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Upcoming Events

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Our First Annual Fall Plant Market!

Hosted by: Grow Native Massachusetts
Join us for our inaugural fall native plant market, featuring local growers from our native nursery network, plus outreach tables where you can learn from plant experts. Why October? Because fall is the best time of year to get native plants established.

We hope to see you there!

Native Plant Pop-Up Market

When:

October 17 | 10:00am - 3:00pm

Where:7 Harrington Road, Lexington, MA

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Rights of Nature and Wetlands: Transforming the People-Nature Relationship

Gillian Davies, Senior Ecologist and Natural Climate Solutions Specialist at BSC Group, Inc.
Global leaders and governance organizations are calling for transformative change as a way to navigate our future, thereby achieving a stable and livable climate and reversing the current biodiversity crash. Through a Rights of Nature/Wetlands lens, such a shift considers humans as part of Nature, not separate or superior to Nature.

Massachusetts Pollinator Network

When:

October 27 | 7:00 - 8:15pm

Where:Online via Zoom

A MAPN Monthly Presentation

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Seed Series: Cleaning Techniques

Instructor: Freddie Gillespie, Biodiversity Through Pollination
The second part of our Seed Series! Seeds come in all shapes and sizes, and some can be flyaway-fluffy or encased in a hard to break seed pod. Freddie will go over the various techniques and equipment needed to clean the different types of seeds.

Workshop

When:

November 4 | 6:00 - 7:30pm

Where:7 Harrington Road, Lexington, MA

Part two of our three-part Seed Series!

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- Welcome MAPN
  
  Have You Heard the BUZZ?
  Massachusetts Pollinator Network (MAPN) has a new home, as an official program of Grow Native Massachusetts!
  Our mission is to inspire people to action across the Commonwealth, on behalf of native plants AND the diversity of life they support. We have always been effective at spreading the word about the ecological benefits of native plants and creating habitat. Having MAPN as a part of our organization will strengthen the rest of our message: the importance of biodiversity, of “the little things that run the world”, and how we can all play a part in protecting them.
  Our impact will be greatly magnified by the addition of the wonderful MAPN team, and we couldn’t be happier! Many thanks to NOFA/Mass for fostering MAPN through its early years, and for making this transition—which will unfold over the next few months—so smooth.
  Learn More About MAPN
- Ecological Highlight
  
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  Look Before You Sow!
  At an environmental community event I attended last April, a garden club table was handing out free “butterfly garden” seed packets, part of a give-away from a large seed company. Other attendees were delighted to get this freebie, but when I saw the species list on the packet, I realized that these future seed-sowers were being led down the proverbial garden path.
  Wildflower seed mixes are often marketed as a simple one-stop-shop way to support pollinators and restore ecological health. With bright packaging, images of bees and butterflies, and compelling labels like “northeast wildflowers”, “pollinator friendly,” “non-GMO,” or “neonicotinoid free,” they can seem like an easy, reliable choice. But ecological gardeners should approach these mixes with care. Commercially available blends are often designed first and foremost to put on a show for people, not create ecologically valuable habitat for pollinators.
  How can you tell?
  Read more
- Need to Source Native Plants?
  We have recommendations!
  Check out our Nurseries and Seed Sources page! It features extensive listings of native plant suppliers in New England and beyond. We include retail and wholesale options, as well as sources for plugs and seed, mail order and delivery. We also highlight annual plant sales (like ours) run by non-profit and community groups.
  Find a Nursery
  
  Join us for a Native Plant Pop-Up Market! Throughout the spring, summer, and fall, we partner with farmer's markets and community events across Massachusetts to host native plant pop-ups. These events bring together several growers from our native nursery network, so that each market will have ample plant selection and inventory. The nurseries we work with are all small businesses who specialize in sustainably-grown native plants.
  Upcoming Pop-Up Markets
- New and Noteworthy
  
  Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
  
  Leigh Ann Henion
  
  Algonquin Books, 2024
  
  A celebration of what goes on outside in the dark, from blooming moon gardens to nocturnal salamanders, from glowing foxfire and synchronous fireflies that blink in unison like an orchestra of light.
  In an age of increasing artificial light, Night Magic focuses on the amazing biodiversity that still surrounds us after sunset. We do not need to stargaze into the distant cosmos or dive into the depths of oceans to find awe in the dark. There are dazzling wonders in our own backyards.
  Explore More at Best Books

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Upcoming Events

Our First Annual Fall Plant Market!

Rights of Nature and Wetlands: Transforming the People-Nature Relationship

Seed Series: Cleaning Techniques

Homepage

Have You Heard the BUZZ?

Look Before You Sow!

Need to Source Native Plants?

We have recommendations!

Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark

Leigh Ann Henion

Algonquin Books, 2024

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