The John P. Holt Brentwood Library officially unveils its new Pollinator Garden during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Reading Terrace later this month on Friday, July 28 at 11 a.m. The colorful plants currently blooming in this new garden will attract bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and birds.
About the Brentwood Library Pollinator Garden
“The garden is designed to host plants that bloom from early spring through fall, including phlox, dianthus, butterfly weed, bee balm, echinacea, tickseed, catmint, aster and more,” says library marketing coordinator Sarah Norris. “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.” In addition, National Geographic reports that “more than 450 butterfly species have declined at an average rate of nearly 2 percent a year.”
“Pollinators play a vital role 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.’”
Project sponsors include the Friends of the Brentwood Library, Martin & Zerfoss, RaganSmith and the Tractor Supply Co.
The July 28 ribbon-cutting ceremony is free and open to the public. For more information about Brentwood’s library, visit brentwoodtn.gov/departments/library.
