildflowers, wildflower maintenance, and Wildflower Garden in a Pot
Photo Credit: Wesley Skidmore
Morrisville community garden at 257 Portland St.
This plot contains asters, common daisies (Bellis perennis), foxglove (digitalis purpurea), cone flower (Echinacea), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), low-bush blueberry, and comfrey.
The Community Garden plot holds native species we are saving for future joint projects by PPLC and MACC (Morrisville Alliance for Culture and Commerce). These include the Copley Rock garden at the entrance to the Oxbow and the Kiosk Garden where V-Trans and the Rail Trail come together beside the river.
Copley Rock Garden and Kiosk Garden
The Copley Rock garden, lovingly planted by MACC and PPLC members in 2023 and then partly destroyed by flooding, has been rehabilitated.
The nearby Kiosk garden is located just outside Oxbow Park, where the V-Trans and Rail Trails meet in a 30' zone overlooking the Lamoille River. In 2023 MACC members did an inventory of native plants in early spring and launched a pruning party to shape what will be an educational garden and resting spot for trail hikers and shoppers at surrounding businesses. Fruit trees and berry bushes planted by MACC members in 2023 are flanked by a colorful collection of birdfeeders. The kiosk now provides seating and educational signage. Look for PPLC's brochure at the Kiosk.
Hyde Park Projects
Elsa French Park in Hyde Park erupts in a wildflower mix rich with poppies, bachelor's buttons, and other annuals underplanted in 2022 with perennials planted by Bee The Change and the Hyde Park Energy Committee. Keep an eye out for a cozy bench at the end of the winding mulch path.
Plant Shopping: The nursery industry is in transition, currently dominated by plant cultivars that are gorgeous to look at but nutritionally inferior to the pollinators who feed on them. As consumers we need to be educated about terms like cultivar, nativar, native, and ecotype so that we can ask our nurseries for what we really want. To learn more about these terms, read "Grow Native" by the Missouri Prairie Foundation at https://grownative.org/learn/natives-cultivars-and-nativars/. You may also wish to read about the Native Plant Ecotype Experiment by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies at https://vtecostudies.org/what-we-do/projects/ecotype. Below is a short list we recommend when shopping for native plants within Lamoille County and elsewhere in Vermont.
Nursery List for Native Trees, Plants and Shrubs
1. Essex Junction VT: Full Circle Gardens
Note: growing northeastern native plants
Phone: (802) 879-1919
Website: fullcirclegardens.com
Address: 68 Brigham Hill Rd. Essex Junction, VT
Open for the season on Earth Day, Tues.-Sat. 9-5
2. Fairfax, VT: Northeast Pollinator Plants
Note: growing Vermont ecotype native plants
Email: plants@northeastpollinator.com
Phone: (802) 849-6853
Website: www.northeastpollinator.com
Address: River Berry Farm, 191 Goose Pond Rd.,
Fairfax, VT 05454
Online orders only, can pick up at the farm
3. Greensboro Bend, VT: Lynette's Native Plants, Etc.
Note: native plants, shrubs, trees, etc.
Website: nativeplantsetc.com
Phone: 802-533-9836
Address: 281 The Bend Rd, Greensboro Bend, VT 05842
Hours: Fri. 10 AM - 4 PM; Sat. - 10 AM - 4 PM. Sun. & Mon. - by
appointment only.
4. E. Hardwick, VT: Summersweet Gardens Nursery
Note: many cultivars, non-native and some natives, only a few local ecotypes.
We urge our members to ask the owners to provide more true natives and local
ecotypes that support declining pollinators.
Email: sales@summersweetgardens.com
Phone: (802) 472-5104
Website: www.summersweetgardens.com
Address: 63 Brickhouse Rd., East Hardwick VT
Open May 2 - September Mon. - Fri. 10 AM-5 PM check their calendar for
events
5. Jeffersonville, VT: The Farm Between
Note: self-described "certified organic” fruit farm and nursery that specializes in
hardy and regionally appropriate fruit trees, and shrubs, etc."
Phone: 802-355-2000
E-mail: farmbetween@gmail.com
Address: 3727 VT-15, Jeffersonville, VT
Spring Hours (late April through May): 9-5 Fri.-Sun. or by appointment.
Summer & Fall Hours (June through October).
6. Jericho, VT: Bird and Bee Native Plants
Note: native plants, many local ecotype and New England provenance,
Tobi Shulman, proprietor
Email: birdandbeeplants@gmail.com
Phone: (802) 355-2879
Website: birdandbeeplants@gmail.com
Address: 415 Browns Trace Road
Jericho, Vermont 05465
By appointment only
7. Jericho, VT: The Farm Upstream
Note: growing Vermont native, local ecotype organic plants, flowering shrubs
and vines.
Proprietor: Spencer Hardy
Email: farmers@thefarmupstream.com
Website: www.thefarmupstream
Address: 150 Lee River Rd.,
Jericho, Vermont
8. Morrisville, VT: B & B Nursery
Note: A limited stock of native ecotypes species plants, mostly cultivars and
nativars. We urge our members to ask the owners to provide more true natives
and local ecotypes that support declining pollinators.
Phone: (802) 888-7284
Email: bandbnurseries@gmail.com
Address: 1056 Stagecoach Rd., Morrisville, VT 05661
Regular season hours, Monday - Sat. 8-4 PM
9. Orwell, VT: Green Mountain Natives
Note: A wetland plant supply for restoration and home wildlife habitats, rain
gardens. They say they are growing native ecotype plants.
Email: dredondo@greenmountainnatives.com
Phone: (802) 989-4629
Website: www.greenmountainnatives.com
Address: 29 Old Foundry Rd.
Orwell VT 05760
Open Mon. Through Fri. 9-5
Open for order pickup by appointment only.
10. Wolcott, VT: Elmore Roots Nursery
Note: specializes in cold-hardy fruit trees, nut trees and berry bushes
Phone: (802) 888-7668
E-mail: fruitpal@elmoreroots.com
Address: 759 Symonds Mill Road, Wolcott, VT 05680
Spring Hours: Tues. - Fri. - 10 AM to 5:30 PM. Sat. - closed. Mon. - Closed.
Sun. - 10 AM to 5:30 PM.
Summer & Fall Hours: Sun. - 10 AM to 4 PM; Mon.: Closed. Tues.: Closed.
Wed.-Fri.: 10 AM - 4:00 PM; Sat.: Closed
Learn more about native plants here - https://www.pollinator-pathway.org/native-plants
Our Partners
Lamoille County Conservation District
Stowe Land Trust
Morrisville Community Gardens
Morrisville Alliance for Culture and Commerce
Hyde Park Energy Committee
Vermont NRCS
