PATH - Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland

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PATH - Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland The Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland is located in the Southwest Iowa and Eastern Nebraska area. Pollinators are essential to our environment.

Our mission is to restore native habitat and pollinator diversity through community outreach and education of best practices. The Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland is a group of passionate, concerned, and dedicated people coming from all walks of life determined to make a difference in our communities on behalf of our pollinators through education, engagement, community partnerships. The ecological service they provide is necessary for the reproduction of most of the world’s flowering plants including more than two-thirds of crop species. Aside from agriculture, pollinators help provide a major part of the diet of birds and mammals. Pollinator populations are threatened due to habitat loss, pesticide and herbicide use, and diseases. The good news is what is good for pollinators is good for humans too and there is something we can do! The easiest way to make an immediate difference is to plant the native plants our pollinators evolved with. Unfortunately, most of the landscaping plants available in nurseries are alien species from other countries. These exotic species not only sever the food web, but many have become invasive pests out-competing native species degrading remaining natural habitat. Landscaping choices can have meaningful effects on the populations of birds and the insects they need to survive. The traditional suburban lawn on average has 10x more chemical pesticides per acre than farmland. By choosing native plants for your landscaping, you are not only helping wildlife and pollinators, but you are also creating a healthier place for yourself, your family, and your community. We invite you to join us in changing the world for pollinators, one native plant at a time! Please join us to help:
• Advocate for pollinators in our community to increase habitat and pollinator populations.
• Promote the use of native plants and support native ecosystems and native pollinators.
• Promote and provide educational opportunities to increase knowledge and understanding of approaches to pollinator conservation.
• Volunteer for community pollinator habitat projects and outreach events.
• Participate and help organize community pollinator projects and outreach events.
• Partner with local businesses and organizations to focus on pollinator success.

Our YouTube is updated with this year's Milkweed and Cookies presentations! If you were unable to attend, or want to re...
10/08/2026

Our YouTube is updated with this year's Milkweed and Cookies presentations! If you were unable to attend, or want to revisit a presentation make sure to check them out at https://www.youtube.com//videos We also have prior year's videos up from 2025 and 2024! Thank you again to our 2026 presenters Dr. Jody Green, Amanda Stastny from Bumbling Bee Native Wildflowers, and Sheila Schrader from Schrader Landscape Design for your expertise! Let us know what you learned this year in the comments below!

We're obviously enjoying the beautiful weather this time of year, but the holidays are right around the corner! Stop by...
09/19/2026

We're obviously enjoying the beautiful weather this time of year, but the holidays are right around the corner! Stop by the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair tomorrow and do some early shopping for that special someone (we're ok if that someone is yourself 😁😉). Shop at vendors like Anna Stoysich Art, Benson Bounty, and Lisa Harnack Art. If you are on a budget, don't worry - its not all about spending money at our event! There are plenty of ways to interact for free. Learn more about local organizations like Conservation Nebraska, Grasslands Unlimited, Green Bellevue, Milkweed Matters, Nebraska Monarchs, The Xerces Society, and Pottawattamie County! We also have our three featured speakers scheduled throughout the day and of course - FREE COOKIES! See you tomorrow!

Speakers / Presentations:
- 12:30PM - 1:15PM: Amanda Stastny, Bumbling Bee Native Wildflowers, “The Importance of Urban Habitat.”
- 1:30PM - 2:15PM: Jody Green, UNL Extension, "Wild About Wild Bees."
- 2:30PM - 3:15PM: Shelia Schrader, Schrader Landscape Design, ""Getting Started with Native Landscape Design.”

We are excited to announce that our friends, and 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair...
09/18/2026

We are excited to announce that our friends, and 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair Sponsors - Green Bellevue - will be reducing the environmental impact of our event by setting up a Zero Waste station. Make sure to look for this station and ask any questions that you may have on how to recycle things like plastic wrappers in the Orange Bag program or how to compost food scraps. You can learn more at https://www.greenbellevue.org/zero-waste-resources Green Bellevue will also be donating some native plants to our raffle, so there are even more ways to support our pollinators! See you all TOMORROW at Bellevue University from 12:00PM - 4:00PM!

Zero Waste.Remember the 5 Rs: Refuse | Reduce | Reuse | Repurpose | Recycle Waste Diversion Resources. Composting Avoid food waste whenever possible by meal planning, buying reasonable quantities, making scrap recipes, and sending still-edible food to Saving Grace Perishable Food Rescue. Excess prod...

