A Playground for Pollinators

By Grace Leightheiser, Adirondack Pollinator Project Intern

The park in Franklin Town is now home to a buzzing new pollinator garden. Dot Brown, who is the Town Supervisor, and a couple of wonderful volunteers helped to install the hexagonal beds between the parking area and the playground on June 29th. According to Brown, the garden is an asset to the park and she is pleased that it will be one of the first things visitors see upon arrival.

Brown is passionate about bringing new life to the park, making it an even better hub for locals and visitors alike. The town has a very small population and many outsiders are unfamiliar with it, despite its close proximity to Saranac Lake. “This is the first and only garden in the park,” Brown says. “The children in the Town of Franklin Youth Program are watering and taking care of it for the summer. They are so excited to be part of the pollinator garden.” AdkAction is thrilled that kids will be involved, as it is our mission to promote education and awareness through the expansion of our Pollinator Project.

Residents come by the park on a daily basis to walk the looped path and they will now have flowers to enjoy along the way. The garden will also be a nice addition to the nearby pavilion, which can be reserved for gatherings. Brown is very happy with the project – “the bees and butterflies will have a beautiful spot to pollinate and grow.”

The Adirondack Pollinator Project empowers people to take individual and collective action to ensure a future where pollinators thrive, native habitat abounds, and Adirondack residents and visitors are engaged pollinator advocates. You can find resources for garden planning, take a tour of our community gardens, request free wildflower seeds, and more at our pollinator project page.

You can support our hands-on pollinator conservation efforts by making a gift to our Adirondack Pollinator Project Fund.

 

More content to discover

Fair Food Card Project Partnering to Help Adirondack Women, Infants, Children (WIC) in 2026

Families across the Adirondacks are gaining new, reliable access to fresh, locally produced food through AdkAction’s Fair Food Card, now coordinated in partnership with Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) offices throughout the region. WIC is a federal nutrition service that supports low-income families with pregnant individuals and young children age

Read More »

Tracking Road Salt to Protect Adirondack Streams

Each winter, road salt helps keep Adirondack roads safe. When the snow melts, that salt can wash into nearby streams and groundwater, where it can persist for decades and harm aquatic life and drinking water supplies. For years, AdkAction has worked with municipalities across the Adirondacks to reduce road salt

Read More »

The Ever-Evolving Fair Food Card Project

During the Covid-19 pandemic, AdkAction offered Emergency Food Packages, which provided free boxes of locally produced food delivered directly to homes across the Adirondacks. But we knew hunger didn’t end there. As the immediate crisis shifted, so did we. By 2021, the initiative had become the Fair Food project, distributing

Read More »