Butterfly & Bee Garden

JoAnne Grabinski, QRWA member, is currently working on a Master of Arts in Experiential Health and Healing from The Graduate Institute.  As a requirement for the degree her culminating project will be to create a butterfly and bee garden at the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association headquarters, located at 540 Oregon Road, Meriden, CT

The aim of the project is to create a sanctuary for butterflies and bees as they are nature's pollinators and a key component to a healthy and sustainable food source. Recently, honey bees have experienced Colony Collapse Discorder, or CCD, where the bees just leave the hive for no apparent reason. And that has a tremendous impact: no bees equals no pollination therefore no food.

Since there are five schools within a two mile radius of our headquarters, the intention is to incorporate student involvement through art, science and literature. Ideally, by the time the elementary school children get to high school, they will have a vested interest in the river, the land and its inhabitants.

This will be a multi-year project beginning with planting the garden in the Spring of 2010. Each year an area will be expanding or a new element will be added to the ongoing adventure with Nature. This is the start of a valuable venture; for ourselves, our community and our environment.

To learn more about the project or to volunteer, call project coordinator, JoAnne Grabinski, at (203) 213-6673. You can also follow the progress of the B&B on Face book under JoAnne Grabinski. You may also click on "contact" in the upper right hand corner to inquire. Click here for complete list of plants we are seeking for our garden.

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