The birds and the bees; Local Scout helping pollination here and beyond

The ultimate goal of Maryville’s Lauren Huffstetler is to help bolster our planet with more pollinators so we can maintain a sustainable food supply.

After all, pollinators are responsible for one out of every three bites we consume — veggies like kale and cauliflower, fruits like apples and pears and also nuts. And when you take a look around at the commercial development that’s happened over the past few years, natural habitat is being lost, she pointed out.

Lauren is well on her way to at least getting her own community interested and activated for the cause. This senior at Maryville High School has spent the past several months educating people about what pollinators are and their importance. It’s all part of her quest to earn the Girl Scouts’ highest level, a Gold Award.

To reach Gold status, Huffstetler said she is required to perform at least 80 hours of community service on a project of her choice. Put a check mark beside that one.

“I have far exceeded the 80 hours,” she said as she stood out next to the pollinator garden recently planted at Maryville College. “I am expanding that.”

The Bronze Award requires 20 hours, and the Silver, 50. Those are both done in advance of tackling the Gold, Lauren explained.

She said her two main missions are to provide information on lesser-known pollinators, like moths, bats, beetles and hummingbirds. It is widely known, this senior said, that honeybees are pollinators, and so are butterflies. She wants people to also know the work these other pollinators also are capable of. Even lizards and wasps are considered pollinators.

“Some of the pollinators are deemed to be scary so people tend to spray them or squish them,” this Scout said. “I am trying to help people realize they shouldn’t squish them. They are great pollinators.”

The second part of the mission is to encourage the planting of pollinator gardens. The plants, she pointed out, should be natives, not exotics.

“Sometimes people will go to the garden center and pick out the most colorful plant,” Lauren said. “It might be an exotic from who knows where. Native pollinators are not able to pollinate them.”

The whole project can be seen at this Scout’s website, pollinateourplanet.com. Visitors can check out the Pollinator Challenge that Lauren has put out. She is challenging civic groups, garden clubs and others to plant these necessary gardens. If you don’t know where to start, she has a list of plants and which pollinators they attract.

Printables on her website include coloring pages for teachers who want to share this project with their students. There are even signs that can be printed out to place in pollinator gardens so that passersby can take notice.

Moths love fireweed, flowering tobacco and Monarda, she explains. If it’s bats you want to attract, plant them some night-blooming phlox, evening primrose and goldenrod. Hummingbirds are partial to bee balm, sage and cardinal flower.

With a $500 grant, this environmentalist is making it even easier. She has obtained seeds that she is giving away for free. They are separated into three different blends — the Bee’s Knees, Southeast Blend and Bird and Butterfly Blend.

The seed packets are available at the pollinator garden next to Crawford House on the campus of Maryville College and from the seed library at the Blount County Public Library.

The Bee’s Knees blend contains seeds to grow sunflowers, coneflowers, bergamot, crimson clover and also perennial lupine.

That Southeast blend has seeds for baby’s breath, lemon mint, California poppy, black-eyed Susans, blue flax and African daisy.

Bird and Butterfly Blend will help you grow Indian blanket, Mexican hat and yarrow along with bachelor button and cosmos.

All of these flowers will attract pollinators to your garden, Lauren said. So far, she has distributed more than 400 of the seed packets. Clayton-Bradley Academy is planting two gardens, she said. She would love to see other schools join in.

Lauren also took some of her seed packets to be handed out at Historic Rugby. She and fellow Scout members in Troop 20536 set up a table at the Maryville Farmers Market to do the same.

“I have lots and lots of seeds that I want to share with the local community,” Lauren said. “There is plenty to go around.”

She didn’t just provide others with suggestions on what to plant. This teen also made three different test gardens at her home, using all three blends. They have flourished.

Mom Erin Huffstetler said you don’t have to be a master gardener to be successful. The seeds grow quickly, she pointed out.

The Huffstetler gardens attracted rabbits, which are pollinators, too, Erin said. They transport the pollen on their fur. Squirrels do the same, she said.

While Lauren didn’t plant the pollinator garden at MC, she has been there on several occasions to weed it and make sure her brochures and seed packets remain stocked.

Another component to this multifaceted project is maintaining a blog. Lauren said she is working to expand it and wants to be able to answer any pollinator questions people might have. One person wanted to know about ants and why they can always be found on peonies.

“Peonies produce a nectar that is attractive to ants,” Lauren explained. “The ants protect the peonies from other bugs that can harm the plant.”

Lauren has an older sister, Emily. The family, which also includes dad Aaron, has always been environmentally aware. They have their own website, My Frugal Home, where they make and sell natural products and ones made from recycled materials. Lauren said taking care of Earth is important to her.

“Flowers are pretty, but they also play a really important role in our ecosystem,” she said. “After I receive my Gold Award, I am hoping to take this to the national level.”