A “pocket prairie” is a small, intentionally created area of land, often in urban or suburban settings, designed to mimic a prairie ecosystem by planting native grasses and wildflowers, providing habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Pocket prairies are vital because they restore pollinator habitats, enhance biodiversity, reduce runoff, and require less water, while also serving as educational tools and connecting communities to vital ecosystems.

Native plants attract a wonderfully broad audience of pollinators, beneficial insects, and other invertebrate life. Join us to learn more about why plants and pollinators have such intimate relationships and how we can help sustain this buzzing web of life.

This seminar, “Pocket Prairies for Pollinators: Guiding Principles for Growing Your Own Habitat’, will showcase different habitat creation practices, time-saving site prep options, plant selection strategies, and other notes on the “ins and outs” of planting native habitat.

Micah Kloppenburg, the WI Pollinator Habitat Specialist for The Xerces Society, a non-profit dedicated to the conservation of invertebrate life, will be presenting.

Micah connects people, plants, and pollinators together by pulling from his years of environmental experience on organic farms, in community gardens, and restoring native Wisconsin plant communities. Above all, he is continuously surprised by the fascinating web of connections and interdependencies between the natural world and our human lives.

Sponsors of this event include:

*The Southwest Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts

*Connect Communities Gays Mills

*The Gays Mills Public Library

*Vernon County Over 50

LOCATION:

The presentation being held in the Gays Mills Community Commerce Center Community Room is on Saturday, April 12 from 2-3 pm, then afterwards check out the displays of visiting conservation groups and meet the sponsors from 3-4pm. Free prairie seeds, while supplies last.

Light refreshments will be served.

Gays Mills Community Commerce Center Community Room is located at 16391 State Highway 131

Roads are open to venue during construction.