News

City commits to bee rather than to seem

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 11, 2024

From landscaped pollinator beds surrounding the Bee Mural in the Azalea parking lot to flower-filled hanging baskets and pollinator-friendly trees, shrubs and grasses along Main Street to adjoining neighborhood pollinator gardens, pollinators are supported throughout downtown Hendersonville.

Mark Stierwalt, Hendersonville’s public works superintendent, will lead a guided stroll to explore and learn about urban pollinator gardening, created as part of Hendersonville’s Bee City USA program. To join the 90-minute walk, congregate at 9 a.m., Saturday, June 15, in front of Black Bear Coffee Co., 318 N. Main St.
Open to the public at no charge, the walk is sponsored by Hendersonville Tree Board as part of Pollinator Week. In case of inclement weather, the event will be called off and a new date announced.
“We’re excited to offer this pleasant walk to downtown visitors and residents,” Stierwalt said. “Pollinator-friendly plantings are being expanded throughout the city and the guided walk shows some of that.”
A new pollinator bed was planted in April along U.S. 64 next to Starbucks in addition to the large pollinator bed installed last year on Four Seasons Boulevard at Duncan Hill Road. A pollinator meadow and other beds were refurbished and replanted this spring along Oklawaha Greenway as well.
Pollinator Week June 17-23 celebrates the vital role that pollinators play in ecosystems, the economy and agriculture. These essential creatures, including bees, butterflies, moths, bats, beetles, and hummingbirds, are the unsung heroes behind the food we enjoy and the beauty that surrounds us.
Hendersonville Tree Board, sponsor of this educational stroll, is commissioned by the Hendersonville City Council to provide advice on the selection and care of trees and shrubs. The Tree Board also educates the public concerning the economic and aesthetic benefits of trees and shrubs for the community. A Tree City USA for more than 30 years, Hendersonville became a Bee City USA in 2015.