Coopertown BEEAutification Crew

Join the Coopertown BEEautification Crew

The Coopertown BEEautification Crew is a volunteer team of grownups and kids committed to supporting pollinators in our neighborhood.

What are pollinators, and what difference do they make?  

Pollinators include bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, hoverflies, and all critters who move from flower to flower and help with crosspollination. Pennsylvania has 437 bee species, and 146 species of butterfly have been reported here. Pollinators are critical to human survival: they support reproduction in 90% of the world’s flowering plants. More than 150 food crops depend on pollinators, including almost all fruit and grain crops. Pollinators support our gardens, and they keep meadows and forests healthy. Plants clean the air and prevent soil erosion, keeping waterways clean. It’s all connected.

You can help the bees and butterflies

You may have heard that the monarch butterfly is endangered. Many other bees and creatures are also struggling. One major problem is lack of habitat and food sources. American suburbs often look lush but are a “green desert” for pollinators: green lawn, ornamental shrubs, and mulch, but little to eat, no place to raise young, and dangerous pesticides everywhere. We can change that together! Imagine Coopertown as a pollinator haven, a butterfly highway, where every street offers food and habitat. That’s the vision of the Coopertown BEEautification Crew: to help Coopertown become a pollinator neighborhood. You can help.

How can you get involved?

• Plant a pollinator garden with at least five pollinator-supporting plants. Local nurseries often label plants as pollinator attractors, and the websites listed below can help you decide. 

• Let us help you plant a pollinator garden. Fall is the time to sow wildflower seeds! Sign up here for help with planning and/or planting:  https://tinyurl.com/plantpollinationstation

• Label your existing pollinator garden as a “Coopertown Pollination Station.” We are making signs! Sign up here to get a sign: https://tinyurl.com/GetSign 

• Volunteer to help us build pollinator gardens in the neighborhood. Sign up here to volunteer: https://tinyurl.com/HelpPlantPollinators

Connect with us on Facebook! Click here to request to join our Facebook group.

Resources for Selecting/Identifying Native Plants 

Curated by the Coopertown BEEautification Crew

• Xerces list for mid-atlantic region

• Plants native to PA (listed by light and moisture needs) 

• https://nativegardendesigns.wildones.org/designs/philadelphia/ 

• National Wildlife Federation native plant finder 

• Audubon native plant database

• Planting milkweed

Local Native Plant Suppliers

• Mostardi’s Nursery (look for those labeled native)

• Red Bud Nursery (only sells native) 

• Natural Lands Trust Buds and Suds Native Plant Sale (spring only, native only)

• Schuylkill Center Native Plant Sale (spring only, native only)

Mail-order Native Pollinator Seed Suppliers

https://shop.stoverseed.com/collections/wildflower-regional-native-pollinator-mixtures/products/northeast-native-pollinator-wildflower-mixture 

https://www.ernstseed.com/ 

https://www.americanmeadows.com/wildflower-seeds/wildflower-mix/native-northeast-wildflower-seed-mix

Steps to Making a Pollination Station

1. Find a spot

2. Pick plants based on light (full shade/part shade/full sun) and soil moisture (dry/moist)

3. Remove grass, mix in topsoil and compost (use a rototiller to save time and sweat)

4. Put the plants in & water

5. Mulch

6. Water, weed, watch, repeat

Location:  The Coopertown neighborhood in Haverford/Bryn Mawr, PA