Don't let this invasive plant crowd out natives.
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Japanese Stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum, flowers from April to June. Look for bamboo-like grass with drooping stems, about 1-3 feet tall. Leaves are pale green, lance-shaped, with a shiny asymmetrical midrib. It spreads by seed and rooting at joints along the stem. A single plant can produce 100-1000 seeds that remain viable in the soil for at least three years. Seeds germinate readily following soil disturbance. Fortunately, this invasive grass species can be pulled by hand due to its shallow roots. Pull before grass flowers to prevent seed production. Native alternative: Virginia Cutgrass. (Credit: Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, Inc.)
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Stamford Land Conservation Trust Annual Meeting
Wednesday, October 18, 4 - 7pm. At the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. Family friendly annual meeting. Pollinator Pathway Stamford will be on hand. Get tips on how to "Create a Bird-Friendly Community in Your Backyard" from Jillian Bell, Audubon Connecticut and New York. Meet the SCLT's mushroom foraging expert. Enjoy activities and light refreshments. RSVP
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Stamford Museum & Nature Center Family Festival
Sunday, October 22, 10am - 2pm. In the Knobloch Family Farmhouse parking lot. The SM&NC's farm market offers great produce and products. Support local agriculture. Pollinator Pathway Stamford will be there! Come say hello.
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Pollinator Pathway Stamford tackles up-potting
High five to Highstead, the regional conservation and ecological stewardship non-profit dedicated to increasing land protection in New England and beyond through science, sound stewardship and collaboration with diverse partners. Thanks to their donation of dozens of starter seedlings, Pollinator Pathway Stamford 'up-potted' 304 seedlings into plug trays. The plants will eventually be planted in city park pollinator gardens next year. Learn more about the important work they do.
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VOLUNTEER DATES
Join PPS in these parks.
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Visit the PPS gardens at Cove Island, Kosciuszko and Chestnut Hill Parks to see autumn blooming native plants and the pollinators that are still around to enjoy them. Join Pollinator Pathway Stamford for our final volunteer dates at these parks.
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Kosciuszko Park
October 14, 10am-12noon
Help us put the finishing touches for the season on this beautiful garden.
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Chestnut Hill Park
October 21, 9-11am
Come see how far we've come in creating this bird-friendly garden.
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GROW A SPINE FOR INVERTEBRATES
8 Pesticides Myths Gardeners Need to Know
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Insects and other invertebrates—butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, worms, bees, mussels, and crabs are but a few—make up 94% of the world’s animal species.
Fortunately, Xerces Society, a science-based international conservation organization, offers excellent resources on how to protect these invertebrates. Read their very helpful article on separating pesticides fact from fiction: 8 Pesticides Myths Every Gardener Should Know, including “If I can buy it, it must be safe” and “Only insecticides harm pollinators; herbicides and fungicides are safe.”
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PROTECT AMERICA'S CHILDREN FROM TOXIC PESTICIDES ACT
Ask your Senators and Congressman/woman
to be a sponsor. It's easy.
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A female monarch butterfly finds a friend. Photo © 2023.
Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act (S. 269), or PACTPA, would ban extremely harmful pesticides known to eradicate bees and other pollinators and cause diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s in humans. The law regulating pesticides in the United States has allowed the pesticide industry to spew over a billion pounds of dangerous poisons into our environment. Approximately one-third of this use comes from pesticides banned in the European Union.
The Environmental Protection Agency "has not kept pace with the rest of the world to protect the health of people and wildlife,” reports the Brookings Institution in How the EPA's lax regulation of dangerous pesticides is hurting public health and the U.S. economy.
PACTPA calls on the EPA to ban many of the most dangerous pesticides, introduce robust protections for farmworkers, and close loopholes that have allowed the pesticides industry to circumvent important safety reviews for decades.
A CALL TO ACTION: Pollinator Pathway Stamford is asking you to support PACTPA by encouraging more members of Congress to sign on as co-sponsors. Our friends at the Center for Biological Diversity have provided a simple, but important, form to connect your message directly to your senators and congressman/woman. Please take a moment by clicking the button below.
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BEE CONNECTED
Join Pollinator Pathway Stamford and add your property to the map.
Take the pledge to help bees and other pollinators.
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