Pollinator Pathway Update: Come see what's growing at the Air Line Trail

 

The Pollinator Garden in the early morning in May 2023. 

Our Pollinator Garden at the Air Line Trail in Portland is beginning to wake up for spring. We have begun to remove the protection we had in place to prevent browsing deer in the winter. The Air Line Trail Committee also donated cedar posts to line the border of the garden in March 2023. 

This year we would like to add permanent signage to the garden to identify the included plants.

When you visit, see if you can identify the following perennials:

• Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
• Narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) 
• Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
• New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
• Northern Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
• Seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)
• New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
• Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
• Indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella)
• Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)
• Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)
• Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)
• Ironweed (Vernonia spp.)
• High-bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)
• Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
• Northern bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica)
• Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
• Common blue violet (Viola sororia)

You may also still see the leaves of Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) and crocus (Crocus sativus), before they go dormant with the warmer temperatures. These are both small early-blooming (non-native) bulbs that kicked off our growing season in early March. 

Coneflower and Common blue violet grow at the Pollinator Garden in May 2023.