Education fertilized at pollinator garden

Beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds, ants, green spiders and numerous kinds of bees are pollinators.

Evie Bradley is trying to get the word out among area youth about these creatures by building a pollinator garden.

Bradley, 56, is the outdoor education coordinator at Creston Fish Hatchery. She helped organize construction of a pollinator garden there last week.

“They are a large part of our food source. A large number of kids don’t know about them. If it wasn’t for pollinators, we wouldn’t have those cherries,” Bradley said, referring to the numerous cherry orchards around Flathead Lake. Over 150 food crops in the U.S. depend on pollinators.

The aim is for the pollinator garden — which consists of native and non-native plants — to attract pollinators.

The garden is located next to a short nature trail that features 13 stations, one of which is about pollinators.

Bradley plans to install a mason bee nest, which consists of a wood block with drilled holes. Bradley notes that mason bees don’t sting, which is another thing she’s trying to teach youngsters.

“Kids are scared of bees and spiders,” she said. But she would like them to be “bee aware” instead of being afraid.

A “messy material” area is a part of the hatchery’s outdoor classroom. Bradley encourages students to get their hands dirty looking at nature’s wonders.

Home Depot contributed an $800 grant toward creation of the garden, and a group of Home Depot volunteers got their hands dirty last week by helping build the garden. Bradley’s husband, Craig, Brad Hooley and others also helped. Columbia Falls Nursery donated autumn serviceberry and apple trees.

Some examples of native plants in the garden include a gay feather — a plant that blooms purple in the fall, Black-eyed Susans, coneflowers and daisies.

For more information on the pollinator garden, email Bradley at Creston@fws.gov or call 758-6868.