All of the gardens are claimed for the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair this week...
09/17/2026

All of the gardens are claimed for the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair this weekend. However, there are still lots of ways to get native plants into your garden at our event! We have several vendors who will be selling native grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees. There will also be native seed options. And for only $1 a ticket you can enter the raffle for 8-packs of plants, shrubs and trees, seeds, and bareroot shade species! Thank you to Bumbling Bee Native Wildflowers, Prairie Legacy Inc.-Native plants and seed, Great Plains Nursery, and Loess Roots for your raffle donations for native plants, seed, shrubs, and trees. If you need help designing your new pollinator garden then make sure to visit Lucky Toad Restorative Gardens and Schrader Landscape Design at the vendor fair for landscaping tips - Sheila Schrader will also be giving a presentation of native landscaping starting at 2:30PM!

We're TV famous! Did you see us on the news tonight on Channel 3 KMTV? If not, check out the story here: https://www.3...
09/17/2026

We're TV famous! Did you see us on the news tonight on Channel 3 KMTV? If not, check out the story here: https://www.3newsnow.com/weather/heartland-volunteers-are-planting-native-gardens-to-help-reverse-a-sharp-drop-in-pollinator-species Thank you to all of our volunteers for their hard work installing over 20 native plant gardens in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa. Are you ready to do your part? Come to the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair this Saturday, Sept 19th from 12:00PM - 4:00PM to get some plants for your own garden. Or sign-up to volunteer with PATH to help install more gardens next Spring! https://forms.gle/8eoeAPqtPMm2F4gG8

The Pollinator Alliance of the Heartland plants native gardens to protect declining pollinator species across Iowa and Nebraska.

We hope that you are getting excited for the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair eve...
09/04/2026

We hope that you are getting excited for the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair event scheduled for Saturday, September 19th from 12:00PM - 4:00PM at Bellevue University. Not only do we have native plant gardens to give away and three amazing speaker presentations, but we also have vendors and a raffle! Check out the vendors below and a big THAK YOU to the businesses and organizations who have donated items to the raffle. Raffle tickets will be $1 each the day of the event and you can put as many tickets into each prize box as you want to increase your chance of winning!

Vendors:
- Anna Stoysich Art
- Benson Bounty
- Bumbling Bee Native Wildflowers
- Conservation Nebraska
- Dr. Ted Burk (Entomology Display)
- Grasslands Unlimited
- Green Bellevue
- Lisa Harnack Art
- Lucky Toad Restorative Gardens
- Milkweed Matters
- Nebraska Monarchs
- Prairie Legacy Inc.-Native plants and seed
- Schrader Landscape Design
- The Xerces Society

Raffle Prizes:
- Pottery from Anna Stoysich Art
- T-Shirts from Benson Bounty
- 8-pack of native plants from Bumbling Bee Native Wildflowers
- Water bottle, bag, and puzzle from Conservation Nebraska
- Day Passes from Fontenelle Forest
- Nebraska artwork from Lisa Harnack Art
- Mayapple and Bloodroot bareroots from Loess Roots Native Medicinal Roots and Botanicals
- Mystery Item from Lucky Toad Restorative Gardens
- Mystery Item from Milkweed Matters
- Mystery Item from Grasslands Unlimited
- Native seed packets from Prairie Legacy Inc.-Native plants and seed
- $100 value gift basket from Prairie Star Botanicals
- $500 value landscape design package from Schrader Landscape Design
- Native Shrub/tree from Great Plains Nursery
- Dr. Barbara Boustead's book Wilder Weather: What Laura Ingalls Wilder Teaches Us about the Weather, Climate and Protecting What we Cherish from PlantNebraska

We still have Shade gardens available for the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair ev...
09/03/2026

We still have Shade gardens available for the 4th Annual Milkweed and Cookies - Native Plant Giveaway and Vendor Fair event on Saturday, September 19th! Make sure to sign-up today to reserve your free native plant garden at https://forms.gle/riHMsoXF9zhYLZry6 Don't think you have enough shade at your house to support a shade garden? Try planting one under a tree for a "Soft-Landing" space. Learn more at https://homegrownnationalpark.org/soft-landings/
Shade garden species include:
- Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
- Common Violet (Viola sororia)
- Elm-leaf Goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia)
- Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
- Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum)
- Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
Learn more about these plants (and others) at https://www.pathmidwest.org/plant-information

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Council Bluffs, IA
51501

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