“The average chickadee parent pair needs about 6-9,000 caterpillars to bring their fledglings to leave the nest,” executive co-director Bieke Puncochar said. “Think about that! That is a lot of caterpillars in one little season. We need to have more bugs so that several of them can be food for birds, or for others kinds of creatures. And others can survive and continue on with the pollination.”
With fall right around the corner, Puncochar told News 2 that it is time for gardeners to prepare for next spring. Instead of the imported plants, she said that Tennessee pollinators need local plants to survive and thrive.
“If we don’t have those plants, those bugs have to fly further to try to find places to put their eggs. If they have to fly further, sometimes they don’t have the fuel, so they would die,” Puncochar said. “We have seen a decline in insects. This is a really important part of restoring the ecosystem.”
To bring back local pollinators, she and her co-director Bethany Patchin Crandell started the project in their backyards.
“That news of environmental problems often makes people feel so like defeated because it’s like ‘Does it matter if I do this or that?'” Puncochar said. “That has been one of the reasons that I have been drawn to this area because you actually can make a difference and see it in one season.”
That passion turned one seed into a garden full of native plants, inviting in pollinators, deer, birds, and insects. Now, she has shared that joy with her neighbors.
“We recognize that a lot of us are too busy to figure out which plants to get, what is good for this area, and what supports the most pollinators,” Puncochar said. “We decided, ‘What if we did the research?’ We picked the plants and then we put together kits that are specialized for this area, then anyone can do it if you know they are up for it.”
To make gardening easier and expand the ecological footprint, Puncochar and her co-director have worked work with a nursery to create kits packed with plants. Those plants specifically originate from the Nashville area.
(Courtesy of Bieke Puncochar)
These kits have been made to be planted come the fall.
“If you plant plants in fall, their roots get a chance to establish before spring comes around, before those high temperatures come around,”Puncochar explained. “They actually bloom faster, grow bigger.”
This fall’s kit includes plants like anise hyssop, blazing star, cardinal flower, tall thimbleweed, golden ragwort, wild petunia and obedient plant.
“We give them information about why these particular plants are important,” Dr. Puncochar said. “Also, which insects are supported by these plants, so every one of us can become kind of a little bit of a scientist at heart.”
While the nonprofit has already sold 10,000 plants in its almost two years of operation, more work is still needed.
“By adding more plants, we can expand the ecologically footprint of these species and therefore the insects, birds and what not will have a larger space to live in,” Puncochar said.
(Courtesy of Bieke Puncochar)
Puncochar told News 2 that you don’t need a green thumb to start helping to restore the ecosystem and attract native pollinators to your backyard.
She explained that because these are native plants, they will most likely thrive in their natural environment. Puncochar said as long as people set reminders to water them within the first four to six weeks of planting, the flora should take care of itself.
“Don’t let fear of not being a good gardener or whatnot hold you back,” Puncochar added.
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