Friends of Watsessing Park Conservancy Pollinator Festival
Saturday, July 18, 2026 - 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Activities
Native Plant Giveaway: Email watsessing.pollinator@gmail.com to reserve plants. Two species per person.
Available Plants:
Swamp Milkweed (2 pots per person/total 8 to 10 stems). Swamp milkweed is a host plant for the monarch butterfly.
Cutleaf Coneflower
Blue Wood Aster
Wild Bergamot
Blue Vervain
Small numbers of other species are available. Ask at festival or before.
Garden Tours
Information on pollinator gardening
Children’s Activities
Rock painting
Scavenger hunt
Presentations (Click on links for more information):
9 a.m. - Kitchen Kinship: Caring for Soil, Soul, Source and Each Other
Jill Wodnick - Community Herbalist & Rutgers Environmental Steward
10 a.m. - What's Growing in Your Own Backyard? (Includes a tour of restoration areas)
Rich Rockwell, Local Native Plant Expert
11 a.m. - Backyard Birds
Charlotte Arndt, Director of Education, The Raptor Trust (Feathered ambassador will accompany)
12 Noon - Meeting Wild Bees' Needs: Supporting Native Pollinator Populations in Suburban and Urban Environments
Dr. Kimberley Russell, Dept. of Ecology and Natural Resources, Rutgers University
The event is free!!