SIDNEY— June is National Pollinator Month and the OSU Extension Shelby County Office, Shelby County Master Gardener volunteers, Shelby Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) and Shelby County Libraries (SCL) celebrated by planting pollinator garden plots in Sidney.

A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part of the flower. Almost all the world’s seed plants need to be pollinated and about 80% of the world’s crop plants require pollination by an animal. Thus, pollinators are essential to the environment and food production. Pollinators, like butterflies and bees, are at risk currently due to loss of habitat, places for them to live, and other factors. Planting more plants that provide shelter and food for pollinators in gardens and landscapes is a way to increase habitat for pollinators and help support a healthy pollinator population.

Pollinator garden plots for bumble bees, specialist bees, butterflies and moths were planted at the OSU Extension Shelby County office at 810 Fair Road. Another pollinator garden plot for butterflies and moths was planted at Amos Memorial Public Library. These garden plots are educational and demonstrational with the goal to spread awareness of how native plants that are good for pollinators can be included in landscaping and gardens in the community and at private homes. These plots are open to visitation from the public.

“It is exciting to add habitat for pollinators in Sidney and I hope these garden plots inspire more people to include native plants and consider pollinators when they are caring for their yards and landscape. I can’t wait to see how beautiful the areas become as the plants grow and bloom,” said Amanda Hurley of Shelby SWCD.

The native plants used in the pollinator garden plots were provided by the “Plant by Numbers” project of Ohio State University College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science Department of Entomology. This project was funded by an USDA IPM Pollinator Health Grant. The “Plant by Numbers” project provides information about native plants, growing steps and sample designs that can be used by anyone to start their own pollinator garden plot. This project makes it simple for anyone to support pollinators! At each pollinator garden plot in Sidney there are informational signs about the plants included. There are also informational

handouts from the “Plant by Numbers” project available at the OSU Extension Shelby County office and Amos Memorial Library. For more information about this project or if you are interested in planting a pollinator garden like the ones mentioned in this article visit https://u.osu.edu/plantbynumbers/.

For more information about pollinators or if you have questions about the new pollinator garden plots in Sidney contact Matt Scherge (OSU Extension) by email [email protected] or phone 937-498-7240 or Hurley (Shelby SWCD) by email [email protected] or by phone 937-492-6520 Ext 2597. Follow Ohio State Extension Shelby County Office, Shelby SWCD and/or SCL on Facebook to see updates about the pollinator garden plots going forward.