10/09/2024
The Bee Line—which links several pollinator plantings along 2.5 miles of Pierce Butler Route from Snelling Avenue to Dale Street—has been blooming and beautiful this year. The purpose of this all-native planting project is two-fold: to create more habitat for native insects and birds, and to serve as a model for less labor- and fuel-intensive maintenance along this county road.
The Bee Line offers hands-on work for gardeners, even in winter. Each year, seeds collected in the Bee Line gardens are picked and packaged for winter sowing, yielding dozens of native pollinator plant species for warm weather planting. Last winter, 258 winter sowing containers were made by community members using locally harvested seed. Seed sowing happened at 14 events last winter, bringing together 158 people at Rec Centers, places of worship, private homes and at Hamline University. A dedicated Seedling Corps crew of 6 (three of whom are Ramsey County Master Gardener volunteers) tended the germinated seedlings over the summer for fall planting. Those seeds will be the nucleus of an expanded Bee Line in 2025.
The work of planning, planting and maintaining the Bee Line has been lightened considerably by the hands-on approach of Ramsey County’s Master Gardener
Volunteer Program. Chief planners include RCMG project leads Stephanie Hankerson, Patricia Ohmans and Chris Stevens.
Hats off to additional RCMG volunteers, like Shari Pleiss (shown here removing an errant box elder tree from a stand of natives) who contributed their time, knowledge and effort towards fostering this pollinator sanctuary. Other RCMG volunteers in 2024 included Joe Van Thomme, Laurie Wenker, Doug Iverson, Katie Robinson, Jane Carlstrom, Celina McManus, Simba Blood, Aimee Schafer, Laura Lodgson, Donna Long, Linda Koopmans, Samantha Larsen, Sara “Weed Wrench” Ladas, Abby Gust, and Kathy Fryxell. Thank you all!
Patricia Ohmans
Frogtown Project Co-Lead
RCMG Volunteer