Green Team

Lawns to Legumes: Nicollet Avenue Pollinator Pathway Project (P3)

The Rusty Patched Bumblebee, an important pollinator once common in the Midwest, is now on the endangered species list—and you can help save it.

What is P3?

P3 is the South Nicollet Corridor Pollinator Pathway Project, a joint project of the Lyndale, Kingfield, and Tangletown neighborhoods associations. The goals of the project are to increase habitat for the Rusty Patch Bumble Bee, an endangered, social bee with a small range for foraging. Survival for this species is dependent on floral resources being available from early spring through fall, undisturbed nesting habitat in proximity to foraging resources and overwintering habitat for the next year’s queens.

P3 involves both large native garden installations at community partners sites, and smaller pocket planting of the same native plants on 45 residential sites. The gardens are designed to provide small hops for food for the Rusty Patch Bumble Bee, and to include similar native plantings in each garden, as this species feeds on a diet of constancy (i.e. it eats one type of pollen at a time.)

This project is funded by the MN Board of Water and Soil Resources through a grants they received from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (LCCMR and the ENTRF), and also with financial support from your neighborhood associations.

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Pollinator Pathway Community Site Preview Event

November 17 @ 5:30-7:00 PM

Butter Bakery Cafe (3700 Nicollet Avenue)

Find out more on Facebook!

Join the Tangletown, Kingfield, and Lyndale Neighborhood Associations and the Nicollet Avenue Pollinator Pathway planning team for a preview event featuring the designs of our community garden sites! The event will take place on November 17 at 5:30pm at Butter Bakery Cafe.

September 29 Pollinator Pathway Kick off Event Recap

Seventy neighbors attended the September 29th Pollinator Pathway Project (P3) Educational Forum to learn about native plants, native bees, and started their journey to build our pathway through Lyndale, Kingfield, and Tangletown neighborhoods for the Rusty Patch Bumble Bee, a native bee whose habitat has been severely diminished and is on the Endangered Species list.

Program Overview provided by: Sarah Linnes-Robinson, Director of the Kingfield and Lyndale Neighborhood Associations and Andrea Siegel, Director of the Tangletown Neighborhood Association

Speakers included: Julie Weisenhorn, U of M Extension Educator and Horticulturist, Master Gardener, AND a master trainer of the Hennepin County Master Gardeners Mary Mason, Hennepin County Master Gardener and Kingfield resident Lisa Lewis, P3 Team Member and a Lyndale resident

The link to the full presentation is on YouTube.

The link to the Project Overview Slide deck is here: Intro Slides_ Creating pollinator habitat event
The link to the presentation by Julie Weisenhorn, U of M Extension Educator and Horticulturist is here: Bee Habitat , ID, & Other Pollinator Information
The link to the on selected species of pollinators by Mast Gardener Mary Mason is here: Pollinator Garden Plant Selections

Funding for the project has been provided by the the MN Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) through a grant from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (LCCMR and the ENTRF)

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