Visitors to the Brookline Public Library this summer might have spotted a rare monarch butterfly or hummingbird, and some new plants in the area that was once a plain plot of green grass.
The “native garden” is one of several in Brookline created by Brookline Pollinator Pathway (BPP), an organization that hopes to increase biodiversity and educate community members by planting gardens of native perennials around town.
Brookline’s branch of the nationwide Pollinator Pathway program started after five community members decided to join the movement on Brookline’s behalf.
“We have to restore our forests, our meadows, we have to support biodiversity,” said Deane Coady, who helped start Brookline’s BPP group. “The earth is warming, and that’s what will cool the earth: restoring nature.”
BPP currently has 28 members and has successfully planted gardens at the Brookline Village Public Library, Lincoln School, and the intersection of Naples and Gibbs streets.
BPP plants native gardens on land that would otherwise not contribute much to biodiversity, Coady said. The gardens serve as a place for pollinators to live and spread vital nutrients, but don’t require harmful pesticides or chemicals.
“Geraniums and tulips are really pretty, but to our environment they’re of no help,” said Janice Shotkin, another member of the program. “So many people think native [plants] are just weeds, but they’re much more than that.”
Because native plants grow deep roots, they are relatively low-maintenance after their first year in the ground, Shotkin said. This is convenient for gardeners and homeowners and beneficial to surrounding environments, which are no longer inundated with fertilizers and pesticides.
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The gardens are funded and sourced by the Parks and Open Space Division of Brookline’s Department of Public Works, then maintained by BPP volunteers. The group dispatches members to weed and water the gardens each week.
The native garden planted at the Public Library of Brookline this summer is the organization’s first and houses nine varieties of plants, including two types of milkweed and two species of black eyed Susans. Joe Pye weed and foxglove beardtongue will soon join the mix.
“It’s been a delight to everyone,” said library director Amanda Hirst. “People are interested in it, and it’s really pretty. It’s starting to fill in, it’s great.”
Native gardens are in high demand throughout Brookline — BPP is planning gardens at the intersection of Walnut and Juniper streets, the Coolidge Corner library branch, and Brookline Arts Center.
Gabrielle Domb, executive director of the Brookline Arts Center, said a native garden would provide an opportunity for nature-focused arts education.
“As an arts school we’re very interested in the education aspect,” she said. “I could see developing curricula more intentionally around teaching students more about the plants that would be in the garden.”
The challenge for BPP right now, said the group’s leaders, is membership.
Both Coady and Shotkin expressed enthusiasm regarding BPP’s quick growth, but said the organization could certainly benefit from more volunteers.
“We’re looking for anyone who’s interested in gardening or the environment or native plants or birds and bees,” said Shotkin. “They can know a lot or nothing.”